Friday, June 18, 2004
1757
The road to retirement for Sakuraba begins, the heavyweight GP tournament continues and the search for the top middleweight contender ends.
Like the last chapter of a classic novel (you know what I mean -- Shakespeares Macbeth, Tolstoys War and Peace, or J.K. Rowlings Harry Potter for some), the final bouts of an incredible fighters career are bittersweet. Kazushi Sakuraba, dubbed The Gracie Hunter by his adoring fans, begins his Retirement Road on this card in a rematch with Antonio Elvis Schembri. Well also see Quinton Rampage Jackson and The Brazilian Tiger Ricardo Arona battle for the No. 1 Contenders spot in the hotly contested middleweight division. Hidehiko Yoshida battles the newest K-1 fighter to make the MMA crossover: Mark Hunt. Oh, and the next round of that little tournament thing is happening, too.
The complete card looks like this:
GP Semifinal Tournament Bouts:
PFC Heavyweight Champion Fedor Emelianenko battles Hammer House wrestler Kevin Randleman.
Interim PFC Heavyweight Champion Rodrigo Nogueira squares off against Golden Glory fighter Heath Herring.
Golden Glory big man Semmy Schilt and Russian Top Team fighter Sergei Kharitonov meet in the ring.
Giant Brazilian professional wrestler Paulo Cesar Silva meets Inoki professional wrestler Naoya Ogawa.
And in single bouts
Japanese submission wrestler and fighting legend Kazushi Sakuraba begins his walk into the sunset with a rematch against Chute Boxe new recruit Antonio Schembri.
Japans Olympic Judo hero, Hidehiko Yoshida faces K-1 kickboxer Mark Hunt in his MMA debut.
Team Punishment wrestler Quinton Jackson goes toe-to-toe with Brazilian Top Team fighter Ricardo Arona for the right to face PFC Middleweight Champion Wanderlei Silva.
Now well look at each fighters accomplishments, assess their strengths and weaknesses, review some of their previous bouts and predict how they might perform against their current opponent.
|