Speculation ran rampant about this match-up after the Bellator FC president mentioned that he was interested in allowing Eddie to fight in DREAM in exchange for a fighter to participate in their tournament, and also one of DREAM's latest promo videos depicted Alvarez along with Kikuno as participants for their landmark 12th show on October 6th.  The Garv first reported on this match-up here. DREAM 12 marks the first time a  major Japanese MMA promotion has opted to use a cage instead of a ring, and the cage will be differentiated from its American counterparts by being completely white in color and having six sides.  The organization is instituting a trial run of the white cage and the switch to three five-minute rounds instead of the usual Pride style ten-minute first and five-minute second round format.  The experiment is no doubt due to their recent agreement with Strikeforce and M1 Global to interchange fighters, and an attempt to familiarize fighters with the atmosphere of the cage and create a more level playing field to alleviate the burden presented by the different aspects of fighting in a cage versus a ring. Also announced as lightweight participants on DREAM 12 are Won Sik Park and Kuniyoshi Hironaka.  Won Sik Park, or "Parky", is a Korean who is lighting the Japanese MMA scene on fire, and is probably the fastest rising star overseas behind Kikuno.  Like Kikuno, Parky is also a lightweight from the DEEP promotion; his base fighting art is Tae Kwon Do, and he's won seven straight after losing his MMA debut.  He faces the crafty Kuniyoshi Hironaka on the main card alongside Kikuno/Alvarez.

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