Pride FC: 1997-2007. In 2017.

[wandshogun09]

One day, I'll finish this. 

PRIDE GRAND PRIX 2000 - FINALS

May 1st 2000

Tokyo, Japan 

Tokyo Dome

This tournament was the first time Pride were airing on PPV in America. So we open up with a bunch of the American fighters on the card telling you why you should watch this show. In a really cheesy way. Ken Shamrock especially hams it up. "I'm Ken Shamrock. And if you like extreme, stay tuned to watch these fights, 'cos we're gonna ROCK!" 

There's the belt which will be around someone's waist by the end of this tournament. 

There's a little mini opening ceremony. With the Pride ring girls carrying the belt and the comically big winner's cheque around. While the guy on the mic announces "TONIGHT YOU WILL SEE THE STRONGEST IN THE WORLD!" 

And we're off. Maurice Smith joins Quadros and Rutten on commentary this time. I think they've switched the order of the fights up on the DVD.

 

We're kicking off with Sakuraba vs Royce. Yeah, that fight. The little pre-fight video package before the fight is pretty cool. 

KAZUSHI SAKURABA VS ROYCE GRACIE - Openweight GP Quarter Final 

Japanese legend Antonio Inoki is in the ring. Dragging his massive chin about and doing the old Japanese thing of giving both the participants flowers before they fight. As you do. The crowd are loving a bit of Inoki. 

Modified rules for this one. No time limits, each round would last 15 minutes and there'd be an unlimited number of rounds, no referee stoppages, no judges. The fight continues until one man can't. Either by being knocked out or submitting or, presumably, dying. I don't know if I'll make it through the whole of this thing. I'll see what happens. I've watched it through in full only once before, I think. 

Even Helio Gracie is at ringside for this one. You knew it was important when Helio made the trip. Like in Bret Hart's matches when Stu would be there. 

Here we go then. 

Round 1: They cut a faster pace than you'd expect right off the bat. You'd think they'd be more conservative with their use of energy with the no time limit stip and the potential for a long fight. Royce is pretty aggressive but Saku stays calm and appears to be a step ahead in these exchanges. He keeps using Royce's own Gi against him and is constantly threatening with kimura attempts. 

Sakuraba there, cool as a cucumber in the midst of the biggest fight of his career. Love that. 

The crowd is well into this fight so far. The atmosphere is electric and they're loud and popping for every little twist and turn. It's not even that exciting. Most of it consists of Royce holding onto a waistlock from the back and just kneeing Sakuraba legs. But the little bursts of action from Saku make the crowd erupt every time. 

Late in the round and they've ended up on the ground with Sakuraba going hard for a kneebar. 

But Royce is saved by the bell as the time runs out. 

Round 2: Clinching again from Royce in the corner. Lots of it. And now the crowd is getting restless. Most action you're seeing here is the odd foot stomp. Aside from a short little exchange of punches and knees in the corner later in the round, this round was awful. Literally 15 minutes of them hugging in the corner. The highlight is when Saku tries to pull Royce's Gi top off and there's a shot of Helio laughing at ringside. Royce trying a guillotine right at the end but there's nothing there and the bell rings. 

Round 3: Half an hour in now. Royce looks to be going for a repeat of round two, just clinching up the ropes. Christ. Saku catches him in the bollocks with a knee and Royce is milking the time out for all it's worth. Back to action and Mirko Gracie goes for a headkick! And before long, Royce is back to hugging the fuck out of him in the corner. Saku's had enough of that and finally opens up with some punches and drops Royce on his arse.

Good. Now it's shades of Saku vs Royler, as Royce lays on his back and eats some hard kicks to the legs. As the round goes on Saku ups the leg kick assault. On the feet and when Royce is on the ground. And by the end of the round it looks like they're starting to add up. 

Round 4: Royce charges Saku...and just clinches him against the ropes again. 45 minutes in now and this is a real chore to watch. They finally separate a few minutes in and now Sakuraba is picking up where he left off with the leg kicks again. Royce is hating life right about now. By this point it's really starting to feel like Royce is fading and the momentum is building for Sakuraba. 

"This is like one of those video games where the energy counter starts to go up on one and down on the other. You ever played Mortal Kombat?" - Stephen Quadros

I'm certainly finding myself thinking 'FINISH HIM!!' 

Sakuraba punching him up again and Royce wants none of a standup fight and keeps flopping to the ground. He's out of ideas now. Helio isn't laughing anymore. He looks very concerned. More leg kicks. And Royce, out of desperation, goes back to that waistlock in the corner. And that's where they stay for ages. 

"This is one of those fights where you can go to the kitchen and grab a sandwich and come back and..." - Stephen Quadros 

Yeah, not much going on now. 60 bastard minutes in! 

Round 5: Royce looks fucked. He looks like he's aged about 10 years since the fight started. He's stumbling and hobbling around on the bad wheel, sweating like a nonce in a playground. I don’t know, maybe it wasn't such a good idea to wear a Gi in a packed arena, in May, under bright lights, in a never ending fight? He looks like an OAP in his pyjamas looking for his tablets. He wishes he was anywhere else right now. 

Sakuraba on top in Royce's guard now and he's throwing MONGOLIAN CHOPS! of all things  

The action is slow again but Saku is undoubtedly in control at this stage. Royce is struggling badly and Sakuraba is clearly pulling ahead. He's using the Gi against Royce to pull him into positions to land ground and pound.

Royce is getting nothing done and just having a miserable night. And that's another round in the books. 75 motherfucking minutes down. 

Round 6: Saku immediately on top and it's a slow start to the round again. Royce is in complete survival mode. He's done. Sakuraba is REALLY going to work with the leg kicks.

Royce is buckling under them now. He can barely stand on the leg, he's exhausted, he's bleeding from the mouth, he looks mentally and physically broken. 

After a few more minutes of Royce just trying to avoid the fight and get through another round, it happens. Sakuraba floors him with some punches and, as Royce goes to get back up, Saku whips in another hard leg kick and in that moment you can see Royce just crumbling.

They show Helio and Rorion at ringside and they look worried, they know it's slipping away. It seems they're talking about pulling Royce out and Rorion has the towel in his hand! I already know what happens here and I'm still swept up in the drama of it all.

The bell rings and the round is over.

"ONE AND A HALF HOURS, GUYS!!" - Bas Rutten 

The crowd is on the edge of their seats. Helio is up on the apron now and the commentators are speculating that the fight might be stopped. This is something else. The intensity and drama here is off the charts. 

Just before Round 7 is about to start...

THE GRACIES THROW IN THE TOWEL! 

