DREAM.18 ADDS TATSUYA KAWAJIRI VS. MICHIHIRO OMIGAWA TO YEAR-END EVENT
BY MMAJUNKIE.COM STAFF ON DEC 13, 2012 AT 10:10 AM ET

Former top-ranked lightweight Tatsuya "Crusher" Kawajiri (31-7-2) will meet big-show vet Michihiro Omigawa (13-12-1) in a featherweight bout later this month.

Officials today announced the bout as part of the "DREAM.18 and GLORY 4 Tokyo – New Year's Eve Special" event.

DREAM.18, which features both MMA bouts and the "GLORY 4 Tokyo – Heavyweight Grand Slam" kickboxing tournament, takes place Dec. 31 at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. Shinya Aoki and Antonio McKee headline the MMA portion of the card.

Plans for a possible broadcast in North America have not yet been announced.

Kawajiri, a former PRIDE fighter who's been with DREAM since its 2008 launch, is riding a four-fight win streak with five wins in his past six fights (the lone defeat came in a 2011 Strikeforce title fight with Gilbert Melendez). In his lone bout of 2012, he earned a submission victory over KOTC champ Donald Sanchez at ONE FC 3.

Omigawa, meanwhile, fights for the first time since a disappointing 1-4 run in the UFC, where his only victory came over Jason Young. It was his second stint in the UFC, where he went 1-6 overall. The latest stint came after Omigawa briefly resurrected his career with a runner-up finish in Sengoku's 2009 world featherweight grand prix. He lost in the final to Masanori Kanehara via split decision.

The latest "DREAM.18 and GLORY 4 Tokyo – New Year's Eve Special" MMA card now includes:

Champ Shinya Aoki vs. Antonio McKee - for lightweight title
Bibiano Fernandes vs. Yoshiro Maeda
Denis Kang vs. Melvin Manhoef
Hiroyuki Takaya vs. Georgi Karakhanyan
Phil Baroni vs. Hayato Sakurai
Will Brooks vs. Satoru Kitaoka
Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Michihiro Omigawa