World Victory Road chief executive officer Naoya Kinoshita on Sunday announced that Ultimate Fighting Championship and Pride veteran Josh Barnett has signed to face Hidehiko Yoshida at the promotion’s March 5 “Sengoku” event.
Recent speculation had lead to the belief that Yoshida would be facing Roger Gracie at Sengoku. According to a report by Sherdog.com, Gracie is expected to be in attendance on March 5 and will be announced as a participant for the promotion’s second event, expected to take place in May.
Casualties of the Pride buyout, neither Barnett nor Yoshida have fought in a mixed martial arts bout in more than a year. In his most recent bout, Barnett lost to new UFC interim heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at Pride’s Dec. 31, 2006 event. Yoshida fought on the same event, losing to James Thompson.
The bout joins previously announced fights between Phil Baroni and Sanae Kikuta, Kazuo Misaki and Siyar Bahadurzada, and Makoto Takimoto vs. Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos.
Other announced participants for whom no opponents have been named include Takanori Gomi and Ryo Kawamura.
-Hidehiko Yoshida vs. Josh Barnett
-Phil Baroni vs. Sanae Kikuta
-Kazuo Misaki vs. Siyar Bahadurzada
-Makoto Takimoto vs. Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos
-Takanori Gomi vs. TBA
-Ryo Kawamura vs. TBA
