Returning after his impressive knockout victory over Katsuhisa Fujii at Pride Bushido 5, Igor Vovchanchyn looks to secure his spot in the Pride Middleweight GP but standing in his way is Pancrase journeyman Yoshiki Takahashi. In a clash of rising heavyweight stars, Russian heavyweight contender Sergei Kharitonov returns to take on Korean heavyweight hopeful Choi Mu Bae. Coming off a disappointing performance at Pride 28, Hirotaka Yokoi returns to do battle with BTT leader Mario Sperry. Rising middleweight star Mauricio “Shogun” Rua returns after his destruction of Yasuhito Namekawa at Pride Bushido 5, to take on the battle tested Rings veteran Hiromitsu Kanehara. Making his Pride debut, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu World Champion Fabricio Werdum does battle with Tom Erikson, who returns after a three-year layoff from the ring. In an odd match-up, Japanese favorite Kiyoshi Tamura takes on freestyle wrestling champion Aliev Makhmud of Azerbaijan.

Heavyweight Bout: Mirko Cro Cop vs. Mark “The Hammer” Coleman

In the main event the number one contender for the Pride Heavyweight Championship, takes on Pride GP 2000 Champion Mark “The Hammer” Coleman. In essence, this is a tune up match for Mirko as he continues his quest for a title match with Pride heavyweight kingpin Fedor Emelianenko. For Mark, he comes into this fight with nothing to lose and everything to gain. A loss wouldn’t tarnish an already legendary career but a win over Mirko would catapult him back into the heavyweight spotlight. By taking this fight, Mirko has little to gain but experience and everything to lose, like his title shot. This is a classic clash of styles with the kickboxer fighting the wrestler.

Mirko comes into this match off an impressive, somewhat surprising win over Coleman’s pupil Kevin Randleman. The surprising part not being the victory itself but by the method it was obtained, with a guillotine choke. Mirko has been known to have a suspect ground game in the past but has been working with Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt and world champion Fabricio Werdum for the last six months. How much has his ground game improved in the last six months? It’s hard to judge from the Randleman fight alone how much he really has improved. Why is this? Randleman has poor submission defense as displayed in his most recent performances, with all of his last four losses coming by way of submission. Coleman’s last two losses both were by submission. Does this mean that Mirko is going to submit Coleman? No, both of those submission losses were to fighters who aren’t slouches on the ground, Nogueira and Fedor. Does it mean Mirko has no chance of submitting Coleman? No, it’s just very unlikely that Mirko will submit Coleman because I personally doubt his ground game has improved by leaps and bounds in just six months.

Coleman’s last victory was a boring decision win over Don Frye at Pride 26. Mark controlled the fight by taking Frye down to ground and controlling him from the top with just enough ground and pound for the victory. In his last bout with Fedor, he came in calm and relaxed, and was controlling the fight until Fedor surprised him with a beautiful armbar from the bottom. Even in losing Mark displayed he can still hang with Pride’s top heavyweights. Coleman will need to take Cro Cop down to the ground and control him from the top. Mark is strong enough to keep Mirko on his back and control him with his famous ground and pound. Mark has seemed to take this fight seriously, as he has branched out of the Hammer House and is training with Chuck Liddell. Training with Liddell should improve his stand up just enough in order for him to survive long enough on the feet with Mirko until he can take him down. Mirko has excellent takedown defense as displayed in his past fights but he was taken down by Ron Waterman at Pride 27, who was unable to keep Mirko on his back. Unlike Waterman, Coleman is a much better wrestler and will be able to take Mirko down to the ground and will keep him their as long as he pleases.

Mirko has been on a roll lately winning his last five fights. Two of those fights were against smaller opponents, a brutal decision beating of Hiromitsu Kanehara at Pride Bushido 3 and an expected knockout of Shungo Oyama at Pride Bushido 4. A very impressive knockout victory against the larger Aleksander Emelianenko followed at Pride Final Conflict 2004. A disappointing victory over Josh Barnett proved very little at Pride 28. Mirko then avenged his brutal knockout loss to Kevin Randleman from earlier in the year by submitting Randleman on New Year’s Eve. Can Mirko continue his winning streak on his quest for title shot? Coleman is going to be Mirko’s biggest test since losing to Nogueria by armbar at Pride Final Conflict 2003. He is going to be looking to keep this fight on the feet long enough for him to score him a knockout victory; his takedown defense should be able keep Coleman from taking him down for small period of time. During this small window of opportunity, Mirko will be looking to introduce his foot to Coleman’s face.

