The DREAM.5 attracted a crowd of 11,986 to the Osaka Jo Hall and was
broadcast live in Japan on the
TBS network and
SkyPerfect and on
HDNet Fights in the United States.[1]
The 8th matchup was initially to be postponed until
DREAM.2 due to the injuries of
Vítor Ribeiro and
Caol Uno along with
Gilbert Melendez's prior commitment to Strikeforce. Dream officials decided to directly seed Caol Uno into the 2nd round against
Mitsuhiro Ishida as the 8th fighter.
Nick Diaz was originally scheduled to fight
Hayato Sakurai to determine the Dream Welterweight Champion, but Diaz had to pull out due to contractual obligations to
EliteXC.[2]
Mirko "Crocop" Filipovic had been a long rumored participant. Originally scheduled to face
Jerome LeBanner, and later
Mighty Mo Siligia, Mirko had to pull out due to a recovering shoulder injury and minor impending knee surgery. Mirko expressed interest in fighting at
DREAM.6 in September.[3]
Denis Kang had been another long rumored participant.[4] With one fight left on his
FEG contract, Denis Kang would have become an unrestricted free agent at the conclusion of this bout. However, he was pulled from the card late in July for unknown reasons.[5]
Appearing on the original DREAM.5 banner,
Minowaman was pulled from the card to instead fight at
Deep: Gladiators.[7]
The bout between
Norifumi "KID" Yamamoto and Joseph Benavidez has been canceled due to a knee injury Yamamoto suffered in training. Yamamoto has been replaced by Junya Kodo.[8]
Reports indicate Dream.5 scored a 10.0 rating for network TV on the TBS broadcast in Japan. The rating peaked at 13.9 during the Akiyama-Shibata fight.