By Gino Mongelli

Former UFC heavyweight champion Josh Barnett will face Hikaru Sato in a catch wrestling-rules match at the Pancrase 2007 Rising Tour event on Saturday, Dec. 22 at Differ Ariake in Tokyo.

Barnett’s participation in the Pancrase event, announced Thursday, seems to quiet talk that he would be competing at K-1 “Premium 2007 Dynamite!!” on New Year’s Eve at the Kyocera Dome in Osaka. FEG president Sadaharu Tanigawa announced recently he had made financial offers to both Bob Sapp and Akebono to appear on the Monday, Dec. 31 card. Speculation soon arose that an offer had been made to Barnett, as well.

Four additional matches – to be contested under MMA rules – have been added for the Dec. 22 Pancrase show, along with the names of six competitors. The list includes former King of Pancrase Yuki Kondo (47-20-6), who holds victories over Semmy Schilt and current Strikeforce middleweight champion Frank Shamrock. No opponent has been named for the 32-year-old veteran.

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