Wow, what a night... err, morning of exciting MMA.  I wish I could swap a mug of coffee for watching some of the top featherweights and lightweights in the world as a way to kick off the day more often.  In the biggest fight of the night, Shinya Aoki latched on to a Joachim Hansen limb and cranked an armbar in the final moments to secure the DREAM lightweight championship and become the first Japanese champion the promotion has seen.  The first ten minutes saw Aoki succeed in his clever clinch takedowns and enjoy top position while raining distracting hammerfists and maneuvering for advantageous submission position while Hansen showed extreme resilience from his guard. Controversy arose when Hansen landed a cracking upkick from his guard which clearly stunned Aoki, but the referee paused the action to the rigorous dismay and outrage of Hansen fans and the "Americans Against Aoki" club.  The instant replay showed a slight push kick to the cup of Aoki before the tremendous upkick landed, and the low blow allowed for a justified referee intervention and several minutes for Aoki to recover.  Restarting in Hansen's guard, Aoki went back to work but surprisingly found himself locked into a deep Hansen armbar, which the Norwegian wrenched with all of his might.  Aoki stayed calm and technically evaded the submission attempt, and ended the round on top of Hansen exchanging blows. Hansen was working from his guard again early in the 2nd round, showing some of the best "reverse Ground-N-Pound" in the business, and after escaping to his feet, he unleashed the signature short knee that crippled Luiz Azeredo and Masakazu Imanari, but Aoki finished the takedown and quickly slipped to the mount position.  Hansen fought valiantly from his back throughout the fight, but a mounted Aoki is too dangerous; the rubber man transitioned to a smooth armbar that Hansen could not evade, forcing a tapout during the last few minutes of a very entertaining war. American wrestler Joe Warren, who shocked the world by beating Chase Beebe and Kid Yamamoto in the first two rounds of the Featherweight Gran Prix (which were also his first two professional fights), saw the dream end quickly as submission specialist Bibiano "The Flash" Fernandes secured an armbar in the blink of an eye.  The referee jumped in to save Warren, and Warren protested by claiming he did not tap, although the referee and Fernandes indicated he did.  Hideo Tokoro upheld his reputation for putting on a show versus Hiroyuki Takaya, as the pair hurled bombs at one another in a back and forth brawl that saw Tokoro trading while attempting takedowns and Takaya unleashing low kicks and combinations.  Takaya is a polished striker and landed more effectively, but a well timed knee and a few punches from Tokoro sent Takaya reeling and set the Japanese crowd on fire.  Takaya recovered to end the round, and overwhelmed Tokoro with strikes in the 2nd for the TKO. This set up a Fernandes/Takaya final, which delivered in full.  Fernandes scored a takedown and attempted an armbar and a heelhook which were shaken off by Takaya, and fireworks ensued when the fighters got back to their feet.  Both men flurried with haymakers at a highly aggressive pace for the remainder of the round, and Takaya was able to open a cut over Fernandes' eye while utilizing a stiff, straight jab and leg kicks to end the round.  Fernandes clocked Takaya to begin the 2nd, dropping him, and hopped on his back with Takaya standing up.  The referee seperated the fighters due to a lack of activity, and the men simply clashed with brutal punches that drew comparisons of "Gatti vs. Ward" from the announcers.  The fight went to the judges with Fernandes getting the nod in a fight that could have gone either way.  Bibiano Fernandes wins the DREAM FW Gran Prix with two outstanding performances. In the Super Hulk tournament, Minowaman was able to persevere the first against gargantuan Hong Man Choi to lock on a heelhook that forced Choi to tap.  Sokoudjou made quick work of Bob "The Beast" Sapp with a quick takedown to side mount, where he hammered punches to the helpless Sapp for a 1st round TKO.  Both Kazushi Sakuraba and Tatsuya Kawajiri walked through their inexperienced foes in impressive fashion.  Full results after the jump. Bibiano Fernandes def. Hiroyuki Takaya via split decision Shinya Aoki def. Joachim Hansen via submission Kazushi Sakuraba def. Rubin Williams via submission (kimura) - Round 1 Tatsuya Kawajiri def. Melchor Manibusan via TKO Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou def. Bob Sapp via TKO Ikuhisa Minowa def. Hong Man Choi via submission Bibiano Fernandes def. Joe Warren via submission Hiroyuki Takaya def. Hideo Tokoro via TKO Kazuyuki Miyata def. Daiki Hata via unanimous decision

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