LOS ANGELES, California – The fight card for PRIDE FC: BUSHIDO VOLUME 4 has been assembled and will feature Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic, Dean “The Boogey Man” Lister, Hayato “Mach” Sakurai, and a team match between the Brazilian Top Team and Team Japan. BUSHIDO VOLUME 4 will take place from the Nagoya Rainbow Hall in Nagoya, Japan and is scheduled to debut on North American pay per view for customers of iNDEMAND, DIRECTV, and TVN on Sunday, July 25th, 2004 at 3:00pm EST, 12:00pm PST (please check each respective carrier for later evening replays). For customers of DISH Network, the premiere will be Sunday, August 1st, 2004 at 9:00pm EST, 6:00pm PST.

The first match on the card features Croatia’s Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic against Japanese fighter Shungo Oyama. Looking to re-position himself among the elite heavyweights, “Cro Cop” has re-dedicated himself to his mixed martial arts career and is looking to begin the road to title contention once again. His last two victories have been at BUSHIDO (a TKO win over Norihisa Yamamoto at VOLUME 2 and a decision win over Hiromitsu Kanehara at VOLUME 3) and now he faces PRIDE FC veteran and Judo practitioner Shungo Oyama.

Also, scheduled to make his PRIDE FC debut is Dean “The Boogeyman” Lister. Training out of San Diego, California, Lister is a former King of the Cage middleweight champion and winner of the absolute division of the Abu Dhabi Submission Championships. His first PRIDE FC match will be a difficult challenge as he faces Amar Suleov of Russia. A member of the Red Devil Sport Club, Suleov boasts a strong wrestling and kickboxing game and is a veteran of the UFC.

In addition to these matches, BUSHIDO VOLUME 4 will feature the Brazilian Top Team versus Team Japan. One of the elite fight teams in the world (team members include Mario Sperry, Murilo Bustamante and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira), the Brazilian Top Team will send representatives Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (twin brother of Rodrigo), Paulo Filho, and Fabio Mella. In a revenge match, Nogueira will face the prized protégé of Hidehiko Yoshida, Kazuhiro Nakamura, who is 3-1. Nakamura’s only loss---to Nogueira back at PRIDE FC 25 BODY BLOW. In another revenge match, Akira Shoji will attempt to avenge his arm bar loss to Paulo Filho (the two faced off originally at PRIDE FC 22 BEASTS FROM THE EAST 2). In the final match, Fabio Mella will make his PRIDE FC debut, taking on one of the best middleweights in the world in Takanori Gomi (15-2).

This is just the beginning of stellar fight card!

PRIDE FC: BUSHIDO VOLUME 4
Fight Card
Brazilian Top Team vs. Team Japan
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (Brazil) vs. Kazuhiro Nakamura (Japan)
Paulo Filho (Brazil) vs. Akira Shoji (Japan)
Fabio Mello (Brazil) vs. Takanori Gomi (Japan)

Additional Matches:
Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic (Croatia) vs. Shungo Oyama (Japan)
Dean Lister (USA) vs. Amar Suloev (Russia)
Hayato “Mach” Sakurai (Japan) vs. TBA
Ikuhisa Minowa (Japan) vs. Kenichi Yamamoto (Japan)
Dokonjonosuke Mishima (Japan) vs. Marcos Aurelio (Brazil)
Hiroyuki Abe (Japan) vs. Luis “Buscape” Firminho (Brazil)
Kyosuke Sasaki (Japan) vs. Eiji Mitsuoka (Japan)

(Fight Card Subject to Change)

BUSHIDO VOLUME 4 will take place from the Nagoya Rainbow Hall in Nagoya, Japan and is scheduled to debut on North American pay per view on Sunday, July 25th, 2004 at 3:00pm EST, 12:00pm PST for customers of iNDEMAND, DIRECTV, and TVN (please check each respective carrier for later evening replays). For customers of DISH Network, the premiere will be Sunday, August 1st, 2004 at 9:00pm EST, 6:00pm PST. The event will be available at a reduced rate of $19.95. For additional replay times, please contact your pay per view provider or pridefc.com.

For more information on PRIDE FC, visit pridefc.com!