The key factor to this fight is going to be Coleman’s conditioning. If Coleman comes into the match fully prepared to go the distance, he will only increase his chances of an upset. If Coleman gasses out sometime during the fight, it’s going to be UFC 17 all over again. Mirko is coming into this match focused and ready to take on Fedor sometime later this year and shouldn’t look past Coleman, but he won’t because he has learned from his past losses not to overlook his opponents. Mirko will survive Coleman’s early assault and will ride out his time on the ground with Mark and once it’s back on the feet look for Mirko to hurt Mark badly and score a knockout late in the first round.

Prediction: Mirko Cro Cop by TKO/KO late in the first round.

Middleweight Bout: Quinton “Rampage” Jackson vs. Murilo “Ninja” Rua

Quinton “Rampage” Jackson returns to action taking on Chute Boxe fighter Murilo “Ninja” Rua. Both fighters are coming off recent knockout losses in their last appearances in the Pride ring. Jackson returns after being knocked senseless by Ninja’s stable mate Wanderlei Silva at Pride 28. Murilo moves back down to middleweight after an unsuccessful attempt at the heavyweight division. A very bloated Rua was knocked into next week by rising heavyweight star Sergei Kharitonov at Pride Total Elimination 2004. Both fighters will be looking to return to the win column in order to gain momentum going into this year’s Pride Middleweight GP. Win or lose, both fighters should be participating in the upcoming GP, as both are deserving of a spot.

Quinton returns after an impressive performance in a losing effort against Pride Middleweight Champion Wanderlei Silva at Pride 28. Jackson held his own during much of the fight, even dropping Silva with a right hand and mounting him, delivering some effect ground and pound until time ran out. In the second round, Jackson began to tire and was eventually knocked out with a brutal knee. Ninja returns after an unsuccessful attempt as a heavyweight in last year’s Pride Heavyweight GP. Murilo entered as a bloated middleweight against a natural heavyweight in Sergei Kharitonov. Rua pushed the pace of the fight but was unable to sustain the quick pace for long. Ninja met Kharitonov blow for blow but was broken down with brutal body shots and eventually was knocked out with a beautiful combination of punches. Even though both fighters were recently knocked out, expect both of them to throw down in an exciting fashion.

Both are world-class strikers in Pride’s middleweight division, Jackson being trained by Muay Thai expert Colin Oyama and Murilo by the Chute Boxe Academy. Jackson has competed twice in K-1 beating Cyril Abidi twice, once by knockout and once by decision. He has also defeated some of MMA best strikers, beating Igor Vovchanchyn at Pride 22 and dominating Chuck Liddell at Pride Final Conflict 2003. Murilo has shown impressive striking ability, brutally beating Daijiro Matsui at Pride 16, defeating Alex Andrade with ease at Pride 18 and knocking out Akria Shoji with a flying knee at Pride Shockwave 2003. Both also have suffered defeat in Pride, Jackson was submitted by Sakuraba at Pride 15 and has been knocked out twice by Wanderlei Silva, once at Pride Final Conflict 2003 and most recently at Pride 28. Murilo has four losses in the Pride ring, a questionable decision loss to Dan Henderson at Pride 17, a decision loss to Ricardo Arona at Pride 23, a doctor stoppage loss to Kevin Randleman at Pride 24 and his most recent loss to Sergei Kharitonov at Pride Total Elimination 2004.

Jackson’s strengths include slams, power and brutal ground and pound. Ninja’s strengths include his hands, knees, soccer kicks and deadly foot stomps. This could easily be the fight of the night, as both loves to push the pace of the fight. Both are going to look to keep the fight standing for most of the first round. Jackson will then take Ninja to the ground with a brutal slam and begin to unload some ground and pound. Quinton will be looking to prove that he is still one of the top middleweights in the world with an impressive performance against Ninja. Jackson will eventually accomplish his goal but Ninja is going to put up a hell of a fight in the process.

