Hidehiko Yoshida confirms final fight will go down on April 25th in Japan

Judo gold medallist and MMA icon, Hidehiko Yoshida will step into battle for the final time on April 25th, 2010 at a specially arranged event to celebrate his career.

J-Rock, a sport/entertainment management company that manages Yoshida, announced that a specially arranged event dubbed “Hidehiko Yoshida retirement event ~ASTRA~” will go down at the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo, Japan.

Yoshida revealed that a shoulder injury, sustained in a fight back in 2004 against Mark Hunt, was a major reason for his decision and that the original plan was to go out at Dynamite!! 2009 on New Year’s Eve when he fought fellow Olympic gold medalist, Satoshi Ishii. His opponent for the upcoming event is yet to be announced.

By Michael Pepper. (Follow me on Twitter)