Winner - Kazushi Sakuraba by TKO via corner stoppage. Rd 6 - 15:00. 

One of the most memorable moments in Pride history, that. And it really cemented Sakuraba as 'the guy' for Pride. An iconic win, going 90 minutes and making a Gracie quit on his stool. It's not the best fight to watch, it's boring as fuck most of the time. But if you've never seen it before I'd say it's worth watching that last round just for the incredible drama and atmosphere. The crowd reaction when the Gracies chuck the towel in is one of my favourite moments as an MMA fan. 

Fuck. I'm knackered after that. 

The other tournament fights will be back to normal rules, with judges and one 15 minute round with a second round if necessary. 

 

IGOR VOVCHANCHYN VS GARY GOODRIDGE 2 - Openweight GP Quarter Final 

This is a rematch from Pride 4, where Igor TKO'd Goodridge inside a round. Igor was unbeaten in Pride at this time and had a 40-2-1 overall MMA record. This was Igor in his prime. As I've said earlier in this thread, his early Pride fights weren't as fun to watch as I'd remembered them being. But he seemed to be picking up steam after the big KO on Francisco Bueno at Pride 8. So I'm looking forward to this. 

Round 1: Cautious start from both here and a time out for a low blow doesn't help. Goodridge even has to get out of the ring and go behind a towel to adjust his cup. 

They're back in the fight and now they're throwing some leather. Goodridge is the one coming forward but Igor is landing the quality shots. And right when I say that, he clips Goodridge with an overhand right and Big Daddy is wobbling all over the place. 

Igor swarms him but Goodridge survives and winds up getting a takedown, buying himself some time to recover and clear the cobwebs. He doesn't get much done and eventually lets Igor back up. Turns out to be a big mistake because Igor starts really clobbering him with some heavy shots to head and body. Goodridge lands a left but Igor lands a harder right and Goodridge's legs have gone. He's slipping and sliding like he's on ice and Igor finishes it with a couple more punches on the ground. 

Winner - Igor Vovchanchyn by TKO. Rd 1 - 10:14.

Really entertaining fight, that. That’s the Igor everyone remembers. 
 

MARK COLEMAN VS AKIRA SHOJI - Openweight GP Quarter Final 

This just screams squash match. Coleman looks like a juiced to the tits Bruce Willis here. Shoji looks like a chubby toddler next to him. 

Round 1: Takes him longer than I expected but Coleman gets the inevitable takedown. But Shoji is claiming there was a low blow so we have a time out, as Coleman screams "BULLSHIT! BULLSHIT!" at the ref and Shoji. Coleman is angry now. He takes Shoji back down again. It's slow and mostly just a case of Coleman holding him down. He does open up with some hard body punches though and Shoji's side is red raw. Looks vile. Coleman ramps up the aggression late but Shoji weathers it. SHOJI TAKES COLEMAN DOWN! What the? It's brief but still. It's over. 

Winner - Mark Coleman by unanimous decision. 

Fair play to Shoji for lasting the 15 minutes there. Tough little bastard. 
 

MARK KERR VS KAZUYUKI FUJITA - Openweight GP Quarter Final 

Mark Kerr has shaved his head for this and looks even more scary.

Then he speaks and what you see and what you hear just don't match up at all. You'd never look at Kerr and expect that soft spoken voice to come out. 

Anyway. On with the fight. 

Round 1: Kerr gets an easy quick takedown. Which, against a fresh Fujita, who was a strong as fuck wrestler in his own right, is very impressive. Tells you what a monster Kerr really was back then. After that initial storm though, Kerr doesn't find the takedowns as easy to come by as the fight goes on. And Fujita eventually scores a big takedown of his own. The crowd go nuts for that. Fujita keeps peppering Kerr with punches from the top and then starts to really lay in some hard knees to the body...

Kerr’s wilting. He looks knackered and he's not defending or even really trying to escape the position. He's just on all fours taking punishment. Fujita keeps pouring it on. They do eventually end up back on the feet and Fujita manages to stay in control and secure another takedown at the end. The round ends. 

The commentators think Fujita has pulled off the upset and so do the Japanese crowd and Fujita's corner. 

Winner - Kazuyuki Fujita by unanimous decision. 

No other way to score it. Huge win for Fujita and a massive upset for the time. This wasn't the script at all. Kerr was one of the big favourites to win the tournament. 
 

KAZUSHI SAKURABA VS IGOR VOVCHANCHYN - Openweight GP Semi Final 

Can you fucking imagine? You've just fought 90 minutes against Royce Gracie, got the biggest win of your career, you're in the shower, you're banged up and exhausted. Then you remember you've got to go back out there in 45 minutes and fight Igor Vovchanchyn?! Fuck. That. 

Round 1: Quadros remarks that Sakuraba looks surprisingly fresh considering the shift he'd already put in on this night. And he's right. He looks good early in the fight as well. Holds his own on the feet and takes Igor down.

He passes guard and quickly goes for an armbar but Igor slips out and ends up in top position. This is where it all starts going wrong for Saku. He does manage another takedown but Igor's weight and heavy hands start to wear on Saku and as the round draws on it goes from a pretty evenly fought contest to an ugly beatdown with Igor on top just clubbing Sakuraba with hard shots. Saku stays in it but, understandably, he's spent now. The bell goes and it's over. The commentators speculate that we might see another round and the judges initially score it a draw. We're in for another round. But mercifully, Saku's corner pull him. 

Winner - Igor Vovchanchyn by TKO via corner stoppage. Rd 1 - 15:00.

Heroic effort from Sakuraba. That's the thing people forget about this night. People make a lot of the fact that Sakuraba and Royce went 90 minutes, and rightly so. But Sakuraba went back out there and went another 15 minutes with a beast like Igor, who also had a weight and power advantage over him. Sakuraba fought a total of 1h45m that night. Insane. 

GUY MEZGER VS MASAAKI SATAKE 

Non tournament matchup here. Mezger had had a rough run around this time. He'd lost to Tito Ortiz at UFC 19, then he lost a razor thin decision to Akira Shoji in his Pride debut, then Ken Shamrock quit for him in the Sakuraba fight, essentially eliminating his own protege from the GP. Mezger went away and won a fight in a show called 'Pure Action', stopping some fucker called Brad Jones by TKO. So this is Pride giving him another shot. 

Round 1: Not the best, this. It very much feels like Mezger is just trying to bag a win by any means necessary. He's not fighting like he usually does. Lots of holding against the ropes and the corner. He's controlling the fight but it's no fun to watch. 

Round 2: More of Mezger in charge here. This time he takes Satake to the ground and works him over. Complete dominance from the Lions Den fighter. 