Prediction: Quinton “Rampage” Jackson by TKO in the second round.

Middleweight Bout: Alistair Overeem vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira

Two of Pride’s up and coming middleweights return to action in this next bout. Brazilian fighter Antonio Rogerio Nogueira battles with Dutch striker Alistair Overeem. Both are coming off lackluster wins in recent competition in Pride. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira returns after a split decision win over Kazuhiro Nakamura at Pride Bushido 4. Alistair Overeem returns after a TKO stoppage of Hiromitsu Kanehara at Pride 28. Both fighters will be looking to impress going into this year’s Pride Middleweight GP. A loss shouldn’t really effect fighter too much as both are top middleweights that could easily recover from it.

Antonio Rogerio Nogueira has been on a six fight winning streak after suffering the only loss of his career to Vladimir Matyushenko at Inoki’s UFO Legend show several years ago. His most impressive win during this period was against MMA legend Kazushi Sakuraba at Pride Shockwave 2003. Nogueira was able to push the pace of the fight early, he out struck Sakuraba for most of the fight even dropping him once. He came close to finishing Sakuraba at the end of the second round with a tight triangle choke, which somehow Sakuraba was able to escape. He also had a nice flurry at the end of the fight, dropping Sakuraba with a knee and landing several kicks before the bell. Nogueira will be looking to push the pace of the fight and take the fight straight to Overeem. Nogueira has excellent ground skills and his striking seems to be improving with each fight. His poor performance in his last fight could be attributed to him having two fights in the span of one month, beating Alex Stiebling by decision in Korea and then fighting three weeks later at Pride Bushido 4.

Alistair Overeem returns after an unimpressive win over Hiromitsu Kanehara at Pride 28. Even though it’s been known that Kanehara is hard to finish, Overeem seemed to be slow and sluggish during much of the fight and didn’t have that killer instinct that he has displayed in earlier fights. Fatigue could have been a factor, seeing that he had a fight earlier in the month against Rodney Faverus which he won by submission. Alistair has great stand up skills due to his training with Team Golden Glory and works with Martin De Jong for his ground training. Alistair recently won a spot in ADCC in his weight class by submitting all four of his opponents with guillotine chokes at the ADCC European Trials. He seems to be rapidly improving as time progresses in order to compliment his striking skills.

A key factor in this fight could be experience and level of competition. Alistair has much more experience then Nogueira but Nogueira has faced tougher competition then Alistair has. Alistair has mostly fought in RINGS and local shows in Holland, while Nogueira has fought the majority of his fights in Pride. Overeem will need to keep this fight standing in order to damage Nogueira and try to avoid going to the ground, where Nogueira will most likely be able to control him. Nogueira will most likely try to avoid standing up with Overeem and look to take it to the ground, working for a submission. This is a tough match up for both fighters; I don’t see either fighter finishing the other and this one will most likely go to a decision. Nogueira will be able to push the pace of the fight and control Overeem on the ground en route to a decision victory.

Prediction: Antonio Rogerio Nogueira by decision.

Heavyweight Bout: Choi Mu Bae vs. Sergei Kharitonov

Sergei Kharitonov returns after a six-month layoff from the ring due to a training injury, to take on Korean heavyweight Choi Mu Bae. Kharitonov comes back after an impressive performance in a losing effort to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at Pride Final Conflict 2004. He gave Nogueira all he could handle en route to a decision loss. Even in losing to Nogueira, Seregi proved that he belonged with the top heavyweights in Pride. Choi Mu Bae comes back after an expected win over Giant Silva at Pride Shockwave 2004. Choi seemed to be having some trouble dealing with Silva’s size but was able to submit him with a side choke midway through the first round. The winner of this match could put himself in title contention sometime in the near future.

Sergei has a 4-1 record in Pride with his only loss being to Nogueira in his last outing. In all his wins in Pride, Kharitonov has been able to finish his opponents in the first round. In his debut at Pride Bushido, he armbarred K-1 fighter Jason Nobunaga in the first round and was able to do the same to Cory Patterson at Pride 27. At Pride Total Elimination 2004, he faced dangerous Chute Boxe fighter Murilo “Ninja” Rua. Most believed that Kharitonov had little striking skills and would be picked apart if he stood with Ninja, they were shocked to see Kharitonov trade blow for blow with Ninja, who he eventually knocked out with a beautiful combination of punches. At Pride Critical Countdown 2004, he ground and pounded Dutch striker Semmy Schilt to a bloody mess which forced the referee to stop the fight. Sergei has excellent submission skills and his striking skills seem to improve by leaps and bounds every time he steps into the ring.

