DREAM had a press conference on July 18 and announced that Norifumi "KID" Yamamoto canceled his fight in DREAM.5.

Sasahara:
KID canceled his fight unfortunately, because he got injured during his training. He teared a ligament in his right knee. I was on the way going to Osaka when I heard this news. I turned back to Tokyo immediately and I was reported his condition. I'm sorry about the fact he cannot fight in DREAM.5. I assume many people were looking forward to seeing his fight on July 21. I hope everybody understand that hard trainings come together with risks of getting injured.

KID:
I'm very disappointed. I have been eager to participate in DREAM since I saw the event. I finally got a chance to fight and I was fully ready for my debut fight. I sparred a lot of every day and I was sparring when I got injured last night. I heard a sound which something was broken when I threw a flying knee to a sparring partner and my right leg landed on the ground. I fell with screaming at that moment. I don't remember what happened after that. I regret that I cannot fight in DREAM 5. I knew my fans expected to see my performance and I had a confidence to have a great fight. My doctor told me it would take 6 months to heal completely; although, I believe I will recover sooner than 6 months. I would like to apologize to Joseph Benavidez, because I will be mad if my opponent cancels right before our fight. If he thinks that I'm running away from him, that gets on my nerves. I definitely fight him at first when I come back. I'm not sure if I take an operation or not yet. I honestly don't want to take a surgery with some reason but I will decide after a close examination.