On Dec. 31 Fedor Emelianenko will return to his tradition of fighting on New Year’s eve in Japan for the first time in four years. “The Last Emperor” will face Japanese Olympic judo gold medalist Satoshii Ishii at Dream “Genki Desu Ka! New Year! 2011” at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.
The event will also include the semifinal and final rounds of the Dream bantamweight grand prix featuring Antonio Banuelos, Masakazu Imanari, Bibiano Fernandes and Rodolfo Marques.
Also on the card, Dream lightweight champion Shinya Aoki will put his title on the line against former Sengoku 155-pound champ Satoru Kitaoka, and Dream featherweight champ Hiroyuki Takaya will defend his title against two-time Shooto 143-pound champ Takeshi Inoue.
Here is a promotional video for Fedor vs. Ishii:
The official fight card for “Dream – Fight for Japan: Genki Desu Ka! New Year! 2011” is as follows:
- Heavyweight bout: Fedor Emelianenko vs. Satoshi Ishii
- DREAM Lightweight Championship bout: Shinya Aoki (c) vs. Satoru Kitaoka
- DREAM Featherweight Championship bout: Hiroyuki Takaya (c) vs. Takeshi Inoue
- Featherweight bout: Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Kazuyuki Miyata
- Welterweight bout: Hayato Sakurai vs. Ryo Chonan
- DREAM/K-1 Special Rules bout: Yuichiro Nagashima vs. Katsunori Kikuno
- Pro wrestling bout: Kazuyuki Fujita vs. Peter Aerts
Bantamweight Tournament
- Bantamweight Tournament Semifinal bout: Masakazu Imanari vs. Antonio Banuelos
- Bantamweight Tournament Semifinal bout: Bibiano Fernandes vs. Rodolfo Marques
- Bantamweight Tournament Reserve bout: Hideo Tokoro vs. Yusup Saadulaev
- Bantamweight Tournament Final: Winner of Imanari/Banuelos vs. Winner of Fernandes/Marques