Choi Mu Bae comes into this fight undefeated in MMA competition with a record of 5-0. He made his debut at Pride Bushido 2 submitting Takada Dojo fighter Yusuke Imamura with a rear naked choke in the first round. At Pride Bushido 3, he was able to control and suplex Norihisa Yamamoto en route to a decision victory. He then returned to his native Korea where he defeated Murad Ammaev by TKO at Gladiator FC 2. At Pride 28, he faced his toughest challenge to date, Australian fighter Soa Palalei. Choi was pounded for much of the fight but displayed tremendous heart in weathering the storm and eventually submitting Soa with a rear naked choke late in the second round. Choi is an excellent wrestler and has shown decent submission skills. It appears, his only weakness is his striking which seems to be sloppy at times.

Many believe that this is going to be a walk in the park for Sergei and a brutal beating for Choi. Choi isn’t a fighter that Sergei should underestimate though, because Choi could surprise Sergei if he makes a mistake. Sergei seems to be ready to bang with Pride’s top heavyweights. Choi has been brought up slowly, fighting below average fighters and unproven fighters. That being said, Sergei should be able to impose his will on Choi with his striking being the big difference. Sergei should be able to score a knockout, but not before Choi gives him a hell of a fight.

Prediction: Sergei Kharitonov by TKO/KO in the second round.

Middleweight Bout: Igor Vovchanchyn vs. Yoshiki Takahashi

Igor Vovchanchyn returns after an impressive knockout of Katsuhisa Fujii at Pride Bushido 5 to battle with the Heavyweight King of Pancrase, Yoshiki Takahashi. Both Vovchanchyn and Takahashi are small heavyweights and will be moving down to middleweight with the winner getting a spot in this year’s Pride Middleweight GP. Vovchanchyn moves down to middleweight after a successful career as a heavyweight. Takahashi is a Pancrase veteran and has recently run into some problems as a heavyweight outside of Pancrase. This is an interesting fight for both fighters and should prove to be an exciting one.

Igor Vovcahnchyn is a long time veteran of MMA having fought in many NHB tournaments prior to making his Pride debut. Igor was considered one of the best heavyweights in Pride’s early history, having fought in twelve straight Pride shows. During that span, he accumulated a record of 14-2 in Pride, but since then has had a record of 3-4 in Pride. Most likely fatigue was a factor due to Igor fighting so many times in a short period. Vovchanchyn has decided to move down to middleweight in order to rejuvenate his career where he could easily be a dominant fighter in the division. Igor is considered to be one of MMA’s top strikers having ended most of his fights by knockout, but has decent ground skills having submitted several opponents during his career.

Yoshiki Takahashi is the current Heavyweight King of Pancrase, and is coming off a loss to Heath Herring at Pride Total Elimination 2004. Takahashi was outweighed by a large amount and Herring made him look like a middleweight. Takahashi held his own early in the fight scoring with some knees and securing a tight guillotine choke. Herring was able to escape the choke and began to use his size advantage on Takahashi by unloading some brutal ground and pound. Takahashi decided to block it with his face and was eventually knocked out cold halfway through the first round. In his previous bout, Takahashi hung tough with Josh Barnett but was eventually submitted with a triangle choke at the NJPW Ultimate Crush 2 show. Takahashi has a solid ground game and has tons of experience having fought in Pancrase most of his career. Takahashi is not afraid to throw strikes with anyone either, and has some knockouts to his record.

This is great matchmaking by DSE as two veterans will battle for a spot in this year’s Pride Middleweight GP. Igor will look to keep it standing and to add another knockout to his record. Don’t be surprised if Takahashi decides to trade with Igor but eventually look for him to take it to the ground and work for a submission, however Igor has good submission defense and should be able to defend whatever Takahashi throws at him. Igor should be able to knockout Takahashi sometime during the second round, en route to securing his spot in the GP.

