\ PRIDE Shockwave 2005 Kondo, Nakamura Added To Shockwave 2005 Card Official Release
December 31, 2005 Saitama Super Arena Saitama, Japan
TOKYO, Japan – Two additional bouts have been announced for PRIDE FIGHTING’S upcoming event, SHOCKWAVE 2005 … Kazuhiro Nakamura versus Yuki Kondo and Makoto Takimoto versus Sanae Kikuta. SHOCKWAVE 2005 is scheduled to premiere on North American pay per view on Sunday, January 1st, 2006 at 9:00 pm ET, 6:00 pm PT.
Representing the Yoshida Dojo, judo expert Kazuhiro Nakamura is coming off a huge career victory over Ukraine’s Igor Vovchanchyn at FINAL CONFLICT 2005. Previous to this, Nakamura was eliminated in the 2005 middleweight tournament after a victory over Kevin Randleman and a spirited loss to PRIDE middleweight champion Wanderlei Silva. His opponent at SHOCKWAVE 2005 will be mixed martial arts veteran and Japanese star, Yuki Kondo. A veteran of both the UFC and Pancrase, Kondo has held the prestigious title of “King of Pancrase.” His illustrious Pancrase career has included victories over such tough competitors as Semmy Schilt, Frank Shamrock and Guy Mezger.
In the second announced bout, Judo Olympic gold medalist Makoto Takimoto will take on Abu Dhabi gold medalist, Sanae Kikuta. Representing the Yoshida Dojo, Takimoto is an Olympic champion having won the gold medal in Judo in the 81kg weight class at the 2000 Sydney Games. Thus far in his MMA career, Takimoto is 2-1 with wins over Henry “Sentoryu” Miller and Yoon Dong Sik. His opponent, Sanae Kikuta, is a PRIDE veteran, having last fought at PRIDE 20 “Armed and Ready” in which he defeated Alexander Otsuka. Kikuta is an amateur judo champion and in 2001 won the gold medal at Abu Dhabi (88kg weight division). In addition, Kikuta is a former Pancrase light heavyweight champion and founder of Team Grabaka in Japan.
Nakamura vs. Kondo Takimoto vs. Kikuta
Previously announced bouts include the finals of the lightweight and welterweight tournaments held at BUSHIDO Volume 9 … for the lightweights Takanori Gomi will face Hayato “Mach” Sakurai and for the welterweights Dan Henderson takes on Murilo Bustamante.
In addition, in one of the main events of SHOCKWAVE 2005, Olympians will clash as Japan’s Hidehiko Yoshida is set to face fellow countryman, Naoya Ogawa. Both are legendary judokas with Yoshida winning the gold medal in the 78kg weight class at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and Ogawa winning the silver in the 95kg weight class at the same games. Each has gone on to have successful mixed martial arts careers. However, beyond the Olympic glory and their successes in the MMA ring, there is a long- standing rivalry. Both men attended Mieji University in Japan where they practiced judo. Being the senior, Ogawa is said to have been harsh on Yoshida with the two being fierce and bitter rivals. At the Olympics both teammates medaled, but two years later at the 1994 All Japan Judo Championships, teammates faced off and Yoshida (86kg) garnered the victory over Ogawa (132kg) by a 2-1 decision. The victory ended Ogawa’s domination of the event as 5-time consecutive champion. Now the rivalry and bad blood between both men will be settled once and for all … in the PRIDE ring!
FIGHTCARD: Takanori Gomi (Japan) vs. Hayato “Mach” Sakurai (Japan) (This bout is the final round of the lightweight BUSHIDO tournament) Dan Henderson (USA) vs. Murilo Bustamante (Brazil) (This bout is the final round of the welterweight BUSHIDO tournament) Hidehiko Yoshida (Japan) vs. Naoya Ogawa (Japan) Makoto Takimoto (Japan) vs. Sanae Kikuta (Japan) Kazuhiro Nakamura (Japan) vs. Yuki Kondo (Japan)
More bouts to be announced soon. Fight card subject to change.
SHOCKWAVE 2005 premieres on North American pay per view via iNDEMAND, DIRECTV, DISH NETWORK, UrbanXtra, TVN1, VU!, and Viewer’s Choice Canada on Sunday, January 1st, 2006 at 9:00 pm ET, 6:00 pm PT (including a countdown show at 8:30pm ET, 5:30pm PT).
For additional replay times, please contact your pay per view provider or pridefc.com.
For more information on PRIDE FC, visit pridefc.com!
- From Dream Stage Entertainment with a little editing from us (color, highlights, etc...)
(11/15/05)
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