DREAM 12 which took place on October 25, 2009 in Osaka, Japan was marked with the events first time using a hexagon cage. Fights also consisted of three five-minute rounds as used by most mixed martial arts organizations, though elbows remained illegal.

Dream 12 Results:
Alistair Overeem def. James Thompson via Guillotine Choke (round 1.)
Eddie Alvarez def. Katsunori Kikuno via Arm Triangle Choke (round 2.)
Marius Zaromskis def. Myeon Ho Bae via KO Head Kick (round 1.)
Kazushi Sakuraba def. Zelg Galesic via Kneebar (round 1.)
Katsuyori Shibata def. Tokimitsu Ishizawa via TKO (round 1.)
Tarec Saffiedine def. Dong Sik Yoon via Split Decision
Yoshiro Maeda def. Chase Beebe via Rear Naked Choke (round 1.)
Hiniyoshi Hironaka def. Won Sik Park via TKO Corner Stoppage (round 1.)
Tomoya Miyashita def. Keisuke Fujiwara via Unanimous Decision