''Pride 34: Kamikaze'' was a

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, inc ...

event held by Pride Fighting Championships on April 8, 2007 at the

Saitama Super Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena located in Chūō-ku, Saitama, Saitama Prefecture, Japan. It opened preliminarily on May 5, 2000, and then was officially opened on September 1 of the same year. Its maximum spectator capacity is 36,500, making i ...

in Saitama, Japan.

Background

This was the last Pride show promoted by

Dream Stage Entertainment Dream Stage Entertainment (DSE) was a Japanese company that promoted various wrestling and mixed martial arts events, most notably mixed martial arts Pride Fighting Championship and Hustle professional wrestling events. Company history Allegat ...

before the sale of the company (see Pride Worldwide). The promotion folded shortly after the event. Although

Wanderlei Silva Wanderlei César da Silva ( , , ; born 3 July 1976) is a Brazilian-American former mixed martial artist who competed in Japan's Pride Fighting Championships and the American-based Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He holds the record for the ...

and

Mauricio Rua Mauricio may refer to: *Mauricio (given name) *Maurício José da Silveira Júnior (born 1988), Brazilian footballer known by the mononym Maurício *Maurício (footballer) (Maurício dos Santos Nascimento, born 1988), Brazilian footballer *216428 M ...

were negotiating with Pride to compete, neither did. Silva did not participate because of a medical suspension received from the

Nevada State Athletic Commission The Nevada State Athletic Commission (also known as the Nevada Athletic Commission or NSAC) regulates all contests and exhibitions of unarmed combat within the state of Nevada, including licensure and supervision of promoters, boxers, kickboxers ...

. The commission had stated that if a Japanese doctor cleared Silva for competition, they would consider lifting the suspension three days early, but this did not come to fruition.

Gilbert Yvel Gilbert Ramon Yvel (born 30 June 1976) is a Dutch professional mixed martial artist. A professional competitor since 1997, Yvel competed in the PRIDE Fighting Championships, Affliction, the UFC, Road FC, the RFA, RINGS, M-1 Challenge, Cage ...

was originally slated to fight

Bazigit Atajev Bazigit Atavovich Atajev (, ; born 3 December 1979) is a Russian mixed martial artist and '' sanshou'' kickboxer, who currently competes in the Light Heavyweight division. A professional since 2000, he has competed in RINGS and P ...

, but Atajev withdrew due to an internal disease.

Nobuyuki Sakakibara is a Japanese businessman and mixed martial arts (MMA) promoter. He is known for his executive role in Dream Stage Entertainment, including its promotions Pride Fighting Championships and Fighting Opera Hustle, and works as the current preside ...

's "surprise announcement" at the event turned out to be a guest appearance by

Kazushi Sakuraba is a Japanese professional wrestler, mixed martial artist and submission wrestling, submission wrestler, currently signed to Rizin Fighting Federation and Pro Wrestling NOAH, Pro Wrestling Noah, where he was formerly one-half of the former GHC T ...

who had left Pride nearly a year ago to join rival promotion

Hero's Hero's was a Japanese mixed martial arts promotion operated by Fighting and Entertainment Group, the parent entity behind kickboxing organization K-1. Grown from and branched off of K-1's earlier experiments in MMA, including the ''K-1 Romanex' ...

Kiyoshi Tamura is a Japanese retired professional wrestler and mixed martial artist. Once a student of legendary professional wrestlers Billy Robinson, Lou Thesz and Akira Maeda, Tamura was known for his skills in catch wrestling and is considered to be one of ...

joined Sakakibara in the ring and teased a potential matchup in a future Pride event. Sakuraba had initially expressed his wish to fight either

on the card but in the end neither fight materialized. Though Tamura would end up fighting Sakuraba at

Dynamite!! 2008 ''Dynamite!! 2008'' was the annual kickboxing and mixed martial arts event held by K-1 & DREAM on New Year's Eve, Wednesday, December 31, 2008, at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. It featured eleven DREAM mixed martial arts rules fights ...

Results

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pride 034 Pride Fighting Championships events 2007 in Japan 2007 in mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts in Japan Sport in Saitama (city)

Background

Results

See also

References