Issue 025

May 2007

Thomas & Mack Centre, Las Vegas, USA

24^th Feb 2007

Written by Brad Doerges, images © Dream Stage Entertainment Inc

 Viva Las Upsets!

On paper PRIDE’s return to Las Vegas looked like a card full of mismatches and last-minute replacements, but it ended up being one of their best events in years. Every fight was exciting, and most ended in an upset. The evening was best summed up by a member of the Japanese media, who asked me with some astonishment, “What Happened?”

With PRIDE’s financial troubles and future in question, this card couldn’t have came at a better time, as American fans who attended or tuned in were treated to a display that reaffirmed why PRIDE is one of the top MMA promotions on the planet. 

Henderson becomes first simultaneous multi weight champion.

 When you think of PRIDE you almost always think of one fighter: Wanderlei Silva. He is the most dominant champion in MMA, holding the PRIDE middleweight (93kgs / 205lbs) belt for almost six years, stomping, kneeing and knocking out any fighter who stood in his path. Although Wanderlei had lost three times while champ, when the title was on the line he had never faltered, until tonight. 

Pride welterweight champion (83kg / 183lb) champion Dan Henderson has been begging for a rematch with the Axe Murder since they first fought in late 2000. The fought an unforgettable war, leaving both fighters’ faces barely recognisable after the fight. Dan was finally granted his wish. 

As in the first fight, Henderson charged undaunted towards the Brazilian landing shots almost at will. Silva would respond with a flurry of his own only to get hammered by Henderson’s one-two combinations. It seemed as though Henderson was getting the best of the exchanges, but the first round was very close none the less. 

In the second Henderson dominated, getting Silva to the mat and showing a beautiful display of ground and pound, using his fists and even his shoulders. In the third a cut had opened over Silva’s right eye, feeding Henderson’s confidence and will to win. He pressed the fight even more, charging at Silva and landing a sublime spinning backfist that stunned the Chute Boxe fighter.

Smelling blood, Henderson chased down the reeling Brazilian. It wasn’t long before he connected once more, a quick one-two, catching Silva on the chin with a left hook. The once-feared striker went limp and fell back to the ring floor. Henderson landed one more good shot before the ref stepped in at 2:08, ending the longest championship run in MMA history. 

After the fight Henderson commented on why he kept coming forward against the dangerous Brazilians hands. “His counter punches didn’t hurt me… I just felt great; all the pressure didn’t affect me… I felt great. This was the biggest fight of my career, I could have lost and it wouldn’t have been a big deal, but winning was everything.” 

Diaz Gogoplatas the Rascal

 Reigning PRIDE lightweight champion Takanori ‘The Fireball Kid’ Gomi took on former UFC gatekeeper Nick Diaz in a non-title bout at the catch weight of 161lbs. Many non-title fights have bit PRIDE in its proverbial ass, including Dan Henderson’s loss to Misaki, Wanderlei’s loss to Ricardo Arona and Gomi’s submission loss to Marcus Aurelio, and this fight would be no different.

The action started at an incredible pace as Diaz came at Gomi, who quickly took down the Gracie Jiu Jitsu fighter. Diaz gave up his back and grabbed a kimura, stood, then jumped to a spinning armbar attempt, but Gomi was able to shake it off. Only 22 seconds had gone by! Gomi pounced and attacked, firing off numerous shots from his knees and standing while Diaz defended well from his back. On their feet again Diaz landed a few stiff jabs until he was floored by a looping right. The Japanese star attacked but was unable to finish the skinny 23-year-old.

Back on their feet Diaz walked through Gomi’s punches unfazed, landing his long right several times. A dazed Gomi leant against the ropes, firing off wild haymakers as Diaz picked his shots, landing his jab again and again. Gomi seemed to be trying a little rope-a-dope, but in reality was simply hanging on, looking severely fatigued from the insane pace of the fight. One minute left in the five-minute round and Diaz continued to land shots on the champ, who looked more dazed then ever. Diaz landed rights, lefts, uppercuts and high kicks. The roar of the 12000+ crowd became deafening as Gomi stumbled towards the centre of the ring, throwing wild desperate haymakers nowhere near Diaz’s chin as the round came to a close. 

It took a while for Gomi to come out of his corner before the second began, as a doctor took a lengthy look at his state. Surely the fight of the year couldn’t end like this? Thankfully for the fans, Gomi was allowed to continue, but Diaz kept going forward, continuing the beating that he started in the earlier round. The Las Vegas crowd chanted the American’s name but Gomi, tired but still not quite out of it yet, landed a couple of hard shots that opened a cut under Nick’s right eye. As the eye began to swell, Gomi started signalling to the referee that the eye should be enough to stop the fight – if anything, he was practically begging the ref for a break and a possible way out.  

A brief stoppage saw Diaz allowed to continue, and the former UFC fighter went back to hammering the back peddling Gomi. The Japanese star had simply had about as much as he could take by now and he dived for a takedown. Diaz fell back to guard but immediately started working his legs up into rubber guard – with his lanky legs high around Gomi’s shoulders, he slipped one instep under the chin to lock in a tight gogoplata – a choke where you pull the throat down onto the shin, and a rare occurrence in MMA. A spectacular finish to a spectacular fight, it was one of the many head-scratching moments that this event offered. 

