Pride FC: 1997-2007. In 2017.

[Noah Southworth]

It was after the second Bonnar fight. It was a subtle dig aimed at Tito Ortiz.

[wandshogun09]

Ah that's right. That was a few months after Forrest vs Tito 1. Tito was really in full on excuse mode around then. The best was after the second fight with Forrest where Tito said 'I have a cracked skull. I fought with a cracked skull tonight!' 

[wandshogun09]

PRIDE 2

March 15th 1998

Yokohama, Japan 

Yokohama Arena 

No show opening introduction here. We're straight to it. 
 

ROYLER GRACIE VS NAOKI SANO 

Think this is another fight with no rounds. Just one big long one. And there are no judges. If it goes the distance it's automatically a draw. I could be here a while.

Some excellent grappling kicks this one off. Really good stuff. Royler looks fantastic in the opening few minutes. They show Takada on screen, who Quadros calls "the Japanese Hulk Hogan". OK. Was Takada that big over there? I know was a big star but the Japanese Hogan?

About 10 minutes in now and nothing is happening at this point. Royler is dominating but it's slowed to a crawl. 

Nearly 20 minutes now and they're in the same position as they were 10 minutes ago. Royler on top and Sano just defending. Fuck me this is boring as shit. 

Approaching 30 minutes in and Sano has wound up on top. By now I don't give a shit though. I just want it to end. It's like having a fucking root canal done. Sano is on top but he can't pass guard and he doesn't know what to do with Gracie. Meanwhile Royler's fucking him up with strikes from the bottom and Sano's all bloodied up. Royler's got mount again now and this time he locks on an armbar for the tap. 

Winner - Royler Gracie by submission. Rd 1 - 33:14.

A chore to watch. The closing few minutes of the fight were alright once Royler upped the aggression. But fuck me he made a song and dance about getting there. 
 

AKIRA SHOJI VS JUAN MOTT 

Round 1: Second Pride appearance for Shoji here after a spirited effort in a draw against Renzo in the debut show. Mott comfortable striking but Shoji takes him down and quickly gets the mount. Mott tries to buck out and gives up his back, and Shoji snatches him up a rear naked choke. 

Winner - Akira Shoji by submission. Rd 1 - 3:47. 

 

WILLIAM VAN ROOSMALEN VS RALPH WHITE - Kickboxing Bout

Kickboxing match again here. Any GLORY watchers reading this will recognise the name Van Roosmalen because of Robin Van Roosmalen, one of the best and most exciting kickboxers on the planet today and a former two weight champ in GLORY. Well, William Van Roosmalen is his dad. And he was a badass himself. He's also a former world champion and he knocked out Vitali Klitschko back in Klitschko's kickboxing days. Ralph White is back in the Pride ring after his controversial No Contest with Branko Cikatic on the first show. 

Bas describes Van Roosmalen as "a wolf in sheep's clothes" as he's a bit pudgy and looks mega laid back, but he will fuck you up bad. 

Round 1: Good action here early. Both very active with leg and body kicks. I'd give White the first round on aggression and he got the better of the exchanges towards the end of the round. 

Round 2: Roosmalen doing well with his punches early this round. He's warming up and mixing his strikes together nicely now. White still threatening with his kicks though. Roosmalen's round. 

Round 3: White's starting to fade now. He's buckling. Roosmalen going to town with some nice leg kicks from the Thai clinch. Knees to the body now too from the Dutchman. Roosmalen's round again. 

Round 4: There was some talk that White might not be coming out for this round but he does and he's throwing down. But Van Roosmalen is soon taking him apart again and...LIVER SHOT!! He stops White with a nasty knee to the body from the Thai clinch. Looked vicious. First "liver shot" call for Bas here too! 

Winner - William Van Roosmalen by KO. Rd 4 - 0:38. 

Really enjoyable fight, that was. Not for Ralph White though.
 

We move on to the Pride debut I've been waiting for...

KAZUSHI SAKURABA VS VERNON WHITE 

Round 1: White hurts Sakuraba with a punch right off the bat and Saku immediately initiates the grappling. It remains a ground fight pretty much from there on out. And very good one at that. Constant reversals and sub attempts from both and at a pretty high pace. 

Round 2: Not much striking here but the grappling is more than entertaining enough. Sakuraba keeps coming close on armbar attempts but White keeps managing to escape and take Saku's back. He gets a waistlock and Saku does his patented kimura throw/reversal thingy - always loved that. 

Round 3: It's been a close one but Saku is just a step ahead for me. He's got full-mount, Vernon hip escapes out of it. Sakuraba gets an armbar in the transition, but White again escapes! Beautiful. Mad scramble again and Saku hits another slick armbar and this time there is no escape and Vernon has to tap.

Winner - Kazushi Sakuraba by submission. Rd 3 - 6:53. 

Tremendous finish to a really, really good fight.

"My God, who is this guy? Kazushi Sakuraba, coming out of nowhere!" - Stephen Quadros

 

RENZO GRACIE VS SANAE KIKUTA 

Round 1: It's dull stuff again here. Renzo seems to have a knack for it on these early Pride shows. No point even scoring as it's another fight with no judging anyway. 

