THE RETURN OF THE SMASHING MACHINE!

LOS ANGELES – The fight card for PRIDE FC: INFERNO is now official and among a cast of giants,

making his long-awaited return to the ring will be “The Smashing Machine” Mark Kerr.  Kerr’s last

mixed martial arts match was in July of 2001.  PRIDE FC: INFERNO is scheduled to debut on North

American pay per view on February 8th, 2004 and the event will be held in the Osaka Castle Hall in Osaka,

Japan.    

Heading up the INFERNO fight card will be Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic versus Ron Waterman.  “Cro Cop”

is coming off of a devastating loss to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at FINAL CONFLICT and is looking to

re-establish his dominance and return to his winning ways.  “H20” Ron Waterman, a Colorado native,

boasts an impressive record of 10-1-2 and last appeared in COLD FURY 3 in which he defeated Valentijn

Overeem of Holland. 

Also included on the card, qualification matches for the upcoming sixteen man heavyweight tournament

(which will begin April 25^th, 2004):  Fresh off of his win against Giant Silva at Shockwave 2003, “The

Texas Crazy Horse” Heath Herring takes on another giant in the 6’10, 260 pound UFC veteran “Big”

Gan McGee …  Mark Kerr makes his return to mixed martial arts, going up against Norihisa Yamamoto

of Japan … undefeated Russian star Sergei Kharitonov takes on the 7’0, 400 pound L.A. Giant from

California … and “Ice Cold” Igor Vovchanchyn goes head to head against Dan “The Bull” Bobish.  The

winners all move on to the heavyweight tournament!  

Additional matches on the INFERNO fight card include Kazuhiro Nakamura versus Mexican pro-wrestler

Dos Caras Jr. … both last fought in BUSHIDO … Nakamura is coming off a win against Daniel Gracie

and the exciting Dos Caras Jr. is coming off a devastating knockout loss versus “Cro Cop” Filipovic … also,

fresh off of a flying knee KO victory against Akira Shoji at SHOCKWAVE 2003, Murilo “Ninja” Rua

takes on PRIDE FC veteran Alexander Otsuka. 

PRIDE FC: INFERNO

Fight Card:  

Main Event

Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic (Croatia) vs. Ron “H20” Waterman (USA)

PRIDE FC Heavyweight Grand Prix Qualification Matches

Heath Herring (USA) vs. “Big” Gan McGee (USA)

Mark Kerr (USA) vs. Norihisa Yamamoto (Japan)

Sergei Kharitonov (Russia) vs. L.A. Giant (USA)

Igor Vovchanchyn (Ukraine) vs. Dan Bobish (USA)

Additional Matches

Kazuhiro Nakamura (Japan) vs. Dos Caras Jr. (Mexico)

Murilo “Ninja” Rua (Brazil) vs. Alexander Otsuka (Japan)

(Fight Card Subject to Change)

PRIDE FC: INFERNO will premiere on North American pay per view through iNDEMAND, DIRECTV, DISH

NETWORK, UrbanXtra, TVN1, Bell Express Vu, and Viewer’s Choice on Sunday, February 8th, 2004.  The

premiere time is 9:00pm EST, 6:00pm PST and the count down show is at 8:30pm EST, 5:30pm PST.  For

additional replay times, please contact your pay per view provider or pridefc.com. 

For more information on PRIDE FC, visit pridefc.com!

- From Dream Stage Entertainment (with a little editing from us - highlights, color, etc...)

(1/20/04)