DSE Announces Two Heavyweight Bouts for October

TOKYO, Sept. 29 — Dream Stage Entertainment on Thursday officially announced two more bouts for its PRIDE card scheduled for Saitama Super Arena on October 23.

Two months removed from his war with PRIDE heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko (Pictures), Croatian Mirko Filipovic (Pictures) returns to rematch Josh Barnett (Pictures).

The heavyweights battled one year ago on Halloween and Barnett fell victim to a freak shoulder injury less than a minute into the anticipated showdown. Since that time the American, who once reigned as the youngest heavyweight champion in UFC history, has been out of the ring, rehabbing and preparing to fight again.

Also announced was a match between Russian Sergei Kharitonov (Pictures) and Brazilian Fabricio Werdum (Pictures). Though PRIDE hasn’t officially made this match a No. 1-contender bout for Emelianenko’s belt, it’s clear that the winner could stake a claim to be the next heavyweight challenger.

Werdum is 2-0 in PRIDE, taking first-round submissions over both men he faced. Kharitonov, last seen in PRIDE destroying Pedro Rizzo (Pictures), has suffered just one loss — a decision to former heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (Pictures) — in seven fights with the Japanese MMA promoter.

The fight card, which airs on North American PPV on Monday, Oct. 24, currently looks like this:

Mirko Filipovic (Pictures) vs. Josh Barnett (Pictures)
Sergei Kharitonov (Pictures) vs. Fabricio Werdum (Pictures)
Quinton Jackson (Pictures) vs. Hirotaka Yokoi (Pictures)
Makoto Takimoto (Pictures) vs. Yoon Dong Sik (Pictures)