Round 2: Again, very little happening here. They're leaning against the ropes in a bear hug most of the time. Kikuta gets a takedown but doing nothing on top. And that's how he spends the remainder of the round. 

Round 3: Kikuta gets another takedown within like 5 seconds. Fuck me here we go again. I'm tempted to just hit the skip button but I'll try and see it through. The whole round was literally just Kikuta lying in Renzo's guard. That's it. 

OK, I just nearly died from the despair I felt at this commentary exchange...

Rutten: How many rounds is this fight? 

Quadros: I believe this is unlimited rounds until someone submits or gets knocked out. 

UNLIMITED ROUNDS OF THIS?!! Come back Dan Severn and Kimo, all is forgiven. 

Round 4: About a minute in and Kikuta hits a trip takedown and I just opened a new tab in my browser to look up where to buy a noose. After what feels like at least 3 days of Kikuta on top of Renzo in the missionary position the fight ends up on the feet. Where again they opt to do sod all and the round ends. Jesus Tittyfucking Christ. 

Round 5: Bearhug in the corner again. Bas says we're over 40 minutes into this now. They're back on the ground. Kikuta in missionary again. Where he stays for the remaining 7 or so minutes of the round. This is SHIT. My daughter was 3 years old when this started. With a bit of luck it'll be over before her 21st. 

Round Motherfucking 6: And I'm dying. At this point I'm looking around the room for things to do. I might finally have a go at putting those shelves up for my wife. Safe in the knowledge I can always return to catch Round 16 of this fight and pick up right where I left of...Kikuta in between Renzo's legs, dryhumping him into oblivion. They stop the action (lol, action) to put some tape on Kikuta's glove, which is falling off out of boredom. Jeez. This fight is never going to end at this rate.

BUT WAIT...

Renzo catches Kikuta in a guillotine off a sloppy takedown attempt and it's over. It's finally over! 

Winner - Renzo Gracie by submission. Rd 6 - 0:43. 

Quadros echos my sentiments exactly, blurting out a joyous and relieved "THANK GOD!". 

Years later, Renzo claimed he was drugged by the Pride promoters before the fight. I wish I was drugged before I watched the thing. 
 

TASIS PETRIDIS VS GEORGE RANDOLPH - Kickboxing Bout

Kickboxing rules again here. Randolph's a big old cunt. He's wearing some black Karate trousers too. Petridis had been in with some kickboxing legends like Ernesto Hoost and Rob Kaman. 

Round 1: Randolph is very aggressive putting it on Petridis from the off. Petridis seems the better fighter technically but Randolph's size and relentlessness makes him a dangerous opponent. Man, this action packed 3 minute round really flew by after watching Renzo and Kikuta's marathon hump session. 

Round 2: Petridis starting to use Randolph's aggression against him, catching him coming in with the counters. Good round for Petridis. 

Round 3: Petridis is beginning to run away with this now. Randolph's slowing down and clearly feeling the effects of all the leg kicks. 

Round 4: Petridis hurting Randolph with some big punches now. Mixing in hard leg kicks still as well. Randolph's at the end of his rope here but he's tough and survives another round. 

Round 5: Final round and Petridis isn't coasting on the lead. More leg kicks, body kicks, punches. He's clearly a different class of fighter to Big George here but I quite like the big bastard. He sees the final bell. Fight is over and there's no mystery which way this decision's going. 

Winner - Tasis Petridis by decision. 

 

MARCO RUAS VS GARY GOODRIDGE 

This one should be fun. I know I've seen it but can't remember this at all. 

Round 1: Good start to the fight with Ruas using his big leg kicks and Goodridge throwing bombs in return. Goodridge gets him in the corner and fucking tees off on him and Ruas wants no more of that and opts to turn it into a grappling match. Wise move but Goodridge is still on top and...well, let's just say he's no Sanae Kikuta. He's trying to punch Ruas through the canvas. After a few minutes though, Goodridge is slowing down. Ruas is bloody but he looks OK and he's defending himself well from his back. They end up standing again but before you know it...

Ruas drops and has him tapping to a heel hook. Nice. 

Winner - Marco Ruas by submission. Rd 1 - 9:09. 

 

And we arrive at the main event. 

MARK KERR VS BRANKO CIKATIC 

Bit of a strange choice of headliner really. Kerr's making his Pride debut and Cikatic is coming off that short No Contest against Ralph White. This wasn't meant to be the main event originally though. This was...

Royce Gracie vs Mark Kerr! Or 'Keer' as the poster says, You have to think that wouldn't have ended well for old Royce. 

But anyway, that didn't happen and Branko stepped up to welcome Kerr to the Pride ring. And it's Cikatic's first time fighting under MMA rules. Let's see how that goes...

Round 1: And it doesn't go well. At all. Kerr goes for a takedown, and Cikatic does NOT want to be taken down by Mark Kerr. So he grabs the rope with his left arm and repeatedly elbows Kerr in the back of the head with his right arm. They split them up and the exact same thing happens again and this time Kerr loses his head and lashes out.

