Sakuraba is in the Middleweight Tournament. He was one of three first round fights announced today. But instead of matching him with long time rival and rumored opponent Kiyoshi Tamura, they are giving him a Brazilian Kyokushin Karate master making his MMA debut, Andrew Nakahara. here's the story from one of the premiere Japanese MMA blogs,
Nightmare of Battle.
Quote:
Three fights for the upcoming first round of the DREAM Middleweight GP have been announced. In one fight Kazushi Sakuraba will face Brazilian born Kyokushin Karate fighter Andrews Nakahara. In the second two legends will collide as Kiyoshi Tamura takes on Masakatsu Funaki. In the last announced fight Pride veterans Denis Kang and Gegard Mousasi will meet.
Andrews Nakahara is a very good Kyokushin Karate fighter and is only 24 years old, but I don’t think he has ever fought in an MMA fight before. He is 183 cm tall and weighs 80 kg. Here is his Kyokushin Karate tournament history from Kyokushin4Life:
* All American Open Karate Championships 2007 (IKO-1) - 2nd Place
* All American Open Karate Championships 2006 (IKO-1) - 1st Place
* All American Open Karate Championships 2005 (IKO-1) - 2nd Place
* All American Open Karate Championships 2004 (IKO-1) - 7th Place
* 3rd World Weight Category Championships 2005 (IKO-1) - 1st Place
* 6th South American Karate Tournament 2004 (IKO-1) - 1st Place (MW)
* Brazilian Open 2004 (IKO-1) - 2nd Place
* South American Open 2005 (IKO-1) - 1st Place
OLYMPIA DREAM.2 Middleweight GP 2008 1st Round
Date: April 29th, 2008
Place: Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan
Middleweight GP 1st Round:
Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Andrews Nakahara
Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Masakatsu Funaki
Denis Kang vs. Gegard Mousasi
Middleweight GP Participants:
Yoon Dong Sik
Yoshihiro Akiyama
Shungo Oyama
Kin Taiei
Minowaman
Possible GP Participants:
Dae Won Kim
Mamed Khalidov
Daniel Acacio
Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza
Possible Participants:
Marcelo Garcia
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