Prediction: Igor Vovchanchyn by KO in the second round.

Middleweight Bout: Mauricio “Shogun” Rua vs. Hiromitsu Kanehara

Mauricio “Shogun” Rua returns to action to take on rugged veteran Hiromitsu Kanehara. Shogun comes off an impressive beating of Yasuhito Namekawa at Pride Bushido 5. Kanehara returns after a disappointing performance at Pride 28 in a losing effort to Alistair Overeem. Shogun is a rising star in Pride’s middleweight division and seems to be ready to take on tougher competition. Kanehara is a longtime veteran of RINGS, so far having little success in Pride. This is one of several fights on the card which are being billed as a survival bout for this year’s Pride Middleweight GP.

Shogun comes into this fight with a 3-0 record in Pride, all three wins being on Pride’s Bushido series. In his Pride debut at Bushido, he knocked out longtime veteran Akria Shoji. At Pride Bushido 2, he outworked Pancrase standout Akhiro Gono eventually knocking him out late in the first round. In his most recent appearance he brutally beat Yasuhito Namekawa for six long minutes at Pride Bushido 5. Shogun sports only one loss on his record, a submission loss to Renato Sobral at IFC Global Domination in late 2003. Shogun is 3-0 in Meca Vale Tudo having finished all his opponents with strikes. He has great striking ability and wonderful cardio and ground game has been improving steadily after his submission loss to Sobral.

Kanehara comes back after a so far disappointing stint in Pride, going 0-3 in Pride in a two-year span. His Pride debut was a brutal beating at the hands of Pride Middleweight Champion Wanderlei Silva at Pride 23. After taking some time off to heal old injuries, he returned to fight the heavier Mirko Cro Cop at Pride Bushido 3. Kanehara took a fifteen-minute beating from Mirko en route to a decision loss but displayed tremendous heart and an iron chin. In his last appearance, he was unable to muster much offense against Alistair Overeem and was outgunned for most of the fight with his only offense being a Kimura attempt late in the first round. The fight was eventually stopped due to some severe cuts to Kanehara’s face. He has a solid ground game and is mostly known for his huge heart and iron chin.

Shogun is slowly gaining experience and confidence after every win in Pride. He loves to push the pace of the fight and never stops going. Kanehara is a solid fighter and has fought some of the best that MMA has to offer, but times have changed and he is no longer the same fighter that he once was as age and injuries have caught up with him. Shogun should be able to push the pace of the fight and impose his will on Kanehara throughout the entire fight. The only question mark is how long will Kanehara be able to sustain the beating that awaits him on February 20. Shogun will be able to beat Kanehara but won’t be able to knock him out due to Kanehara’s iron chin.

Prediction: Mauricio “Shogun” Rua by TKO in the second round.

Middleweight Bout: Hirotaka Yokoi vs. Mario Sperry

In another survival bout for this year’s Pride Middleweight GP, Hirotaka takes on Mario Sperry. Yokoi returns after a disappointing loss to the bigger Heath Herring at Pride 28. Sperry comes back to competition after a year layoff since his last bout at Pride Bushido 2. Both fighters come into this match having fought in the heavyweight division most of their careers. Yokoi is a small heavyweight that has always looked like a bloated middleweight and Sperry seems to be a natural middleweight who likes to fight in the heavyweight division. Both fighters seem to be evenly matched up and it should be a very competitive fight between the two.

Yokoi comes back after a disappointing performance against Heath Herring where he tried to stand with Herring but was unsuccessful in his attempts to trade. Herring was able to drop Yokoi twice with punches and in both instances was able to knee Yokoi on the ground from north-south position until the referee jumped in to stop the fight. Yokoi is currently 1-2 in Pride, with his other loss being to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at Pride Total Elimination 2004. Yokoi held his own with Nogueira through much of the fight, escaping various submission attempts, reversing Nogueira and even implementing some effective ground and pound. Yokoi was eventually submitted in the second round with Nogueira’s spinning front choke but not after impressing many. Yokoi’s only win in Pride was at Pride 23 when he armbarred K-1 veteran Jerrel Venetiaan in the third round of their fight. Yokoi is an excellent wrestler with great submission skills but has some questionable stand up.

