October 30, 2006 Observer Newsletter: Pride Real Deal, TNA Bound for Glory

In what will be the biggest weekend in MMA history, the first New Year's Eve match is now official.

K-1 announced on 10/24 that Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Kazushi Sakuraba would be one of the main events on New Year's Eve at the Kyocera Dome in Osaka. That match was originally scheduled for the 10/9 Hero's show at the Yokohama Arena as the semifinal of the 187-pound tournament, but Sakuraba had to pull out due to a nerve issue restricting the flow of blood to the lower part of the brain. 

Akiyama won the tournament, upsetting Melvin Mahoef in the finals, and a match with Sakuraba was expected for the biggest night of the year in Japan. Sakuraba said he expected to be at 80%, and using pro wrestling terminology, said he would be willing to go in a judo jacket match (judo jacket match was the pro wrestling terminology for a match where both competitors wear gis, a gimmick used in Japan and California when former champions in judo like Anton Geesink, Gene LeBell, Willem Ruska and Badnews Allen and Seiji Sakaguchi used it as a gimmick match–Sakuraba would have grown up seeing the gimmick).

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