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Anderson Silva (left) knocking out Tony Fryklund.

Cage Rage 16: 'Critical Condition'
April 22nd, 2006
Wembley Conference Centre
London, England


Anderson Silva defeats Tony Fryklund by KO at 2:02, RD 1.
Dave Menne defeats Alex Reid by unanimous decision.
Paul Daley defeats Dave Strasser by unanimous decision.
Amar Suloev defeats James Nicholl by TKO at 5:00, RD 1.
Jorge 'Macaco' Patino defeats Curtis Stout by unanimous decision.
Brad Pickett defeats Hiroyuki Abe by unanimous decision.
Robert Berry defeats Gary Rawlings by keylock at 0:47, RD 1.
Mark Epstein defeats Ryan Robinson by majority decision.
Jeremy Bailey defeats Jason Barrett by DQ.
Edson 'Drago' defeats Tengiz Tedoradze by KO at 0:05, RD 1.
Daisuke Nakamura defeats Michael Johnson by keylock at 1:54, RD 1.
Mustapha al Turk defeats Martin Thompson by TKO at 3:02, RD 1.
Mark Buchanan defeats Fereidoun Maghizadeh by TKO at 2:04, RD 2.

AFC 16
April 22nd, 2006
Florida Atlantic University Gymnasium
Boca Raton, FL


Hermes Franca defeats Ryan Schultz by KO.
Shikou Yamashita defeats Dustin Denes by decision.
Mario Rinaldi vs. Kerry Schall declared a no contest.
Crafton Wallace defeats Brian Green by KO.
Mikey Gomes defeats Tim Stout by triangle choke.
Ben Stark defeats Duane Hart by TKO, RD 1.
Haender Rodriguez defeats Pat Slidell by heel hook, RD 2.
Eric Swiger defeats Diego Vitoski by KO, RD 1.
Edson Berto drew with Sung Lee.
Manuel Garcia defeats Jake Hetch by split decision.
Mike Bruno defeats Josh Powell by TKO.

Jake Shields (center)

Rumble on the Rock 9
April 21st, 2006
Blaisdell Center Arena
Honolulu, Hawaii


Single matchups
Eric 'Butterbean' Esch defeats Aaron Aguilera by choke at 1:15, RD 2.
Kuniyoshi Hironaka defeats Renato 'Charuto' Verissimo by TKO at 3:03, RD 2.
Kazuhiro Hamanaka defeats Wes 'Cabbage' Correira by keylock at 1:53, RD 2.
Scott Junk defeats Hideki Tadao by TKO at 2:20, RD 1.
Ray Cooper defeats Koji Yoshida by TKO at 2:47, RD 1.
Brenton Wolff defeats Shinpei Sotoyama by KO at 2:34, RD 1.
Brandon Wolff defeats Josh McDonald by TKO at 5:00, RD 1.
Steve Byrnes defeats Matt Knaub by kneebar at 0:42, RD 2.



ROTR welterweight GP semifinals:
Carlos Condit defeats Frank Trigg by armbar at 1:22, RD 1.
Jake Shields defeats Yushin Okami by majority decision.

Final:
Jake Shields defeats Carlos Condit by unanimous decision.

PRIDE Open Weight Grand Prix
May 5th, 2006
Osaka Dome
Osaka, Japan


Officially announced matchups:
Mirko 'Cro Cop' Filipovic vs. Ikuhisa Minowa
Fabricio Werdum vs. Alistair Overeem
Alexander Emelianenko vs. Josh Barnett
Kazuyuki Fujita vs. James Thompson
Hidehiko Yoshida vs. Yosuke Nishijima

Unofficially announced matchups:
Rodrigo 'Minotauro' Nogueira vs. Rulon Gardner
Vanderlei Silva vs. Mark Coleman
Mark Hunt vs. Tsuyoshi Kohsaka

Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira

The Brazilian media is reporting that the matchup of Rodrigo 'Minotauro' Nogueira vs. Rulon Gardner has a strong possibility of taking place in the first round of the PRIDE Open Weight Grand Prix on May 5th.

Sources in the Japanese and Brazilian media are reporting that DSE/PRIDE will stage its first show on North American soil in Las Vegas in October.

Kazuyuki Fujita

Kazuyuki Fujita was recently interviewed by the PRIDE website. Here's what Fujita had to say:


Interviewer: Now that your participation in PRIDE has been confirmed, is there someone that you would like to fight?

Fujita: I want set my sights on the highest target possible, so, of course, I want to fight in the tournament to decide the best. Looking at the fighters, I knew there was no other place like this. I believe that the PRIDE ring is the best ring.

Interviewer: Do you think the level of PRIDE competition has increased during your absence?

Fujita: I think the level has improved with each event. PRIDE is advancing. To be honest, I'm curious how far I can go and how successful I can be in that improved environment.

Interviewer: There are increasing numbers of new Japanese fighters. Do any of them interest you?

Fujita: There are too many. Good fighters are appearing one after another and as a fighter, I'm extremely interested in them.

Interviewer: As a Japanese fighter, do you want to create a stir in what is now a heaven for foreign fighters?

Fujita: I haven't thought about that at all. All of the Japanese fighters are doing their best.

Interviewer: At a minimum, what do you want to accomplish in the Grand Prix?

Fujita: To win at least one match. My real goal will be to win the tournament, of course.

Interviewer: Were you getting impatient after being out of the ring for a while?

Fujita: If you want to fight where you want, and how you want, you've got to cut ties with a lot of things and eventually outgrow certain things. This was that time and mentally, I have improved. I've always trained so I could fight at any time.

Interviewer: What kind of training have you been doing?

Fujita: I was also considering the New Year's Eve events, so I was training in Los Angeles, in addition to Japan. I was training at Marco Ruas' gym.

Interviewer: What will you weigh on the day of your fight?

Fujita: I won't know until that day.

Interviewer: What do you weigh now?

Fujita: I think I'm less than 110kg.

Interviewer: You've been out of MMA for a while. Are you nervous?

Fujita: Not at all.

Interviewer: Why did you decide to become a freelance fighter?

Fujita: To be able to fight and work like I want to, I knew that it would be best to fight by myself and fight for myself.

Interviewer: You used an orchestrated version of Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye in your previous entrances. Will you change your entrance song now?

Fujita: I'll consider it.

Interviewer: What do you think has changed the most (in PRIDE)?

Fujita: I've fought under many different rules so I'm not worried about that. I will fight using all of my previous experience.

Interviewer: What is your impression of Hidehiko Yoshida, who will also be fighting in the Grand Prix?

Fujita: He has many strong points and he would be a good opponent if we both advance.

Interviewer: Your opponent hasn't been confirmed yet.

Fujita: I don't have anyone in particular that I want to fight. You'll have to fight everyone eventually if you keep winning, so I'm not worried about it. I will fight anyone.

Interviewer: Which fighters are you interested in?

Fujita: I'm interested in everyone. And I want everyone to be interested in me.

Interviewer: Fedor, who you fought last time, may be seeded into the tournament. What do you think about that?

Fujita: I want to fight him after I win my way up (the tournament ladder), of course. I'm looking forward to it. I'm ready.