Dynamite!! adds Le Banner vs. Ishii, Kharitonov vs. Mizuno, Overeem vs. TBA

http://mmajunkie.com/news/21833/dynamite-adds-le-banner-vs-ishii-kharitonov-vs-mizuno-overeem-vs-tba.mma

By MMAjunkie.com Staff

An already loaded DREAM Dynamite!! 2010 card just got even more impressive, as the Japanese-based promotion added three more fights to the card, as well as guaranteeing an appearance by Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem.

Among the additions are Jerome Le Banner vs. Satoshi Ishii and Sergei Kharitonov vs. Tatsuya Mizuno, while Overeem faces an opponent yet to be named.

An "IGF special rules" match between Bob Sapp and Shinichi Suzukawa was also officially announced by DREAM executives.

DREAM "Dynamite!! 2010," which now hosts an astounding 15 bouts, takes place Dec. 31 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. The event airs in the U.S. on HDNet.

A French kickboxing legend, Le Banner (3-1-1 MMA, 0-0 DREAM) fights for the first time under the DREAM banner. Le Banner was most recently featured in the opening round of the K-1 World Grand Prix 2010, in which he forfeited his spot in the tournament by refusing to answer the bell for a fourth round. Le Banner fights under MMA rules for the first time since 2006.

Ishii (3-1 MMA, 1-1 DREAM), an Olympic Gold-medalist judoka, is featured for the second-straight New Year's Eve in Japan. Ishii made his MMA debut at Dynamite!! 2009, where he lost a unanimous decision to fellow judoka Hidehiko Yoshida.

A recent Strikeforce signee, Kharitonov (16-4 MMA, 1-1 DREAM) fights under MMA rules for the first time since April 2009. The Russian striker is 3-1 in his past four overall MMA bouts – a run that includes a 2007 win over Overeem.

Mizuno (8-6 MMA, 1-2 DREAM) fights under the DREAM banner for the third time in just five months. The Japanese product defeated Melvin Manhoef in July's DREAM light heavyweight grand prix opening round but was submitted by Gegard Mousasi in an unsuccessful bid for the promotion's first light heavyweight title. Mizuno debuted for DREAM at the promotion's very first event in March 2008.

Overeem (33-11 MMA, 4-0 DREAM) competes just three weeks removed from a scintillating performance in the K-1 World Grand Prix, where he claimed the promotion's tournament championship. The Strikeforce heavyweight champion defended that promotion's title against Brett Rogers in his only other MMA bout of 2010.

Japanese mainstay Sapp (11-6-1 MMA, 1-1 DREAM) meets former sumo wrestler Suzukawa (0-0 MMA, 0-0 DREAM), who makes his MMA debut – or at least apparently makes his MMA debut. The bout, which is produced by longtime MMA and professional wrestling promoter Antonio Inoki, will be contested under "IGF special rules." Unfortunately, those rules have yet to be disclosed.

The IGF, or Inoki Genome Federation, is a professional wrestling association founded by Inoki.

The latest DREAM Dynamite!! 2010 card includes:
Satoshi Ishii vs. Jerome Le Banner
Sergei Kharitonov vs. Tatsuya Mizuno
Alistair Overeem vs. TBA
Bob Sapp vs. Shinichi Suzukawa^
Champ Bibiano Fernandes vs. Hiroyuki Takaya (for featherweight title)
Champ Marius Zaromskis vs. Kazushi Sakuraba (for welterweight title)
Shinya Aoki vs. Yuichiro Nagashim+
Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Josh Thomson
Kazuyuki Miyata vs. Caol Uno
Akiyo "Wicky" Nishiura vs. Tetsuya Yamato@
Kyotaro Fujimoto vs. Gegard Mousasi@
Hideo Tokoro vs. Kazuhisa Watanabe
Jason High vs. Hayato Sakurai
Hiroshi Izumi vs. Ikuhisa "Minowaman" Minowa
Katsuaki Furuki vs. Andy Ologun
^ - IGF special rules
+ - MMA/K-1 mixed-rules bout
@ - K-1 rules bout

For the latest on the "DREAM Dynamite!! 2010," stay tuned to the MMA Rumors section of MMAjunkie.com.