Gerald Harris (18-4 MMA, 0-0 DREAM) is bound for Japan.
The ex-UFC middleweight today told MMAjunkie.com (
www.mmajunkie.com) that he's signed a multi-fight contract with DREAM.
While Harris' debut for the promotion has yet to be determined, though DREAM representative Mike Kogan said today that there is "a very good chance" the fighter could appear on an as-yet-unannounced event, possibly DREAM.17, targeted for Sept. 25 at Saitama Arena in Saitama, Japan.
Harris is happy to have a promotion to call home.
"It's just dangerous to sign with an organization that's either new or trying to come back, or that's not stable," he said. "They're very stable."
While that statement might not ring true to many hardcore MMA fans – DREAM's financial struggles were well-documented in 2010 and later compounded by a horrific earthquake that hit Japan this past April – Harris is confident that the promotion is not going anywhere.
"Everybody's had situations in the past, but I'm just saying overall – they have a great reputation, they produce great fighters, and they're highly respected."
Harris said that he should know his first booking for DREAM in the next few days.
"It's just a multi-fight deal," he said. "Even my contract says, 'You're going to fight this many times.' It was real simple, and they're going to come back with more details."
DREAM on: Promotion planning resurgence this year
Kogan, meanwhile, said that DREAM's future is looking more solid than ever. The promotion's personnel backbone, Real Entertainment, has mapped out a plan to move forward independently with events as its longtime partner Fighting and Entertainment Group continues to undergo financial restructuring.
FEG made headlines this past year when a number of fighters stepped forward to complain of not being paid.
"They either have to or they have to cut all these guys loose," Kogan said of DREAM's motivation for continuing. "Because you can't sign people and tell them to sit tight while they restructure."
So while the schedule for FEG's primary offering, K-1 kickboxing, has yet to be determined, DREAM has earmarked Sept. 25 for an event. The card is expected to kickoff an international bantamweight tournament featuring three Japanese fighters – the winner of the recent "Japan Grand Prix" and its second and third place finishers – and five international fighters to be determined.
Kogan said former DREAM featherweight champion Bibiano Fernandes is planning a drop to bantamweight for a possible slot in the tournament.
What's unknown at this point, Kogan added, is whether DREAM will have the support of Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS), who aired all of its events until this year. He did, however, say that the promotion is in talks with HDNet to air its 2011 schedule as well as its 2012 schedule.
It's unknown at this point whether the events will be broadcast live. Kogan said the tape-delayed airings of DREAM's two most recent shows on HDNet were due to the fact that the promotion had not yet decided to forge ahead with live events, and by the time it did, live programming was no longer an option on the premium cable channel.
After a five-month hiatus, DREAM resurfaced earlier this past May with an event to benefit victims of the Japanese earthquake. Earlier this month, it held the finals of a qualifying bantamweight grand prix at Tokyo's Ariake Coliseum. Hideo Tokoro defeated Masakazu Imanari to win the eight-man competition, and featherweight champ Hiroyuki Takaya outpointed Kazuyuki Miyata to retain his 145-pound title.
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