HERO’s Announces Four Middleweight GP Bouts
Stephen Martinez Apr 19, 2006
TOKYO — HERO’s, the mixed martial arts arm of K-1, has announced
four fights for the opening round of its Middleweight Grand Prix,
which is scheduled for May 3 in this city’s Yoyogi National
Stadium.
HERO’s is also expected to announce an opponent for Caol Uno (Pictures). Unfortunately, another candidate for the Middleweight Grand Prix, Vitor Ribeiro (Pictures), will not participate due to a hand injury he sustained while fighting Chris Brennan (Pictures) in March.
The four announced bouts feature mostly veterans of lower-weight
divisions.
Hideo Tokoro (Pictures) meets Canadian Kultar Gill (Pictures).
Pancrase and GCM veteran Hidetaka Monma (Pictures) battles American Top Team’s Gesias Calvancanti.
And the “Pride of El Salvador” Ivan Menjivar (Pictures) fights Leonardo Nogueira, the younger brother of SHOOTO lightweight champion Alexandre Franca Nogueira (Pictures).
Current SHOOTO 143-pound champion Alexandre Franca Nogueira (Pictures) was supposed to defend his title against Melendez in December 2005, but pulled out due to a knee injury. Coming into this year these two were then scheduled to meet at SHOOTO’s March show, but “Pequeno” Nogueira asked for two more months to train.
So SHOOTO moved the fight to May, however, “Pequeno” suddenly announced he might compete in HERO’s. Now, after Melendez joined the HERO’s tournament, Nogueira decided to step back from his original plan of fighting in the HERO’s tournament because he says his first priority is to defend the SHOOTO title, which is the reason why his younger brother, Leonardo, replaces him.
The final point of consideration is the tournament’s 70-kilogram (154-pound) weight limit. Hidetaka Monma (Pictures) and Ryuki Ueyama (Pictures) walk around between 180-190 pounds and usually compete at 183 or 170 pounds. Most if not all the other fighters announced typically fight around 145 pounds.
Finally, Genki Sudo (Pictures) and Norifumi Yamamoto (Pictures) are officially seeded into the second round. Sudo received a pass because of an injury sustained during his last match against Ole Laursen (Pictures). “Kid” Yamamoto, scheduled to fight May 3 in a non-tournament bout, was given the honor for being last year’s champion.
Fight Card:
HERO'S 2006 Middleweight Grand Prix
Hideo Tokoro (Pictures) vs. Kultar Gill (Pictures)
Hidetaka Monma (Pictures) vs. Gesias Calvancanti
Ivan Menjivar (Pictures) vs. Leonardo Nogueira
Single Bouts
Katsuhiko Nagata (Pictures)vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama (Pictures)
Kazuyuki Miyata (Pictures) vs. Norifumi Yamamoto (Pictures)
Also Scheduled to Participate:
Caol Uno (Pictures), Ole Laursen (Pictures), Chad "Akebono" Rowan
HERO’s is also expected to announce an opponent for Caol Uno (Pictures). Unfortunately, another candidate for the Middleweight Grand Prix, Vitor Ribeiro (Pictures), will not participate due to a hand injury he sustained while fighting Chris Brennan (Pictures) in March.
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Hideo Tokoro (Pictures) meets Canadian Kultar Gill (Pictures).
Former DEEP middleweight champion Ryuki Ueyama (Pictures) takes on SHOOTO lightweight No. 1
contender Gilbert
Melendez (Pictures).
Pancrase and GCM veteran Hidetaka Monma (Pictures) battles American Top Team’s Gesias Calvancanti.
And the “Pride of El Salvador” Ivan Menjivar (Pictures) fights Leonardo Nogueira, the younger brother of SHOOTO lightweight champion Alexandre Franca Nogueira (Pictures).
Current SHOOTO 143-pound champion Alexandre Franca Nogueira (Pictures) was supposed to defend his title against Melendez in December 2005, but pulled out due to a knee injury. Coming into this year these two were then scheduled to meet at SHOOTO’s March show, but “Pequeno” Nogueira asked for two more months to train.
So SHOOTO moved the fight to May, however, “Pequeno” suddenly announced he might compete in HERO’s. Now, after Melendez joined the HERO’s tournament, Nogueira decided to step back from his original plan of fighting in the HERO’s tournament because he says his first priority is to defend the SHOOTO title, which is the reason why his younger brother, Leonardo, replaces him.
The final point of consideration is the tournament’s 70-kilogram (154-pound) weight limit. Hidetaka Monma (Pictures) and Ryuki Ueyama (Pictures) walk around between 180-190 pounds and usually compete at 183 or 170 pounds. Most if not all the other fighters announced typically fight around 145 pounds.
Finally, Genki Sudo (Pictures) and Norifumi Yamamoto (Pictures) are officially seeded into the second round. Sudo received a pass because of an injury sustained during his last match against Ole Laursen (Pictures). “Kid” Yamamoto, scheduled to fight May 3 in a non-tournament bout, was given the honor for being last year’s champion.
Fight Card:
HERO'S 2006 Middleweight Grand Prix
Hideo Tokoro (Pictures) vs. Kultar Gill (Pictures)
Hidetaka Monma (Pictures) vs. Gesias Calvancanti
Ivan Menjivar (Pictures) vs. Leonardo Nogueira
Single Bouts
Katsuhiko Nagata (Pictures)vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama (Pictures)
Kazuyuki Miyata (Pictures) vs. Norifumi Yamamoto (Pictures)
Also Scheduled to Participate:
Caol Uno (Pictures), Ole Laursen (Pictures), Chad "Akebono" Rowan
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