UFC to send representative to Pride MW GP?

[Guest RavishingRickRudo]

Pride held a press conference earlier today with the surprise announcement that Hidehiko Yoshida is official for the 8/10 middleweight tournament. Yoshida said he 15-17 pounds over the weight division right now, but he'd cut 25 pounds many times for judo competition so that won't be a big deal. Nobuyuki Sakakibara, who runs Pride, said the plan for 8/10 at Saitama Super Arena (same day PPV in the U.S.) is three heavyweight matches along with four tournament matches. Also in the tournament are Quinton Jackson, Vanderlei Silva and Kazushi Sakuraba. Talked about as possibilities for the other four slots are Ricardo Arona, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (the twin brother, not the famous one), Murilo Bustamante, Alistair Overeem, Kiyoshi Tamura and Ryan Gracie. He also said that Dana White of UFC has agreed to send a representative. At this point, this looks to be the greatest tournament in MMA history.

 

-WO.com

 

Thoughts? Speculation?

[Guest Dangerous A]

They could send a combo of Lidell, Couture, or, if he's willing to play ball and not be a little bitch, Tito Ortiz. If any of those 3 were to represent the middleweights, I'd be all over this tournament. (like I'm not already)

 

Ortiz has history with Silva from beating him and Jackson has been doing some major shit talking about Ortiz. Ortiz vs Jackson would be fucking awesome, IMO. I would be just as satisfied with Lidell. They probrably won't send their champ (Couture) to protect him. Perhaps a Vitor Belfort could find his way back into Pride as well.

[Guest RavishingRickRudo]

Liddell probably is the best bet.

 

1)He's talked about wanting to fight Wanderlei after the Couture fight.

 

2)He's already been there, so he's had that experience.

 

3)He needs a strong rebound off his loss to Couture, what better way than being in the GP?

 

But I would like to see Tito over there, more than any other. He just has a star power that the others don't have.

 

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Today, Dream Stage Entertainment (the parent company of PRIDE) held a press conference at Tokyo Price Hotel. The Executive Producer Nobuhiko Takada, and Sakakibara, the president, were present, alongside Hidehiko Yoshida.

 

Takada announced the event details of the first round of the eight man tournament, PRIDE FC “Total Elimination2003” (a.k.a PRIDE Grand Prix 2003).

 

Officially signed are:

 

Quinton "Rampage" Jackson

Wanderlei Silva

Kazushi Sakuraba

Hidehiko Yoshida

The remaining four fighters will be named on June 25th.

 

Event Name: PRIDE FC Total Elimination 2003

Date: August 10th, 2003

Place: Saitama SuperArena (25,000-35,000 Capacity)

Gates Open: 2:00 PM

Fights Start: 4:00 PM

United States PPV: August 10th (18 hours delay PPV) on iNDEMAND, DIRECTV, DISH NETWORK, TVN

[Guest Dangerous A]

The 4 fighters they have already are enough to put on a stellar show and they still have 4 more slots to fill!

 

I can't wait. The other question I have is who is going to represent the Gracie camp? Renzo was rumored, but now there is word that it'll be someone from Renzo's side of the dojo. (Ryan perhaps)

 

I'd wouldn't mind seeing a Murilo Ninja thrown in there along with Kevin Randleman.

[Guest HungryJack]

Holy fucking Hell.

 

This sounds like perhaps the greatest idea ever, or, given the japanese penchant for over-exaggeration, it could be bullshit. I'd liek to hear it out of the UFC' collective mouth first.

[Guest Brush with Greatness]

Fuck it. Let UFC send Couture, Liddell, Ortiz and Belfort to fill the final four slots. They don't have a PPV until Septemberish.

 

So that gives us:

 

Yoshida

Jackson

Sakuraba

Silva

Couture

Liddell

Ortiz

Belfort

 

 

I'd watch.

[Guest Lei Tong]

Where has Quinton been talking shit about Tito?

