MMA: Past Fight Discussion

[Egg Shen]

Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Gary Goodridge

 

A fascinating battle here between these two. I didn't ever really buy that Yatsu was going to win the fight. He looked well out of his depth and his takedowns and striking defence were ridiculous. Yatsu got cheered for not going down, and quite rightly as well. Goodridge was absolutely punching and kicking the ever loving shit out of Yatsu and he didn't go down once. Kudos to the guy for being as hard as nails.

 

Pride were known for putting together some weird fights. 2 of the weirdest were the Goodridge/Yatsu fights. I'd love to know a little more about the fights and try to understand why they took place. Yatsu was an Olympic Wrestler who'd moved into Pro Wrestling but according to Wikipedia took the fights with no standup training and without having wrestled for 13 years! The dude was 44 years old at the time too.

 

Obviously Japan love their sports stars so i guess there was a big story around this at the time, still Goodridge absolutely battered him (at this time Goodridge was probably in his prime and remains pound for pound one of the hardest punchers in MMA ever IMO). The fight was brutal. Why it took place again is what baffles me, the second fight same outcome.

 

I'm guessing they promoted it as Yatsu actually training for the second fight? Still it was harsh.

 

The uppercuts Goodridge landed on Yatsu in them fights still make me shudder.

[Egg Shen]

Tom Erikson vs. Heath Herring

 

I've got to admit, I'm loving this PRIDE stuff. Erikson got into the guard of Herring and did a great job for the most part and did some good ground and pound and then he made what turned out to be a horrible mistake. He stopped. The referee stood them up and Herring landed two HUGE kicks, took the back and then choked him out. It was a damn fun fight while it lasted and Erikson did a good job too.

 

Erikson is one of the forgotten heavyweights of the old school MMA scene. There was a time around 97 when Tom Erikson was legit seen as one of the best heavyweights in MMA. He never lit the world on fire when he got in the big stage but around the time of Pride Erikson was a pretty big deal.

 

You've got his fight with future English World Boxing title contender Matt Skelton coming up

[wandshogun09]

Goodridge/Yatsu was fucking BRUTAL

 

 

Big Gary was a nasty bastard back then

[The Cum Doctor]

PRIDE FC 16: Beast From the East

 

Gary Goodridge vs. Yoshiaki Yatsu

 

Hey guys, here it is! Old Guy Fucked Up II. Since I know it's the same outcome, might as well just enjoy the brutality. Yatsu asking for the towel was pretty smart stuff. He must have seen the fight going the same direction as the last fight and just decided to cut his losses. I actually thought Yatsu was doing a better job of avoiding being hit, but the big bombs were still getting through, so it was just a matter of time.

 

Norihisa Yamamoto vs. Assuerio Silva

 

Well, that didn't last long, did it? Silva just went batshit mental here. Completely rushed Yamamoto, who seemed to be throwing the most desperate kicks ever, and Silva just kept coming forward swinging like a mad man. I believe the term "man possessed" works here. Anyways, quick KO.

 

Daijiro Matsui vs. Murilo "Ninja" Rua

 

I get the impression that this fight is going to be pretty good. The first round is absolutely amazing. Matsui was brilliant defending on the ground. I lost count of the number of times when he seemed to just switch position with ease. The longer the round went on though, the more Ninja came into the fight and Matsui wound up eating some brutal kicks and stomps. The second round was total domination from Ninja, as he just laid on a beating yet again and Matsui had absolutely nothing to offer. Ninja wants the fight stopped after a brutal kick, but the ref wants more, so Ninja does the formality of stomping the face a couple of times to finish it. A good wee fight.

 

Guy Mezger vs. Ricardo Arona

 

I'm trying to figure out what happened here. Right, obviously they gave the first round to Arona along with the third, but did Arona really do enough? I thought the commentators got it right at the time when they said that Arona wasn't aggressive enough and Mezger had a right go. Neither man seemed to do much damage, so why was Arona given the round? He did well in the third round and easily won it though and Mezger easily took the second. It wasn't the most exciting of fights, but Mezger was great to watch most of the way.

 

Akira Shoji vs. Semmi Schilt

 

Schilt is one hell of a big man. Tall I mean. Not that he doesn't have quite a build on him of course. This could be a long night for Akira. So it proves to be. Akira seemed to have some joy with a takedown, but then Schilt turned around and ended up on top and from that point onwards, it was a beating. Back to the feet they went and Semmi landed mainly knees, but he added some brutal body kicks and left hands to that as well and wound up with the KO with the left hook. Semmi Schilt reminds me of Ivan Drago a bit, except not as cool. Anyways a fun if one sided battle.