The ref splits them up, Branko falls to the ground growling something. Chaos in the ring post-fight and Cikatic is disqualified. Kerr and Cikatic do end up shaking hands but Cikatic has a wide eyed, wild look about him like he might just snap any second.

Absolute lunatic of a man.

Winner - Mark Kerr by disqualification. Rd 1 - 2:14. 

The crowd hated this. Not often you hear a Japanese crowd loudly booing after a fight. Can't blame them though. They had to sit through Royler vs Sano, then the 3 weeks of Renzo vs Kikuta, then the main event ends in 2 minutes on a DQ. Kerr got on the mic and kind of smoothed things over with the crowd in his soft spoken way. They liked it. Then Cikatic got on mumbling something and they booed him  

Bit of a shit show. Sakuraba vs White was excellent, Ruas vs Goodridge was good and I liked the 2 kickboxing matches. But the 2 Gracie fights dragged it down big time and then the way Kerr-Cikatic ended just capped the night off on a really sour note.

 

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Kazushi Sakuraba vs Vernon White 

SHITE OF THE NIGHT: Renzo Gracie vs Sanae Kikuta 

KNOCKOUT OF THE NIGHT: William Van Roosmalen

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Marco Ruas

[jimufctna24]

You can really see the potential in Pride coming through here. Pride was not a place for UFC rejects and questionable domestic talent. The hottest names were starting to move over. In Kerr, they had netted the most marketable and formidable Heavyweight in the game. On top of that, while Sakuraba came off as merely being a decent signing initially - coming off his appearance in the UFC - he was set on his way to becoming Pride's signature fighter here. They were also seemingly flirting with Royce Gracie - arguably still the sport's biggest name. Obviously, the promotion still needed refinement with the "unlimited rounds" rule, which I am going to guess only the Gracie's and a handful of purists supported. 

Kerr vs Royce though? By 1995/1996 the general feeling was that Coleman would maul Royce if they met in the UFC. It was felt that the Gracie clan were a few years ahead of the game when the UFC began. The emergence of monster wrestlers like Coleman and Kerr, twinned with Royce scraping a draw with Ken, was seen to signify that the game had changed. No longer could a regular sized Gracie - like Royce - enter an open-weight field and expect to breeze through it. Even though Kerr had his shortcomings, and the rules would have been modified to Gracie's betterment - I don't think it would have mattered. Kerr would have rag-dolled Royce, and it would have probably been ugly. 

[Noah Southworth]

Takada had Hogan level charisma and he was a major star, but whilst he was a big draw, Takada didn’t have the longevity that Hogan did in that regard, so calling Takada the Japanese Hulk Hogan was a bit of a stretch, albeit not necessarily the huge stretch that you’d usually expect from PRIDE. Renzo claiming he was drugged fits right in with the Gracie m.o of having an excuse for any time they either lose or don’t win handily.

I don’t believe Royce signed or otherwise agreed to the Kerr fight before it was announced. Whilst people knew that was the fight PRIDE wanted, nobody thought it would ever happen due to the reasons Jim talked about. And even when it was announced, people just waited to see what excuse Royce would use to pull out.

[wandshogun09]

Royce vs Kerr would've been a massacre. They'd have set it up as unlimited rounds in the hope Kerr would tire and that would favour Royce. But I very much doubt that would've been a factor. Kerr would've smashed him before cardio became an issue, I reckon. Just too big, too strong and too powerful for Mr Bean in a gi to deal with. It's be like feeding a Yorkshire Terrier to a Pitbull. I honestly can't think what Royce could've done with Kerr. Or Coleman. They were a different breed to Severn physically with their strength and size. And unlike Severn at UFC 4, they'd had a few years to study what Royce was doing so they wouldn't be completely bamboozled if it hit the ground and he was trying to wrap them up. Royce would have got hurt bad. He was wise to avoid that one. 

Although Royce vs either Kerr or Coleman still potentially could've happened in the Grand Prix tournament in 2000. 

[Noah Southworth]

1 hour ago, wandshogun09 said:

 

Although Royce vs either Kerr or Coleman still potentially could've happened in the Grand Prix tournament in 2000. 

In theory, but if Royce had made it past Sakuraba, I think it’s a given that the Gracie’s would have pulled Royce from the tournament.

[wandshogun09]

Oh yeah, if Royce vs Sakuraba still went the 90 minutes and Royce won, I doubt he'd have come back out to fight Igor later that night like Sakuraba did. 

On we roll...

PRIDE 3

June 24th 1998

Tokyo, Japan 

Nippon Budokan 

 

AKIRA SHOJI VS DAIJIRO MATSUI 

Pride debut for Matsui. Third appearance for Shoji. These 2 later became known pretty much as pure cannon fodder for the stars of the promotion but they were decent little fighters for the time in their own right. 

Round 1: 10 minute rounds again. Shoji getting the better of the striking early on. He has Matsui reeling a bit. He's winning it everywhere really from the striking to the takedowns to the takedown defence. Matsui is having a go but he can't get anything significant off. Solid round. 

