Pawel Nastula to enter MWGP after all??

[heckyl]

Sherdog is reporting Pawel Nastula will in fact be entering the MWGP this year. i heard that he is fighting in a singles fight on the night of the opening round, but now this information has been reported.

http://www.sherdog.com/news/news.asp?n_id=2458

anyone have any thoughts?

Monday, February 21, 2005
by Press Release

TOKYO, Japan – The first participant for PRIDE FIGHTING’S 2005 middleweight Grand Prix has been announced and representing Poland as well as the martial art of Judo will be legendary Judoka, Pawel Nastula. The 1995 and 1997 Judo World Champion and 1996 gold medallist at the Olympic games in Atlanta, Nastula brings his legendary Judo skills to the PRIDE ring to compete against the world’s elite mixed martial artists.

The opening round of PRIDE FIGHTING’S middleweight Grand Prix tournament, TOTAL ELIMINATION 2005, takes place on April 23rd, 2005 from the Saitama Super Arena in Japan.

Additional tournament participants as well as North American pay per view information are soon to follow.

[Shooto Panama]

I think Sherdog press realese is wrong. From what i understand Sakakibara and Takada told the Japanese media Nastula will be cross-training at Takada Dojo to later make debut at Pride MW GP second round in a single fight.



To place him in the GP right away would be such a crime for other fighters with more experience expecting to be there but anything is possible with Pride this days.

[( o Y o )]

What Shooto said. The japanese annoucement was that he`d fight on the card, not in the GP.

[heckyl]

ahh, i see. i pretty much heard the info you heard. though i mixed up rd2 with rd1. i figured that wasnt very fair seeing as he hasnt earned his right to be in the GP, and his experiance in mma is none.

[Grant Ellis]

I know they confirmed he'd probably be in a single fight, not the GP... but even if he was:

1) He is a name, but not one that can't be afforded.
2) His lack of experience provides opportunity for more developed fighters to progress, thus building the hype for the future fights.
3) I believe Giant Silva, Stefan Leko, and Sentoryu only had one fight between the three of them in the HW GP opening round. Guys like Dan Bobish, though with losses, but actual MMA experience, get eliminated in the Febuary show before Total Elimination, meanwhile three newbs (one with a loss) get placed in.

Oh, hey, there's a fight they could have had.
SENTORYU VS. BOBISH!

[heckyl]

dont tease me with such great fantasy matchups GRANT. make me drool on my damn keyboard. :\

[nycfreefight]

I recieved the same release as Sherdog did, but my contact/buddy in Japan says that's not what he was told, he was told that Nastula would be fighting a non- tournamanet fight in the second round in the tournament. I'm contacting PrideFC here is the US today to get some clarification. I promise to post it as soon as I fiond something out.

[nycfreefight]

DSE has made the proper correction. I just recieved an email from DSE stating that Nastula was NOT in the middleweight tournament clearing up any mix-up the readers might have had.

[AKA]

What Shooto said. The japanese annoucement was that he`d fight on the card, not in the GP.
that sound better!
it will be his first MMA fight afterall

[dollyo]

Nastula will win all :)

[dezimo]

On February 19th, DSE held a press conference in Tokyo and announced the participation of Pawel Nastula, a Judo gold medal winner of the Atlanta Olympics from Poland.
Nastula will be a member of Takada Dojo and is looking to make his professional debut at the PRIDE Middleweight GP 2nd round event on June 26th.
Nastula was born on June 26th, 1970 and he is now 34 years old. He has conquered many championships including World and European Championships and his name is etched in “The Top 50 Judo-ka in the World.”



In his prime, Nastula is undefeated for one thousand two hundred twenty days and established an official record of 312 straight wins. Nobuhiko Takada, PRIDE’s General Director, who became Nastula’s sponsor in Japan, described, “His official record is equivalent to Rickson Gracie’s unofficial record of 400 straight wins. He is the ‘real’ Rickson Gracie.”
In 1995 and 1997, Nastula captured the Sports Award in Poland. In June of last year when he didn’t make it to the Athens Olympic Team, Nastula stepped down from the frontlines of the Judo world. Since then, he started two hours of boxing training every morning. (He belongs to same gym as a boxer who won silver medal in Seoul Olympics)
Then through a personal friend, Nastula started to approach PRIDE and in November of last year, both sides began negotiations and finally on the 19th of February 2005, Nastula’s participation in PRIDE was officially announced.

Nastula was aware of MMA since the very first PRIDE event – Nobuhiko Takada vs. Rickson Gracie. After he saw Hidehiko Yoshida vs. Royce Gracie, Nastula started to show interest in MMA because he thinks there is a possibility of him being number one in the sport. His favorite moves in Judo were not only throws such as kuchigi-taoshi or ippon-seoi but he also likes to utilize grappling techniques such as arm bars.
Nastula said, “As much as possible, I would like to fight with Judo technique. I still haven’t decided if I am going to wear a gi or not.”
He will belong to the heavyweight category and Nastula, in front of the media, expressed his desire to face fighters such as Nogueira, Fedor, Cro Cop, and Yoshida.
Nastula is going to be a fighter out of the Takada Dojo however his base for training is going to be his gym in Poland and there, he will go to Boxing, Sambo, and Wrestling gyms to prepare for PRIDE in June