(Yoshida (right) meets Satoshi Ishii in the ring at
Dynamite!! 2009)
On Monday Hidehiko Yoshida’s management company, J-Rock, announced a one-time
MMA event known as Astra. Headlining the event will be Yoshida’s retirement
fight. It will take place on April 25 at the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo. The event
was first reported by Sherdog.com.
The card will also feature several fighters who train out of Yoshida Dojo. The
list of competitors includes UFC veteran Kazuhiro Nakamura, Olympic gold
medalist Makoto Takimoto, Michihiro Omigawa and Deep Future King Tournament
champion Tatsunao Nagakura. Although these fighters have been announced, no
opponents have been named.
Former Sengoku director and current J-Rock Takahiro Kokuho president claims
that event could feature fighters that are currently under contract to both
World Victory Road and Dream.
Yoshida’s retirement opponent was not named. However, the Olympic gold medalist
expressed a desire to fight Wanderlei Silva. The two fought twice under the
Pride FC banner. Silva was victorious in both the 2003 and 2005 contests.
Despite Yoshida’s desire the match up seems unlikely considering Silva is under
contract with the UFC.
Omigawa, who turned his career around in 2009 by going 5-1-1, said that he was
interested in fighting against WEC champion Jose Aldo or Dream champion Bibiano
Fernandes. Once again, both these fights seem unlikely considered the fighters’
contractual ties.