Round 2: Action is pretty slow now in the first half of the round. They grapple around a bit. Matsui ups the aggression midway through the round but Shoji is soon controlling him on the ground again and that's the rest of the round. 

Round 3: Bit of a staring contest until Shoji gets another takedown. He doesn't do much from the top though. It's about 25 minutes into the fight and they're both exhausted. 

"I think Matsui...I think he's just one of those guys that has a lot of spunk" - Stephen Quadros 

Moving on...

Standing again but neither are engaging at this point. More back and forth grappling and the round ends with Shoji on Matsui's back. 

Round 4: This is a sudden death round as they went the distance. Not a lot going on again. Mostly just Shoji sprawling and Matsui getting beat up a little bit from his knees. Shoji rugby tackles Matsui through the ropes and the round, and fight, is over.

Result - Draw after 4 rounds/40 minutes. 

If there were judges Shoji would've taken the decision, no doubt. It's a shame they hamstrung this one with the interminably long rounds as it started off really well and they both seemed to match up nicely. I reckon it would've been a much better fight under the system they later adopted of the rounds being 10 min/5 min then another 5 if necessary. Oh well. 
 

DAIJU TAKASE VS EMANUEL YARBROUGH 

OK, here we fucking go! I said Nathan Jones vs Koji Kitao was probably Pride's first freakshow fight but this one pisses all over that. The graphic that comes up before this fight is ridiculous. Takase is listed as 6'0" (which sounds a bit generous) and 209lbs (which again, sounds embellished). Yarbrough is down as being 6'8" and 600lbs. A 391lb weight advantage, for shit's sake!!!

Wait, now during the intros Quadros is saying that Takase weighs 169lbs. Sounds more like it. He says Yarbrough weighs IN EXCESS of 600lbs. So we're actually talking well over 400lbs between these two. Insanity. 

Yarbrough was best known at this point for his brutal loss to Keith Hackney in the UFC 3 show opener. 

Round 1: Takase is immediately hitting and running as you'd expect he would. It looks hilarious. Like a wasp buzzing around annoying a hippo. 

"You cannot even kill this guy with a samurai sword if you stab him. He's too big" - Bas Rutten 

Seeing these two in the same ring just looks comical.

Yarbrough is already starting to look frustrated and pissed off at Takase's running around. He's sweating like fuck as well. The crowd is loving this. There's not even much happening but just the novelty and the freakshow aspect, they're absolutely eating it up. 

Just 5 minutes in and Yarbrough is so knackered. He's taken to just standing next to the ropes and the corner like Andre The Giant at the end when he could barely stand up. Takase's literally just strolling around him now. Not a care in the world. 

"This is actually a really silly matchup" - Stephen Quadros 

The first round ends. Yarbrough looks mentally and physically fucked. 

Round 2: But Yarbrough comes out aggressive as this round starts and almost grabs hold of Takase. He wants this shit over with now. After a couple more minutes of circling and staring at each other Takase shoots in for a takedown. BIG mistake as Yarbrough just falls down on top of him. Fuck! The crowd comes alive and Quadros loses his shit...

"NOOOO! Don't go for a single. You gotta be out of your mind! NO. This, this is horrible. This is like Jaws. This is like Jaws. This is like Jaws. Where the guy's sliding up the boat into the jaws of the shark. This is the EXACT same thing" - Stephen Quadros 

 

Well, not quite "exact" Stephen. 

Yarbrough is just lying on top of Takase's legs as Takase punches him on his massive arms and legs. 

"This is like a horror movie" - Stephen Quadros

Bas is pissing himself laughing in the background. 

Takase breaks free and now Yarbrough is stuck like a beached whale and Takase is smacking him in the head over and over again. 

Yarbrough taps. It's over. David has slayed Goliath. 

Winner - Daiju Takase by submission. Rd 2 - 3:22. 

Classic Pride, right there. 

And from there we change pace completely with easily one of my favourite Pride fights ever...

KAZUSHI SAKURABA VS CARLOS NEWTON 

Bas Rutten gets in the ring before the fight and announces that he'll be fighting Randy Couture in the UFC in October. And then he's hoping to fight Rickson Gracie in Pride. Gutted that neither of those fights ended up happening  

Round 1: After a nice brief exchange on the feet they're quickly down to the grappling. Saku with a brilliant reversal where Newton goes for a trip and Saku kind of hip tosses him. Saku then spins right into an armbar but Newton gets out. Brilliant start to the fight!

There's so many transitions, reversals and submission attempts here. They're going for every sub in the book from armbars to kimuras to toe-holds to heel hooks to chokes. And they've both always got an answer for the other's attempts. Saku's on fire and Newton is right there with him.

That first 10 minutes flew by. Comparing this round to any round of the same length from say Renzo vs Kikuta is like night and day. 

