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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
The joint DREAM and Glory event in Japan on New Year's Eve continues to be fill up, and officials on Thursday morning added another exciting matchup to the card.
In his first fight since being released from the UFC, Michihiro Omigawa will head back to Japan to take on Tatsuya "Crusher" Kawajiri on the New Year's Eve event.
Omigawa was released from the UFC this August after his fourth loss in five fights since returning to the UFC. That most recent loss came against Manny Gamburyan at UFC on Fox 4, and once again came by decision. All five of his featherweight fights in the UFC went the distance.
Kawajiri, by contrast, will be seeking his fourth straight win as a featherweight, and his fifth straight win overall in this bout. Since making the move to the 145 lb. division, Kawajiri has scored three straight submission wins, most recently taking out Donald Sanchez at a ONE Fighting Championships event in March.
"Kawajiri has been one of the fighting world's top talents ever since he first put on a pair of gloves," said Glory Sports International CEO Marcus Luer in a release announcing the bout. "He is a very hard hitter and has given us many memorable performances in the ring. He also has a solid submission game and is capable of finishing a fight at any moment either by KO or forcing the tap."
"In Omigawa you have an extremely high level judo player with an arsenal of trips and throws that few in MMA can match. His sense of timing and balance is spectacular, a lifetime's work, and watching him hit a trip at just the right moment is like watching a master artist at work. Kawajiri wants this fight on the feet, but he is going to have a hard time staying there if Omigawa gets his way."
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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