Pride Announces Schedule...**UPDATED 1/21**

[Nuno]

Here is the article from MMAWeekly on Pride's 2004 schedule...

U.S. SHOW PUSHED BACK

MMAWeekly's Ken Pishna last week reported that Pride would be pushing their U.S. show back a couple of months. Yesterday it was confirmed by Japanese newspapers as well as puroresupower.com which had the following...

PRIDE 2/1 Osaka Castle Hall line-up:

Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic vs. Ron Waterman
"Survival Match" - Heath Herring vs. Gan McGee
"Survival Match" - Igor Vovchanchin vs. Dan Bobish
"Survival Match" - Mark Kerr vs. Yoshihisa Yamamoto
Sergei Haritonov (Russian Top Team) vs. LA Giant
Kazuhiro Nakamura vs. Dos Caras Jr.
Murillo Ninja vs. Alexander Otsuka

(DSE) 2004 PRIDE scheduling:

2/1 Osaka Castle Hall
2/15 Yokohama Arena
3/07 Yokohama Arena (Hustle-2)
4/25 Saitama Super Arena (Heavyweight GP)
5/?? Yokohama Arena (Bushido 3)
5/23 Yokohama Arena (Hustle-3)
6/08 Saitama Super Arena (Heavyweight GP)
7/?? Nagoya Aiichi Rainbow Hall (Bushido 4)
8/?? Saitama Super Arena (Heavyweight GP finals)
9/ Las Vegas, Nevada
10/?? PRIDE 28
11/?? Yokohama Arena (Bushido 5)

** The GP will have Emelianenko Fedor, Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic, and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. Hidehiko Yoshida is also considering entering the tournament. Mark Coleman, Don Frye, and Mark Kerr are some of the big foreigner names being floated for the tournament.

The GP tournament will be essentially an open-weight tournament. Kazushi Sakuraba and Yuki Kondo were also names mentioned. The September PRIDE show in Las Vegas has Kazushi Sakuraba scheduled for the main event. PRIDE also announced a formal contract with Frank Shamrock. The main opponents listed for Shamrock include Kiyoshi Tamura, Kazushi Sakuraba, and Hayato "Mach" Sakurai.

** The promotion's 2/15 Yokohama Arena "Bushido" show has Vanderlei Silva vs. Ikuhisa Minowa and Mauricio Shogun vs. Akihiro Gono. PRIDE announced that their 4/25 Saitama Super Arena show would feature a famous Sumo name and also a WWE wrestler with an amateur background.

Credit to Zack Arnold

[Mr. Beelzebub]

CRo Cop vs. Waterman actually looks like a good match up; strong wrestler against Mirko.

And Mark Kerr is coming back... I hope he sticks around this time.

[Nuno]

"The main opponents listed for Shamrock include Kiyoshi Tamura, Kazushi Sakuraba, and Hayato "Mach" Sakurai."

I hope it's Sak...

[Carlao]

As a matchmaker this are some of the worst match making I have ever seen. As a fan this is going to be fun as hell to watch.

[Mr. Beelzebub]

Dos Caras by HurricaneRana

[mmafanman]

CroCop TKO Waterman, R1.

[Curly Howard]

What's a "Survival Match"?!?
Is Triple H going to be in it?

[Tha Playa]

Ikuhisa Minowa? He weighs 175. Another ****ing can for Vanderlei. Enjoy the slaughter.

[Nuno]

From Full Contact Fighter website......

THE RETURN OF THE SMASHING MACHINE!

LOS ANGELES, California - The fight card for PRIDE FC: INFERNO is now official and among a cast of giants, making his long-awaited return to the ring will be "The Smashing Machine" Mark Kerr. Kerr's last mixed martial arts match was in July of 2001. PRIDE FC: INFERNO is scheduled to debut on North American pay per view on February 8th, 2004 and the event will be held in the Osaka Castle Hall in Osaka, Japan.

Heading up the INFERNO fight card will be Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic versus Ron Waterman. "Cro Cop" is coming off of a devastating loss to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at FINAL CONFLICT and is looking to re-establish his dominance and return to his winning ways. "H20" Ron Waterman, a Colorado native, boasts an impressive record of 10-1-2 and last appeared in COLD FURY 3 in which he defeated Valentijn Overeem of Holland.

Also included on the card, qualification matches for the upcoming sixteen man heavyweight tournament (which will begin April 25th, 2004): Fresh off of his win against Giant Silva at Shockwave 2003, "The Texas Crazy Horse" Heath Herring takes on another giant in the 6'10, 260 pound UFC veteran "Big" Gan McGee … Mark Kerr makes his return to mixed martial arts, going up against Norihisa Yamamoto of Japan … undefeated Russian star Sergei Kharitonov takes on the 7'0, 400 pound L.A. Giant from California … and "Ice Cold" Igor Vovchanchyn goes head to head against Dan "The Bull" Bobish. The winners all move on to the heavyweight tournament!

Additional matches on the INFERNO fight card include Kazuhiro Nakamura versus Mexican pro-wrestler Dos Caras Jr. … both last fought in BUSHIDO … Nakamura is coming off a win against Daniel Gracie and the exciting Dos Caras Jr. is coming off a devastating knockout loss versus "Cro Cop" Filipovic … also, fresh off of a flying knee KO victory against Akira Shoji at SHOCKWAVE 2003, Murilo "Ninja" Rua takes on PRIDE FC veteran Alexander Otsuka.