"This is an amazing matchup. Amazing! I had said that Vernon 'Tiger' White vs Kazushi Sakuraba was maybe the most technical grappling match that I'd ever seen. This may have trumped that. This may be more technical, but more exciting because these guys are really going for it" - Stephen Quadros

Round 2: Newton starts to open up with some good ground strikes in round two but they're soon tangled up in submissions again.

The timekeeper announces that there's 5 minutes left of the round and something about that announcement seems to kick Sakuraba into a higher gear and he rolls for a kneebar...

The one submission neither man went for and Sakuraba busted it out at the perfect time.

Winner - Kazushi Sakuraba by submission. Rd 2 - 5:19. 

Fantastic. 19 years later and still one of the best grappling matches in MMA history. 

"I have to say, from a grappling standpoint, Mixed Martial Arts just hit a new high" - Stephen Quadros

This is what I loved most about Pride. The variety. You go from a pure circus spectacle like Takase vs Yarbrough to a legitimate technical grappling classic like Sakuraba vs Newton. 
 

GARY GOODRIDGE VS AMIR RAHNAVARDI 

Big size advantage for Goodridge here, about 35lbs on him. Bas says Rahnavardi took this fight on a day's notice as well. Nutter. 

Round 1: Goodridge isn't fucking about here. Right away he's lighting him up with punches and knees. He takes Rahnavardi down and the beating continues. Amir has attempts at a kneebar, a triangle and then an armbar but can't get any of them. There's a moment here where he’s punching Goodridge in the face from the bottom and Goodridge is just eating them and screaming at him like a maniac. He then traps Amir's left arm under his own back and just pounds his face in until he's out cold!

Winner - Gary Goodridge by KO. Rd 1 - 7:22. 

Jesus Christ! That was a terrifying finish. Goodridge was a monster around this time. Not unbeatable but chances are you're getting hurt - win, lose or draw - if you're fighting mid-late 90s Goodridge. 
 

MARK KERR VS PEDRO OTAVIO 

Second outing for Kerr in Pride, following his DQ win over Branko Cikatic at Pride 2. Hopefully this one will be controversy free. 

Otavio's a big boy. Similar in size to Kerr but not as muscular. Quadros says he's a vet of IVC in Brazil, which was the bare knuckle promotion where guys like Wanderlei, Shogun and Jose Pele got a lot of their early experience. 

Round 1: Kerr wastes no time taking Otavio down. And it isn't long before Kerr ends his night with a kimura. 

Winner - Mark Kerr by submission. Rd 1 - 2:13. 

Otavio immediately starts shouting and complaining about the stoppage. He didn't tap, in fairness. But he wasn't getting out and Kerr was probably just a few seconds away from breaking his arm. 

Main event time...

NOBUHIKO TAKADA VS KYLE STURGEON 

We covered this recently in the Past Fights thread but I'll go through the motions. 

Round 1: Sturgeon drops Takada with a headkick in the opening exchange of the fight. It didn't look particularly hard and it didn't connect clean, just clipped the Japanese Hulkster on the side of the dome. He was off balance and it put him on his arse. They trade leg kicks and then Sturgeon goes for a takedown. Odd considering he's a striker and Takada's only prayer was on the ground but...whatever. Quadros and Bas talk about Sturgeon's "weird style". They're standing again and this time Takada takes Sturgeon down. Seconds later, Sturgeon is tapping to a heel hook. 

Winner - Nobuhiko Takada by submission. Rd 1 - 2:18. 

As works go, this was pretty poorly done. Sturgeon just looks so awkward and even the way he goes down on the takedown looks so hokey and unnatural. 

Jim posted this quote from Sturgeon's manager at the time;

"We had all the details worked out for Kyle to lose against Takada around the 10 minute mark. I remember getting a call from in Japan the night before the fight. He informed me that the Brazilians were egging him on to beat Takada anyway and deviate from the plan. I informed him that KRS (who owned Pride before Dreamstage) had made it very clear that if Sturgeon doesn't do the job, he won't be coming back home" 

Scandalous! 

Pretty good show, I thought. Better than 1 and 2 anyway. 

I'm adding a post-fight bonus thing to these reviews. I won't be handing out any money, of course. Just something I thought would be fun. For each show I'll give a 'Fight Of The Night', 'KO Of The Night', 'Sub Of The Night' and the dubious honour of 'Shite Of The Night' will go to whatever I deem the worst thing on the show. 
 

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Kazushi Sakuraba vs Carlos Newton 

SHITE OF THE NIGHT: Nobuhiko Takada vs Kyle Sturgeon 

KNOCKOUT OF THE NIGHT: Gary Goodridge 

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Kazushi Sakuraba 

I've gone back and edited in these awards for Pride 1 and 2 as well. 

Sayonara.

[Egg Shen]

Cracking little reviews, keep em coming. Its making me wanna go back and watch some of this stuff.

[jimufctna24]

5 hours ago, wandshogun09 said:

DAIJU TAKASE VS EMANUEL YARBROUGH 

Ahhh, this fucker. 

