A press conference was held at the Tokyo Dream Stage Entertainment office on February 6th to announce 4 additional fights for the PRIDE 31 card, to be held on February 26th at Saitama Super Arena. Present at the press conference was Kazuhiro Nakamura, who will fight Josh Barnett in an Open Weight class match. Nakamura said of his Open Weight fight, “I don’t expect to be able to leave the ring in perfect condition.”
The 4 fights announced by PRIDE General Director Nobuhiko Takada are as follows:
Josh Barnett (America/New Japan Pro-Wrestling)
VS
Kazuhiro Nakamura (Japan/Yoshida Dojo)
John Olav Einemo (Norway)
VS
Fabricio Werdum (Brazil/Team Cro Cop)
Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (America/God’s Street Soldier)
VS
Yoon Dong Sik (South Korea/Takada Dojo)
Pedro Rizzo (Brazil/Ruas Vale Tudo)
VS
Roman Zentsov (Russia/Red Devil)
After announcing the card, Takada declared that “the 8 fights announced so far will all be considered as evaluation matches” for the upcoming PRIDE Open Weight Grand Prix 2006, the Opening Round of which will be held on May 5th at the Osaka Dome.
“The prelims for the Open Weight Grand Prix have already begun,” Takada continued. “Kazu Nakamura, who normally fights at 100kg, will face off against Josh Barnett, a 130kg fighter, in an Open Weight match. Josh has an abundance of experience and this will be a very difficult match for Kazu, including the weight difference. However, that will give us and the fans more reason to hope that the name ‘Kazuhiro Nakamura” will be on the lineup for the Opening Round in May.”
Regarding Yoon Dong Sik, Takada gave him words of support, “Quinton will be an extremely difficult opponent for him this time but in his last fight against Takimoto, Yoon showed us good ground work and he also showed us that he can fight with his heart when standing. He showed a fight where if he gets hit, he hits back and keeps moving forward. I hope he will find some way to gain a win over Rampage, who is one of the top Middleweight fighters, and put himself in the Open Weight Grand Prix, along with Kazu.”
"Winning the Middleweight Championship belt is my goal for this year but I thought that if there is going to be an Open Weight Grand Prix and I would have a chance to fight a great fighter like Josh Barnett, who took Mirko to a decision, then I want to challenge myself,” Nakamura explained his reasoning for accepting the fight.
Nakamura normally weighs between 98kg and 100kg now. According to Nakamura, he plans on fighting at his natural weight, rather than trying to gain weight for his fight with Barnett. Nakamura said he has fought opponents as big as 140~150kg in Open Weight class matches in his days as a judo competitor. He did, however, say that he realizes judo and mixed martial arts are two different sports.
“I just imagine Josh as a strong fighter. I don’t want to fight a strategic match. I want to show everyone a fight with emotion,” Nakamura said that feelings would be more important than technique to win his Open Weight battle. Nakamura won’t train overseas for this fight as he has done for recent fights but “if I’m chosen to fight in the Open Weight Grand Prix, I want to train overseas.”
“I’m more worried about how I will feel during the match than anything else. I think this is a fight with myself, rather than a fight with my opponent. I don’t really expect to be able to leave the ring in perfect condition. It will depend on how I am able to confront my feelings,” Nakamura said of his upcoming match, his expression revealing the effect that the words “Open Weight” have on fighters. Will Kazuhiro Nakamura be able to overcome his tremendous fear and advance to the May 5th PRIDE Open Weight Grand Prix Opening Round? His fate will be decided on February 26th at Saitama Super Arena.
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