[Guest RavishingRickRudo]

I think 1 UFC fighter would be better than 4 - 4 kills the novelty. Save the mass amount of UFC guys for a full-out interpromotional PPV/

 

Jackson

Silva

Sakuraba

Yoshida

Liddell (but pref Tito)

Nogueira

Bustamante

Ryan Gracie

[Guest The Son of Sting]

This show is going to be so awsome. I would like to see Ortiz but i dont see it happening.

[Guest The Son of Sting]

Randleman will proberly end up in the mix. It would be good if K1 sent a fighter.

[Guest Jimmy Saint]

Where has Quinton been talking shit about Tito?

His own website I'd imagine. I remember reading some comments a while back and they surprised me as I thought the two were still friends. It could have just been Jackson taking the piss and having a laugh as he often does in interviews.

 

 

This tournement is gonna rule. If Liddel goes over then what about Chuck vs Vanderlei, that would be a fucking tear up and a half.

 

 

I am hoping Sakuraba is on crazy long odds as well so I can stick a bundle on him reaching the semi's at least.

[Guest benoitrulz4life]

Shit, if Ortiz was ducking Liddell, imagine how he'd feel fighting in a tournament with Silva, Sakuraba, and Quinton all in it! Agree with Rudo that Liddell would be the best bet from the UFC camp.

 

I wouldn't be surprised to see Royce Gracie make a return, but I wouldn't be surprised if a younger Grace (Ryan, Rodrigo, Daniel) were included. Dan Henderson's injured which is a bad thing:(

Ricardo Arona is also injured but that could be interpreted as a good thing by some.

 

Alistair Overeem is a good bet, since he is on a good win streak. Don't count out Randleman, even though he's coming off a loss. Busta hasn't been seen yet in PRIDE and will be probably be fed a tomato can in his first fight.

 

As for Ninja, Anderson Silva, Pele, and co; Chute Boxers don't like fighting each other, so I would count them out. Don't forget about Igor, what with the rumors of him wanting to cut weight and fight at his original fighting weight of light heavyweight. Hell, they put Yoshida in there, why not Igor?

 

So to sum up, here is who I would like to see:

 

1. Silva

2. Jackson

3. Sakuraba

4. Yoshida

5. Overeem (or maybe Rogerio Nogueira)

6. Liddell

7. Rodrigo Gracie

8. Vovchanchyn

 

Man this should have been 16, there's too many good fighters left off!

[Guest Lei Tong]

Ryan is much more likely than Rodrigo to be the Gracie representative.

 

Also, I imagine Rampage was simply joking about Tito, as when talking to him less than a month ago, he didn't have any bad things to say about Ortiz.

 

Also, some Pancrase fighters seems likely, as I imagine PRIDE will want more than two Japanese reps in the tournament (if the two pomotions can try to see eye-to-eye).

[Guest RavishingRickRudo]

From Sherdog.net

 

Chuck is training for some "tournament" according to mmaweekly.

 

"It's the big question all fight fans are wondering. Is Chuck Liddell fighting in the Pride Grand Prix tournament? By early accounts the answer is yes. MMAWeekly.com talked with one of Liddell's training partners who trains with the Iceman and by his account, Chuck is defintely training for a fight.

 

He said "Right now it's very hush, but when I asked Chuck if he wanted to go out and have a few beers, he said he couldn't because he was training to fight in a tournament."

 

When asked "what tournament", Liddell said I can't say, things are still being worked on. The same partner told MMAWeekly that he knew the fight was in August, so unless another organization is putting on a tournament in August, like the UFC, one would assume the Iceman will be the UFC representative in the upcoming Pride Grand Priz. Once again though, this is all speculation as Liddell has not confirmed the story as of yesterday with anyone including MMAWeekly.com"

 

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... Talking to Rampage Lei? You can't just make an off-the-cuff statement like that and expect it to slide