Pride Total Elimination Absolute was a mixed martial arts

Mixed martial arts

Mixed Martial Arts is a full contact combat sport that allows the use of both striking and grappling techniques, both standing and on the ground, including boxing, wrestling, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, muay Thai, kickboxing, karate, judo and other styles. The roots of modern mixed martial arts can be...

 event held by the Pride Fighting Championships. It took place at the Osaka Dome

Osaka Dome

Osaka Dome is a baseball stadium located in Osaka, Japan. Beginning in 1997, the stadium was the home field of the Kintetsu Buffaloes. In 2005, the stadium became one of the homes of the Orix Buffaloes, a result of the merger between the Orix Blue Wave and Kintetsu Buffaloes. Prior to the Osaka...

 in Osaka

Osaka

is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...

, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 on May 5, 2006.

Background

This event featured the first round of Pride's 2006 open-weight tournament. Seven tournament matches were held along with one alternate match. The seven winning participants advanced to the second round, Pride Critical Countdown Absolute

PRIDE Critical Countdown Absolute

Pride Critical Countdown Absolute was a mixed martial arts event held by the Pride Fighting Championships. It took place at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan on July 1, 2006.-Background:...

. The winner of the alternate bout will take the place of any fighter who is unable to participate in subsequent matches.

Pride Heavyweight Champion and 2004 Heavyweight Grand Prix winner Fedor Emelianenko

Fedor Emelianenko

Fedor Vladimirovich Emelianenko) is a Russian heavyweight mixed martial artist. He has won numerous tournaments and accolades in multiple sports, most notably the Pride 2004 Grand Prix and the World Combat Sambo championship on four occasions, as well as medaling in the Russian national Judo...

 was originally set to enter the tournament with a first round bye, but a hand injury prevented him from participating.

Wanderlei Silva

Wanderlei Silva

Wanderlei César da Silva , nicknamed "The Axe Murderer", is a Brazilian mixed martial artist, who has competed in Japan's Pride Fighting Championships and the American based Ultimate Fighting Championship . Silva is known for his aggressive fighting style with the majority of his fights ending in...

, then current Pride middleweight champion, received a bye into the second round.

Results

• Openweight Grand Prix alternate bout:   Gilbert Yvel
  Gilbert Yvel
  Gilbert Ramon Yvel is a Dutch heavyweight mixed martial artist associated with the Vos Gym training camp in the Netherlands. He has competed in the Pride Fighting Championships, Affliction Entertainment and Ultimate Fighting Championship promotions...
  
   vs.   Roman Zentsov
  Roman Zentsov
  Roman Zentsov is a Russian heavyweight mixed martial arts fighter who has competed in the PRIDE Fighting Championships, a major MMA organization based in Japan, and BodogFIGHT...
  
  

Zentsov defeated Yvel by KO (punch) at 4:55 of round 1.

• Openweight tournament opening round bout:   Josh Barnett
  Josh Barnett
  Joshua Lawrence Barnett is an American mixed martial artist and professional wrestler who currently fights in the heavyweight division of Strikeforce. Barnett has been an accomplished fighter in mixed martial arts, winning the UFC Heavyweight Championship and the King of Pancrase Openweight...
  
   vs.   Aleksander Emelianenko
  Aleksander Emelianenko
  Alexander Vladimirovich Emelianenko , more commonly known as Alexander Emelianenko or Aleksander Emelianenko, is a Russian mixed martial artist. He is a three-times Russian national Sambo champion and three-time world Sambo champion in the absolute division...
  
  

Barnett defeated Emelianenko via submission (americana) at 1:57 of round 2.

• Openweight tournament opening round bout:   Kazuyuki Fujita
  Kazuyuki Fujita
  is a Japanese professional wrestler, mixed martial artist and a former amateur wrestler. He has fought in mixed martial arts promotions including PRIDE, K-1 and currently fighting in Sengoku....
  
   vs.   James Thompson
  James Thompson (fighter)
  James Thompson is an English mixed martial artist. He fights as a heavyweight and has appeared in such promotions as Elite Xtreme Combat , Pride Fighting Championship, and Cage Rage. He is known for rushing his opponents at the start of the bout.-Biography:James Thompson grew up in Rochdale,...
  