PRIDE FC: INFERNO
Fight Card:
Main Event
Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic (Croatia) vs. Ron "H20" Waterman (USA)
PRIDE FC Heavyweight Grand Prix Qualification Matches
Heath Herring (USA) vs. "Big" Gan McGee (USA)
Mark Kerr (USA) vs. Norihisa Yamamoto (Japan)
Sergei Kharitonov (Russia) vs. L.A. Giant (USA)
Igor Vovchanchyn (Ukraine) vs. Dan Bobish (USA)
Additional Matches
Kazuhiro Nakamura (Japan) vs. Dos Caras Jr. (Mexico)
Murilo "Ninja" Rua (Brazil) vs. Alexander Otsuka (Japan)
(Fight Card Subject to Change)

PRIDE FC: INFERNO will premiere on North American pay per view through iNDEMAND, DIRECTV, DISH NETWORK, UrbanXtra, TVN1, Bell Express Vu, and Viewer's Choice on Sunday, February 8th, 2004. The premiere time is 9:00pm EST, 6:00pm PST and the count down show is at 8:30pm EST, 5:30pm PST. For additional replay times, please contact your pay per view provider.

DREAM STAGE ENTERTAINMENT
ANNOUNCES 2004 SCHEDULE

LOS ANGELES, California - Dream Stage Entertainment today announced its event schedule for 2004.

PRIDE FC Event Schedule

February 1, 2004
Osaka Castle Hall
PRIDE FC 27 "INFERNO"

April 2004
Saitama Super Arena
PRIDE FC 16-Man Heavyweight Tournament (Opening Round)

June 2004
Saitama Super Arena
PRIDE FC 16-Man Heavyweight Tournament (Second Round)

August 2004
Saitama Super Arena
PRIDE FC 16-Man Heavyweight Tournament (Semi-Finals and Finals)

September 2004
Las Vegas. Nevada
Venue to be Determined

BUSHIDO Event Schedule

February 15, 2004
Yokohama Arena
BUSHIDO VOLUME 2

May 2004
Yokohama Arena
BUSHIDO VOLUME 3

July 2004
Nagoya Rainbow Hall
BUSHIDO VOLUME 4

November 2004
Yokohama Arena
BUSHIDO VOLUME 5

Fight cards will be announced as each individual event approaches.

BUSHIDO VOLUME 2: CHUTE BOXE VS JAPAN!

LOS ANGELES, California - The fight card for PRIDE FC: BUSHIDO VOLUME 2 is coming together and headlining the event will be a team competition, pitting the Chute Boxe Team of Brazil (led by Wanderlei Silva) against Team Japan! BUSHIDO VOLUME 2 will take place on February 15th, 2004 from the Yokohama Arena in Japan and is scheduled to debut on North American pay per view on March 21st, 2004.

BUSHIDO VOLUME 2 will feature a three-man team competition, as the Chute Boxe Team will be taking on Team Japan. Headed by reigning PRIDE FC World Middleweight Champion and 2003 Grand Prix Champion Wanderlei Silva, the Chute Boxe Team of Brazil is one of the most successful fight teams in the world. In his first match since winning the Middleweight Grand Prix title in November of 2003 (which included victories over Hidehiko Yoshida and Quinton "Rampage" Jackson on the same night), Silva will be taking on Ikuhisa "The Punk" Minowa of Japan. Minowa, now training with the Brazilian Top Team, is coming off a hard-fought loss to Quinton Jackson at SHOCKWAVE 2003. In the other team matches, Mauricio "Shogun" Rua (the younger brother of Murilo "Ninja" Rua) will be taking on Japanese shoot fighter Akihiro Gono and up and coming Chute Boxe star Jadson Costa will compete against a yet to be named Japanese opponent.

Also scheduled to appear on the fight card, Japanese legend and fighting star Hayato "Mach" Sakurai and PRIDE FC veteran Daiju Takase.

PRIDE FC: BUSHIDO VOLUME 2
Fight Card
Chute Boxe (Brazil) vs. Team Japan
Wanderlei Silva (Brazil) vs. Ikuhisa "The Punk" Minowa (Japan)
Mauricio "Shogun" Rua (Brazil) vs. Akihiro Gono (Japan)
Jadson Costa (Brazil) vs. TBA
Additional Matches:
Hayato "Mach" Sakurai (Japan) vs. TBA
Daiju Takase (Japan) vs. TBA
More fights to be announced soon!

(Fight Card Subject to Change)

PRIDE FC: BUSHIDO VOLUME 2 will premiere on North American pay per view through iNDEMAND, DIRECTV, DISH NETWORK, UrbanXtra, TVN1, Bell Express Vu, and Viewer's Choice on Sunday, March 21st, 2004. The premiere time is 9:00pm EST, 6:00pm PST and the count down show is at 8:30pm EST, 5:30pm PST. The event will be available at a reduced rate of $19.95. For additional replay times, please contact your pay per view provider.

[GeNeRaL]

so Vegas is now pushed back to september....hmm birthday trip