Nearly a decade after he won the PRIDE 2006 open-weight tournament, mixed martial arts (MMA) legend Mirko Filipovic will return to "The Land of the Rising Sun" for another world grand prix when he collides with South Korea's Hyun Man Myung.
Their heavyweight showdown, scheduled for two, five-minute rounds, tops the six-opening round match ups announced for the Sept. 25, 2016 RIZIN event, locked and loaded for the world-famous Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.
Filipovic (31-11-2, 1 NC) has not competed since avenging his loss to Gabriel Gonzaga at UFC Fight Night 64 in the early part of 2015. The 42-year-old "Cro Cop" was expected to return for UFC later that year; however, a run-in with United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) forced him to jump ship.
Myung (3-2), a fast and agile heavyweight who stands 6'3" and tips the scale north of 250 pounds, is looking to rebound from a submission loss to "Mighty Mo" Siliga at the ROAD FC 30 card back in April. All three of Myung's wins have come by way of knockout.
Wanderlei Silva, who lost to Filipovic at the aforementioned PRIDE event in 2006, will also compete in the RIZIN tournament, but fight fans won't be able to catch "The Axe Murderer" until December, as the Brazilian conveniently earned a bye for the tourney's opening round.
To see the complete RIZIN fight card and line up, which includes all six opening-round bouts, click here.