Mario Sperry returns after a one-year layoff from the ring. In his last fight at Pride Bushido 2, he knocked out Cro Cop’s former BJJ trainer Mike Benecic in just eleven seconds. He is 3-2 in Pride, with a submission win over Igor Vovchanchyn at Pride 17. That was followed by a close decision loss to Murilo “Ninja” Rua at Pride 20. He then dominated the outmatched Andrei Kopylov at Pride 22, en route to a TKO win. Sperry then was beaten at Pride Shockwave 2003 by Yuki Kondo after several devastating knees opened a huge cut on his face forcing the referee to halt the match. Sperry has excellent submission skills and has decent stand up to compliment his ground game.

A key factor going into this fight will be how concentrated is each fighter is leading into the fight. Yokoi is normally a pro wrestler for Zero-One Max, so the question is, how seriously has Yokoi trained for this fight? Sperry has recently been in the middle of some controversy regarding his own team but things seem to have been resolved. Even though things are calm now, did Sperry have enough time to train properly for this fight? If Yokoi comes into the fight in shape, expect him to ground and pound Sperry en route to a decision victory.

Prediction: Hirotaka Yokoi by decision.

Heavyweight Bout: Fabricio Werdum vs. Tom Erikson

Fabricio Werdum will be making his Pride debut when he takes on wrestler Tom Erikson. Werdum is widely known as Mirko Cro Cop’s new BJJ trainer, who he has been working with for six months now. Tom Erikson returns after a three-year layoff from MMA competition; recently he has been fighting in K-1 with mixed results. This is going to be an interesting match up because Werdum is relatively new to MMA and has been given a tough fight for his Pride debut. On the other hand, Tom has been away from MMA for three years and it will be interesting to see how he readjusts to fighting there.

Fabricio Werdum is a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt and a former Brazilian Jiu Jitsu World Champion in the heavyweight division. He is 4-0-1 in MMA competition, in all his victory’s he has been able to finish his opponent. In his most recent fight at Jungle Fight 2, he was able to knockout Ebenezer Fontes Braga in the second round. Being a BJJ black belt already assures that he has an excellent ground game and is most likely more comfortable on the ground. Training with Mirko should have improved his striking skills greatly. His only weakness could be his inexperience in MMA and this being his Pride debut, as his nerves should be going strong come fight night.

Tom Erikson is 3-1 in Pride with his last win being a submission victory over Tim Catalfo at Pride 19. He also holds a submission win over Matt Skelton at Pride 17 and a decision victory at Pride 8 over Gary Goodridge. His only loss in Pride was to Heath Herring at Pride 11, where Herring was able to submit Tom in the first round. Tom is a world-class wrestler and has been recently been fighting in K-1, so he should have decent striking skills. The only question with Tom is how much ring rust does he have and how quickly is he going to readjust to MMA.

Werdum is finally going to be making his much-awaited Pride debut after not being able to participate at Pride Shockwave 2004. They both seemed to be evenly matched except for Werdum having better submission skills and Tom being the stronger of the two. Standing up, either man could be able to knockout the other as seem to be evenly matched there. It will eventually go to the ground, where Tom will look to control Werdum from the top and Werdum will be working for a submission from the bottom. Werdum seems to be better on the ground so expect him to submit Tom.

Prediction: Fabricio Werdum by submission in the first round.

Middleweight Bout: Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Aliev Makhmud

In an odd match up, Japanese veteran Kiyoshi Tamura takes on newcomer Aliev Makhmud. Many people were caught off guard with the announcement of this match, as many weren’t expecting participation from either fighter. Makhmud will not only being making his Pride debut but also his MMA debut. Tamura returns after armbarring Rony Sefo at Pride Shockwave 2003. This is going to be an intriguing match because of the many unknowns going into this fight.

Tamura is a veteran from the RINGS organization with a 2-3 record in Pride. He knocked out Nobuhiko Takada at Pride 23 and submitted Rony Sefo at Pride Shockwave 2003. He has beaten some top fighters in RINGS including Renzo Gracie, Dave Menne and Pat Militech. Not much is known about Makhmud except that he is a freestyle wrestling champion at 68kg from Azerbaijan. This seems to be the first wrestler being used under the agreement between FILA and Pride. In this agreement, amateur wrestlers are allowed to fight in Pride without losing their amateur status.