This was one of the first Pride fights I ever saw, perhaps even the very first. It was on the supplementary DVD that came with the PS2 game. Before watching it, I had seen snippets of UFC fights from their brief stint on SKY, and read bits and bobs in PowerSlam. However, I still didn't really understand how real fighting worked. Sure, I had watched boxing, but MMA was an entirely different ballgame. For example, when a fighter would slap on a triangle choke, I didn't really understand what was going on.

When this epic popped up on my screen, I assumed that it was going to be a squash match. I was taken back when Takase pummeled Yarbrough. It was much more violent than I was used to. From it, I carried the perception that "gimmick fighters" tend to be disposed of quite quickly in MMA. Oh, and yes, Bas and Quadros were are fine form during this bout. 

 

[Egg Shen]

im getting a few guys mixed up but there's a scene in The Smashing Machine where the American fighters are really confused about the rules they are fighting under. I was thinking the one guy in the conversation was Kyle Sturgeon but it isn't having looked up Sturgeon online. I need to go back and watch it, im wondering if any of the 'worked' fights are what's being referenced there because there seems to be excuses and confusion surrounding everything.

Fuck knows who Kyle Sturgeon was? he only ever had 1 fight and it was a worked one with Takada.

edit: The other guy im thinking of is Anthony Marcias (most famous for being tossed about by Dan Severn in Dan's UFC debut).

Marcias fought Sakuraba at Pride 7 and complained about stuff surrounding the fight. Really do need to dig out The Smashing Machine.

[WyattSheepMask]

If you can't find it to dig out, it's on youtube

[wandshogun09]

Finally getting back to it...

PRIDE 4

October 11th 1998

Tokyo, Japan 

Tokyo Dome 

 

OK then, here we go. Again, straight down to business on these early Pride DVDs. 

 

And we kick this one off with a debut I've been waiting for. 

GARY GOODRIDGE VS IGOR VOVCHANCHYN 

Yes, Igor Vovchanchyn has arrived. Looking like he couldn't give less of a fuck if he tried. And he's matched with 'Big Daddy' Gary Goodridge straight away. I vaguely remember this but it's been a while. Bas is bigging Igor up nicely before the fight starts and, as we're soon to find out, rightly so. 

"This is gonna be an explosive match. We will see punches flying in this one, folks" - Stephen Quadros

Round 1: They collide like a pair of bulls and Goodridge takes Igor down. And Igor is already cut above the eye.

Must've been a clash of heads because nothing significant has even been thrown yet. After a few minutes on the ground they end up back on the feet. Lot more clinching and a lot less action than I remember from this fight. And they're back on the ground. I guess it's smart strategy on Goodridge's part, forcing the smaller Igor to carry his weight. He lets Igor back up though. A costly error as Igor quickly hurts him with some hard shots, nearly drops him and Goodridge looks wobbly on his feet. The ref waves it off.

Winner - Igor Vovchanchyn by TKO. Rd 1 - 5:58. 

Maybe a little bit of an early stoppage there, to be honest. Goodridge definitely looked shaken up but the ref jumped in very quickly and didn't really give Goodridge chance to fight out of it. Won't complain too much though. It's rare you get a Pride ref actually looking out for fighter safety and waving a fight off early. Stark contrast to some fights I'll get to on later shows...cough** Sakuraba cough**. 
 

AKIRA SHOJI VS WALLID ISMAEL 

Shit’s on. Wallid’s arrived. 

Round 1: These two match up very similarly size and physique-wise. Both short and stocky. Ismael always cracks me up. What a nut. He's doing fairly well early here with his grappling but Shoji's crafty and keeps escaping bad positions. Ismael has full mount about halfway through the round and Shoji somehow gets out and starts swinging haymakers on the feet. The crowd is loving Shoji here. Ismael weathers the storm and gets Shoji down where he controls for the rest of the round. 

Round 2: Ismael looks absolutely exhausted and Shoji senses it and is winging punches at him right away. Ismael looks too tired to shoot for a meaningful takedown and Shoji is hitting him at will. Like with the Igor vs Goodridge fight, the ref calls it off with Ismael still standing. 

Winner - Akira Shoji by TKO. Rd 2 - 1:26. 

No problem with that stoppage though. Ismael looked fucked and it was only going to get worse. 
 

DAIJIRO MATSUI VS SANAE KIKUTA 

Oh no. Kikuta again. I've only just stopped having nightmares about his never ending fight with Renzo. Seems Bas had the same nightmares. He issues this warning before the fight even begins...

"Now, hopefully he's gonna do more than he did in his last fight because if he's gonna fight the same fight, Kikuta, as he did against Renzo Gracie...I'm afraid that this is not going to be very exciting" - Bas Rutten

Quadros is more optimistic because of Matsui's more attacking style and the fact that at least there are time limits now. 

Round 1: Kikuta is immediately going for the dryhump strategy he employed against Renzo. And you can almost hear Bas' arse puckering on the commentary. 

"Now PLEASE move on the ground" - Bas Rutten

They don't. Just lots and lots of Kikuta lying on top of Matsui and nothing happening. The most you'll see is Kikuta transitioning from half guard to side control but he does fuck all with it. Matsui has the odd escape but is always taken straight back down for more of the same. Nothing. Just lots of nothingness.

