DSE Press Conference Round Up

Over six hundred people showed up for the biggest Press Conference in Pride FC’s history.

Members of the press and public flocked to the Sunflower Hall in Tokyo to hear Dream Stage Entertainment’s official line on the scandal that is currently rocking the company, and to find out if the future of Pride FC is in jeopardy.

Sakakibara says that Yakuza Claims are Groundless

Dream Stage Entertainment’s President vehemently denied that his company has any ties what so ever with Japanese Yakuza Crime Syndicate, Yamaguchi-Gumi.

Sakakibara reiterated that all the charges levelled at him and the company were groundless, there was no criminal activity, DSE broke no laws and no crimes had been committed.

The Proof

Sakakibara said that if he or the company were involved in organised crime or affiliated with the Yakuza, there would be no press conference at all and he himself would already be in jail.

DSE Will Sue

Dream Stage Entertainment will sue the publisher of Shukan Gendai for damages. The Japanese weekly magazine was the first media to report DES's alleged Yakuza links and spearheaded the current witch-hunt which has lead to Pride, Bushido and Hustle loosing it’s lucrative contract with Fuji Television.

No further Questions

Dream Stage Entertainment did not open the forum for the media and fans present to ask any questions on the Fuji/Yakuza situation.

"Pride will continue for as long as the fans support it"

Although no mention was made of any new television deal, it was promised that Pride will continue and no change has been made to the next scheduled Pride event.

The official card for Critical Countdown

Pride: Critical Countdown 2006 Openweight
Saitama Super Arena, Tokyo, Japan
Saturday July 1st

Openweight Grand Prix
Quarter Final Line-Up

Wanderlei Silva vs Kazuyuki Fujita
Hidehiko Yoshida vs Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic
Fabricio Werdum vs Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
Mark Hunt vs Josh Barnett

Superfight

Kazuhiro Nakamura vs Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos