The post PRIDE 34 press conference sheds some light on the upcoming Lightweight GP tournament.
Pride FC held a Post Pride 34 press conference, on Monday, April 9th at the DSE office in Aoyama, Tokyo. Fighters in attendance were Makoto takimoto, Shinya Aoki, Sokoudjou “African Assassin”, as well as DSE CEO Nouyuki Sakakibara and PRIDE executive producer Nobuhiko Takada.
One major subject covered in the press conference, was the announcement of the schedule for the upcoming PRIDE Lightweight GP 2007 Tournament, which has been an eagerly anticipated event by MMA fans for a long time to come. Here is how the year breaks down:
Pride Lightweight GP 2007 Opening Round
Total Elimination 2007 (Tokyo, Japan) – May 20, 2007
PRIDE Lightweight GP 2007 Second Round
Critical Countdown 2007 (Nagoya, Japan) – July 16, 2007
Pride Lightweight GP 2007 Championship
Final Conflict 2007 (Tokyo, Japan) - September 30, 2007
Fighters to be competing are Takanori Gomi, Hayato “Mach” Sakurai, Tatsuya Kawijiri, Mitsuhiro Ishida, Gilbert Melendez, Joachim Hansen, Luiz Azeredo, Marcus Aurelio, as well as several top UFC fighters, (which are rumored to be Diego “Nightmare” Sanchez and former UFC Welter Weight Champion Matt Hughes).
Other topics were covered, such as Aoki addressing a possible match with a UFC fighter, and how long Sokoudjou plans to stay in the fighting game. The whole article can be viewed at PrideFC.com.