Matsui is trying, in fairness. And at the end of the round he has a little bit of success on the feet. But it seems Kikuta could sap the life out of the most offensive of fighters. He's like that unfunny fucker at a party who just ruins everyone's night. Go away, Kikuta. 

Round 2: Matsui throws a kick and falls on his arse. Allowing Kikuta to get top position immediately. Fuck's sake. I reckon Kikuta was a role model to guys like Jake Shields and Jared Rosholt. They must've had posters of this bastard on their wall. He's the OG of lay and pray. 

Fuck me, what's this? Call TMZ, KIKUTA IS GOING FOR A FINISH! Jesus Christ. He's trying for a mounted guillotine. I think Matsui is so shocked that Kikuta is actually doing something that this might be ove...no, Kikuta gives up on it and we're back to spooning. Every now and then Matsui will reverse position but it's fleeting and Kikuta always ends up back on top. 

Round 3: Kikuta comes flying out with a cartwheel kick...

Yeah right. No we basically rinse and repeat the first 20 dull minutes. They're on the ground within about 30 seconds and Kikuta is on top doing sod all. 

"The 3 steps of Sanae Kikuta - body lock with the underhooks, spin off the ropes, trip down into the guard, lock up...and wait" - Stephen Quadros 

Quadros completely summed up Kikuta with this bit of commentary. That's Kikuta in a nutshell. Especially the "and wait" bit. Bloody hell the boy can wait. 

About midway through the round, Matsui actually gets top position and maintains it for the rest of the round. But whether it's fatigue, boredom or whatever he also opts to do nothing and just wait for the time to run out. 

Mercifully, it does and we can all move on with life. 

Result - Draw. 

Shit fight. Shit, shit, shitty shit shit. 
 

KAZUSHI SAKURABA VS ALLAN GOES 

Third Pride appearance for Sakuraba here, after submission wins over Vernon White and Carlos Newton in tremendous fights previously.

Allan Goes is the first of many Brazilians Sakuraba would be matched up with in Pride. Goes was a BJJ black belt, multi time BJJ world champion and had fought to competitive decisions with Frank Shamrock in Pancrase and Dan Henderson in the UFC. 

Round 1: Both men very aggressive as the fight starts. Goes finds himself on his back early on but instead of following him to the ground, Saku decides to stay standing and just blast Goes' legs with kicks. Goes is VERY active from the old butt-scoot position though. More active and attacking from there than I've ever seen anyone else actually. It's usually boring as fuck to watch a fight where one guy is laying there and the other is standing but Goes is really landing some legit hard kicks from his back. It's an odd fight but an action packed and fun one so far for sure. Goes IMO is actually winning this fight and outstriking Sakuraba from his back at this point. Madness. Sakuraba looks a bit puzzled as to how to tackle this one. Goes even comes fairly close with a choke at one stage too. Really good round for Goes. 

Round 2: Well, after a really entertaining opening round, this one is much slower moving. Again, these 10 minute rounds were just too damn long. It's still better than a Kikuta fight, of course, but it's nowhere near as good as the first round was. Late in the round there's a cool sequence where Saku really goes for an armbar. It's a solid attempt but Goes is too polished a grappler and manages to fight it off. Slow end to the round. 

Round 3: This round looks a lot like the second. Methodical pace. They're both trying but it's in short bursts now and they're both knackered. Goes trying for chokes again but no joy. And the bulk of the round sees Goes back in the butt-scoot position with Saku standing over him and sporadically kicking. And Goes doesn't have the energy now to attack from there like he did in round 1, so it's pretty boring stuff now. 

Result - Draw. 

Shame. There was a better fight to be had between these two but the long rounds forced a slower pace as the fight went on and it became a stalemate. 
 

NAOKI SANO VS SATOSHI HONMA 

Round 1: Honma's a karate guy and he drops Sano in the very first exchange with a sharp right hand. Nice. Sano wisely turns this into a grappling match with a trip takedown. He gets nothing done though and they're back on their feet before long. Honma keeps doing some weird thing where he holds his right hand on his forehead like he's taunting or something. Honma's taking him apart now. Sano's all bloody and just generally having a miserable night. Poor cunt's getting kicked in the shins and jabbed in the swollen cut eye over and over. He's a mess.

Quadros: Sano's starting to look like he went through the windshield of a car at 65 miles an hour.

Rutten: Hahaha. With no airbag! 

The doctor's take a look but they send him back out for more. This is going to end badly. Honma pouring it on now with punches, leg kicks, knees the lot. Sano is tough as shit, man. Another flurry and some leg kicks drop Sano. Honma lands a few punches on the ground and the ref looks like he's going to step in but doesn't. So Homna just stops attacking and the walks away celebrating and the bell rings.

Winner - Satoshi Honma by TKO. Rd 1 - 9:25. 

That was the worst beatdown yet in Pride. Didn't remember this one at all.

