Hiromitsu Kanehara announced his sudden retirement after Pancrase's 3/18 Korakuen Hall show. Kanehara began his career as a pro wrestler in UWF-I, before moving to RINGS, where he became known as the "last ace" of the company before it closed. From there he advanced on PRIDE, where he was given high profile fights against the likes of Wanderlei Silva and Mirko Cro Cop, but wasn't able to match the new generation of fighters. After struggling for results due to his advancing age in recent years, Kanehara has decided that now is the right time for him to retire, and is likely to have one final fight in Pancrase before calling it a day.