Pride USA Press Conference Notes

Irvine, CA-Fox Sports Grill

As if Mixed Martial Arts in Southern California couldn't get any hotter, Dream Stage Entertainment, promoter of the PRIDE Fighting Championships, Saturday evening held a press conference at the FOX Sports Grill in Irvine, Calif., officially announcing two bouts for its October 21 the Real Deal event at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

A crowd close to 300 people welcomed some of PRIDE’s top athletes including Phil Baroni, Mark Coleman, Vitor Belfort, Josh Barnett, and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua and Pride Heavyweight Champion Fedor Emelianenko. The excitement was palatable at the event, the third on Pride’s west coast media rollout this week, as it was a rare opportunity for American Pride fans to have live interaction with the Japanese organization. The October 21st fight card will be the first Pride event held on U.S. soil.

In a rematch from 2004, heavyweight champ Fedor Emelianenko will square off against UFC and PRIDE tournament champion Mark Coleman on the card’s main event.

Also announced to be on the card, “Shogun” Rua returns to action after suffering a broken arm in his last fight against Mark Coleman, to face Coleman’s Hammer House teammate Kevin Randleman.

Another interesting note from the press conference was the appearance of former undisputed heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson, regarding whom DSE offered no comment when asked if he will fight for the promotion.

Those who were not able to attend this event and want to catch Prides live free event: BUSHIDO SURVIVAL'06: 2ND ROUND Only on FSN - 7:00pm Nationwide on AUG 27.

After last night’s announcements, the PRIDE Real Deal pay per view card stands as such:

Fedor Emelianenko vs Mark Coleman
Mauricio Rua vs Kevin Randleman

A selection of images from the Pride 32 Press conference can be found in
MMA Universe's Photo Gallery Section.

Source: InsideFighting.com