FanHouse Eddie Alvarez

Bellator lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez, widely considered the No. 3 lightweight in the world, tapped out DEEP titleholder Katsunori Kikuno at DREAM.12 on Sunday. But early on Alvarez was in trouble when he was caught in a move, which he claimed, was "something I've never been in before."

The move is called the standing crucifix, a neck crank obtained when the applier can secure double underhooks and join his hands around his opponent's back. It can be transitioned from a guillotine choke and also be utilized when defending a takedown, which happened in this case.

In a match-up of the Bellator Fighting Championships lightweight champion and the DEEP lightweight champion, Eddie Alvarez demonstrated by defeating Katsunori Kikuno with a second-round submission at Dream 12 that he's a fighter who just keeps getting better.

Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem tapped out British veteran James Thompson with a first-round standing guillotine in the main event of Sunday's DREAM.12 at the Osaka-jo Hall in Osaka, Japan.

Thompson immediately tried to rush Overeem, but was shrugged off. Overeem launched a high flying knee that almost caught his own left arm on the top of the cage. Thompson rushed Overeem once more but was caught in Overeem's trademark choke.

FanHouse has live results of DREAM.12 at the Osaka-jo Hall in Osaka, Japan.

DREAM.12 marks the first time ever that a major Japanese promotion will utilize a cage, a hexagon dubbed as the "White Cage." A trifecta of titleholders are scheduled for action: Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem, Bellator lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez and DREAM's own welterweight champion Marius Zaromskis.

The live blog is below.

Bellator lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez will face off against the DEEP 154-pound titleholder Katsunori Kikuno at DREAM.12 on Oct. 25 in Osaka, Japan.

DREAM announced Tuesday Alvarez vs. Kikuno along with another bout featuring a lightweight champ, Cage Force's Kuniyoshi Hironaka taking on Won Sik Park.

Bully Beatdown, the MTV show in which Jason "Mayhem" Miller forces bullies into the cage with MMA fighters while the bullies' victims sit by and watch, returns for its second season Thursday night. In the video below, Eddie Alvarez puts a bully in his place.

In B.J. Penn's seven fights since returning to the UFC in 2006, he's 4-3. That record doesn't even come close to telling the story of Penn, the most dominant lightweight fighter in MMA history.

The year is half over, and we're recognizing the best in MMA in the first six months of 2009. Up first is our Fighter of the Half Year, Lyoto Machida.

It was a big weekend for the lightweights in MMA, with Eddie Alvarez winning the Bellator lightweight tournament on Friday night (above) and Diego Sanchez beating Clay Guida by split decision in a fight of the year candidate Saturday at the Ultimate Fighter Finale.

So what's next for Alvarez and Sanchez? Bellator will have to work hard to attract some top-notch lightweights to challenge Alvarez in their second season (I'm hoping they sign Joachim Hansen), while Sanchez thinks he's earned a shot at the UFC lightweight belt (but I think he should fight Gray Maynard first). My list of the Top 10 lightweights in MMA is below.

Eddie Alvarez beat Toby Imada to win the lightweight title and Hector Lombard beat Jared Hess to win the middleweight title Friday night as the Bellator Fighting Championships brought its inaugural season to a close.