The Weekly Wrap: Feb. 6 - Feb. 12

Yoshida to Retire

Hidehiko Yoshida, one of Japan's top MMA stars since he made the leap from a gold-medal winning career in judo to some of the biggest fights in history the Pride Fighting Championships, announced he will retire from the sport in the main event of a new promotion's first card on April 25.

An opponent for Yoshida, 40, has yet to be announced. The bout will take place on a card called "Astra,” promotion by a team involved in Yoshida's J-Rock Management Group. J-Rock ran Sengoku until that promotion negotiated to participate in rival Dream's New Year's Eve fight card last year. The promotion’s name is tied to the Greek deity of Astraea, whose myth matches concepts valued in Japanese society like the “strength in numbers” group ethic and community cooperation, promoter Takahiro Kokuho told Sherdog.com.

The card will take place at Nippon Budokan in Tokyo. Fellow J-Rock and Yoshida Dojo fighters Makoto Takimoto, Kazuhiro Nakamura, Michihiro Omigawa and Tatsunao Nagakura are also expected to fight on the card. It’s not clear if the promotion will promote more than one event, as Kokuho told Sherdog.com that relations with Dream have been patched up and could result in J-Rock fighters going there.