 

Don Frye vs. Gilbert Yvel

 

DON FRYE~~~!!! I can't help but laugh at the "TERRORISTS SUCK" t-shirt he's using here even if the context lessens the humour a bit. If intensity is your thing then this fight might well be worth watching. The referee DQs Gilbert Yvel and I am happy enough with that as he was CONSTANTLY holding the ropes and generally being an utter cock. Credit to Don Frye for fighting injured and really showing some real heart in there. It's a fascinating fight because of the anger in there. Don Frye says "we'll do it again" and Yvel is happy enough, but then turns his attention to the referee, and Bas Rutten basically said "well, actually, that's a DQ". Yup.

 

Mark Coleman vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira

 

Interesting fight here. Big Nog was just ridiculously impressive here. When they were on the feet to begin with, he hit some belting shots, so Coleman got him on the ground, and what happened? Well, what do you expect? Big Nog constantly looks dangerous, with the main focus being on the arms of Coleman. He then eventually gets the Triangle Choke to put Coleman out of the fight. Brilliant, brilliant showing.

[Egg Shen]

Pride 16 was held a few days after September 11th, hence the patriotism from Frye, the Yvel fight is a war, dirty as fuck. I love it.

[Egg Shen]

Goodridge/Yatsu was fucking BRUTAL

 

 

Big Gary was a nasty bastard back then

 

Gary Goodridge is the fucking man. If i had to make a list for my top 10 fighters, Goodridge would likely be in there.

[The Cum Doctor]

Pride 16 was held a few days after September 11th, hence the patriotism from Frye

 

Yeah, I got that. I just found the t-shirt to be incredible. I found it difficult to figure out if he was being serious for a second when I seen it.

[wandshogun09]

Pride 17 next, one of my personal favourites.

 

Look out for Big Nog vs Heath Herring. Excellent fight, the best of their trilogy. Wand/Saku 2 is good aswell and is the most competitive of their 3 fights, shame about how it ended because it was shaping up to be a really good fight.

 

Dan Henderson vs Ninja Rua was a really fun fight and should be interesting to watch now with Hendo fighting Shogun soon. Some good quick fights on there too.

[The Cum Doctor]

It was good to see the Taktarov fight in those .gifs actually. That ending was brutal.

 

PRIDE FC 17: Championship Chaos

 

Yuji Ishikawa vs. Quinton "Rampage" Jackson

 

Rampage don't get paid by the hour. Comes out rushing and unloading, they break and then the same thing happens again and he won the fight. Not really much more to be said about that, other than fun.

 

Dan Henderson vs. Murilo Ninja Rua

 

The first round is very much dominated by Ninja Rua on the ground. He actually did a good job of escaping from under Dan and then passed to the side mount, but he didn't seem to do much from there. Dan Henderson did try and escape but other than that he didn't do much either, so Ninja probably won the round. The second round was looking like more of the same, but Henderson exploded with a takedown and knees. I still think Ninja won the round though. Dan Henderson somehow gets the decision. I can see a case for him winning the second, and he definately won the third. It was a fight with flurries of action but it really took off.

 

Semmy Schilt vs. Masaaki Satake

 

Ivan Drago returns to PRIDE to face Satake. I get the feeling that this isn't a fight that will last very long. Sure enough, Semmy Schilt really does a number of shots. As always Bas Rutten totally marks out for the body shots. Satake had all sorts of problem with the reach of Schilt. That actually reminds me of the Jones/Rampage fight with Satake getting nowhere near and never even LOOKING like reaching him.

 

Renzo Gracie vs. Michiyoshi Ohara

 

Ohara looks like one intense guy. I was watching this with my brother and I used the sentence "Gracie would be better staying on his feet." which is a sentence I don't get to use that often. The first round was basically Renzo stalking Ohara around the ring and landing some combos and low kicks and Ohara offered practically nothing in response. The bizarre thing is that Ohara didn't want to go to the ground in the second. Yes, I know he's fighting a Gracie, but if he can't stand with him and clearly doesn't WANT to, what DOES he want? Seemingly, the answer is "to clinch" which doesn't amuse me much. All in all this isn't good at all from Ohara, and Gracie does what he needs to for the win.

