Dream event producer Keiichi Sasahara told Sherdog Wednesday that the promotion would be abandoning the customary 10 minute opening round -- a staple of Japanese MMA since the Pride days -- in favor of the 5 minute rounds preferred in the Unified Rules of MMA.
The event will be held on September 24 at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. The first bout announced for the event is a featherweight tilt between UFC veteran Caol Uno and former Shooto world champion "Lion" Takeshi Inoue.
He also announced that the Bantamweight tournament would include the following contestants:
- Dream GP champion Hideo Tokoro
- former Deep champion Masakazu Imanari
- Kenji Osawa
- former Dream featherweight champion Bibiano Fernandes
Tokoro, Imanari and Osawa all competed in the Dream Japanese Bantamweight tournament at Dream: Fight for Japan cards held on July 1 and May 29.
Sashara added that he will be "scouring the globe" for talented bantamweight fighters to fill out the tournament.