Dana White announced that the UFC would launch the first strike and invade Japan on December 12th.
White did propose that the UFC would probably employ about six Japanese fighters on the December card.

We may see thes matches and fighters on the card
Vitor Belfort vs Tito Ortiz
Frank Mir vs Andre Arlovski
Yuki Kondo
Genki Sudo

These are all just rumor as of the moment but once I find out more I will let you all know.

other fighters rumored to be on the card are
Caol Uno
Yoshiki Tokahashi
Ikushi Minowa
Sanae Kakuta
Tsuyoshi Kosaka

Possibly other Pancrase fighters

Tim Sylvia may possibly be on this card - If he is all healed and ready to fight

I dont know why they're going to Japan....

cause they can sell out a 40K seat arena instead of a 10K

Now if Pride would just come over here

Pride was supposed to be here in the first quarter of this year....

Yeah who knows if that'll ever happen

That could actually turn out to be a great card. I'm kinda lookin forward to more news on this rumor.


Yeah who knows if that'll ever happen

Dana was kinda right in saying that all PRIDE does is talk. **** was supposed to have happened already. They've done nothing but talk over the past few years on how they're comin to the US, how they are gonna send PRIDE fighters to the UFC and yadda yadda yadda.

Bullshiiiiiiiiiiit.

PRIDE in the US = mad ratings.

Tk was awesome in his day, but he's MAAAD old now.

My girfriend emailed some pride people not too long ago for dates when they are coming here, so that we could plan a trip to see it. They responded with "we will be there in late 2004 or early 2005"

I'm not buying that.

from mmaweekly.com...

SHAMROCK WANTS TO FIGHT IN JAPAN

By Ken Pishna, MMAWeekly.com

Just a couple of weeks ago, Ken Shamrock had surgery to repair his
shoulder, which was actually injured prior to his fight with Kimo at
UFC 48. Shamrock has started his rehab program and will be ready to
train at full strength in 2 to 3 weeks, and now he’s looking forward to
a return to fighting… in Japan.

Unless you’ve been under a rock lately, you’d know that UFC president
Dana White, in an attempt to head off Pride’s repeated threats of a
U.S. invasion, announced that UFC 51 will take place December 12th in
Japan. Ken Shamrock is feeling good and wants to be a part of the
promotion that he helped launch when they return to the land of the
rising sun.

According to Shamrock, the surgery to repair his shoulder went better
than expected, “There was a tear in the labrum and some bone spurs, so
I had it cleaned up. It was a scope; they went in four different
places. They shaved the bone off and they cleaned up the labrum. It was
a lot better than they had expected.”

Now, nothing has been worked out between Shamrock and the UFC. Right
now, it’s just something that Shamrock would like to pursue. If it does
come to fruition, and considering that Tito Ortiz would most likely
face Vitor Belfort if he were to be on the Japan card, whom would
Shamrock like to face? “I like Don Frye for a rematch… That’s just
something that I’ve had in my mind; if we’re going to go to Japan, that
would be a great spot for a rematch,” he says.

If the speculation surrounding the UFC’s show in Japan is even remotely
accurate, it looks like they will be making a stellar return to the
East. And if Shamrock is added on, the star factor for UFC 51 will be
through the roof.

(For more comments from Ken Shamrock, check out his interview with
MMAWeekly's Ken Pishna in the MMA section of *************.com.)