Pride 34: Kamikaze was a mixed martial arts

Mixed martial arts

Mixed Martial Arts is a full contact combat sport that allows the use of both striking and grappling techniques, both standing and on the ground, including boxing, wrestling, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, muay Thai, kickboxing, karate, judo and other styles. The roots of modern mixed martial arts can be...

 event held by Pride Fighting Championships on April 8, 2007 at the Saitama Super Arena

Saitama Super Arena

is a multi-purpose indoor arena located in Chūō-ku, Saitama City, Saitama, Japan. Its spectator capacity is 37,000 at maximum settings.This main arena capacity is between 19,000-22,500 when events such as basketball, volleyball, tennis, ice hockey, gymnastics, boxing, mixed martial arts and...

 in Saitama

Saitama, Saitama

' is the capital and the most populous city of Saitama Prefecture in Japan, situated in the south-east of the prefecture. Its area incorporates the former cities of Urawa, Ōmiya, Yono and Iwatsuki. It is a city designated by government ordinance...

, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

.

Background

This was the last Pride show promoted by Dream Stage Entertainment

Dream Stage Entertainment

Dream Stage Entertainment was a Japanese company that promoted various wrestling and mixed martial arts events, most notably mixed martial arts Pride Fighting Championship and Hustle professional wrestling events....

 before the sale of the company (see Pride Worldwide).

Although Wanderlei Silva

Wanderlei Silva

Wanderlei César da Silva , nicknamed "The Axe Murderer", is a Brazilian mixed martial artist, who has competed in Japan's Pride Fighting Championships and the American based Ultimate Fighting Championship . Silva is known for his aggressive fighting style with the majority of his fights ending in...

 and Mauricio Rua

Mauricio Rua

Maurício Milani Rua is a Brazilian mixed martial artist fighting in the Ultimate Fighting Championship where he is a former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion...

 were negotiating with Pride to compete, Silva did not participate because of a medical suspension received from the Nevada State Athletic Commission. The commission had stated that if a Japanese doctor cleared Silva for competition, they would consider lifting the suspension three days early, but this did not come to fruition.

Gilbert Yvel

Gilbert Yvel

Gilbert Ramon Yvel is a Dutch heavyweight mixed martial artist associated with the Vos Gym training camp in the Netherlands. He has competed in the Pride Fighting Championships, Affliction Entertainment and Ultimate Fighting Championship promotions...

 was originally slated to fight Bazigit Atajev

Bazigit Atajev

Bazigit Atajev is a Russian mixed martial artist and kickboxer, who represented Russia in RINGS, fought in Pride Fighting Championships, and also competed in K-1 kickboxing. He is known for a fierce spinning heel kick, and Sambo style grappling...

, but Atajev withdrew due to an internal disease.

Nobuyuki Sakakibara's "surprise announcement" at the event turned out to be a guest appearance by Kazushi Sakuraba

Kazushi Sakuraba

is a Japanese professional mixed martial artist and former professional wrestler. He has competed in pro-wrestling for New Japan Pro Wrestling, UWFi and Kingdom Pro Wrestling. He has fought in MMA competition in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, PRIDE Fighting Championships, K-1 Hero's and Dream...

 who had left Pride nearly a year ago to join rival promotion Hero's

HERO'S

Hero's was a Japanese mixed martial arts promotion operated by Fighting and Entertainment Group, the parent entity behind kickboxing organization K-1. Grown from and branched off of K-1's earlier experiments in MMA, including the K-1 Romanex event and various MMA fights on its regular K-1...

. Kiyoshi Tamura

Kiyoshi Tamura

is a Japanese middleweight professional wrestler and mixed martial artist.Once a student of legendary Pro Wrestler Akira Maeda, Tamura is known for his skill in catch wrestling as well as his ability to deliver exciting and realistic professional wrestling bouts....

 joined Sakakibara in the ring and teased a potential matchup in a future Pride event. Sakuraba had initially expressed his wish to fight either Wanderlei Silva

Wanderlei Silva

Wanderlei César da Silva , nicknamed "The Axe Murderer", is a Brazilian mixed martial artist, who has competed in Japan's Pride Fighting Championships and the American based Ultimate Fighting Championship . Silva is known for his aggressive fighting style with the majority of his fights ending in...

 or Kiyoshi Tamura on the card but in the end neither fight materialized. Though Tamura would end up fighting Sakuraba at Dynamite!! 2008

Dynamite!! 2008

Dynamite!! 2008 was the annual kickboxing and mixed martial arts event held by K-1 & DREAM on New Year's Eve, Wednesday, December 31, 2008, at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan...

