DSE Officially Announces Sakuraba-Minowa for "Shockwave"

Kazushi Sakuraba (Pictures) finally has an opponent — and it's not a heavyweight.

After failing to come to agreement with Kiyoshi Tamura (Pictures), Dream Stage Entertainment announced on Wednesday that nine-year mixed martial arts veteran Ikuhisa Minowa (Pictures) would face Sakuraba on its New Year's Eve "Shockwave" card in Tokyo.

Minowa last entered the ring against Murilo Bustamante (Pictures), losing to the Brazilian 185-pound fighter by TKO in the semifinals of September's Bushido Grand Prix. Sakuraba comes into the December 31 fight having stopped Ken Shamrock (Pictures) in his last contest in October.

Though both men have clearly entered the twilights of their careers, this bout is of some interest because it marks the first time they will have fought one another, a bit of a surprise considering their extensive résumés.

In addition to the Sakuraba-Minowa news, DSE officially announced that Aleksander Emelianenko (Pictures), brother of PRIDE heavyweight champion Fedor, would take on Polish judoka Pawel Nastula (Pictures). Also, it'll be "Colossus" versus "Giant," as Brit James Thompson (Pictures) faces Brazilian Paulo Cesar Silva (Pictures).

Fight Card:
Takanori Gomi (Pictures) vs. Hayato Sakurai (Pictures)
Dan Henderson (Pictures) vs. Murilo Bustamante (Pictures)
Wanderlei Silva (Pictures) vs. Ricardo Arona (Pictures)
Hidehiko Yoshida (Pictures) vs. Naoya Ogawa (Pictures)
Makoto Takimoto (Pictures) vs. Sanae Kikuta (Pictures)
Kazuhiro Nakamura (Pictures) vs. Yuki Kondo (Pictures)
Mark Hunt (Pictures) vs. Mirko Filipovic (Pictures)
Fedor Emelianenko (Pictures) vs. Zuluzinho (Pictures)
Ken Kaneko vs. Charles Bennett (Pictures)
James Thompson (Pictures) vs. Paulo Cesar Silva (Pictures)
Aleksander Emelianenko (Pictures) vs. Pawel Nastula (Pictures)
Kazushi Sakuraba (Pictures) vs. Ikuhisa Minowa (Pictures)