  

Fujita defeated Thompson via KO (punch) at 8:25 of round 1.

• Openweight tournament opening round bout:   Mark Hunt
  Mark Hunt
  Mark Hunt ; is a New Zealand kickboxer and mixed martial artist of Samoan descent, currently living in Sydney, Australia. Hunt competes in the Ultimate Fighting Championship and is known for his raw strength, iron chin and knockout power. He won the K-1 World Grand Prix 2001 Final...
  
   vs.   Tsuyoshi Kohsaka

Hunt defeated Kohsaka via TKO (punches) at 4:15 of round 2.

• Openweight tournament opening round bout:   Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipović
  Mirko Filipovic
  Mirko Filipović is a former Croatian heavyweight kickboxer, mixed martial artist, politician, and law enforcement officer. Filipović was a member of the Croatian Parliament from 2003 through 2007...
  
   vs.   Ikuhisa Minowa
  Ikuhisa Minowa
  is a Japanese mixed martial artist and pro wrestler currently competing in Dream as . He was a long time veteran of Pride Fighting Championships and Pancrase and has also competed in other mixed martial arts promotions such as K-1 HERO'S, Cage Rage, UFC, and DEEP. At 5'9" he is notable for taking...
  
  

Filipović defeated Minowa via TKO (punches) at 1:10 of round 1.

• Openweight tournament opening round bout:   Antonio Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira
  Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
  Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira is a Brazilian mixed martial artist known for his technical mastery of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He competes in the heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, where he is a former UFCInterim Heavyweight Champion...
  
   vs.   Zuluzinho
  Zuluzinho
  Wágner da Conceição Martins , better known as Zuluzinho , is a Brazilian vale tudo fighter and mixed martial artist. He is the son of Vale Tudo legend Rei Zulu. Wagner was raised by his grandmother and works as a security guard in a number of reggae clubs in northern Brazil. Following in his...
  
  

Nogueira defeated Zuluzinho via submission (armbar) at 2:17 of round 1.

• Openweight tournament opening round bout:   Alistair Overeem
  Alistair Overeem
  Alistair Cees Overeem is a British born Dutch mixed martial artist and kickboxer, signed to the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He is the former Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion, Dream Interim Heavyweight Champion, K-1 World Grand Prix Champion, and made history by being the only fighter in combat...
  
   vs.   Fabricio Werdum
  Fabricio Werdum
  Fabricio Werdum is a Brazilian mixed martial artist, a two-time Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu world champion, a two-time ADCC world heavyweight champion and European Jiu-Jitsu champion. He holds black belts in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Judo, and Muay Thai. Werdum has competed in Pride Fighting Championships, the...
  
  

Werdum defeated Overeem via submission (kimura) at 3:43 of round 2.

• Openweight tournament opening round bout:   Yosuke Nishijima
  Yosuke Nishijima
  Yōsuke "Yōsukezan" Nishijima is a Japanese professional boxer who has also competed in kickboxing and mixed martial arts.-Career:...
  
   vs.   Hidehiko Yoshida
  Hidehiko Yoshida
  is a Japanese gold-medalist judoka and retired mixed martial artist. He is a long time veteran of Japan's Pride Fighting Championships, competing in the light heavyweight and heavyweight divisions, also managing to fight in the semi-finals in the Pride 2003 Middleweight Grand Prix...
  
  

Yoshida defeated Nishijima via submission (triangle choke) at 2:33 of round 1.

Pride 2006 Openweight Grand Prix Bracket

¹Fedor Emelianenko was given a bye into the next round.

See also

• Pride Critical Countdown Absolute
  PRIDE Critical Countdown Absolute
  Pride Critical Countdown Absolute was a mixed martial arts event held by the Pride Fighting Championships. It took place at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan on July 1, 2006.-Background:...
  
  
• Pride Final Conflict Absolute
  PRIDE Final Conflict Absolute
  Pride Final Conflict Absolute was a mixed martial arts event held by the Pride Fighting Championships. It took place at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan on September 10, 2006.-Background:...
  
  
• List of Pride events