Astral travelling, conversing with his ancestors, KTFO

As “Nuke” LaLoosh would say, underdog Marius Zaromskis (11-2) announced his presence with authority at Monday’s DREAM 10 welterweight grand prix in Saitama, Japan.

The Lithuanian striker delivered a pair of devastating head kicks that knocked out tournament favorite Hayato “Mach” Sakurai (35-9-2) in the semi-finals and American Jason High (8-2) in the final to win the first-ever DREAM welterweight title.

While High tried to grapple with Zaromskis he gave the fighter too much space to work with and Zaromskis made him pay dearly with a swift right leg that sent High “astral traveling,” as the DREAM commentator put it.

It was a similar story against Sakurai, starting with a flying knee by Zaromskis to start the match. Zaromskis continued to be aggressive, winging punches and knees at his opponent that eventually opened up cuts above and below Sakurai’s left eye. But it was a left high kick that dropped the Japanese favourite followed by rapid-fire left hands that ended it.

High made it into the final by surviving against Brazilian submission ace Andre Galvao (3-1), who attempted submission after submission in the opening 10-minute stanza. Round 2 saw High stay on his feet and pick Galvao apart to earn a split decision.

In non-tournament bouts, grapplers Shinya Aoki and Vitor “Shaolin” Ribeiro opted to trade punches and kicks with Aoki coming away with a boring win. Former Ultimate Fighter alcoholic Jesse Taylor out-wrestled Korean judoka Dong Sik Yoon, who appeared to break his ankle and verbally submitted. Slugger Melvin Manhoef pounded Paulo Filho but couldn’t break the submission specialist, who locked in a game-ending armbar.

In a lightweight superfight, karate kid Katsunori Kikuno took down, mounted and ground-and-pounded his way to a win over Brazilian striker and Toronto BJJ fighter Andre “Dida” Amado.