Just one month after derailing the Satoshi Ishii hype train, Hidehiko Yoshida (9-7-1) today announced his impending retirement from MMA, citing multiple nagging injuries (particularly, left shoulder) and the desire to focus on his gym, Yoshida Dojo.
However, it appears the 40-year-old judoka still has one fight left in him:
The newly-formed promotion, ASTRA, will promote Hidehiko Yoshida’s retirement fight on April 25th at the Nippon Budokan, an arena that has been known to hold up to 15,000 fans.
The man behind “Astra?” None other than Takahiro Kokuho, head of fighter management company J-Rock — which numbers most of Yoshida Dojo’s fighters among its clients — and former World Victory Road/Sengoku PR director. Kokuho’s acrimonious split from Sengoku at the end of last year threatened to undo the Yoshida/Ishii bout at the last minute, and even now prevents J-Rock fighters from dealings with (the organization I’ve affectionately termed) “Zombie Sengoku.”
It comes as no surprise, then, that the “Astra” card will also feature several Yoshida Dojo-trained ex-Sengokuites, such as Michihiro Omigawa (9-8-1), Kazuhiro Nakamura (13-10) and Makoto Takimoto (6-5). Also penciled in for participation is rising DEEP star Tatsunao Nagakura (5-0).
“Astra” is currently planned as a one-off event, but Kokuho said future shows are possible should this one go smoothly.
As for Yoshida, no opponent has been secured at this point. When asked which fights he considers his “top bouts” at today’s press conference, Yoshida referred to his pair of PRIDE battles against Wanderlei Silva. Here’s hoping “Astra” can send him off with a bout that meaningful.