Andrew Simon: HDNet will air DREAM.9 live in North America

[Guest baseball25]

On the same day the Japanese-based DREAM organization announced a hotly debated eight-man open-weight tournament at DREAM.9, HDNet Fights CEO Andrew Simon put some icing on the cake.

Simon, a guest on today's edition of MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio), broke the news that DREAM.9 will air live on HDNet.

Past DREAM events have aired on muti-day tape delays, but Simon said HDNet will air the May 26 event live from Japan.

DREAM.9 takes place at the Yokohama Arena in Kanagawa, Japan.

Even prior to today's open-weight tournament news, DREAM.9 featured a star-studded card with Gesias "JZ" Cavalvante vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri in the main event and a co-headline bout between Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza vs. Jason "Mayhem" Miller for the vacant DREAM middleweight title.

DREAM.9 also features the second round of the organization's featherweight grand prix. Bouts include Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto vs. Joe Warren, Yoshiro Maeda vs. Hiroyuki Takaya, and Bibiano Fernandes vs. Masakazu Imanari.

And today, the organization announced a "Super Hulk Tournament" with notables such as former MLB player Jose Canseco vs. 7-foot-2 Hong Man Choi, Mark Hunt vs. DREAM middleweight grand prix winner Gegard Mousasi, and 350-pound Jan Nortje vs. PRIDE/UFC vet Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou.

Simon said HDNet has the option to air events live or via tape delay on HDNet. While the all-high-definition cable station usually shies away from airing weekday Japanese events live (because they air in North America in very early-morning hours), he said the interest in DREAM.9 convinced HDNet President Mark Cuban and him to air the event live.

"Who doesn't want to see Jose Canseco take on Hong Man Choi in the U.S. in the middle of the night?" Simon joked. "We have over 34 events on air this year. One thing we're committed to is bringing events live when we can.........Choi was the same guy that fought FEDOR lol...what a JOKE

[venom33]

ummmmm jose canseco????