Fedor Emelianenko Out Of Openweight Grand Prix, Wanderlei Silva Steps In

[tuco]

A confused PRIDE Openweight Grand Prix has gained some clarity.

PRIDE Heavyweight Champion Fedor Emelianenko has officially withdrawn from the PRIDE Openweight Grand Prix. Emelianenko, who underwent surgery on his right hand to repair a damaged thumb, will not be ready in time to compete on July 1st as was previously hoped. Dream Stage Entertainment slotted Emelianenko into the second round, giving him a bye through the first round on May 5th, hoping that he would be sufficiently healthy enough to fight. However, a Russian doctor informed DSE President Nobuyuki Sakakibara that the earliest that the metal plate in Fedor's hand could be removed is in June.

Emelianenko apologized to the Japanese fans for his lingering injury, and went on to state that he would like to fight any time in the late year, whether it be at the Openweight Grand Prix finale in September, at PRIDE's first American show in Las Vegas in October, or on New Years Eve at Otoko Matsuri.

In Emelianenko's place, will be PRIDE Middleweight Champion Wanderlei Silva. Silva, who was scheduled to be in the first round of the Grand Prix before contract disputes, is rumored to be taking on Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.

Also, Croatian superstar Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic's teammates from the Team Nokaut have confirmed that despite a deep bone bruise to his left ankle, Filipovic will indeed participate in the July 1st Openweight Grand Prix event at Saitama Super Arena.

Source (http://completevaletudoaccess.blogspot.com/)

[Pro shoot]

Silva in is a good news. Besides I think it is better that Fedor face the OWGP champion in NYE than taking part of this GP.

[HolyRamenEmpire]

No contract dispute with Wand this time with Pride having the money they prepared to pay Fedor... I wonder how much Wand got paid... especially to face Nog!

Wand vs Nog - set
Josh vs Fujita - Pro-wrestling
Werdum vs Hunt - BJJ vs Kickboxing
Yoshida vs Crocop - Judo vs Kickboxing
=

Crocop avoids a fight vs Werdum, Josh, and Hunt.
A re-match against Fujita or a match against Yoshida are candidate...
My guess at this pt.
Mmm, can't wait.

[( o Y o )]

Nog vs Wandy is rumoured, but DSE have reopened the voting on their site.

Oh...Wandy ducked Coleman :-D

[Grant Ellis]

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE BE FEDOR FIGHTING IN THE STATES OCTOBER!!!!!!!!!!!!

[( o Y o )]

http://www.prideofficial.com/free/news/details.php?id=1147928382

[Bangalter]

these would be my matchups:

crocop - wand
josh - nog
fujita - hunt
werdum - yoshida

[( o Y o )]

swap fujita and werdum and it looks like a fun, and possible line up.

I cannot imagine Fuji and Yoshi not fighting next round.

[Bangalter]

swap fujita and werdum and it looks like a fun, and possible line up.

I cannot imagine Fuji and Yoshi not fighting next round.

yeah, your probably right, but I soo wanna see clash of the chins!
:)

[( o Y o )]

I REALLY want to see Wandy vs Mirko........I want see it so badly I am sure it wont happen!! lol

[Bangalter]

I REALLY want to see Wandy vs Mirko........I want see it so badly I am sure it wont happen!! lol

Me too! Crocop - wand 1 had the best staredown ever (IMO) the fight was so so...
maybe it's to early for wand vs crocop, maybe dse will try to save that fight for the final show.

how about:

fujita vs wand
crocop vs yoshida
werdum vs nog
hunt vs josh

[Pro shoot]

Best 4 non tournament bout would be
Silva vs Mirko
Werdum vs Nog
Hunt vs Yoshida
Fujita sv Josh

[Bangalter]

Best 4 non tournament bout would be
Silva vs Mirko
Werdum vs Nog
Hunt vs Yoshida
Fujita sv Josh

hmm, I don't see Hunt - Yoshida being so competitive.
Yoshida will easily submitt Hunt when he gasses.

Also, I don't think Fujita has a chance against Josh in his current state.

[tuco]

I REALLY want to see Wandy vs Mirko........I want see it so badly I am sure it wont happen!! lol

LOL

[bbbmarc]

fedor out of the OWGP, another thing i predicted right, unfortunatelly

too bad that i'm not that good in prediciting good news

[Shinbone]

I think it is unfair to let Wanderlei fight in the 2nd round. It is a tournament and imho he should have joined the tournament from the beginning in order to be albe to fight in the 2 round. Now he just can walk into the 2nd round, not fair.

Sure it brings some good match ups though.

[heckyl]

awesome. now that he has completly avoided a fight with coleman, let him get destroyed by Nog. shit hopefully Nog knocks him out standing. i know, longshot. but this is a year of the unordinary.

[eatingfish]

Damn & there I was hoping Silva would join Hero's and fight Sakuraba for a 4th time. Haha. j/k

As i'm more inclined to see first time matchups in the GP i'm hoping the card ends up similar to:

Hunt vs Fujita
Werdum vs Nog
Mirko vs Yoshida
Barnett vs Silva

[loreia]

Oh...Wandy ducked Coleman :-D
ROFL

Silva - Nog or Silva - Mirko, are the most exciting mach-ups I can even think of... OWGP or not.

God, please let it be!!!

There's jsut one problem, I wouldn't know which figter to support, as I like them all.

[RedHawk]

these would be my matchups:

crocop - wand
josh - nog
fujita - hunt
werdum - yoshida


Same here. These are the matchups I'd like to see the most.

[RedHawk]

awesome. now that he has completly avoided a fight with coleman, let him get destroyed by Nog. shit hopefully Nog knocks him out standing. i know, longshot. but this is a year of the unordinary.


If he fights Nog, Nog will take him down and sub him like Zulu. Nog may say he wants to stand and trade ... blah blah blah. But when fight time comes, it's going to the ground in a hurry. :)