Meeting with the media Tuesday in metropolitan Tokyo, Fight Entertainment Group president Sadaharu Tanigawa released the full main
card lineup for Oct. 28's HERO'S card at the Jang Chung Gymnasium in Seoul, South Korea.
In an interesting and surely appealing decision, FEG opted to put together the event's two biggest drawing cards in the main event, pitting returning HERO'S tournament champion
Yoshihiro Akiyama (Pictures) against middleweight stalwart
Denis Kang (Pictures).
FEG announced earlier this month that the event would feature the return of Akiyama, as well as the HERO'S debut of Spirit MC champion Kang, however, it was anticipated that both fighters would be featured in showcase fights in front of the South Korean crowd, where they're both extremely popular fighters.
The bout will be the first for Akiyama in nearly eleven months, after his well-documented suspension following his scandalous win over MMA icon
Kazushi Sakuraba (Pictures) last New Year's Eve. In the days following the bout, it was revealed that the 32-year-old Akiyama had used a skin
moisturizer on his body prior to the bout, prompting FEG to declare the bout a No Contest, and indefinitely suspend the former stalwart judoka.
Kang last saw action in March, where he fought before the Seoul crowd in Spirit MC. However, in the process of taking a commanding decision
over Jung Gyu Choi, Kang sustained a broken right hand which required surgery, and has since kept him on the shelf.
Tanigawa also announced that grappling superstar
Marcelo Garcia (Pictures) will make his much-anticipated MMA debut on the card, taking on South Korean
Dae Won Kim (Pictures) at a contracted weight of 181 pounds.
Garcia, 25, is considered by many to be the best pound-for-pound submission grappler in the world, with exceptional achievement in both
BJJ and no-gi grappling competition. He was originally slated to make his MMA debut on May's Gracie Fighting Championships card against
Marcus Avellan before the bout was scrapped. Shortly after, Garcia inked a deal with FEG to compete in HERO'S, leading to heavy
anticipation of his debut.
Also, South Korean judo star
Dong Sik Yoon (Pictures) will square off with young Chute Boxer
Fabio Silva (Pictures). Yoon is coming off of a quick submission win
over once-touted Croat
Zelg Galesic (Pictures) in September, while on the same bill, Silva was outgunned by dynamic Dutchman
Melvin Manhoef (Pictures) in 60 seconds.
The aforementioned Galesic will also return to action, taking on K-1 convert
Taiei Kin (Pictures). Kin, 37, is an ethnic Korean, and is coming off the
biggest win of his short 14-month MMA career, having dominated Japanese star
Kiyoshi Tamura (Pictures) en route to a unanimous decision in July.
Recent HERO'S signee
Ikuhisa Minowa (Pictures) will also see duty, taking on Atlanta Games judo silver medallist
Min Soo Kim (Pictures). Minowa made a
successful HERO'S debut in September, taking out larger
Rickson Gracie (Pictures) pupil
Kevin Casey (Pictures). The hard luck Kim, loser of four straight, was last
pulverized by debuting
Brock Lesnar (Pictures) in the headliner of June's K-1 Dynamite!! USA.
Former UFC titlist
Carlos Newton (Pictures) will meet
Shungo Oyama (Pictures) at a 198-pound catch-weight; ssireum champion Lee Tae Hyun will face
Yoshihisa Yamamoto (Pictures); and comedian-turned-fighter
Bernard Ackah (Pictures) will take on Hawaiian prospect and
B.J. Penn (Pictures) pupil
Poai Suganuma (Pictures) at 205 pounds.
The Kang-Akiyama, Yoon-Silva and Taiai-Galesic fights will all feature a 10-minute opening round, a five-minute second round, and potential
third five-minute extension round if necessary. The other bouts will all be contested over three five-minute rounds.