DSE seems to be setting up an easy route for Kiyoshi Tamura into this year’s Pride Middleweight GP, seeing that he is a major draw in Japan. Makhmud is a huge question mark going into this fight because very little is known about except for his wrestling background. He hasn’t had enough time to train in submissions or in striking, and Tamura has great submission skills and decent stand up. He also has a huge experience factor over Makhmud. If Tamura has taken this fight seriously, he should submit Makhmud with ease.

Prediction: Kiyoshi Tamura by submission in the first round.

Middleweight Bout: Kazuhiro Nakamura vs. Stefan Leko

Kazuhiro Nakamura returns to Pride after an unfortunate injury forced the referee to stop his bout with Dan Henderson at Pride 28 to take on former K-1 fighter Stefan Leko. Nakamura is a fighter with tremendous promise and should be a force to reckon with in the future. Leko is a world class kickboxer, but has yet to show that in Pride. Nakamura was originally scheduled to face Ryan Gracie on this card but that was scratched after Gracie claimed that didn’t have enough time to prepare for Nakamura even though he was offered the fight at Pride Shockwave 2004 and several other times in the past. Leko comes in as a last minute replacement for Gracie, as Nakamura prepares for this year’s Pride Middleweight GP.

Nakamura comes back after a disappointing injury forced a stoppage of his fight with Dan Henderson at Pride 28. Both Nakamura and Henderson seemed to be evenly matched up but sometime after the first minute after being thrown to the ground, Nakamura somehow injured his shoulder while being kneed by Henderson. Nakamura has a 4-3 record in Pride, two of his losses are to fellow card mate Antonio Rogerio Nogueira. In Nakamura’s debut in Pride at Pride 25 he was submitted with an armbar by Nogueira and at Pride Bushido 4, he lost a close split decision to Nogueira in a rematch of their first bout. Nakamura’s first win came at Pride Bushido when he was able to outwork Daniel Gracie en route to a decision victory, at Pride 27 he did the same to Dos Caras Jr. and at Pride Bushido 3 he was able to armbar the very game Chalid Die Faust in the first round. In his most impressive win to date at Pride Final Conflict 2004, he was able to outwork the former UFC Middleweight Champion Murilo Bustamante in a technical battle en route to a decision victory. Nakamura has great submission skills, incredible Judo throws and has decent striking skills.

Stefan Leko is a former K-1 fighter who signed with Pride after a contract dispute with K-1. Leko made his Pride debut at Pride Total Elimination 2004 taking on Japanese Star Naoya Ogawa. Ogawa was able to drop Leko with a punch and shortly after was able to submit Leko with a side choke. Many believe that the fight was a work considering that Ogawa has been accused of working matches in the past. Leko then returned at Pride Shockwave 2004 to take on Ikuhisa Minowa, Leko didn’t even last half a minute as he quickly tapped to a heel hook. After that performance its hard to think that his fight with Ogawa was a work due to the fact that Leko is a horrible ground fighter and it has shown in his both of his fights. It would easy to believe that Leko should have some kind of a decent ground game since he has been training with Team Golden Glory for several years now but it seems to be non existent. He is a great striker but in MMA that doesn’t get you far if you can’t keep it standing for long.

Nakamura is eagerly waiting his return to the ring, as he still requested a fight even after Ryan Gracie refused to fight. This should be a nice tune up match for Nakamura as he prepares for the GP, DSE will be looking to build him up as he has the potential to be the next Japanese star seeing that both Yoshida and Sakuraba are both in their mid-thirties and probably don’t have many fights left in them. Leko has already stated his desire to return to just fighting kickboxing fights and seems to be just finishing out his contract with Pride as quick as he can. Leko is a top fighter in kickboxing but that won’t get you far in MMA and he seems to have realized that. This should be a quick fight, I see Nakamura rushing Leko and getting a clinch then executing a beautiful Judo throw and then submitting Leko with whatever submission he pleases.

Prediction: Kazuhiro Nakamura by submission early in the first round.

Feel free to discuss this article and your predictions here.