Winner - Guy Mezger by unanimous decision. 

If you missed this fight you didn't miss anything. It's understandable why Mezger fought kind of safe given his rough run of fights previously but it was frustrating as it felt like he could've stopped Satake if he'd gone for it a bit more. 
 

MARK COLEMAN VS KAZUYUKI FUJITA - Openweight GP Semi Final 

Right then, this will decide who faces Igor Vovchanchyn in the finals. Can Fujita pull off another upset? Right away that's looking very unlikely. Because as the fight is about to begin, it's clear he must've picked up an injury in the fight with Kerr earlier as his left leg is heavily taped up. 

Round 1: The bell rings and it immediately rings again as Fujita's corner have thrown the towel in straight away. 

Winner - Mark Coleman by TKO via corner stoppage. Rd 1 - 0:02. 

Weird. I understand pulling him out but why even let him get in there if you know he can't fight? Just pull him out of the fight backstage.

 

KEN SHAMROCK VS ALEXANDER OTSUKA 

This would be Shamrock's Pride debut and also his much anticipated return to fighting after a near 4 year absence. He hadn't fought since submitting Brian Johnston at the UFC's Ultimate Ultimate tournament in December 1996. And in his time away from fighting his popularity and fame soared as he had a successful run in the WWF where he was a consistently and pretty heavily featured player during the Attitude era. So his return fight was always going to be one of interest. His opponent would be Alexander 'Diet Butcher' Otsuka. A fellow pro wrestler with an MMA record of 1-4 at this time. So make no mistake, this was set up to be a showcase for Shamrock to return in style. But despite his shitty record, Otsuka was tough and awkward and had scored a big upset victory over Marco Ruas at Pride 4 and also took both Igor Vovchanchyn and Renzo Gracie to decisions. 

There's a funny little pre-fight video here where they show Shamrock and Otsuka on some smaller show promoting this fight. Shamrock goes to shake Otsuka's hand and Otsuka snubs him. Causing Shamrock to go into full-on WWF mode, taking his jacket off and giving Otsuka a stern talking to about respect. Otsuka responds in REALLY hard to decipher broken English but did day he's going to "kick his ass." 

Round 1: The fight starts and the fucking lights go out. What, is The Undertaker coming out now? Might as well turn this into a triple threat match. Otsuka is channeling Hulk Hogan here with a jazzy red and yellow pair of his 'Diet Butcher' shorts. Mostly a standup fight with both landing some digs on each other. Otsuka cracks Kenny with a hard right hand and Shamrock is quick to turn it into a grappling match. He's schooling Master Onion now from the mount but Onion manages to get up off a failed armbar attempt. Back to striking and Otsuka is bloody and tired now. Couple of sloppy exchanges later and Shamrock drops him with a left hook and puts him away.

Winner - Ken Shamrock by KO. Rd 1 - 9:43. 

Considering his time away, Shamrock looked alright here. 

And finally, we arrive at the GP Finals! 

IGOR VOVCHANCHYN VS MARK COLEMAN - Openweight GP Final

Round 1: To the surprise of no-one, Coleman wants none of the standup with Igor and takes him down fast. And that's where they stay. Coleman just smothers Igor and punches away on his body and head from the guard the whole round. That's it. Not particularly exciting viewing but it's effective stuff from The Hammer and Igor is clearly not enjoying himself. 

Round 2: Rinse and repeat as Coleman slams Igor down as soon as the round starts. Not good. He's got Igor wedged in the corner in this postion...

And just rains down knees to the head. Over and over and over. It's fucking brutal and Igor wisely taps because he was about to be murdered. 

Winner - Mark Coleman by submission via knees of doom. Rd 2 - 3:09. 

What followed is surely THE greatest post-fight celebration ever;

 How happy was he? 

Mark Coleman - 2000 Pride Grand Prix winner. 

This was a cool redemption story for Coleman. He came into Pride off a terrible 3 fight slump in the UFC where he lost to Maurice Smith, got headkicked dead by Pete Williams and outpointed by Pedro Rizzo. Then he had that worked fight debacle with Takada in his Pride debut. So 4 consecutive losses, one of them being a fishy as fuck worked fight. Not many fighters would've came back from that to win their next 5 fights and win the Grand Prix tournament. 

Sadly, in 2014 Coleman put his trophy from this tournament up for auction on eBay for $24,500. Don't know if he actually ended up parting with it but he definitely listed it back in 2014...

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Igor Vovchanchyn vs Gary Goodridge 2

SHITE OF THE NIGHT: Guy Mezger vs Masaaki Satake

KNOCKOUT OF THE NIGHT: Ken Shamrock 

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Mark Coleman (vs Vovchanchyn) 

[jimufctna24]

Check the wealth of names on that show. It's almost a who's who of MMA's biggest names from that period. Pride was a very different place in 2000 to the UFC, who were going through their darkest period. It's like comparing a glitzy nightclub to Moe's tavern. In short, Pride had found its niche by this point. It was the place to be.

Despite Coleman winning the tournament, Sakuraba was the hero. People who knew their stuff recognised him as the "NO 1 WARRIOR IN THE WORLD". 

[wandshogun09]

Yeah, definitely Sakuraba's night. Not to downplay Coleman's achievement at all but it's just like Sakuraba to go an upstage everyone even in defeat, isn't it? He's been the showstopper on pretty much every single show he's appeared on. If it wasn't a mind blowing ahead of its time display of grappling and technique  it was some mad entrance or a comeback he had no business making or his ear dropping off or something. He was nearly always the talking point coming out of any show he appeared on. Not always for positive reasons and later in his career it rarely was but it speaks to how loved he is/was. I don't think you'll find anyone who actually has a bad word to say about Sakuraba. Dana loved him even during the UFC vs Pride wars. Chute Boxe era grumpy bastard Wanderlei Silva liked him. Even the Gracies begrudgingly kind of gave him his credit (although Rickson tried to downplay it). There's a photo of Nick Diaz with Sakuraba and Diaz is actually SMILING. That's an achievement in itself. He's got to be one of the most universally liked and respected figures in MMA history. By fighters, fans, promoters, everyone. 

[Egg Shen]

Coleman's celebration remains one of the greatest moments in the history of the sport.

[wandshogun09]

Following on from the Grand Prix in May, came Pride 9 a month later. 

PRIDE 9: 'NEW BLOOD'

June 4th 2000

Nagoya, Japan

Rainbow Hall

It was the first Pride show to be given a subtitle. 'New Blood' was what they went with this time, as the show would see 3 promising new heavyweights make their promotional debuts in Ricco Rodriguez, Heath Herring and Gilbert Yvel. 

