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Where’s Yoshida?
By Zach Arnold | December 24, 2006
Maybe it’s time to put Hidehiko Yoshida’s face on the side of a milk carton, because he hasn’t been announced for PRIDE’s biggest show of the year. PRIDE’s strongest Japanese drawing card not on the NYE show? What a strange business.
Topics: All Topics, MMA, PRIDE, Zach Arnold | 12 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Yeah, it’s a bit weird that he hasn’t been announced yet (and i doubt that he will be in the next days), especially considering there hasn’t been a news item that he’s injured or something like that. My guess would be that he’s just too expensive to add him to an already quite costy card, now that they don’t have Fuji to back them financially…
I thought he broke his leg against CroCop. He’s probably still nursing that injury.
Still waiting for Yoshida vs. Nastula to be announced…
I’m sure the NSAC would have something to say about Pride violating their suspension of Nastula….
Do they have jurisdiction in Japan?
they sure do if PRIDE expects to be granted a license to hold shows in Nevada. US boxing/wrestling/athletic commissions expect their suspensions to be honored by all other commissions in the US. And if a promotion is licensed to hold events in commission states and also holds an event in an unlicensed state/reservation/country (which is permitted), they are expected to honor any active suspensions.
The only promotions that Nastula could fight for, while under NSAC suspension, are those which don’t plan on holding shows in the US, like the UK promotions. (Though, as was seen in the Barnett situation, a promotion that employs commission-suspended fighters for events outside the US can get licensed, as long as they are in full compliance at the time they apply for their license.)
There was actually a story run in the Japanese sports media, I believe late last week, about how Yoshida’s opponent hadn’t been revealed yet, and quoted Yoshida himself as saying he was having trouble training and getting motivated when he didn’t even know who he’d face, if he’d fight at all.
Not much to do with it other than it’s Pride, but I posted a link on my site to a new Sakakibara interview where he talks about expansion into the US and such. Puts some insight into why they’re going so hard for the US market. I’ve also got a bunch of other links to mainstream and insider news, and will continue to update through ‘vacation’ time (I’m in Tennessee with the family, very nice but i am bored outta my skull). Merry xmas everyone.
They just added Fujita to the lineup.
^ Yea, like 3 days ago.
Yoshida vs. James Thompson added now though
Yeah sorry, i get my Japanese fighter names messed up :-p