April 4, 2006 TOKYO, Japan – The first bout has been announced for PRIDE FIGHTING’S upcoming May 5th event, TOTAL ELIMINATION ABSOLUTE 2006: Japanese Judo legend and Olympic gold medallist HIDEHIKO YOSHIDA will face Japanese hero and former WBO NABO cruiserweight boxing champion YOSUKE “YOSUKEZAN” NISHIJIMA.   Yoshida returns to the ring coming off of a submission victory over Naoya Ogawa at SHOCKWAVE 2005, while Nishijima looks to rebound off of a loss to Mark Hunt at PRIDE 31 in one of the most exciting fights of the night. 

Other fighters expected to participate in the tournament:  ANTONIO RODRIGO NOGUEIRA, MARK HUNT, MIRKO “CRO COP” FILIPOVIC,  “TK” KOSAKA, WANDERLEI SILVA and JOSH BARNETT.  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)

TOURNAMENT PATICIPANTS

Mark Hunt (New Zealand)
Josh Barnett (USA)
“TK” Kosaka (Japan)
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (Brazil)
Wanderlei Silva (Brazil)
Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic (Croatia)

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!