This is also the first Pride to have the old classic Quadros and Rutten show opening where they run down the card. Always really liked the shows starting with those two hyping up the card and I'm looking forward to all the goofiness in the intros on the shows later on.

HEATH HERRING VS WILLIE PEETERS

Heath Herring would be the first of the 'new blood' to debut. 22 years old and coming in with a 13-5 record. He'd had a couple of notable wins over Evan Tanner and 'Dirty' Bob Schrijber. 

Willie Peeters was billed as a 'street fighter' from Holland. Quadros says he had over 80 fights with 60 wins, most by knockout. The only record I can find has him listed at 9-9-1 going into this one. So either he had a load of underground fights off the books or he's a lying bastard. He's taking this fight on just 5 days notice as well. 

Round 1: Peeters is wearing a red singlet. That's about as much as I can say about him. Herring clips him with a punch, Peeters drops and Herring slaps on a rear naked choke. Peeters is struggling, Peeters is screaming... Peeters is tapping. Done. 

Winner - Heath Herring by submission. Rd 1 - 0:48. 

Nice debut for Herring there. 

CARLOS BARRETO VS TRA TELLIGMAN 

Barreto is back for his second Pride outing after narrowly losing on points to Igor Vovchanchyn at Pride 6. At this point he's 31 years old, a BJJ black-belt and has a 10-2 record with wins over Kevin Randleman, Paul Varelans and Dan Bobish. 

Telligman was another debuting fighter on this show despite not really being featured as one of the 'new blood' with the other 3. Good fighter though, although probably mostly remembered for his chest;

The story behind that is he was in a car crash when he was just 18 months old. His ribs were crushed and he lost his right lung and pectoral. Fucking amazing he survived being so little when it happened. He had a 6-2-1 record and had a few fights in the UFC. Most notably he was the first victim of the 19 year old Vitor Belfort in the UFC. He also submitted Brad Kohler and was KO'd by Pedro Rizzo. 

Nice show of sportsmanship before the fight starts as Barreto comes over to Telligman's corner and shakes his hand. 

Round 1: Unsurprisingly, Barreto wants this on the mat. Telligman does a good job defending the takedowns but it means we get long spells of them just clinched against the ropes. Eventually, Barreto does manage to get Telligman down but doesn't try to pass guard and not much happens there either. 

Round 2: Barreto rocks Telligman with a knee but opts to go back to his grappling. And the rest of the round looks much the same as the first, with Barreto in Telligman's guard. He's basically won this fight just by being on top. 

Winner - Carlos Barreto by unanimous decision. 
 

ALLAN GOES VS VERNON WHITE 

Round 1: They have a nice little kicking exchange before Goes gets a takedown. He spends ages on top in half guard before finally advancing to the mount. White escapes but is taken back down. White just doesn't have an answer for Goes' grappling. 

Round 2: Goes again with a takedown and he works his way to the mount again. There's nothing wrong with this technically but it's just really slow moving stuff. It's dragging watching it. The whole round is just Goes in mount but he's stuck down low chest to chest with Vernon so nothing is going on. He finally postures up and shows some aggression but this round is done anyway. Dull fight. 

The commentators are talking like this was close and that they should have an overtime round. No and no. 

Winner - Allan Goes by unanimous decision. 

Now the action should pick up, Carlos Newton is back! 

CARLOS NEWTON VS NAOKI SANO 

Round 1: Newton on the offence right away with hard knees from a body clinch and he gets a nifty trip takedown. Passes guard, into the mount and gets the quick armbar for the tap. Nice! 

Winner - Carlos Newton by submission. Rd 1 - 1:40. 

Really impressive showing from Newton. Especially in light of the fact it took Royler Gracie over 30 minutes to submit Sano at Pride 2. This would end up being Sano's last fight. He retired at 0-4. 

AKIRA SHOJI VS JOHN RENKEN 

Shoji has fought on every single Pride show so far! He's got an unimpressive 6-3-5 record here but he's fought anyone and everyone, experience and size disadvantages and all. He lost to Mark Coleman in his previous fight  in the GP tournament but he did take Coleman the full 15 minutes. 

John 'The Saint' Renken, we're informed by Quadros, is a pastor. 

Round 1: Renken with some sloppy striking to start off. Shoji's not having that for long, he quickly takes him down. Shoji passes to side control, then mount. He loses the position but eventually gets back to mount and this time Renken isn't getting out. Shoji locks up an armbar and Renken's Psalms and his John 3:16 didn't get him anywhere. He taps. 

Winner - Akira Shoji by submission. Rd 1 - 6:44. 

Shoji's post-fight celebration is a joy to behold. I liked it almost as much as Coleman's after he won the GP. He's so excited he starts running back and forth and bouncing off the ropes, then he hits a perfect fatboy back somersault and lands on his feet. 

Look at him go;

Bless him. 

GARY GOODRIDGE VS RICCO RODRIGUEZ 

Rodriguez was only 22 years old at this time. He had a 5-1 record, had won the Abu Dhabi gold medal in 1998 and was the King Of The Cage heavyweight champion. Not a bad start to his young career and he obviously looked like a legit prospect even at this early stage. 

Once again, as is becoming the traditional initiation for any debuting heavyweight in Pride, he'd be welcomed by Gary Goodridge. 

"There's nothing better in the world than rolling up your fingers, making a fist and punching somebody in the head. And not even getting charged for it." - Gary Goodridge 

Round 1: Ricco shooting for takedowns early but Goodridge sprawling well. Ricco struggles hard for it but he does eventually get that well earned takedown. And now it's Ricco's game. But he punches Goodridge in the spuds and after a timeout the fight is restarted on the feet. Goodridge is obviously wary of the takedown though, and it's making him a bit tentative in the striking, although he does land some good strikes late in the round.

But Ricco one ups him with a big slam. And from there he gets the full mount. It’s all downhill for Goodridge now. Ricco maintains top position and the round ends with Ricco on top. 

Round 2: Rodriguez with another takedown within the first minute of the round. Not good for Goodridge at all. Ricco isn't doing a lot of damage but he's constantly chipping away with punches and Goodridge is knackered. And that's the round. 

Winner - Ricco Rodriguez by unanimous decision. 

IGOR VOVCHANCHYN VS DAIJIRO MATSUI 

Round 1: This should be fun. Maybe not so much for Matsui though. And about 30 seconds in, I think I'm right. Igor has Matsui down and is on Matsui's back and clubbing him in the head. 

Repeatedly. I mean, it goes on for a good few minutes. Matsui ends up getting cut above the eye and as the beating continues it only worsens. 

The fight is stopped and Matsui is furious. He wants to continue. Balls of granite but it was a complete mauling and it was only going to get worse. 

