HIGH OCTANE will take place from the Saitama Super Arena in Japan and is scheduled to debut on North American pay per view via iNDEMAND, DIRECTV, DISH Network, and TVN on Sunday, October 31st, 2004 at 9:00pm EST, 6:00pm PST.

At 10-1, Hirotaka Yokoi is one of Japan’s most promising heavyweights; he is a veteran of the Rings organization and was victorious in his PRIDE FC debut, defeating Jerrel Venetiaan at PRIDE 23 CHAMPIONSHIP CHAOS 2. But it wasn’t until the opening round of the heavyweight Grand Prix tournament at TOTAL ELIMINATION 2004 that this fighter out of Osaka, Japan, made a name for himself. That evening he gave PRIDE FIGHTING interim heavyweight champion, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, everything he could handle. The champion was finally able to defeat his young opponent using a rarely seen choke-hold, but Yokoi’s fighting spirit won over the crowd. Yokoi’s opponent at HIGH OCTANE will be the 6’4, 240 pound Texan, Heath Herring. Representing team Golden Glory out of Holland, "The Texas Crazy Horse" had been riding a four fight-winning streak (which included wins over the 7’2 Giant Silva at SHOCKWAVE 2003 and Yoshiki Takahashi during the opening round of the heavyweight Grand Prix at TOTAL ELIMINATION 2004), that is until he reached the second round of the heavyweight tournament against Nogueira. Like Yokoi, Herring proved to be a difficult match for Nogueira … and like Yokoi, Nogueira used the exact same chokehold to defeat Herring! With both young fighters coming off of loses to Nogueira, which of the two will recover and take the next step forward in the heavyweight rankings?

The second bout added to the HIGH OCTANE fightcard features the classic match-up of striker versus grappler. At 5’10 and 250 pounds and representing Liverpool Kickboxing out of New Zealand, Mark Hunt is known as one of the most dangerous strikers in the world. After making the move from K-1 to MMA, Hunt made his PRIDE FIGHTING debut against Hidehiko Yoshida at CRITICAL COUNTDOWN 2004. Though he was not successful in that match, Hunt showed great promise and fans are eager to see what this kickboxing legend will do next. Hunt’s opponent at HIGH OCTANE will be MMA veteran and former "King of the Cage" heavyweight champion, Dan "The Bull" Bobish. This 6’1, 300 plus pound fighter combines a solid wrestling background with a brawling fight style and one thing is always certain—this bull charges forward! Originally from Brooklyn, New York, Bobish now lives and fights out of Cleveland, Ohio. In his career, Bobish has wins over "Dangerous" Dave Beneteau, "Big" Eric Pele and Mike Kyle. Will it be the night of the striker or will the grappler prove superior? Check out HIGH OCTANE to find out.

"Ice Cold" Igor Vovchanchyn makes his long-awaited return to the ring after an eight month lay-off. His last bout came on February 1, 2004 at INFERNO when he defeated Dan "The Bull" Bobish via strikes. Vovchanchyn’s opponent at BUSHIDO VOLUME 5 will be mixed martial arts veteran, Shamoji Fuji. At 6’0 and 217 pounds, Fuji hails from Hiroshima, Japan and represents the V-Cross team. He made a successful debut in BUSHIDO with a win over Kim Jin Oh of Korea at BUSHIDO VOLUME 3.

"The women have taken the second show much more seriously and so have the fans" states promoter Jeff Osborne.

"Although they made an impact at the first event, I personally felt that casual fans (ticket buyers) took them lightly. Most local fans who didn’t attend it live were mad at themselves…..they were expecting slap fighting and they were more than impressed when we showed the event on TV" said Osborne.

"The DVD opened up a whole new world for MMA. The women are taken much more seriously, more fans will watch because of the women and even some VERY important people in the entertainment industry have taken notice" continues Osborne.

"One look at the Revolution DVD and Arnold Schwarzeneggar Expo organizers were sold. There’s so much more mainstream interest the women can bring than the men but no one wants to admit it."

This time around, many feel the lineup is stronger and support for female MMA is more rampant than ever before. Looks for UFC standouts Josh Barnett, Matt Hughes, Jens Pulver and other familiar faces at the show. Pulver may be a little more stressed than usual as his "better half" AJ Jenkins will be competing.

"Evolution" will be broadcast on PPV in South Africa and Japan as well as other countries. It will also be shown on regional UPN affiliates in Indiana, Kentucky and Illinois.

November 6, 2004 "EVOLUTION" A historic night of women’s MMA competition.
November 7, 2004 LAST WOMAN STANDING Submission Super Tournament

Scheduled lineup:

Lisa Ward (Washington) vs. Mandy Stewart (Australia) 125lbs

Sara Boyd (New Mexico) vs. Molly Helsel (Hawaii) 135lbs

Jan Finney (Ohio) vs. Rikki Burnett (Kentucky) 135lbs

Shelby Walker (Texas) vs. Adrienna Jenkins (Hawaii) 130lbs

Tara LaRosa (New Jersey) vs. Linda Langerak (Canada) 135lbs

Kelly Kobold (Minnesota) vs. Gret Hicks (Wisconsin) 160lbs

Ginelle Marquez (Washington) vs. Roxanne Modafferi (Massachusetts) 135lbs

Julie Kedzie (Indiana) vs. Jen Case (Kansas) 155lbs

Jennifer Howe (Utah) vs. Heather Soderquist (California) 135lbs

Erica Montoya (California) vs. Megumi Fuji (Japan)

The Sunday LAST WOMAN STANDING show will take place at 10:30AM and is open to all female grapplers! email: hooknshoot@aol.com to enter.