Ricardo Arona Named Final GP Participant

April 5, 2005 TOKYO, Japan – The final participant and tournament match ups have been announced for the opening round of PRIDE FIGHTING’S 16-Man Middleweight Grand Prix Tournament, TOTAL ELIMINATION 2005.

Newly Announced Tournament Participant:
Ricardo Arona (Brazil)

Newly Announced Matches:
Kazushi Sakuraba (Japan) vs. Yoon Dong Sik (Korea)
Vitor Belfort (Brazil) vs. Alistair Overeem (Holland)
Dean Lister (USA) vs. Ricardo Arona (Brazil)

American fighter, Dean Lister, gained entry into the tournament by winning the 4-man middleweight tournament at PRIDE FIGHTING’S BUSHIDO VOLUME 6. He’s now set to face one of PRIDE’S top middleweight contenders--- Ricardo Arona--- in the opening round of TOTAL ELIMINATION 2005. The rivalry between Lister and Arona stretches back into the world of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu … now the two are set to face each other under mixed martial arts rules!

Japanese superstar, Kazushi Sakuraba, is making his return to the ring for TOTAL ELIMINATION 2005. His last bout was a victory over Nino “Elvis” Schembri at CRITICAL COUNTDOWN on June 20, 2004. Now, after battling injuries for much of last year, Sakuraba is back! His opponent, Yoon Dong Sik, is one of South Korea’s finest judokas and will be making his PRIDE debut.

“The Phenom” Vitor Belfort enters the tournament as the representative of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A former UFC light-heavyweight champion, Belfort possesses outstanding submission abilities, striking skills, and KO power. His opponent is Holland’s rising young talent, Alistair Overeem. In the 2003 tournament, Overeem was eliminated in the opening round after a spirited battle with Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell. Now the “Demolition Man” returns with a vengeance and looks to bring the Grand Prix title to Holland.

Tournament Participants:

Wanderlei Silva
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
Quinton “Rampage” Jackson
Igor Vovchanchyn
Kazushi Sakuraba
Dan Henderson
Mauricio “Shogun” Rua
Yuki Kondo
Hidehiko Yoshida
Kazuhiro Nakamura
Alistair Overeem
Kevin Randleman
Vitor Belfort
Yoon Dong Sik
Dean Lister
Ricardo Arona

Tournament Matches:
Wanderlei Silva (Brazil) vs. Hidehiko Yoshida (Japan)
Dan Henderson (USA) vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (Brazil)
Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (USA) vs. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua (Brazil)
Igor Vovchanchyn (Ukraine) vs. Yuki Kondo (Japan)
Kevin Randleman (USA) vs. Kazuhiro Nakamura (Japan)
Kazushi Sakuraba (Japan) vs. Yoon Dong Sik (Korea)
Vitor Belfort (Brazil) vs. Alistair Overeem (Holland)
Dean Lister (USA) vs. Ricardo Arona (Brazil)
(Participants and Matches Subject to Change)

PRIDE FIGHTING’S 2005 Middleweight Grand Prix Tournament will span three events … TOTAL ELIMINATION (opening round), CRITICAL COUNTDOWN (Second Round) and FINAL CONFLICT (Semi-Finals and Finals). Dates for the latter two events will be announced soon.

TOTAL ELIMINATION 2005 takes place on April 23rd, 2005 from the Osaka Dome in Japan and premieres on North American pay per view via iNDEMAND, DIRECTV, DISH NETWORK, UrbanXtra, TVN1, VU!, and Viewer’s Choice Canada on April 23rd at 10:00pm EST, 7:00pm PST (including a countdown show at 9:30pm EST, 6:30pm PST). For additional replay times, please contact your pay per view provider or pridefc.com.