Winner - Igor Vovchanchyn by TKO via doctor stoppage. Rd 1 - 5:03 

And it's time for the main event. 

VITOR BELFORT VS GILBERT YVEL 

Belfort's second Pride fight after an unsuccessful debut at Pride 5. He was 23 years old, 6-2 in his MMA career with his 2 losses being to Kazushi Sakuraba and Randy Couture. His wins at this time included first round knockouts of Wanderlei Silva, Tank Abbott and Tra Telligman. 

Yvel was also 23 but way more experienced with a 22-4 record. He had wins over Tsuyoshi Kohsaka twice, Kiyoshi Tamura, Valentijn Overeem, Bob Schrijber and a KO over Semmy Schilt in the RINGS promotion. The Dutchman was known for his lethal kickboxing and his power. 

On paper, this sounds like a standup war in the making. I remember it not exactly playing out like that in practice though. 

Round 1: Yvel stalking him right away and Vitor throws a punch an immediately goes low for a takedown. It works. Yvel is on his back and doing nothing. Belfort is chipping away at him with punches from the top and Yvel is cut. It's really boring stuff until Belfort decides to attack. But it's short bursts of that sandwiched in between big lulls in action. 

Round 2: Yvel with a desperation spinning back kick right away and he's taken down again for his troubles. Here we go again with Vitor Shields. After a load of nothing happening the ref stands them up. Only for Belfort to take Yvel straight back down. Couple of minutes later, same thing. Ref stands them up, Vitor takes Yvel back down to snuggle down on his belly some more. This is an awful fight. Few minutes later, the ref stands them up again and tells Yvel he can't just hold on the bottom and needs to work. Fair enough and that but Vitor's doing fuck all either. 

Back on the feet and Belfort cracks Yvel with that straight left...

...and guess what happens next? Yeah. He's humping him some more. And this might be the longest 15 minutes ever! I think the timekeeper must've fell asleep out of boredom because this feels like it should've ended by now.

And finally, FINALLY, the bell rings. Belfort's corner are ecstatic with his performance. They're the only ones.

Winner - Vitor Belfort by unanimous decision. 

I mean, he fought smart as far as not taking damage. And he got that much needed win. That's the main aim so fair enough. But fuck me it was horrible to watch. Yvel was so poor on the ground that Belfort really should've been able to do more with him. 
 

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: None 

SHITE OF THE NIGHT: Vitor Belfort vs Gilbert Yvel 

KNOCKOUT OF THE NIGHT: None 

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Carlos Newton 

That was one of the crappest shows yet. If it wasn't for the few quick finishes breaking up the monotony it probably would be THE worst so far. Oh well, from a turd to a gem because it's Pride 10 next. One of my favourites. 

[Egg Shen]

i remember always being baffled by Vitor Belfort back in the day. I think he's a guy who made an impression on most people when they first saw MMA, the Wanderlei Silva highlight for example probably made as many people fans of the UFC than any other back at the time. He was capable of having some rotten fights though, no one blows hot and cold like Vitor.

[jimufctna24]

I've never seen it, but Belfort's fight in Strikeforce with Overeem is meant to be especially rotten. 

I forgot that Ricco turned up in Pride before the UFC. That was a bit of an exception at the time. Most name fighters and serious prospects usually switched from the UFC to Pride around that period (Kerr, Wanderlei, Coleman, Mezger, etc)

[chokeout]

Wasn't the Mark Kerr fight from the GP the fight that is featured in Smashing Machine. In typical early Pride fashion they were arguing over knees being allowed on the ground and he wasn't happy about the loss. 

[jimufctna24]

38 minutes ago, chokeout said:

Wasn't the Mark Kerr fight from the GP the fight that is featured in Smashing Machine. In typical early Pride fashion they were arguing over knees being allowed on the ground and he wasn't happy about the loss. 

Kerr's fights with Igor and Fujita are both featured in the documentary. 

It was the Igor fight where he threw a fit backstage over knees being allowed. 

[wandshogun09]

I've been looking forward to getting to this one. Haven't seen it in years.

PRIDE 10: 'RETURN OF THE WARRIORS'

August 27th 2000

Saitama, Japan

Seibu Dome

The venue for this looks fantastic and instantly gives this a feeling of real importance that was lacking from some of the earlier shows. 

That's the Seibu Dome there. Nearly 40,000 people in attendance.

Stephen Quadros is outside the arena to open up the show and run through the card for us. But he's not with his usual sidekick this time. Bas Rutten isn't here. Filling in for him is a very young and fresh faced looking Eddie Bravo. 

They give a brief preview of the top fights and then we get a bit of that Pride razzle dazzle as the big white curtains around the ring drop and some fireworks go off as the classic Pride theme music that everyone is familiar with plays. 

VITOR BELFORT VS DAIJIRO MATSUI 

This is Belfort's third Pride fight. You'll recall he stunk the joint out last time in the Pride 9 main event against Gilbert Yvel. It's always been said that Pride were more bothered about exciting fights than wins and losses, so after the Yvel snoozer you can see why they've demoted Vitor from main eventing Pride 9 to jerking the curtain at Pride 10. In any case, hopefully this is better than that was. 

"People at home, don't blink" - Eddie Bravo 

He obviously didn't see Belfort vs Yvel. I wish I blinked for the entire duration of that shitefest. 

Round 1: Bit of a staring contest early. Matsui shoots for a takedown. It proves costly as Vitor sprawls and starts blasting him with punches from the back. The attack slows and Matsui spins and manages to pull guard. But now Vitor is on top and throwing shots from the guard. We're only a few minutes in and Vitor's already shown more aggression than he did the whole fight against Yvel. Matsui, as seems to be the case on every one of these old shows, is bleeding all over the place. Vitor's just beating on him the whole round. 

Round 2: Matsui's face is all swollen up. But there seems to be zero denting his determination. There's not a bit of quit in him. Nothing happening on the feet again as they return to the staring contest. Belfort eventually takes Matsui down again and picks up where he left off in the first round. This time though, there's less action from both men. Vitor's just controlling him from the top and Matsui's just holding on and trying to survive. 

Winner - Vitor Belfort by unanimous decision.

Not the best fight, mostly because of the second round. But wasn't anywhere near as bad as the Yvel fight. 

WANDERLEI SILVA VS GUY MEZGER 

OK, I remember this one well. Wanderlei hadn't fought in Pride since the Grand Prix Opening Round show when he made an easy night's work of Bob Schrijber. Following that fight he lost a boring decision to Tito Ortiz at UFC 25 then knocked out Todd Medina in under a minute in the Meca Vale Tudo promotion in Brazil. 

