The opening round of PRIDE’s Absolute Grand Prix is upon us. With under a week to go, almost as intriguing as looking over the field and prognosticating who would win the tournament was finding out who was going to compete. This four-round tournament had just 12 participants as recently as Sunday.
Then we get “Zuluzinho” and “Minotauro” on Sunday night but no eighth match? Plus we get thrown a bone of Yvel and Zentsov in a single bout? It kind of makes you scratch your head doesn’t it?
We know Fedor Emelianenko (Pictures) has a bye into the second round due to his injured hand, but there’s been much speculation as to who else will be brought in later on. Names like Coleman, Gardner, Kharitonov, Arona, Henderson, Rua, Silva and even Sakuraba have all been mentioned. But none of these names have been confirmed. And there’s always the chance Nobuyuki Sakakibara pulls off the unthinkable and sways someone like Andrei Arlovski (Pictures) or Royce Gracie (Pictures) to jump into the event. With the PFC and the money available in Japan, anything can happen.
The complete card looks like this:
Freelance striker Gilbert Yvel (Pictures) throws down with Red Devil Fight Club striker Roman Zentsov (Pictures) in a single bout.
Absolute Grand Prix Tournament:
Brazilian jiu-jitsu stylist Fabricio Werdum (Pictures) goes toe-to-toe with Golden Glory Team fighter Alistair Overeem (Pictures).
Freelance fighter Tsuyoshi Kohsaka (Pictures) and Australian kickboxer Mark Hunt (Pictures) square off.
English striker James Thompson (Pictures) of Team Trojan battles Antonio Inoki prodigy Kazuyuki Fujita (Pictures).
American submission fighter Josh Barnett (Pictures) confronts Red Devil Fight Club’s Combat Sambo fighter Aleksander Emelianenko (Pictures).
Croatian striker Mirko Filipovic (Pictures) and freelance fighter Ikuhisa Minowa (Pictures) take to the ring.
Brazilian Top Team grappler Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (Pictures) takes on Vale Tudo fighter Wagner da Conceicao Martins of the B-TOUGH/Wolfslair Gym.
Olympic judo gold medalist Hidehiko Yoshida (Pictures) tangles with former professional boxer Yosuke Nishijima (Pictures).