This weekend could mark the inaugural event for a promotion that seeks to resurrect PRIDE back into the mixed martial arts scene. DREAM will take place on Saturday from Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, and it will feature one of the most stacked lightweight Grand Prix cards in recent memory. With nearly five or six top 10 lightweight fighters in the mix, the Grand Prix could climax into some big name superbouts later in the year. Shinya Aoki will be looking to prove his lackluster performance Bu Kyung Jung was only a fluke, but he’ll be taking on the devastating Gesias “JZ” Calvancante. Other action features Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Kultar Gill, Joachim Hansen vs. Kotetsu Boku, Andre “Dida” Amade vs. Eddie Alvarez, Mitsuhiro Ishida vs. Bu Kyung Jung, Hayato Sakurai vs. Hidetaka Monma, and the return of Mirko “CroCop” Filipovic to Japan as he will face Tatsuya Mizuno. It should be a fantastic event for hardcore fans everywhere.

Shinya Aoki vs. Gesias “JZ” Calvancante

This battle is a classic matchup of grappler vs. striker, but with the added danger of Calvancante actually having a great jiu-jitsu base to backup his quick and devastating striking. Aoki’s biggest threat is off his back. His flexibility, jiu-jitsu skills, and overall transitional game are unbelievably effective. He used techniques that are tough to escape, but he is susceptible to the crushing ways of a powerful puncher.

That’s where Calvancante may have the edge. He has an uncanny ability of staying out of the guard and crushing opponents, almost Fedor-esque. When he is in guard, he’s crushing and powerful. To supplement his striking skills, he does possess great jiu-jitsu skills. He also trains out of American Top Team, a camp that features a huge number of talented fighters for Calvancante to use to his advantage.

Gesias Calvancante has been a beast in his last few bouts. Before pulling out of the first scheduled fight with Aoki at Yarennoka, Calvancante went on a tear in the K-1 HERO’s tournament on September 17th of last year. He absolutely blasted Vitor Ribeiro in :35 seconds, arguably a top 5 lightweight, and submitted Chute Box striker Andre “Dida” Amade in the final. His striking is unmatched in this matchup, and he has enough awareness and skill to avoid the submission. I’ll take Calvancante by TKO/KO in round 2.

Leland’s Prediction: Gesias “JZ” Calvancante via TKO/KO, Round 2

Andre “Dida” Amade vs. Eddie Alvarez

The single pick’em fight on the card features the upcoming puncher Andre “Dida” Amade vs. the former BodogFIGHT and new EliteXC fighter Eddie Alvarez. This could vie for the fight of the night at DREAM, and it should give us a solid barometer for where each fighter stands in the world.

Dida is fairly green on the MMA scene. He’s 6-2-1 with his most recent bout being a losing effort to Gesias Calvancante at the HERO’S Middleweight Tournament final. Dida was still able to defeat Caol Uno and Artur Oumakhanov in the preliminary rounds to make the final as well as defeating Hiroyuki Takaya at Hero’s 8. He has some solid power in his hands, good striking, and the Chute Box Muay Thai/Brazilian jiu-jitsu base that could prove dangerous to Alvarez’s wrestling.

Alvarez also has some big power in his hands, but he also has some wrestling skills on the ground that usually work to help him ground and pound opponents. He shouldn’t be a danger in the submission game, so this fight will likely be a technical striking war between both fighters. In that case, I’m almost inclined to pick Dida over Alvarez due to his Muay Thai skills and big punch striking. Alvarez has a very good shot though, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he won. I’ll take Dida for my pick though.

Leland’s Prediction: Andre Dida via TKO/KO, Round 1

CBS Sportsline writer and FiveOuncesOfPain.com blogger, Sam Caplan, had an interesting article regarding his picks for some of the break out fighters that we may see in 2008. His picks were Ed Ratcliff, Neil Grove, Jon Murphy, Tim Kennedy, Aaron Meisner, Carlo Prater, Demian Maia, and Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza. Those are some pretty decent picks for 2008, but there are a few that have been left out that should be looked at. Also, some of these names look to have some major roadblocks to overcome as well. Let's take a look.

Some thoughts on Caplan's picks

Ed Ratcliff is a great pick, and he brings the Karate background to his skillset that many mixed martial artists rarely have. A fighter who many people may know what has a demoralizing tactical gameplan for nearly every fight which features a karate background is Lyoto Machida. Ratcliff doesn't seem to garner the same type of patient countering as Machida, but he has crisp striking and precision kicks. Picking him over Karalexis recently was a damn good bet on my part, but Karalexis's wrestling was definitely a factor I had weighed. Regardless, Ratcliff pulled out a good win. Check out his Chuck Norris-esque spinning back kick win over Brett Cooper (Just recently beat Rory Markham at the IFL GP Final).

Tim Kennedy is definitely a nice pick. He nearly finished Jason Miller, but was ultimately defeated. Even with the setbacks, he's a warrior with good power, decent striking, and a great wrestling background. He'll be able to improve significantly as well as he has been training with The Pit, Liddell's camp.

Both are fantastic picks, but I'm not sold on the Demian Maia and Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza picks for a couple of reasons. First, Maia and Souza could run into the possibility of just being punched into unconsciousness. We all know that, but my main gripe deals with grapplers in general moving to the top of the middleweight division. Both guys could make waves in a weak UFC middleweight division for awhile, but the grapplers near the top and the over talent at the top rely on some decent standup skills as well. A guy like Filho has better chances because he has huge power in his arms and has a possibility of catching his opponent. His raw power is also tough to stop on the ground. His raw power makes him dangerous in the striking even though he isn't that technically sound in it. Maia and Souza don't have that advantage.

Neil Grove didn't impress me in his last fight, and honestly, he's a typical British standup fighter. Robert Berry, who wasn't using really any technique at all in his striking, was able to actually drop him to the ground and win the round. Unbelievably, Berry gave up due to exhaustion. Grove was lucky, and he will probably be exposed in any other organization.