SAKURABA HEADS K-1 HEROS

By Ricardo Mendoza

With Kazushi Sakuraba already announced in the main event, HEROS has officially announced its full card for March 12. Katsuhiko Nagata has pulled out of his scheduled fight with Hideo Tokoro, taking his place will be K-1 Max and HEROS veteran Kazuya Yashuhiro. Coming off his knockout victory over Hong-man Choi, Mighty Mo makes his MMA debut against Korean judoka Kim Min Soo. Gary Goodridge takes on K-1 veteran Jan “The Giant” Nortje. In the final bout announced, TV personality Bernard Ackah takes on Korean Ssireum champion Shin Hyung-Pyo.

HEROS 8
Nagoya Rainbow Hall
March 12, 2007

Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Jurij Kiselov
Yoshihisa Yamamoto vs. Katsuyori Shibata
Melvin Manhoef vs. Yoshiki Takahashi
Caol Uno vs. Ali Ibrahim
Kazuyuki Miyata vs. Kultar “Black Mamba” Gill
Hiroyuki Takaya vs. Andre Dida
Ryuki Ueyama vs. Vitor Ribeiro
Hideo Tokoro vs. Kazuya Yasuhiro
Gary Goodridge vs. Jan “The Giant” Nortje
Mighty Mo vs. Kim Min Soo
Shin Hyung-Pyo vs. Bernard Ackah


DEEP 29 ANNOUNCED FOR APRIL 13
DEEP has announced details for its next event, which will be DEEP 29. It is scheduled to take place on April 13th at Korakuen Hall. Although no match-ups have been officially announced, several participants have. Coming off a decision loss to DEEP Middleweight Champion Ryo Chonan at DEEP 28, Ryuta Sakurai looks to get back in the winners circle. DEEP Women’s Champion Hisae Watanabe is also scheduled to participate but its unknown if she will defend her title against Su Hi Ham, who recently dominated Watanabe at DEEP 28.

Team Grabaka fighter Eiji Ishikawa returns to DEEP; he looks to recover from his controversial loss to Hector Lombard at DEEP 28. Other fighters scheduled to participate include DEEP veteran Yoshihiro “Barbaro44” Tomioka, Shooto veteran Ryan Bow, DEEP veteran Cristiano Kaminishi and Pride veteran Naoki Matsushita.

DEEP 29th Impact
Korakuen Hall
April 13. 2007

Scheduled to Participate:

Ryuta Sakurai
Hisae Watanabe
Eiji Ishikawa
Yoshihiro “Barbaro44” Tomioka
Ryan Bow
Cristiano Kaminishi
Naoki Matsushita


GCM CAGE FORCE 02 CARD ANNOUNCED
GCM has announced its card for Cage Force 02, which takes place on March 17 at the Tokyo Differ Ariake. They will hold tournament bouts for both the lightweight and welterweight tournaments with the next phase scheduled for May 27.

Former Shooto Pacific Rim Welterweight Champion Koutetsu Boku takes on Finnish fighter Jarkko Latomaki. The other marquee lightweight bout on the card includes Russian lightweight Artur Oumakhanov taking on Rumble on the Rock representative Kaynan Kaku. Two lightweights have already qualified from the previous Cage Force event, those being Takumi Nakayama and Wataru Miki.

Only three welterweight bouts are scheduled with Dan “The Outlaw” Hardy joining the tournament on May 27. Former Shooto Welterweight Champion Akira Kikuchi takes on Jared Rollins. Former Welterweight King of Pancrase Katsuya Inoue takes on Yoshiyuki Yoshida. HEROS veteran Hidetaka Monma takes on Finnish fighter Janne Tulirinta.

GCM: Cage Force 02
Tokyo Differ Ariake
March 17, 2007

Lightweight Bout: Koutetsu Boku vs. Jarkko Latomaki
Lightweight Bout: Tomonari Kanomata vs. Jacob Sidic
Lightweight Bout: Wataru Takahashi vs. Kim In Seok
Lightweight Bout: Eiji Mitsuoka vs. Brian Cobb
Lightweight Bout: Artur Oumakhanov vs. Kaynan Kaku
Welterweight Bout: Akira Kikuchi vs. Jared Rollins
Welterweight Bout: Katsuya Inoue vs. Yoshiyuki Yoshida
Welterweight Bout: Hidetaka Monma vs. Janne Tulirinta