"Oh boy, Wanderlei Silva. This guy is a proverbial wildman from the jungle" - Stephen Quadros

Man, the ramp for the entrance way is long as fuck. Mezger looks a fair bit bigger than Wandy in the staredown. 

Round 1: They waste not a bit of time getting stuck into the striking here. No fucking about whatsoever. Pretty even in the early exchanges but Wand is already cut around the eye. They're REALLY going for it here. Then right when Mezger seems to be edging it, Wandy clips him with a right and it stuns and drops him. Guy recovers well and they continue to bring the heat. Man, this is great. Wand cracks him with another hard right hand as they're both throwing. Then he slips in a sneaky but blatant headbutt. Mezger's on the ropes and Wandy is throwing bombs now. If one of these connect it's done. 

It's done. A big right hook puts an end to it. 

Winner - Wanderlei Silva by KO. Rd 1 - 3:45. 

That was a hell of a scrap. The headbutt was bullshit but I'll give him a pass seeing as he was still having those crazy bare knuckle fights in Brazil around this time where headbutts were allowed. Could've just been a lapse in the heat of battle. Mezger was already fucked with or without the headbutt IMO but it was unfortunate that it happened. 

Wanderlei challenged Sakuraba in his post-fight interview. More on that later. 

RICCO RODRIGUEZ VS GIANT OCHIAI 

I can't say I remember this. Ochiai looks fantastic though, it must be said. 

 

I like this guy. Don’t know if he can fight, but I like him. 

Round 1: Ochiai's got a hairy old back on him. Just thought I'd share that. Ricco with some nice kicks then moves into a body clinch. Ochaia sprawls and defends a takedown but Ricco then hits a huge bodyslam and he's on top now. He goes for a failed leglock which allows Ochiai to escape to his feet. This is better than I expected. Ricco with another takedown and dominates positionally until Ochiai taps from a weird smothering choke thingy. 

Winner - Ricco Rodriguez by submission. Rd 1 - 6:04. 

Ochaia grabbed the mic and went nuts after the fight. He was happy though. And according to Quadros he said he 'loves being beaten'. Each their own. 

I was sad to learn that Ochaia died in 2003, at the age of just 30. Apparently he suffered an accident in training with future WWE wrestler Kenzo Suzuki and went into a coma and never woke up. Horrible. 
 

GARY GOODRIDGE VS GILBERT YVEL 

Round 1: Quadros says that Goodridge trained a lot with Mark Coleman for this. With the hope being to exploit Yvel's deficiency in the grappling. He didn't get chance as Yvel just wipes him out with a crushing left high kick. 

It was the very first strike thrown and it just flattened Goodridge. 

Winner - Gilbert Yvel by KO. Rd 1 - 0:28. 

Well, that's one way to redeem yourself after a crappy debut. 
 

MARK KERR VS IGOR BORISOV 

Borisov has some bright purple speedo things on for this. And bears a striking resemblance to Sensei John Kreese from the Karate Kid.

Quadros says he was a Sambo world champ but that they didn't really know anything else about him. Sweep the leg! 

Round 1: Kerr with three HARD leg kicks and an easy takedown. Shit's about to get violent. OK, Kerr ends it quick time with a neck crank. 

Winner - Mark Kerr by submission. Rd 1 - 2:06. 

Borisov is fucked. He's leaving the ring on a stretcher.

This next fight. Haven't seen it in at least a decade but it's one of the more well known fights of the early days of Pride. 

IGOR VOVCHANCHYN VS ENSON INOUE 

Round 1: The start of this fight is fucking wild! They just meet in the middle and swing for the fences. Some of it lands, most of it misses. But it's crazy to watch them just throw with complete reckless abandon. 

Nutters, the pair of them. They wind up on the floor though, with Igor on top. Enson is active from the bottom, constantly going for armbars and triangles. The fight is pretty slow now but he's eating thudding haymakers from Igor along the way. Some of these are just brutal. Not only the impact of Igor's punches but some of them are bouncing Inoue's head off the canvas as well. A relentless barrage from Igor and you can see the punishment catching up to Enson as the round goes on. They call out that there's a minute left in the round and Igor just wails away with more heavy shots. The bell goes and Enson looks completely fucked up. Can't even stand up and has to be carried by his cornermen to his corner.

The doctor stops the fight (thank fuck!) between rounds and Enson was begging them to let him continue. 

Winner - Igor Vovchanchyn by TKO via doctor stoppage. Rd 1 - 10:00. 

Enson posted this on Facebook in 2014...

From bits I’ve read over the years, he almost died in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. 

Scary as fuck. Especially when you consider that back then fighter safety wasn’t as well handled as it is today. If they’d let Enson go out for the second round, it very easily could’ve ended in tragedy.


Onto the next one. It’s Ken Shamrock’s second fight in Pride. He knocked out everyone’s favourite onion Alexander Otsuka on the GP Final show in May. Here he is 3 months later with a sterner test.

KEN SHAMROCK VS KAZUYUKI FUJITA

Round 1: They’re setting a fast pace right away. Fujita is feinting takedowns and Kenny seems content to strike. I know it’s no newsflash to anyone but Fujita’s head is bloody HUGE. It’s like one of those massive boulders you see the contestants barely lifting on the World’s Strongest Man shows. 

Shamrock’s looking good early, even rocking Fujita momentarily with a left hook. He keeps holding the ropes though, to stop Fujita taking him down. He gets a yellow card for that shite. But it might’ve been worth it because it kept the fight on the feet and Shamrock’s lighting him up.

He’s got him reeling. But Fujita’s surviving. His toughness and his rock head have been his saving grace. And now we’re about 5 minutes in and it appears that Shamrock’s slowing down. He’s still whacking in some good digs but he’s noticeably starting to fade.

Here’s where it gets really weird. They’re clinched up in the corner and Shamrock starts signalling to someone outside the ring. Next thing you know the bell is ringing. The fight’s done. Shamrock’s corner, on Shamrock’s orders, have thrown the towel in!

Winner - Kazuyuki Fujita by TKO via corner stoppage. Rd 1 - 6:46. 

Really odd ending. Shamrock later said he felt like he was going to have a heart attack, which is why he told his corner to chuck the towel in. Shit thing is, he looked really good prior to that. One of the best performances of his career for me. But the peculiar ending is all people remember about it now. 


RYAN GRACIE VS TOKIMITSU ISHIZAWA

Here we go. Ryan, the loose cannon of the Gracie clan, makes his MMA and Pride debut. It’s Ishizawa’s MMA debut as well.

