Igor Vovchanchyn will fight
Kazuhiro Nakamura in the alternate bout of
PRIDE's Middleweight Grand Prix, the Japanese mixed martial arts promotion
announced Wednesday.
Both Vovchanchyn and Nakamura bowed out of the 205-pound 16-man tournament
in June's quarterfinal round.
If one of the two semifinal Grand Prix winners
cannot continue, the Vovchanchyn-Nakamura winner would earn a shot at the
prestigious belt.
Rumors of Tank Abbott's PRIDE debut were made official as well Wednesday when
it was announced he will face popular Japanese judoka Hidehiko Yoshida.
These fights will go on the under card of an event that's shaping up to be a
spectacular showcase. In the GP semifinals,
Wanderlei Silva faces Ricardo
Arona and
Alistair Overeem takes on
Mauricio Rua. The night's main event
belongs to the heavyweight championship showdown between current PRIDE
champion
Fedor Emelianenko and No. 1 contender
Mirko Filipovic.
Wanderlei Silva vs Ricardo Arona
Alistair Overeem vs Mauricio Rua
Fedor Emelianenko vs Mirko Filipovic
Igor Vovchanchyn vs Kazuhiro Nakamura
Hidehiko Yoshida vs Tank Abbott
Fabricio Werdum vs Roman Zentsov