The first bout of the Grand Prix pitted Takafumi Otsuka (8-3-1) vs. Bibiano Fernandes (3-2-0). with Fernandes winning via unanimous decision.

WEC featherweight champion Chase Beebe (12-3-0) then took on Joe Warren, who was making his MMA debut. The fight was stopped after the first round due to a cut Beebe had sustained over his left eye after taking a knee from Warren.

“Wicky” Akiyo Nishiura (9-3-1) vs. Abel Cullum (13-2-0) was the third fight of the Grand Prix. Cullum won a unanimous decision to move on to the next round.

Moving on to a battle in the lightweight division, Mitsuhiro Ishida (17-4-1) took on Daisuke Nakamura (19-9-0). Ishida defeated Nakamura via unanimous decision.

Reigning WAMMA lightweight champion Shinya Aoki (19-3-0) was up next vs. American David Gardner (16-10-0). Aoki simply dominated Gardner and ended it in the first round via rear naked choke.

In another lightweight match-up Ross Ebanez (19-6-0) took on Tatsuya Kawajiri (22-5-2). Ebanez was given a yellow card due to his inability to make weight. It was a moot issue as Kawajiri secured a fight ending rear naked choke in the first round. After the bout, Kawajiri called out Gesias “JZ Calvan” Calvancante for Dream 9.

The card then resumed with Grand Prix bouts with WEC veterans Yoshiro Maeda (23-6-2) and Micah Miller (10-2-0) going head-to-head. Maeda was awarded the unanimous decision over the American Miller.

Another former WEC veteran in Hiroyuki Takaya (9-6-1) took to the sage against Kim Jong Won in another Grand Prix fight. Distancing himself from his disappointing WEC tenure, Takaya won via second round TKO.

In the main event and the last first round fight of the Grand Prix, former Cage Rage champion Masakazu Imanari (15-6-1) took on Atsushi Yamamoto. Imanari moved on to the second round with a split decision victory.

Official Results:

• Masakazu Iminari def. Atsushi Yamamoto via split decision
• Hiroyuki Takaya def. Jong Won Kim via TKO (punches) — Round 2, 0:40
• Yoshiro Maeda def. Micah Miller via unanimous decision
• Tatsuya Kawajiri def. Ross Ebanez via submission (rear-naked shoke) — Round 1, 4:03
• Shinya Aoki def. David Gardner via rear-naked choke — Round 1, 5:58
• Mitsuhiro Ishida def. Daisuke Nakamura via unanimous decision
• Abel Cullum def. Akiyo Nishiura via unanimous decision
• Joe Warren def. Chase Beebe via TKO (cut) — Round 1, 10:00
• Bibiano Fernandes def. Takafumi Otsuka via unanimous decision

Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto was given a bye and will compete in the featherweight Grand Prix at Dream.8 and another first round bout between Hideo Tokoro vs. Daika Hata will take place at the same event.

FiveOuncesOfPain.com confirmed the news late Friday with Cullum’s father and manager, John Cullum.

Cullum, 13-2, received his first shot a national exposure when he challenged Wilson Reis for the then-vacant EliteXC bantamweight title during a ShoXC event this past September. While Reis walked away with the title following a five round unanimous decision but the 21-year old Cullum impressed many pundits with his skills.

The Tucumcari, New Mexico resident last competed for King of the Cage in December, where he submitted Brett Roller with a rear naked choke at 1:47 of round 1. He also holds notable wins over Ryan Diaz, Zach Jenkins, and Jasper Church.

Cullum joins an already announced field that includes Atsushi Yamamoto, Micah Miller, Bibiano Fernandes, Hideo Tokoro, Daiki “D.J. Taiki” Hata, Chase Beebe, Hiroyuki Takaya, Joe Warren, Shoji Maruyama, Kim Jong Won, Takafumi Otsuka, Wicky Akiyo, and Masakazu Imanari.

The first round of the DREAM featherweight Grand Prix is scheduled to take place at Dream.7 on March 7 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. The Grand Prix’s second round is scheduled for May at Dream.9 at a yet to be announced location. The finals are tentatively scheduled for Dream.11 in September at the Saitama Super Arena.

The first round is scheduled to take place at Dream 7 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan on March 7. The first round will consist of matches that will feature Atsushi Yamamoto, Micah Miller, Bibiano Fernandes, Hideo Tokoro, Daiki “D.J. Taiki” Hata, Chase Beebe, Hiroyuki Takaya, Joe Warren, Shoji Maruyama, Kim Jong Won, Takafumi Otsuka, Wicky Akiyo, and Masakazu Imanari.

Yamamoto is 12-5 with nine of his victories going the distance. His most recent fight came during Dream 6 as he defeated Tokoro. Yamamoto is a veteran of Shooto, Pancrase and K-1 organizations.

Miller is the younger brother of UFC veteran Cole Miller and trains with the renowned America Top Team. He is 10-2 with six of his victories coming by way of submission. He has four career fights in the WEC going 2-2 with wins over Chance Farrar and Jesse Moreng while losing to Cub Swanson and Josh Grispi.

Fernandes sports a 3-2 record with his last fight was taking place for Raw Combat, where he defeated Len Tam. Fernandes’ claim to fame is the fact that he has lost to both Urijah Faber as well as Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto.

Tokoro is 21-15 throughout his career which started in 2001. He is a veteran of K-1 and has fought in DREAM three times sporting a 2-1 record. He lost to fellow grand prix participant Atsushi Yamamoto at Dream 6. He holds a decision victory over Royler Gracie and fought to a draw with Royce Gracie at a K-1 New Year’s Eve show in 2005.