Round 1: Ryan gets a big takedown. Not much happens until they’re in the corner and Ishizawa starts getting up. Ryan suddenly goes berserker mode and unleashes a flurry that Ishizawa has no answer for. He’s knocked out on his feet in the corner. Reminded me of the Phil Baroni vs Dave Menne knockout in the UFC.

Winner - Ryan Gracie by KO. Rd 1 - 2:16. 


And we’re finally at the main event. 

KAZUSHI SAKURABA VS RENZO GRACIE 

He’s stopped Royler. He’s stopped Royce after 90 minutes. Now it’s Renzo’s turn to defend the family name.

Round 1: They both opt to strike early in the fight. And while he’s no K-1 technician, Renzo looks a lot more natural striking than Royler or Royce ever did. You can tell watching Renzo and Ryan that they definitely spent more time working on their striking than the other Gracies did back then. The whole first round is contested on the feet and there’s not a lot in it at all. Very close. 

Round 2: Renzo comes at Sakuraba aggressively but Saku changes levels beautifully and hits a sweet takedown. Now we see a familiar sight as Saku kicks away at the grounded Gracie’s legs. Sakuraba wants to pass guard, but Sakuraba being Sakuraba, he can’t just do it the traditional way...

A cartwheel guard pass attempt, for fuck’s sake! Who does that? Especially back then.

Sakuraba’s really starting to pull ahead now. Not doing a ton of damage but he’s comfortably staying in control. Coming to the end of the second round and Renzo has a waistlock from behind. But Saku has a hold of his left arm and manages to spin out of it, straight into a kimura...

FUCK!

Renzo’s elbow looks all kinds of messed up. He still doesn’t tap but the referee has to put a stop to it. His arm is mangled.

Winner - Kazushi Sakuraba by technical submission. Rd 2 - 9:43. 

Incredible finish. Renzo is a class act in his post-fight interview.

“Many people make excuses when they lose. I have only one. He was better than me tonight. I wish him all the best. The only gift I can give to him is to say that he’s the Japanese version of the Gracie family.” - Renzo Gracie

That would’ve been the perfect note to end a tremendous show like this on. But both Ryan Gracie and Vitor Belfort pop up to call Sakuraba out. Quadros and Bravo talk about Sakuraba potentially fighting everyone from Rickson Gracie to Frank Shamrock to Wanderlei Silva to Tito Ortiz.

This was the best fight of the whole Sakuraba vs Gracies series. It was more competitive than the others, Renzo wasn’t just dominated. Plus, that finish was insane.

Years later, Renzo looked back on the fight with Sakuraba and the finish.

“That was the most pain I ever felt in my life. But I was happy I went through that, even though it hurt a lot. I was smiling the whole time. It was the moment I found out that my mind was stronger than my body.” - Renzo Gracie

Awesome show, that was. Easily the best show the company had put on to this point. It was the most stacked AND it delivered. I’ve always felt like this show was the turning point for Pride. It’s where Pride really starts to feel like the Pride we all remember.

 

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Wanderlei Silva vs Guy Mezger

SHITE OF THE NIGHT: None

KNOCKOUT OF THE NIGHT: Gilbert Yvel

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Kazushi Sakuraba 

[jimufctna24]

56 minutes ago, wandshogun09 said:

I was sad to learn that Ochaia died in 2003, at the age of just 30. Apparently he suffered an accident in training with future WWE wrestler Kenzo Suzuki and went into a coma and never woke up. Horrible. 

This is where I have gaps in my knowledge about Pride. I know quite a bit about the key players in the early 00's, but very little about the supporting cast. I knew about that incident, but I knew little about the victim, or that he fought in Pride. According to the Ring Of Hell book. Suzuki fled the country after the incident. I don't have the details of what actually occurred, but it was quite the scandal. Suzuki turned up in WWE less than a year later (I was an avid viewer of WWE at the time). 

 

[wandshogun09]

PRIDE 11: 'BATTLE OF THE RISING SUN' 

October 31st 2000

Osaka, Japan

Osaka-jo Hall

Pride 10 is going to be a hard act to follow. But the FIGHTER PARADE kicks us off! And for the first time on this trip down Pride Memory Lane, we hear a familiar sound...

The 'voice of Pride' Lenne Hardt is in the house. No Bas Rutten again either, we've got the Pride 10 team of Quadros and Bravo again. 

We begin with the heavies. And I have vague but good memories of this one. 

TOM ERIKSON VS HEATH HERRING 

Both these guys were 1 fight deep in their Pride careers at this stage. Erikson won a one sided decision over Gary Goodridge at Pride 8, Herring submitted Willie Peeters in seconds at Pride 9. 

Round 1: Erikson just mauls the 'Texas Crazy Horse' to the mat like a big grizzly bear straight away. Herring is trying to work from underneath but, even as a big man himself, Erikson is a size and a half. I imagine it'd be like trying to shift a fucking transit van off the top of you. Heath's rolling for leg locks and all sorts though and Erikson's having to work to maintain control. Erikson's landing some hard shots. The action starts to fade and the referee orders a standup. And a bloody Herring springs to his feet looking pumped up as fuck.

I think he senses Erikson is tiring. Couple of wild headkicks from Herring and Erikson falls down. Herring dives on his back and gets the rear naked choke.

And Erikson taps.

Winner - Heath Herring by submission. Rd 1 - 6:17.

For the time, that was one of the better heavyweight fights you'll find. And a dramatic come from behind finish. 

"Beautiful! Beautiful! Heath Herring has arrived. He beat the one man that most of the top fighters were avoiding." - Eddie Bravo 

The next fight, on paper, was a surefire standup slobberknocker. 

WANDERLEI SILVA VS GILBERT YVEL 

How do you go wrong, right? Brazilian Vale Tudo vs Dutch Kickboxing. Intense as fuck staredown and you hear the crowd start to get louder as they anticipate the all-out war that they're surely about to see. 

Round 1: We're underway! And it's already over. 

Seconds in, before anything gets going, Wanderlei throws an inside leg kick and catches Yvel square in the love spuds. Yvel is rolling around on the floor in agony. They give Yvel some time to recover but it's not happening. His balls have already tapped out. 

Result - No Contest (illegal groin strike). Rd 1 - 0:21.

Real shame. And even more of a shame that Pride never booked the rematch because it obviously had great potential. 
 

GARY GOODRIDGE VS YOSHIAKI YATSU 

OK, I vividly remember this as it was one of the first Pride fights I ever saw. 

At this point Goodridge was a popular fighter in Pride, having been a fixture since the very first show. But he'd lost his last 3 fights to Igor Vovchanchyn, Ricco Rodriguez and Gilbert Yvel. He needed a win. 

