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
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