Results

• Heavyweight bout:   Yoshihiro Nakao
  Yoshihiro Nakao
  Yoshihiro "Kiss" Nakao is a Japanese heavyweight mixed martial artist and former K-1 kickboxer who has defeated the likes of Don Frye, Jim York, Wesley Correira, and Edson Draggo. He is currently under contract to fight for DREAM and World Victory Road promotions...
  
   vs.   Edson Drago
  Edson Drago
  Edson "Draggo" Claas Vieira is a Brazilian mixed martial artist and boxer.-Early career:Vieira emerged as a heavyweight prospect in 2005 and 2006 when he ran his record to 9-0 with a string of brutal knockouts, including his 15-second pummeling of Chute Boxe product Helio Dipp a fight for which he...
  
  

Nakao defeated Drago via submission (neck crank) at 9:51 of round 1.

• Heavyweight bout:   Eric "Butterbean" Esch
  Eric Esch
  Eric Scott Esch is an American heavyweight boxer, kick-boxer, professional wrestler, and mixed martial artist commonly referred to as Butterbean....
  
   vs.   Wagner "Zuluzinho" da Conceição Martins
  Zuluzinho
  Wágner da Conceição Martins , better known as Zuluzinho , is a Brazilian vale tudo fighter and mixed martial artist. He is the son of Vale Tudo legend Rei Zulu. Wagner was raised by his grandmother and works as a security guard in a number of reggae clubs in northern Brazil. Following in his...
  
  

Esch defeated da Conceição Martins via submission (keylock) at 2:35 of round 1.

• Middleweight bout:   Makoto Takimoto
  Makoto Takimoto
  is a Japanese judoka. He won a gold medal at the -81 kg category of the 2000 Summer Olympics.He is from Iwai, Ibaraki. He began judo at the age of 6. After graduation from Nihon University, he belonged to the Japan Racing Association. Takimoto made his MMA debut on 31 December 2004 against...
  
   vs.   Zelg Galesic
  Zelg Galesic
  Zelg Galešić is a Croatian mixed martial artist, currently fighting in Bellator Fighting Championships. He has previously fought in Cage Rage, PRIDE, DREAM, and Hero's...
  
  

Takimoto defeated Galesic via submission (kimura) at 5:40 of round 1.

• Heavyweight bout:   Gilbert Yvel
  Gilbert Yvel
  Gilbert Ramon Yvel is a Dutch heavyweight mixed martial artist associated with the Vos Gym training camp in the Netherlands. He has competed in the Pride Fighting Championships, Affliction Entertainment and Ultimate Fighting Championship promotions...
  
   vs.   Akira Shoji

Yvel defeated Shoji via TKO (punches) at 3:04 of round 1.

• Heavyweight bout:   James Thompson
  James Thompson (fighter)
  James Thompson is an English mixed martial artist. He fights as a heavyweight and has appeared in such promotions as Elite Xtreme Combat , Pride Fighting Championship, and Cage Rage. He is known for rushing his opponents at the start of the bout.-Biography:James Thompson grew up in Rochdale,...
  
   vs.   Don Frye
  Don Frye
  Donald Frye is a retired American mixed martial artist, actor, and professional wrestler. Frye rose to fame fighting in early Ultimate Fighting Championship events, winning the UFC 8 and Ultimate Ultimate 96 tournaments...
  
  

Thompson defeated Frye via TKO (punches) at 6:23 of round 1.

• Lightweight bout:   Shinya Aoki
  Shinya Aoki
  is a Japanese mixed martial artist, grappler, and former police trainee who is noted for being the DREAM Lightweight Champion and former Shooto Middleweight Champion. Aoki holds a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu under Yuki Nakai, as well as a black belt in judo. He is one of the most prominent...
  
   vs.   Brian Lo-An-Joe

Aoki defeated Lo-An-Joe via submission (armbar) at 1:33 of round 1.

• Light Heavyweight bout:   Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou
  Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou
  Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou Nkamhoua , sometimes billed simply as Sokoudjou, is a Cameroonian mixed martial artist and judoka, and the former KSW Light Heavyweight Champion, who came to prominence in Japan's PRIDE Fighting Championships. He has since had mixed success with stints in the UFC, WEC,...
  
   vs.   Ricardo Arona
  Ricardo Arona
  Ricardo Arona is a Brazilian mixed martial artist and PRIDE FC Middleweight Grand Prix finalist. He has competed in PRIDE Fighting Championships and RINGS in his mixed martial arts career, and is a member of Brazilian Top Team.-Abu Dhabi and RINGS:...
  
  

Sokoudjou defeated Arona via KO (punch) at 1:59 of round 1.

• Heavyweight bout:   Jeff Monson
  Jeff Monson
  Jeffrey William Monson is an American mixed martial artist from Olympia, Washington. He is a 2 time winner of the ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship, and a No Gi Brazilian Jiu Jitsu World Champion. He currently holds the Heavyweight titles in the International Sport Karate Association...
  
   vs.   Kazuyuki Fujita
  Kazuyuki Fujita
  is a Japanese professional wrestler, mixed martial artist and a former amateur wrestler. He has fought in mixed martial arts promotions including PRIDE, K-1 and currently fighting in Sengoku....
  
  

Monson defeated Fujita via submission (rear-naked choke) at 6:47 of round 1.