April 13, 2006 TOKYO, Japan – Japanese heavyweight, Kazuyuki “Iron Head” Fujita, has entered PRIDE FIGHTING’S upcoming May 5th tournament, TOTAL ELIMINATION ABSOLUTE 2006.  His last appearance in the PRIDE ring was on June 8, 2003 at BAD TO THE BONE in which he lost via submission to heavyweight champion FEDOR EMELIANENKO … a match many consider to be Fedor’s most challenging to date.

Previously announced matches feature Japanese Judo legend and Olympic gold medallist HIDEHIKO YOSHIDA versus Japanese hero and former WBO NABO cruiserweight boxing champion YOSUKE “YOSUKEZAN” NISHIJIMA, MIRKO “CRO COP” FILIPOVIC versus IKUHISA “THE PUNK” MINOWA and JOSH BARNETT versus ALEKSANDER EMELIANENKO.  Additional participants and match ups to be announced soon.

TOTAL ELIMINATION ABSOLUTE is the first round of PRIDE FIGHTING’S 2006 16-Man Grand Prix Tournament.  ABSOLUTE means no weight classes.  The tournament will span three events … TOTAL ELIMINATION ABSOLUTE (Opening Round), CRITICAL COUNTDOWN ABSOLUTE (Second Round) and FINAL CONFLICT ABSOLUTE (Semi-Finals and Finals).   Dates for the latter two events will be announced soon.

TOTAL EILIMINATION ABSOLUTE 2006 is scheduled to premiere on North American pay per view on Friday, May 5th, 2006.

INDEMAND, DIRECTV, DISH Network, TVN
PPV Premiere Date: Friday, May 5th, 2006
Premiere Time: 10:00 pm ET, 7:00 pm PT
Count Down show: 9:30 pm ET, 6:30 pm PT

TOURNAMENT MATCHES
Hidehiko Yoshida (Japan) vs. Yosuke Nishijima (Japan)
Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic (Croatia) vs. Ikuhisa “The Punk” Minowa (Japan)
Josh Barnett (USA) vs. Aleksander Emelianenko (Russia)
“TK” Kosaka (Japan) vs. TBA
Kazuyuki Fujita (Japan) vs. TBA

Participants and fight card subject to change.

For additional replay times, please contact your pay per view provider or pridefc.com.

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