
- Saturday 07.01.2006
- U.S. Broadcast: Pay Per View
- Promotion: Pride FC
- Ownership: Dream Stage Entertainment (DSE)
- Venue: Saitama Super Arena
- Location: Saitama, Japan
- Enclosure: Ring
- TV Announcers: Mauro Ranallo, Frank Trigg
- Ring Announcer: Lenne Hardt, Kei Grant
- MMA Bouts: 9
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Fight Card
Referees
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Yuji Shimada
Filipović vs. Yoshida (9), Silva vs. Fujita (7) -
Daisuke Noguchi
Barnett vs. Hunt (8), Nogueira vs. Werdum (6), Nakao vs. Lee (2) -
Moritaka Oshiro
Nakamura vs. Santos (5), Belfort vs. Takahashi (3) -
Samio Kimura
Nogueira vs. Overeem II (4), Nastula vs. Drago (1)
Pride Critical Countdown Absolute Wiki Update Wiki
After an exciting Opening Round, the 2006 Pride Openweight Grand Prix continued in July with the Quarterfinals of the tournament. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Wanderlei Silva, Josh Barnett, and Mirko Filipovic earned spots in the Semifinals with their performances.
Silva was a replacement for Heavyweight Champion Fedor Emelianenko, who was forced out of the competition due to a hand injury suffered in training. The significantly bulked-up Silva put on a vintage performance against Kazuyuki “Ironhead” Fujita, stopping the typically unstoppable Fujita with a swarming barrage of punches, knees, soccer kicks and foot stomps.