Saw this and thought I'd Post It
http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/...=2426&zoneid=2
KID YAMAMOTO & SUDO OUT OF HERO'S TOURNEY
Hero's, the Japanese MMA promotion that is operated by K-1, has announced the card for its August 5th show, and two of the promotion's biggest stars will not be on the card. Both Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto and Genki Sudo have withdrawn from the promotion's 154-pound tournament.
Kid Yamamoto, who is one of the very biggest stars in the Japanese MMA scene, has taken an indefinite leave of absence from MMA competition, as he hopes to accomplish his life’s dream of representing Japan in Olympic wrestling. He will be working towards participating in the 2007 Emperor’s Cup and qualifying for the 2008 Beijing Games.
Yamamoto's accomplishments in MMA (which include KO/TKO victories over Genki Sudo, Caol Uno, and Royler Gracie in the past year alone) are made all the more impressive by the fact that he has fought in the 154-pound weight class against fighters who often cut weight to get down to 154, while Yamamoto walks around at about 145 pounds and will easily be able to cut weight to 132 pounds for his Olympic endeavor. In addition to his MMA and amateur wrestling skills, Yamamoto is also a top-level kickboxer.
Genki Sudo will also be unable to compete in the Hero's tournament due to a recurring neck injury that will not be healed in time for the event. In Sudo's two most recent fights, he was knocked out by Yamamoto last December and then defeated Ole Laursen by decision in March.
Replacing Yamamoto and Sudo in the 154-pound tournament, which Hero's is referring to the "Middleweight Tournament," will be Hiroyuki Takaya and Kazuya Yasuhiro. The company also announced the final fighter who will be participating in the tournament: Hideo Tokoro, who fought Royce Gracie to a draw last December even though Gracie outweighed him by 38 pounds.
