Japanese legend Kazushi Sakuraba will lock horns with Melvin Manhoef in the quarter-finals of the Dream Middleweight Grand Prix at Dream 4 on Sunday at the Yokohama Arena in Kanagawa, Japan. The bout will serve as the featured attraction on the eight-fight card.

Sakuraba (24-10-1), who turns 39 in July, made his debut with the Dream promotion in April, when he submitted Andrews Nakahara with a first-round neck crank at Dream 2. He will enter his showdown with Manhoef on a three-fight winning streak. One of Japan's most adored MMA superstars, Sakuraba owns victories against reigning UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and former UFC titleholders Carlos Newton, Vitor Belfort and Kevin Randleman. Seventeen of his 24 wins have come by submission.

One of the combat sports world's most feared strikers, Manhoef (21-4-1) has delivered a staggering 20 of his 21 career wins by knockout or technical knockout. The chiseled 5-foot-8 Dutch kickboxer has stopped his last four opponents inside one round. Included among those wins was a TKO victory against Dae Won Kim at Dream 3 in May. Despite his pedigree as a world-class stand-up fighter, Manhoef has only been submitted twice in 26 matches.

Sakuraba and Manhoef will share the stage with another Dream Middleweight Grand Prix fight, as former Icon Sport champion Jason "Mayhem" Miller will meet submission master Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza.

Miller (21-5) will enter the quarter-final round on a four-fight winning streak. A product of Team Quest, the eccentric 27-year-old holds submission victories against reigning EliteXC middleweight champion Robbie Lawler, current X-1 World Events middleweight titleholder Falaniko Vitale and Canadian standout Denis Kang. Miller has posted 14 wins in 16 fights, losing only to Frank Trigg and UFC welterweight kingpin Georges St. Pierre in that span. He stopped Katsuyori Shibata on first-round strikes in the opening round of the grand prix earlier last month.

One of the world's premier submission grapplers, Souza (8-1) has posted eight straight victories - all by submission - since he was knocked out by Jorge Patino in his MMA debut back in 2003. The Brazilian was a runner-up at the Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Wrestling World Championships in 2005 and remains one of the top jiu-jitsu practitioners in the sport. Souza submitted Ian Murphy with a first-round rear naked choke in the opening round of the grand prix in April.

In other high-profile action, Shinya Aoki will battle one-time Olympic silver medalist Katsuhiko Nagata in the lone remaining Dream Lightweight Grand Prix quarter-final.

A dynamic ground fighter, Aoki (15-2) advanced in the tournament with a unanimous decision victory over Gesias "JZ" Cavalcante at Dream 2 in April. The 25-year-old Pride Fighting Championships veteran has delivered more than half (eight) of his 15 wins by submission and owns notable victories against Joachim Hansen, Clay French and Jason Black. He twice defeated Akira Kikuchi, the last man to beat EliteXC welterweight contender Jake Shields.

Nagata (4-2), who possesses limited MMA experience, advanced to the lightweight quarter-final with a unanimous decision victory against Artur Oumakhanov at Dream 1 in March. His lone defeats have come to UFC veteran Caol Uno and Yoshihiro Akiyama, one of the world's premier middleweights.

Elsewhere, Ralek Gracie -- nearly a year after he made his successful professional MMA debut -- will take on Alavutdin Gadzhiyev in a heavyweight bout.

The 22-year-old Gracie (1-0) submitted Japanese wrestler Katsuyori Shibata with a first-round armbar at a K-1 Hero's show in July. He needed just 3:05 to discard Shibata. A Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt and the nephew of Royce and Rickson Gracie, Gracie was originally scheduled to face Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic in a special rules grappling match at Dream 4. An injury forced the Croatian to withdraw.

A veteran of the Pancrase promotion, Gadzhiyev (7-1) has rattled off seven consecutive victories since he dropped a decision to Sergey Burdalenko in his professional debut back in 2004. The 25-year-old Sambo practitioner has secured five of his seven victories by knockout or technical knockout. Gadzhiyev, a natural middleweight, was originally booked for a bout with the Brazilian Top Team's Alexandre "Cacareco" Ferreira, who bowed out of the event after he encountered difficulty obtaining a visa.

Armenian middleweight Gegard Mousasi (21-2-1) and Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem (26-11) are also scheduled to compete.

----------------------

Dream 4
Sunday, June 15
Yokohama Arena
Kanagawa, Japan

Dream Middleweight Grand Prix
Jason "Mayhem" Miller vs. Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza
Melvin Manhoef vs. Kazushi Sakuraba
Gegard Mousasi vs. Dong Sik Yoon
Zelg Galesic vs. Taiei Kin

Dream Lightweight Grand Prix
Shinya Aoki vs. Katsuhiko Nagata

Ralek Gracie vs. Alavutdin Gadzhiyev
Alistair Overeem vs. Tae Hyun Lee
Hideo Tokoro vs. Darren Uyenoyama