Although Wanderlei Silva and Mauricio Rua were negotiating with Pride to compete,[2] neither did.

Silva did not participate because of a medical suspension received from the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

[3] The commission had stated that if a Japanese doctor cleared Silva for competition, they would consider lifting the suspension three days early, but this did not come to fruition.

[5] Nobuyuki Sakakibara's "surprise announcement" at the event turned out to be a guest appearance by Kazushi Sakuraba who had left Pride nearly a year ago to join rival promotion Hero's.

Kiyoshi Tamura joined Sakuraba in the ring and teased a potential matchup in a future Pride event.