Pride FC's Open Weight Grand Prix

Finally, Pride's Open Weight Grand Prix will begin May 6th! The second half of the field has yet to be announced, but we do know who fights this weekend.

Mirko Cro Cop (17-4-2) vs Ikuhisa "Punk" Minowa (32-23-8): No one is tougher than Minowa, but the guy does have a lot of losses and is very beatable. Mirko is the 2nd most feared heavyweight in all the world. Cro Cop possesses one punch, and one kick KO power and has steadily improved his cardio and ground game (his only weaknesses).
WINNER-Cro Cop The Punk's only shot is to get Mirko to the mat and use his exceptional ground skills (20 submissions) for a tapout. Highly unlikely, considering how hard it was for Fedor of all people to do that to Cro Cop, and Minowa couldn't keep Baroni down in their first fight. Cro Cop wins by brutal smashing KO.

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (26-3-1) vs Zuluzihino (2-1): Seriously? This is a gimme for Antonio. He has already beaten Bob Sapp who is huge like Zulu and a much better fighter. Zulu has only 3 freaking fights to Rodrigo's 30 for christ's sake! Nogueira has fought many huge freaks (Schilt, Sapp, ect.) and should have little problem here.
WINNER-Antonio Nogueira Minotauro's only problem here is getting Zulu's 390lbs. to the mat and it will be all over. Nogs has one of the toughest heads in the biz so he'll take a few shots to later win by submission.

Alistair "Demolition Man" Overeem (23-6) vs Fabricio Werdum (7-1-1): Alistair recently beat Kharitonov. Werdum recently lost to Kharitonov. Overeem has been on a big roll recently. Werdum's only loss is to Kharitonov. Both guys can strike, both guys can submit. This could be our 1st competitive bout.
WINNER-Alistair Overeem The Demolition Man just has too much for Werdum. Much more experience and better power. Overeem has also recently moved up to heavyweight and looked very impressive. Werdum will have the weight advantage, and has joined Cro Cop's Squad, but I still feel Overeem wins this by decision.

Kazuyuki Fujita (12-4) vs James "Mega-Punk" Thompson (12-2): Here's an interesting fight. James is a bull rushing, fist flying, power fighter with a little submission skills as well. Fujita is more well rounded and has never been KO'd. Thompson has stepped up to this level once, and was KO'd by Aleksander Emelianenko. Fujita's only losses have come by Cro Cop, Coleman, & Fedor. Both guys are tough but both have failed when stepping up against premier talent.
WINNER-Fujita I just don't think this guy can be KO'd. I've seen him hit with everything and he just keeps coming. He is better on the ground than Thompson, and probably has better cardio as well. This is almost a pick em fight, with either man able to win. I pick Fujita because he has a better all around game, and has fought much better opponents. Plus his head is filled with bricks.

Aleksander Emelianenko (8-1) vs Josh Barnett (16-3): Another great fight! Both of these guys are strong and can throw bombs. Barnett has a muuuch better ground game and more experience. However, we haven't seen Emelianenko really tested to know if he can survive a war and compete on the ground. This match will be a WAR!
WINNER-Aleksander This is definitely a pick em fight! Both men can win this. Barnett is hungry and wants respect. Aleksander is hungry and wants respect and out of his brothers (Fedor) shadow. Lets go Red Devils! Alek pulls it out by decision. Why, because I want him too.

Hidehiko Yoshida (6-3-1) vs Yosuke Nishijima (0-1): You'd think this would be a slaughter with Japan favorite Yoshida winning easily, oh wait, you're right. Nish put up a good fight in his debut against Kerr, but Yoshida can throw (like against Silva), submit anyone (like against Royce), and survive a war (like against Silva the 2nd time).
WINNER-Yoshida Pride gave Yoshida a gift here because they love him so much. But hey, I want him to continue in the tournament as well to see how he'll do against some of these bangers. Yoshida wins by submission.

Mark Hunt (4-1) vs Tsuyoshi "TK" Kohsaka (19-10-1): TK is another Japanese favorite who has trouble getting it done against top fighters. Mark dominated K-1 and so far, has done better than expected in his transition to full contact fighting. Hunt has KO power, but TK is pretty hard to KO. TK has one shot in this, submit Hunt or get beat up in a decision loss.
WINNER-Mark Hunt Hunt has too much for the 36 year old fighter who has been in too many wars. Could be a decent fight, but one way or the other, Hunt takes this and moves on to the second round.

Well, should be a great PPV of action and some really good fights! Any and everything seems to happen in Pride, especially in these tournaments so stay tuned for results and news on the second half of the brackets.