They put him in with Yoshiaki Yatsu. A 39 year old pro wrestler making his MMA debut. He did have a strong background as an amateur wrestler but that was in the 70s and 80s. As a pro wrestler he was mostly known for teaming with Jumbo Tsuruta, a team that had a lot of success. 

Anyway. Like so many others, he'll be 'welcomed' to the Pride ring by Gary Goodridge. As you'd expect, the crowd love Yatsu and give him a big ovation during the intros. Unfortunately for him I know how this movie ends and that's as good as it's getting for him. 

Round 1: Yatsu is trying to literally hold Goodridge at bay by extending his lead arm out. He makes a feeble attempt at a takedown and Goodridge is swinging haymakers at him. Its clear Yatsu has absolutely nothing for Goodridge in the striking and Goodridge is free to just tee off on him. It's uncomfortable to watch. He's buckling under the leg kicks and getting his head snapped back repeatedly by huge uppercuts. He's tough as shit but it's such a horrific mismatch. Yatsu does actually get a takedown and tries for a leglock as the crowd start chanting "YATSU, YATSU!". But Goodridge is soon back in control. Battering the poor get from pillar to post.

God this is grim. 

Finally, after an absolute BARRAGE of sickening uppercuts, the ref intervenes and waves it off.

Winner - Gary Goodridge by TKO. Rd 1 - 8:58.

Yatsu gets a big cheer as he walks to the back. He looks seriously fucked. One of the most brutal beatdowns in MMA history. 
 

ALEXANDER OTSUKA VS MIKE BOURKE 

Bourke looks he's just wandered in from a Gold's gym. He's in a black tank top, baggy shorts and shoes. 

Round 1: Bit of amateur hour striking to start with. Otsuka tries a dropkick to Bourke's knees! Ha. It's allowed Bourke to get top position though. After some sloppy ground and pound from Bourke, Otsuka manages to lock up both his arms from the bottom for a double armbar! 

Have a look...

Winner - Alexander Otsuka by submission. Rd 1 - 2:37. 

Really enjoying watching Otsuka. Didn't appreciate him when I first watched through these shows but he's good fun. 
 

AKIRA SHOJI VS HERMAN RENTING 

Renting is Dutch and judging by his Muay Thai shorts, must be a striker. Quadros describes this as 'technique vs street fighting' before it gets started and says that Renting's last fight was '2 weeks ago and in a nightclub'. So he could be any of about 20 'lads' at my work then. 

Round 1: Shoji's got him down and his having his way right off the bat. Renting's like a fish out of water on the ground. Shoji goes from side control to the mount and has Renting tapping to an armbar before long. 

Winner - Akira Shoji by submission. Rd 1 - 3:48. 
 

This next fight could be ugly. 

NOBUHIKO TAKADA VS IGOR VOVCHANCHYN 

Round 1: After a couple of exchanges on the feet, with Takada actually landing some decent leg kicks, Igor starts bringing the heat barreling forward with big punches. And Takada wisely reverts to his grappling and gets a takedown. He wants none of Igor's striking, nor should he. But being the boring cunt he is, just lays in Igor's guard forever waiting for the time to run out. They're stood back up eventually and Igor regains control, getting top position on Takada this time and landing punches from the mount as the round ends. 

Round 2: Igor catches a kick and lands a left hook that knocks Takada down. And Igor picks up where he left off at the end of round one. Back in the mount landing shots. Takada is just trying to stay alive. Igor finally postures up and starts dropping bombs and Takada's had enough and taps. 

Winner - Igor Vovchanchyn by submission (punches). Rd 2 - 3:17. 
 

NAOYA OGAWA VS MASAAKI SATAKE 

Ogawa returns for the first time since Pride 6 two years earlier. He submitted Gary Goodridge that night. Heated staredown and Quadros says there's some beef here. 

Round 1: Satake is bringing it with strikes right from the off. The crowd is into this big time. The whole first round is a methodical striking match, with the superior striker Satake predictably getting the better of it. It's not particularly entertaining to watch but far from the worst fight I've sat through in this thread. Ogawa needs to make this a ground fight but he's made no effort to take it to the ground yet. 

Round 2: Finally Ogawa goes to the grappling. He gets Satake down, gets to the mount with ease, takes the back and gets the rear naked choke for the win. He probably could've done that halfway through the first, to be honest. 

Winner - Naoya Ogawa by submission. Rd 2 - 2:01. 

 

Main event time. 

KAZUSHI SAKURABA VS SHANNON RITCH 

Shannon 'The Cannon' Ritch. The Barry Horowitz of MMA. At the time of this fight he had a record of 13-16-1 with notable names on his record such as Yves Edwards, Dennis Hallman and Jake Shields. All losses, of course. 

Round 1: Little bit of striking and feinting to start with then Sakuraba gets a single leg takedown and has Ritch tapping to a leglock FAST. As soon as Saku gets him down he's on that leg before Ritch knows what's going on. 

Winner - Kazushi Sakuraba by submission. Rd 1 - 1:08. 

Ritch has gone on to be one of the sport's perennial jobbers. He was still fighting up until 2015! His record currently stands at 53-79-4. He's been knocked out 28 times and tapped out 56 times. He was actually reunited with his old mate Kazushi in July this year, when Sakuraba was inducted into the UFC Hall Of Fame.

And here's a little interview with Ritch talking about fighting Sakuraba at Pride 11;

"220 professional MMA fights and the highlight of my career was Pride 11 against Kazushi Sakuraba." - Shannon Ritch

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Heath Herring vs Tom Erikson

SHITE OF THE NIGHT: The refereeing during Goodridge vs Yatsu 

KNOCKOUT OF THE NIGHT: Gary Goodridge 

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Alexander Otsuka 

[Egg Shen]

Shannon Ritch has also been known to throw fights, i'll watch that interview wand. cheers for the link.

I'll never forget the Goodridge/Yatsu beating. Whats even crazier about it is they came back and fought each other again at Pride 16. Ive got Gary's book in the house, i'll have a look later and see what he had to say about the Yatsu fights.

[wandshogun09]

I know I can't believe they did a Goodridge vs Yatsu rematch. Even for Pride that seems mental. I was going to mention that but thought I might as well wait until I get to Pride 16. All I can think is Yatsu wanted it. As mad as that sounds. The old Japanese honour thing. 

I've been meaning to get Goodridge's book for ages. If you find anything interesting in there on the Yatsu fights definitely post it in here. 

[Egg Shen]

will do.

shit thing is, i bet theres a nice little build up video before the fight in Japanese but you'll never have no idea whats being said. I did used to love the pre-fight video packages though.