Officiating was all over the place on this show. From the early stoppage in Vovchanchyn-Goodridge to this? The ref could've stopped this a lot sooner. Sano was done for a while. Thank fuck Honma was nice enough to stop the beating himself because I think this ref would've let him beat this poor get into the grave. 
 

MARCO RUAS VS ALEXANDER OTSUKA

So 'The King Of The Streets' Marco Ruas is back, after a submission victory over Gary Goodridge at Pride 2. 

And this is the Pride debut of pro wrestler Alexander Otsuka. A prime candidate for the 'Roundest Head' thread on here. And IMO, a dead ringer for Master Onion off the old Parappa The Rapper game for the Playstation.

He's wearing black shorts with 'DIET BUTCHER' emblazoned across his arse in white letters. 

What the fuck was the story with the Diet Butcher nickname? 

Anyway...

Round 1: Otsuka having surprising success early in the fight here. He's quickly on top and in Ruas' guard. Not doing much but the fact he's controlling someone like Ruas on the ground must've been a surprise at the time. Shots of Bas Rutten in Ruas' corner while they pretend on the commentary that they're live at ringside  

Ruas reverses things late in the round though. He gets mount, lands some hard punches and then very nearly secures a rear naked choke. I think he would've finished it but the time in the round expired.

Round 2: Ruas looks tired now. Seems like he might've blew his wad going for the finish at the end of the first round. Lots of clinching in the corner until Master Onion finally gets a takedown. He's doing very little for a while but as the round goes on he ups the aggression and lands some decent shots. Ruas' eye is busted open and he looks completely knackered as the round ends. 

And it's over. The corner are pulling Ruas out!

Winner - Alexander Otsuka by TKO via corner stoppage. Rd 2 - 10:00. 

Huge upset for the time. Otsuka was 0-2 going into this fight with losses to Egan Inoue and Chris Haseman. I assume this was supposed to be a squash match for Ruas. Big shock. Rutten and Quadros were saying Ruas was taking anti-inflammatory medication for something before this fight and were kind of blaming his lacklustre showing on that. Sounds like an excuse but who knows? Big win for the Diet Butcher though.

 

MARK KERR VS HUGO DUARTE

Round 1: Doesn't take long for Kerr to put Duarte on his back. This isn't going to be an enjoyable experience for Hugo.

Kerr's not doing a whole lot. It feels like he could wreck Duarte if he just opens up with some ground and pound but I don't know, it's almost like he's playing for a longer fight. Like he wants the ring time. Duarte isn't threatening with anything off his back so I don't really why Kerr didn't up the attack.

Round 2: More of the same here as Kerr just mauls him to the mat. They show Bas in Kerr's corner looking bored as fuck with his head in his hands. Duarte is bleeding now. He keeps shouting something at the ref, complaining about something. Fuck knows. Couple more minutes and he's off again, screaming. The ref calls a time out. He's claiming Kerr headbutted him. I think. Kerr's got him down again and nothing of note happens for the rest of the round.

Round 3: Duarte comes out and just drops to his back before Kerr can even touch him. Christ. Kerr follows him to the ground, he's angry now and finally goes on the attack but Duarte is halfway out on the ring apron and is stalling again. Fuck. Off. They restart and he immediately drops to his back again. Kerr is battering him now. He could've done this 20 minutes ago. Duarte wants out. Badly. Just tap you bastard. Why all the pissing about? Kerr with some ground and pound again, Duarte turns his back and the fight is finally stopped.

Winner - Mark Kerr by TKO. Rd 3 - 2:32. 

Main event time. And it's a rematch of the main event from Pride 1.

RICKSON GRACIE VS NOBUHIKO TAKADA 2

Takada is wearing a beautiful robe during the intros. Fair play, he's looking sharp for this arse kicking he's about to get.

Round 1: Rickson shoots right away but Takada defends with the double underhooks. They remain in the clinch for a good few minutes with little going on until Takada lands a nice knee to the body that actually drops Rickson. 

I didn’t remember that! They stay clinched up the whole time though and Rickson ends up pulling guard and dragging Takada down. And now they're playing in Rickson's sandpit. Big mistake by Takada to hold onto the underhooks when he hurt Rickson with the knee. Isn't long before Gracie ends up on top, then it's the usual. Mount, punches, armbar, tapping. 

Winner - Rickson Gracie by submission. Rd 1 - 9:30. 

Credit where it's due, Takada did a lot better than in the first fight and way better than I remembered him doing.

 

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Satoshi Honma vs Naoki Sano

SHITE OF THE NIGHT: Sanae Kikuta vs Daijiro Matsui 

KNOCKOUT OF THE NIGHT: Satoshi Honma 

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Rickson Gracie 

 

[jimufctna24]

10 hours ago, wandshogun09 said:

And this is the Pride debut of pro wrestler Alexander Otsuka. A prime candidate for the 'Roundest Head' thread on here. And IMO, a dead ringer for Master Onion off the old Parappa The Rapper game for the Playstation. 

 

"Kick, punch, it's all in the mind"

[wandshogun09]

That's the one. He is though, isn't he?