After Kazuyuki Miyata stymied him in his first and only DREAM appearance, "Lion" Takeshi will dust himself off and give it another whirl when he throws hands against the dangerous Koichiro Matsumoto at DREAM 17: "Fight for Japan" from the Saitama Super Arena on May 29 in Saitama, Japan.
Officials announced the 145-pound affair earlier today.
Inoue (19-5) snapped a rare two-fight losing skid by returning to Shooto in fashion, securing a second round technical knockout victory over Taiki Tsuchiya just last month.
He'll need that momentum against DEEP's reigning featherweight champion.
Matsumoto (12-2) will make his DREAM debut after terrorizing Tokyo over the past two years.
After outworking Takafumi Otsuka at last July's "Impact" event, the Imada Dojo warrior crushed Shoji Maruyama via technical knockout in the third round of their contest last December to capture his fifth straight victory.
Expect fireworks on May 29.
DREAM 17 will also feature the promotion's 135-pound grand prix tournament.
Participants for the opening round of the all-bantamweight affair include Hideo Tokoro, Masakazu Imanari, Yoshiro Maeda, Keisuke Fujiwara, Darren Uyenoyama, Kenji Osawa, Takafumi Otsuka and Atsushi Yamamoto.
In addition, the event will operate in an "efficient" manner, with "minimal production and minimal light in it, [and] will be held in such a manner as possible without wasting electricity."
So don't count on any pyrotechnics or protracted musical numbers to open the show.
Part of that has to do with the country's national crisis, resulting from last month's devastating earthquake and the damage it caused to civilian and government domiciles.
Japan is still reeling from aftershocks and nuclear fallout but as they say, the show must go on.
For the current DREAM 17 "Fight for Japan" fight card and line-up click here.
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