‘Kid’ Yamamoto comes in before the next match is introduced and greets the crowd. Says he’s looking forward to fighting in DREAM, which he will at DREAM.5 against Joseph Benavidez. Shinya Aoki is apparently having a fashion influence on Japanese MMA fighters as he’s wearing a hipster t-shirt and tortoiseshell eye glasses.

While the intro videos are going on a few comments about the HDNet broadcast–we were very disappointed with their first DREAM broadcast and made that very clear during the live coverage and in an article after the event. They had some legitimate challenges which weren’t known at the time of the broadcast, but our issue was to consider the reaction of a first time viewer who stays up late because he’s heard a lot of buzz about DREAM only to see a less than impressive broadcast effort.

Now we’re going to give credit where credit is due–without any wholesale changes to the announce team or the format they’ve upgraded the quality of the broadcast 100%. Rice and Rutten are working *very* well together–Bas, in particular, deserves a lot of credit as he’s done a first rate job enhancing the broadcast with his knowledge of MMA and the Japanese fight culture. He’s made a few jokes, but they’ve been at appropriate times and have added rather than detract from the professionalism of the broadcast. Obviously it would be nice to see Daisuke Sato’s amazing video work but the issues that HDNet has with them is understandable. With no apparent increase in budgetary outlay they’ve vastly improved the quality of the overall broadcast.

ROUND ONE:

Fighters feeling each other out from the opening bell. Uyenoyama with some effective kicking, Tokoro tries to respond with punches but nothing doing. BOOM! Out of nowhere Tokoro lands a HUGE knee that knocks Uyenoyama to the ground. Tokoro goes to the ground after him and tries to make like Shinya Aoki with several imaginative–but ineffective–submissions. Some nice flexibility on the ground by Tokoro but all it gets him is Uyenoyama eventually slipping out and getting back to his feet. Uyenoyama with the takedown now and scores with some ground and pound. Bad tactical gameplan by Tokoro–if he’d gone with the ground and pound instead of making like Aoki and going for a highlight reel submission this fight coould very well be over by now. Uyenoyama completely recovered now and we’ve got a battle Uyenoyama on his feet trying to land a big punch and Tokoro responding with up kicks. Fighters back to their feet now and a very impressive takedown by Tokoro, followed by another arm bar attempt. Tokoro has shown some amazing skills but needs to become more consistent. 4:00 left in the round–that’s another thing HDNet has corrected since the first show and there’s an onscreen clock which helps a lot. Fighters back to standup now and Tokoro lands a good 1-2 punch and a couple of knees. Uyenoyama looks to be hurt but he looked just as bad early on and took over the rest of the round. Another nice takedown by Tokoro who now reverses the role and tries a Superman punch while avoiding Uyenoyama’s upkicks. Tokoro trying to pass guard but he stands up and Uyenoyama follows. BOOM AGAIN! Tokoro catches him with a hard knee coming up and down goes Uyenoyama again. Tokoro lands a number of hard punches to follow up and it appears that the ref has been on the verge of jumping in a couple of times but Uyenoyama has done just enough to defend himself to keep the fight going. Under a minute in the round and Tokoro may have punched himself out for now and is content to wait out the round. Another insane change of position by Tokoro who lands a big knee as the round ends. No round by round scoring but if it was a 10 point must system Tokoro would take it. If you’re not watching this live make sure to catch a replay or otherwise track down this fight as the first round is on par with the 2nd round of the McCullough/Torres WEC fight from a couple of weeks back.

ROUND TWO:

Another beautiful takedown by Tokoro–a little work on his consistency and tactics this guy is a superstar. Big upkick by Tokoro lands and the ref stands ‘em up. Another takedown by Tokoro who looked to be doing a belly to belly suplex a la Magnum TA. Tokoro is supposed to be a submission specialist and not a striker but you couldn’t tell that from this fight. Fighters back to their feet–Uyenoyama lands a roundhouse that hurts Tokoro and the Japanese fighter responds with another hard knee strike. Back to the ground and Tokoro tries for an omoplata. 13 minutes in and both fighters are going at it like crazed weasels, which is our highest level of praise. No matter who wins this is a fight of the year caliber bout. Uyenoyama scoring with the ground and pound, Tokoro looking for upkicks. Tokoro’s record is 19-13-1 and that does nothing to suggest what a talented fighter he is. None of his losses–with the exception of Caol Uno–are to superstar level opponents. Tokoro wins on our card and the judges concur. Tokoro wins by unanimous decision and that’s hard to argue with. Fight of the year candidate fight. Uyenoyama deserves a lot of credit for the fight he put up despite the unanimous decision loss. Make sure to catch this on replay if you’re not watching it live…