Having fought for Pancase for the better part of his carrer, Hata is 9-5 with all five losses coming by decision. His biggest victory to date was against Yoshiro Maeda back in 2006.

A former WEC bantamweight champion, Beebe is on a two fight losing streak with losses to the man who defeated him for the title, Miguel Torres, as well as Will Riberio. Ten of Beebe’s 12 victories have come by way of submission.

Recently dropped by the WEC after going 0-2, Takaya is now 9-6 in his career following losses to Swanson and current number one WEC featherweight title contender Leonard Garcia. The majority of Takaya’s fights have taken place in K-1 and Shooto. He has also faced and lost to Gesias Calvancante back in 2006.

Warren is a former back-to-back winner at the World Championships in Greco-Roman wrestling. Thought to be a shoe-in to represent the U.S. during the ’08 Olympic Games in Beijing, Warren never got the shot after he was suspended for two years following the Senior World Team Trials in 2007 after he tested positive for THC.

Imanari has fought the bulk of his career for Deep and is 15-6. He is a former Cage Rage champion and is a noted submission fighter earning 11 of his victories by forcing his opponent to tap out. His notable victories include former UFC fighter Jorge Gurgel and current WEC featherweight champion Mike Thomas Brown. He has also fought and lost to Joachim Hansen, Marcus Aurelio and Dokonjonsuke Mishima.

A veteran of Pancrase, Maruyama is 6-4 with five wins coming by way of knockout. His biggest opponent to date has been WEC prospect Jose Aldo, whom he lost a unanimous decision to in 2007.

The 32-year old Wong is a former Olympic Judoka hailing from South Korera who will be making his professional MMA debut during the featherweight Grand Prix.

A veteran of the DEEP organization, Otsuka is 8-3 in his career with three victories coming by way of knockout, three wins by decision and two wins by submission. He fought and lost to UFC lightweight competitor Rafael dos Anjos back in 2008.

A nine fight veteran of the Shooto organization, Nishiura is 9-3 in his career with the majority of his wins coming by decision. Having last fought in December he suffered a loss at Cage Force 9 to Yuji Hoshino.

The Grand Prix’s second round is scheduled for May at Dream 9 but a location has yet to be announced. The finals are tentatively scheduled for Dream 11 in September at the Saitama Super Arena.

At this point there is no clear cut favorite and this tournament should be very interesting. DREAM has also scheduled a welterweight Grand Prix which is set to begin in April at Dream 8.

A heavyweight tilt between Cheick Kongo (11-4-2) and UFC newcomer Dan Evensen (10-2), a very intriguing lightweight bout between Frankie Edgar (8-1) and Hermes Franca (18-6) and two welterweight fights featuring Chris Wilson (13-4) vs. Steve Bruno (11-3) and Ben Saunders (5-0-2) vs. Jared Rollins (6-4).

It is interesting to note that both Chris Wilson vs. Steve Bruno and Ben Saunders vs. Jared Rollins were originally rumored to take place on next month’s UFC 86.

UFC 87 is set to take at the Target Center, MN and will feature a welterweight title fight between Georges St. Pierre and Jon Fitch as a main event with a lightweight number 1 contender battle between Roger Huerta and Kenny Florian and a heavyweight bout between Brock Lesnar and Heath Herring serving as co-main events.

Read more UFC 87 content on FiveOuncesOfPain.com

From ChrisWilsonMMA.com:

I just found out my fight has been postponed. The rescheduled date hasn’t been finalized but appears to be bumped to the next UFC show, UFC 87 headlined by St. Pierre vs Fitch in Minnesota of all places. What a great card to fight under, eh?

In the end, it is frustrating to have to wait longer to get paid but it will give me more training time coming off of the birth of my daughter so it’s probably for the best. Frankly, I’m just glad to fight, period. I guess I can wait one more month.

Any chance Bruno had of fighting me before I got back into shape has just vanished. Bruno’s fanboys will be terribly distraught when he gets destroyed

No word yet as to why the bout has been postponed but I’m sure a reason will surface in the coming week.

UFC 87 is headlined by a welterweight title fight between current champion, Georges St. Pierre and the very tough, Jon Fitch. A No.1 contender match-up in the lightweight division between Roger Huerta and Kenny Florian is also set as well as the return of Brock Lesnar against Heath Herring.

Read more UFC 87 content on FiveOuncesOfPain.com.

Wilson was a late replacement for the injured Akihiro Gono at UFC 82 but proved his worth in the Octagon by making Jon Fitch tough out a grueling three round decision victory. The UFC obviously liked Wilson’s guts and have brought him back on board to fight again in a preliminary bout against Bruno.

Bruno is a product of American Top Team and will be making his debut inside the Octagon. Bruno has had much success in the Spirit MC promotion in Korea and this will be his first fight in over a year. He was supposed to make his UFC debut against Chad Reiner at UFC Fight Night 10 but had to withdraw from the bout due to injury.

Check out more UFC 86 content on FiveOuncesOfPain.com!

Gleison Tibau, Cole Miller, Steve Bruno and Ben Saunders have all been listed to take part at the event but currently no opponents have been named.

MMA Weekly is also reporting in its rumors section that TUF 5′s Corey Hill  will take on Justin Buchholz. 

The UFC 86 card currently looks like this:

• Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson vs. Forrest Griffin (UFC light heavyweight championship)
• Patrick Cote vs. Ricardo Almeida
• Corey Hill vs. Justin Buchholz
• Chris Lytle vs. TBA
• Gleison Tibau vs. TBA
• Cole Miller vs. TBA
• Steve Bruno vs. TBA
• Ben Saunders vs. TBA

Read more UFC 86 content  on FiveOuncesOfPain.com.