Stephen Martinez/Sherdog.com
Hioki vs. Manuel is an
interesting matchup.
For Sengoku, which kicks off March 20 from Tokyo in the first card to broadcast on HDNet, the matches are: Hatsu Hioki vs. Chris Manuel; Marlon Sandro vs. Matt Jaggers; Hideki Kadowaki vs. Nam Phan; L.C. Davis vs. Michihiro Omigawa; Masanori Kanehara vs. Jong Man Kim; Shintaro Ishiwatri vs. Chang Son Jong; Seiya Kawahara vs. Nick Denis; and Ronnie Mann vs. Tetsuya Yamada.
For Dream, which goes off Saturday and will air March 14 on HDNet, the matches are: Masakazu Imanari vs. Atsushi Yamamoto; Hiroyuki Takaya vs. Jong Won Kim; Yoshiro Maeda vs. Micah Miller; Chase Beebe vs. Joe Warren; Bibiano Fernandes vs. Takafumi Otsuka; and Abel Cullum vs. Akiyo Nishiura. Another tournament fight, pitting Hideo Tokoro vs. Daika Hata, will take place April 5. The division's top name, Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto, will get a bye into the tournament's second round, set for May.
Though it will air on a week's tape delay on HDNet, the Dream tournament will actually have a better television timeslot in America than it will in Japan. The tournament will air on the Tokyo Broadcasting System network from 1:20 to 2:50 a.m. on a Monday night in Japan, while it will air at 9 p.m. EST on HDNet.