 

Igor Vovchanchyn vs. Mario Sperry

 

VERY impressive showing from Sperry here. He wastes no time taking Igor down and then when it looked like he might escape from the bottom, Sperry gets the Side Choke for the win. That was just very nice work.

 

Tom Erikson vs. Matt Skelton

 

So this fight can end in a draw. Erikson unloads a HUGE takedown after Skelton makes a decent fist of blocking, but it was a superb turn and takedown which got him to the canvas and Erikson just made it look easy from there and he gets the choke. A good outing for Erikson.

 

Heath Herring vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira - PRIDE Heavyweight Championship

 

The first round was phenomenal stuff. I had the sense watching it that Herring was lucky to escape several times. Big Nog was looking much better on the feet and then when they went down to the ground, Big Nog was ridiculously dangerous and Herring did an amazing job getting out of some really dangerous positions. Lets not forget the war on the feet about midway into the round as well. Herring seems to be in even bigger survival mode in the second round with Nog seconds away from finishing for much of it, and then at the end of it all, Herring escapes again and gets a full mount and ground and pound of his own. In the end, all of Nog's work pays off with the decision, but you have to credit Herring for helping to make this such a fantastic fight. Certainly one that is in the must-see category.

 

Wanderlei Silva vs. Kazushi Sakuraba - PRIDE Middleweight Championship

 

A good competitive first round between the two men. Sakuraba had Silva in a lot of bother and especially with a Guillotine Choke where Silva broke out a massive slam to get out of that. Horrible ending to the fight. That is a fucking woeful way for a title fight to end. Of course, there's no options to be had there, but it's still not good. What we did see from the two of them had me believing that we might be seeing a fight as good as the one that came before, but alas it wasn't to be.

 

The ending of the show didn't amuse, but that was a damn fun show.

[The Cum Doctor]

Sorry, but a full PRIDE 18 review is out of the question. I was writing out my review and the PC restarted. Got a LOT to watch from it, but a few things so far.

 

Allan Goes vs. Alex Steibling goes into my PRIDE must-sees. I'm compiling a list and I saved that bad boy into it before the thing farted on me. Terrific fight. Allan Goes was just so impressive and Steibling just showed amazing composure, and pretty much every minute, the commentators were saying "Steibling is gonna finish it in the third". Kudos to them for calling it and kudos to Steibling for sticking to the plan.

 

Ninja Rua looked terrific against Alex Andrade.

 

I really want to see a Matsui vs. Rampage fight. Does it ever happen?

[wandshogun09]

I really want to see a Matsui vs. Rampage fight. Does it ever happen?

 

Rampage vs Matsui is on Pride 18. Don't get your hopes up though, it was a really flat ending.

[The Cum Doctor]

Aye, I meant a rematch. It looked brilliant on paper and I was pretty pumped and then Rampage knocked his balls into his chest. So I assume it never happened again?

[wandshogun09]

Oh right I get you now. No never done a rematch sadly.

 

Stuff to look out for on the next few Prides

 

Pride 19

Don Frye vs Ken Shamrock (big time grudge match and a really good fight once it picks up)

Wanderlei vs Tamura and Big Nog vs Enson Inoue are enjoyable aswell.

And there's a Vovchanchyn/Herring fight I can't remember really but I'd imagine that was decent.

 

Carlos Newton vs Pele is the fight you wanna see on Pride 19 though. Absolute belter of a fight.

 

Pride 20

Cro Cop vs Wanderlei 1 (fought under special rules to allow for Cro Cop's transition from K-1 to MMA. 5 x 3 minute rounds with restricted grappling if it goes to the ground. It's not exactly MMA but it's an entertaining fight all the same)

 

Ninja Rua vs Mario Sperry (this is the fight to look out for on Pride 20. It was the first big fight between rival camps Chute Boxe and Brazilian Top Team. I love this fight)

 

After that, Pride 21 isn't much of a show but it's saved by the now legendary Frye/Takayama fight.

[The Cum Doctor]

What did you make of Goes/Steibling wandy? I absolutely loved it.

[wandshogun09]

Oh yeah it was a great fight. I totally forgot about it until I read your review. I'm gonna dig that fight out again tonight I think.

 

Both guys were usually fun to watch. I'd recommend tracking down Goes vs Dan Henderson from UFC 17 aswell, another really fun fight. And I'm guessing you've seen Goes vs Saku. I really liked Stiebling's fighting style aswell. He had some good Muay Thai, if he could have got his all round MMA game sorted I really think he could've been a player in Pride back then.