HERO's Announces Participants for Aug. Tourneys

Fight Entertainment Group, the company behind K-1 and HERO's MMA, announced on Thursday a list of participants for its upcoming HERO's card, August 5 at Ariake Coliseum.

Three Japanese and five foreign fighters headline the 85-kilogram bracket of the tournament, with the Japanese side led by Kazushi Sakuraba (Pictures), who is making his debut under the HERO's brand after jumping ship from his longtime affiliation in PRIDE. The other representatives from Japan include judo champion Yoshihiro Akiyama (Pictures) and Shungo Oyama (Pictures).

On the foreign side, K-1 producer Sadaharu Tanigawa announced Carlos Newton (Pictures), Melvin Manhoef (Pictures), Rodrigo Gracie (Pictures), Kestutis Smirnovas and B.J. Penn (Pictures).

However, at the moment of the announcement, HERO's main director Akira Maeda (Pictures) set clear that negotiations with B.J. Penn (Pictures) were still in the final chapter and his participation is not yet confirmed.

Maeda later told the press that he's interested to see Penn face Sakuraba in the opening round.

Also Tanigawa said that there is a possibility of changing the regular HERO's rules for the lightweight (154-pound) tournament. Tanigawa elaborated that he was interested in a 10-minute first round, followed by a five-minute second round, which conflicts with HERO's regular rules of two five-minute rounds with a possible third round.

Tentative Fight Card:

Scheduled to participate in the light heavyweight tournament:

Kazushi Sakuraba (Pictures)
Yoshihiro Akiyama (Pictures)
Shungo Oyama (Pictures)
Carlos Newton (Pictures)
Melvin Manhoef (Pictures)
Rodrigo Gracie (Pictures)
Kestutis Smirnovas
B.J. Penn (Pictures)

Scheduled to participate in the middleweight tournament:

Norifumi Yamamoto (Pictures)
Genki Sudo (Pictures)
Caol Uno (Pictures)
Kultar Gill (Pictures)
Gesias Calvancanti (Pictures)
Rani Yahira (Pictures)
Ivan Menjivar (Pictures)