DREAM GP: Banuelos-Tokoro, Fernandes-Otsuka, Cullum-Imanari, Marques-Saadulaev

DREAM's world bantamweight grand prix is set, and a few surprise names made the cut.

DREAM officials announced the eight participants and pairing for September's opening round, and the matchups include Antonio Banuelos (18-7) vs. Hideo Tokoro (30-23-1), Bibiano Fernandes (8-3) vs. Takafumi Otuska (12-8-1), Masakazu Imanari (23-9-2) vs. Abel Cullum (18-5) and Rodolfo Marques (12-1) vs. Yusup Saadulaev (8-0-1).

DREAM.17 takes place Sept. 24 at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.

No North-American broadcast plans have been announced for the show.

A 13-time WEC veteran, Banuelos makes his DREAM debut after suffering a decision loss to Miguel Torres in the UFC's octagon. He faces Tokoro, who brings a four-fight win streak to the contest after capturing the promotion's eight-man Japan bantamweight grand prix tourney title.

Former featherweight Fernandes looks to rebound from a New Year's Eve loss to Hiroyuki Takaya against 12-time DEEP veteran Otsuka, who is just 2-4 in his past six outings.

Japan bantamweight grand prix runner-up and 11-year veteran Imanari draws Cullum, a nine-time King of the Cage fighter who looks to snap a two-fight losing streak.

Lastly, a pair of promising prospects make their promotional debuts as Nove Uniao's Marques meets undefeated Illini Saadulaev.

The current lineup for DREAM.17 now includes:

Antonio Banuelos vs. Hideo Tokoro*
Bibiano Fernandes vs. Takafumi Otuska*
Masakazu Imanari vs. Abel Cullum*
Rodolfo Marques vs. Yusup Saadulaev*
Joachim Hansen vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri
Shinya Aoki vs. Rob McCullough
Willamy Freire vs. Satoru Kitaoka
Takeshi Inoue vs. Caol Uno

* - World bantamweight grand prix quarterfinal

Kawajiri makes featherweight debut against Hansen at DREAM.17

After stumbling to a 2-2 record in his past four fights at lightweight, "Crusher" will drop to 145 pounds to face "Hellboy."

DREAM officials recently announced the matchup, as Tatsuya Kawajiri (28-7-2 MMA, 8-2 DREAM) meets Joachim Hansen (22-10-1 MMA, 5-4 DREAM) at DREAM.17.

DREAM.17 takes place Sept. 24 at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.

No North-American broadcast plans have been announced for the show

The bout marks a rematch of sorts, as Kawajiri technically owns a victory over his foe. In a June 2006 meeting under the Shooto banner, a Hansen kick just eight seconds into the bout caught Kawajiri in the groin, resulting in a disqualification loss for the Norwegian scrapper.

A longtime staple of the Japanese MMA scene, Kawajiri made his U.S. debut this past April in a failed attempt to snatch the Strikeforce lightweight title away from Gilbert Melendez. Melendez dispatched of his Japanese opponent via first-round TKO.

It was the second failed lightweight title bid for Kawajiri in the past 13 months, as DREAM champ Shinya Aoki also earned a first-round submission win over the perennial contender.

Meanwhile, Hansen is also a former lightweight. In fact, the 32-year-old was actually DREAM's first lightweight champion. However, after losing the belt to Aoki in October 2009, Hansen promptly dropped to featherweight.

After falling short in his first two bouts in the new weightclass, Hansen has since racked up three-straight victories, including wins over Mitsuhiro Ishida, Sami Aziz and Hideo Tokoro.