Shane Carwin meets Amir Aliakbari as RIZIN tourney quarterfinals are set

Shane Carwin now has an opponent for his return to mixed martial arts competition.

The former UFC interim heavyweight champion, who recently announced he's coming out of a five-year retirement, will meet Iran's Amir Aliakbari, a fellow heavyweight, in the quarterfinal round of the RIZIN World Grand Prix open weight tournament on Dec. 29 in Saitama, Japan.

Additionally, the remaining three quarterfinal bouts are also set: In a previously announced fight, Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic will take on former PRIDE 205-pound champion Wanderlei Silva; super heavyweight Baruto takes on heavyweight Tsuyoshi Kosaka, who takes the place of Jiri Prochazka (who dropped out due to a knee injury); and light heavyweight Valentin Moldavsky squares off with heavyweight Szymon Bajor.

The entire quarterfinal round will be contested on Dec. 29. The semifinals and finals will be held on Dec. 31, also in Saitama. The way the brackets are set up, the Filpovic-Silva winner faces the Baruto-Kosaka victor in the semis, and the Carwin-Aliakbari winner meets the Moldavsky-Bajor winner.