Open-Weight GP Field Set; Special Rules Announced

With less than a week remaining before the opening round of PRIDE's first open-weight tournament since Mark Coleman (Pictures) stopped Igor Vovchanchyn (Pictures), Dream Stage Entertainment on Monday announced that the field was set.

Former heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (Pictures) returns to the ring for the second time in two and a half months when he faces Zuluzinho (Pictures), a surprise participant in the seventh and final bout of the 14-man tournament. It's assumed additional fighters will be added to complete the field in July, which would stand at an odd seven.

After stopping Henry Miller (Pictures)* DSE matched Zuluzinho, the son of Rickson Gracie's toughest challenger, Rei Zulu (Pictures), with PRIDE heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko (Pictures); it was ugly and Fedor won by knockout in 26 seconds.

DSE also announced rules for the tournament, which will play out over three events in five months. The first two rounds, May 5 and July 1 respectively, will see fighters compete in the usual PRIDE round format.

In any bout featuring competitors with no more than a 20-kilogram (44-pound) weight difference, the lighter fighter can choose whether to prohibit knees to the head on the ground. Should the tournament pit fighters separated by a 20-plus-kilo weight difference, neither man would be allowed to strike with knees on the ground.

Throughout the tournament, PRIDE holds the discretion to place competitors in brackets if a winning fighter cannot move forward.

September's semifinal and final round will feature one 10-minute period followed by one five-minute round. The tournament winner will earn $180,000.

A special non-tournament fight pits Roman Zentsov (Pictures), who in February knocked out Pedro Rizzo (Pictures), against Gilbert Yvel (Pictures), a familiar face to PRIDE fans.

The Dutch striker has fallen on difficult times and is without a PRIDE victory since the spring of 2001. His most recent of eight career bouts for the Japanese promotion came 13 months ago, when Yvel tapped to Ikuhisa Minowa (Pictures).

Full Card: Gilbert Yvel (Pictures) vs. Roman Zentsov (Pictures)

Tournament:
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (Pictures) vs. Zuluzinho (Pictures)
Alistair Overeem (Pictures) vs. Fabricio Werdum (Pictures)
Kazuyuki Fujita (Pictures) vs. James Thompson (Pictures)
Mirko Filipovic (Pictures) vs. Ikuhisa Minowa (Pictures)
Aleksander Emelianenko (Pictures) vs. Josh Barnett (Pictures)
Hidehiko Yoshida (Pictures) vs. Yosuke Nishijima (Pictures)
Mark Hunt (Pictures) vs. Tsuyoshi Kohsaka (Pictures)

*Sherdog.com initially reported that Zuluzinho's first PRIDE bout came against Fedor Emelianenko (Pictures). Zuluzinho defeated Henry Miller (Pictures) two months before the Fedor fight, winning by TKO 1:31 of round one.