Neither fighter showed up to the post-fight press conference but PRIDE boss Sakakibara said that there would be a rematch in Japan for the belt. The likelihood of this fight actually happening is questionable though, as Nick is scheduled to fight on a future Gracie Fighting Championship card, and also recently signed with HBO Showtime’s promotion Elite XC. 

Sakurai dominates Danzig

Hayato ‘Mach’ Sakurai was fighting for the first time in the United States since a devastating loss to Matt Hughes in 2002, and he was looking for redemption. His chance came against the much smaller Mac Danzig, a former King of the Cage champion.

Sakurai used his superior size and speed by attacking with a barrage of punches before taking Danzig to the mat with a beautiful hip toss. In the second Mach seemed to toy with his opponent, picking the PRIDE newcomer apart with combinations and constantly beating him to the punch. Sakurai’s kicks began to take their toll and Danzig slowed down and left himself open for Sakurai’s crushing overhand right. The American dropped to the mat and the ref quickly stepped in before Mach could inflict any more damage at 4:01 in the second.

Shogun once again comes out on top

Although he didn’t come out with his signature sledgehammer, Alistair ‘Demolition Man’ Overeem certainly came to fight. Just as in their first fight, the crowd favourite Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua suffered on the feet to the Dutchman, who landed knees and kicks thanks to his big reach advantage. Overeem even escaped a few takedown attempts, but eventually was taken down by the Chute Boxe fighter. Once on his back Overeem showed poor defence, while Shogun landed numerous punches from in the guard before standing up and delivering the final blow to Overeem’s chin: A diving right punch that put the Demolition Man to sleep at 3:37 in the first. 

Sokoudjou is no one’s stepping-stone

In the pre-fight video PRIDE showed a determined Antonio Rogerio ‘Minotoro’ Nogueira, maybe looking ahead at a title shot against the current middleweight champ Wanderlei Silva, setting up a mouth-watering Chute Boxe vs. Brazilian Top Team match. His bigger twin brother had once held the PRIDE heavyweight gold, but Rogerio was still waiting for his title. 

At Caesar’s the day before the fight Team Quest fighter Sokoudjou was a 14 to 1 underdog, and I had to agree after seeing his debut (a lacklustre win against Gary Padilla in Total Combat) it was more than obvious Sokoudjou was set up to be Minotoro’s stepping-stone. Sokoudjou would have other ideas though. 

Sokoudjou, supposedly a judo fighter, threw a jab then a right high kick. Nogueira, a nifty boxer, began to sidestep the attack but stepped onto the hardest punch of his career; Sokoudjou’s left hook. Nogueira fell to the mat out cold, with his title hopes shattered. The African import shocked everyone with the decisive finish, but none so much as the Brazilian team, who surely expected something of a grappling match. Interestingly, with Silva no longer the titleholder it is possible that he and Rogerio may still meet. 

Hansen gets back on track.

Norwegian submission fighter Joachim ‘Hellboy’ Hansen looked to get back in the hunt for the PRIDE lightweight title after a stunning submission loss to the grappling phenomenon that is Shinya Aoki. BJJ and judo blackbelt Aoki pulled off a beautiful gogoplata on the Scandinavian, all the more impressive considering Hansen’s grappling skills. Hansen was matched up with Jason Ireland, who was making his PRIDE debut. Ireland is a King of the Cage veteran with no notable wins but several notable losses including one to UFC fighter Jorge Gurgel.  

Hansen was able to control the fight by taking it the ground and looked to turn up the heat in the second round. Hansen landed a right that stunned his opponent, and followed it up with a barrage of strikes and several knees from the Thai clinch. The gritty American was able to survive the attack, only to be saved by the bell to narrowly escape an armbar. 

Coming out firing in the third Hansen stalked his prey into the corner and fired off shots at will. By now Ireland was visibly tired and barely surviving, but he did manage a desperate takedown. Hellboy was quick to finish with a tight armbar, ending Ireland’s night in far less painful fashion than he would had Ireland not taken it to the mat. With the PRIDE lightweight division in utter chaos after Gomi’s loss, it will be interesting to see how Hansen fairs in the upcoming lightweight GP, scheduled for later this year.

Round Up

In other action PRIDE middleweight Grand Prix 2006 winner Kazuo Misaki dropped a decision to ‘lay and pray’er Frank Trigg. The American UFC cast off came close to winning by submission, only through boredom instead of any kind of joint lock. Burly Russian fighter Sergei Kharitonov armbarred American fighter Michael Russow in a heavyweight match, while Travis Wiuff found himself on the wrong end of a guillotine to relative unknown James Lee. 

Full results

Joachim Hansen def Jason Ireland via Submission (Armbar) 2:33 Rd3

Frank Trigg def Kazuo Misaki via Decision (Unanimous)

James Lee def Travis Wiuff via Submission (Guillotine Choke) 0:39 Rd1

Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou def Antonio Rogerio Nogueira KO (Punch) 0:23 Rd1

Hayato Sakurai def Mac Danzig via KO (Punch) 4:01 Rd2

Sergei Kharitonov def Michael Russow via Submission (Armbar) 3:46 Rd1

Mauricio Rua def Alistair Overeem via KO (Punches) 3:37 Rd1

Nick Diaz def Takanori Gomi via Submission (Gogoplata) 1:46 Rd2

Dan Henderson def Wanderlei Silva via KO (Punches) 2:08 Rd3