Yarennoka! ^9.5

Overview

Yarennoka! took place on December 31, 2007, at Saitama Super Arena in Tokyo, Japan, promoted by the Yarennoka! Executive Committee, former Pride Fighting Championships executives, in association with Fighting and Entertainment Group, DEEP, and M-1 Global. The main event features Fedor Emelianenko, former Pride Heavyweight Champion, facing K-1’s Hong-Man Choi, billed as “Fedor Returns” on HDNet and SKY Perfect. Emelianenko enters after a submission win over Mark Hunt at Pride Shockwave 2006, while Choi comes off a K-1 Grand Prix loss. Key undercard bouts include Shinya Aoki vs. Bu-Kyung Jung, with Aoki fresh off a TKO over Akira Kikuchi, and Kazuo Misaki vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama, pitting Pride and Hero’s Grand Prix champions. It’s a farewell to Pride fans post-UFC acquisition, inspiring the creation of DREAM.