Bibiano Fernandes-Yoshiro Maeda, Denis Kang-Melvin Manhoef set for DREAM.18

DREAM's return now has a new pair of high-profile fights set for New Year's Eve in Japan.

Bibiano Fernandes (12-3) and Yoshiro Maeda (30-11-2) will meet in a bantamweight bout, while Denis Kang (35-15-2) takes on Melvin Manhoef (26-9-1) at middleweight. DREAM officials recently announced the two fight bookings.

A combined show with the GLORY kickboxing promotion, "DREAM.18 and GLORY 4 Tokyo – New Year's Eve Special" takes place at 4 p.m. (2 a.m. ET) near Tokyo on New Year's Eve. The combined event will take place at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, which is where the DREAM.18 show was to be held before the merger of the two events.

Fernandes returns after a summer flirtation with the UFC that ended with him not coming to terms with the promotion, despite being announced for a fight with Roland Delorme at UFC 149. Instead, the former DREAM featherweight and bantamweight champ and current bantamweight champ signed with ONE FC and beat Gustavo Falciroli in August.

Fernandes has won four straight fights and has not lost since a unanimous decision setback against Hiroyuki Takaya on New Year's Eve two years ago.

Maeda, a WEC and PRIDE veteran, has won back-to-back fights with second-round rear-naked chokes. In February, he won DEEP's bantamweight title, then defended it in August against Tatsumitsu Wada.

Kang, a three-fight UFC vet, snapped a three-fight skid in June when he stopped Hae Suk Son with a first-round knockout in South Korea. That was his first victory since April 2011.

Manhoef, a standout kick boxer and Strikeforce vet, won his second straight fight in October when he knocked out Ryo Kawamura at "ONE FC: Rise of Kings." Before that, he took a split decision from Jae Young Kim in September to win for the first time after a four-fight winless streak that included a pair of Strikeforce losses to Robbie Lawler and Tim Kennedy.

SOURCE: MMA Junkie

Solid match ups, Kang v. Manhoef ought to be fireworks.

I'm really happy that Manhoef is on this card after he pulled out vs Khalidov. It was almost like a blessing in disguise. Always enjoy seeing him fight in Japan.

Amazing card got even better

Watching Manhoef fight is always a blessing.

Bibi 4 life

GLORY/DREAM and ONE FC are delivering with their first official fight announcements. I love the Bibi/Maeda fight.

DREAM BW Champ (Vacated)/Top GLOBAL BW vs. DEEP Champ. Great match. I wouldn't mind seeing Maeda takes this.

Always love seeing Manhoef fight. Glad he will make it to NYE. Hoping for a nice early KO in this one.

Maeda is just so inconsistent, otherwise this is a fantastic fight. I see Bibi winning by submission.

Manhoef/Kang, although five years late, is still a wonderful fight. Don't know what to expect from either of them which will make for a entertaining fight. I'm leaning towards a Manhoef TKO

wekka wrote:Maeda is just so inconsistent, otherwise this is a fantastic fight. I see Bibi winning by submission.

Manhoef/Kang, although five years late, is still a wonderful fight. Don't know what to expect from either of them which will make for a entertaining fight. I'm leaning towards a Manhoef TKO

Bibi is the def. favorite in this fight but I would not be too surprised if Maeda pulled this one off. He has looked solid in DEEP this year. Bibi is a force though at 135.

Yeah, would love to see a nice Manhoef KO in this fight.