According to Tatame (a leading source of Combat news in Brazil), Pride Middleweight Champion Wanderlei Silva will not be participating at Shockwave on New Year’s Eve. The Chute Boxe fighter had been tentatively scheduled to fight at Pride’s biggest show of year and has appeared on advertisements.

Rafael Cordeiro, one of the leaders in Chute Boxe, revealed that Silva is currently training hard and will defend his title at Pride’s second U.S. show. Without a scheduled opponent for the champion, it appears that DSE does not want to risk Silva getting injured at Shockwave, thus jeopardizing his fight in February. Although fans will be disappointed about Silva’s absence, it seems to be the most sensible decision for Pride.

Confirmed Shockwave fights so far:

Fedor Emelianenko vs. Mark Hunt (Heavyweight Title Match)
Shinya Aoki vs. Joachim Hansen
Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Gilbert Melendez
Mauricio Rua vs. Kazuhiro Nakamura
Takanori Gomi vs. Mitsuhiro Ishida (Non-Title Match)
Ikuhisa Minowa vs Kiyoshi Tamura
Yuki Kondo vs Akihiro Gono
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs Josh Barnett
------------------------------------------------------


hier staat Fedor wel weer tussen... ik ben de draad kwijt wat er doorgaat!!