Issue 017

September 2006

Saitama Super Arena, Japan, 1st July 2006

By Andrew Garvey

Photos: Dream Stage Entertainment Inc

A near-capacity crowd of some 34,000 packed into the Saitama Super Arena on July 1^st as Japanese fight fans turned out in droves to support the company whose future, at least on the big stage we are used to, remains in peril. They were treated to a heavily stripped-down show that featured little of the usually elaborate production values but more than enough of the usual high quality action and memorable finishes. Few of the fights ended up being competitive but almost all were compelling and when the dust settled, the openweight Grand Prix final four were poised for a fascinating semi finals and finals in September.

Edson Drago vs. Pawel Nastula

36-year-old Polish judo legend Nastula picked up his first MMA win over heavily favoured Brazilian Top Team striker Edson Drago with a slick armbar from the bottom 4:33 into the first round. Nastula showed tremendous promise in his first two PRIDE fights, despite losing to Drago’s teammate Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and the Russian Aleksander Emelianenko. Unfortunately for Drago, everything came together for Nastula here. He failed with an early takedown attempt but once on the mat went for an armlock that Drago slipped away from. With Drago looking dangerous on his feet, Nastula took the fight to the ground and started dishing out some punishment. Patient and composed, Nastula landed some hefty right hands to the face. Drago gave up his back to escape the slow barrage but Nastula stayed in control, throwing shots to a now bleeding Drago from the full mount. Drago reversed him and rained down some meaty punches but showing some great technique and tenacity, Nastula trapped him with the decisive armbar.

Yoshihiro Nakao vs. Lee Eun Su

PRIDE’s newest Japanese hope Nakao gave the South Korean a beating in a very one-sided fight. A skilled wrestler, Nakao is a good fighter unlikely to ever progress far in PRIDE’s stacked heavyweight division. The 34-year-old is best known for a comically misguided attempt to wind up Heath Herring last New Year’s Eve. Kissing the Texan instead of going for the customary staredown was a very serious mistake. Herring flattened him and the fight ended up a no contest. The newly nicknamed ‘Kiss’ managed to resist the pre-fight liplock this time, and simply took Lee down and methodically ground out a win with his superior positioning and busy but generally soft punches and hammerfists. With Lee’s face a disfigured mess and his left eye swollen shut the doctor stopped the fight just 4:16 into the first round.

Vitor Belfort vs. Yoshihro Takahashi

The inconsistent Belfort was on top form here, obliterating his opponent in just 36 seconds. Belfort landed a lovely straight right, deftly slipped Takahashi’s wild retaliation and ended the match with a great left hook to the jaw that dropped Takahashi onto his arse in the corner, helpless. Belfort’s keenest fans may see this as yet another return for the fearsome and electrifying ‘old Vitor’ but 37-year-old Pancrase veteran Takahashi is well past his never particularly impressive best and is hardly top quality opposition.

Alistair Overeem vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira

Nogueira took a decision win against Overeem last February and went 2-0 against the Dutchman with a strange come-from-behind win 2:13 into the second round. Overeem rattled the Brazilian with some beautiful inside low kicks in the first round and kept his opponent guessing with frequent kicks to the legs, body and head. Nogueira spent much of the round avoiding Overeem’s long, powerful legs while trying to set up counterpunches. Late in the round he almost floored Nogueira with a brutal low kick and the Brazilian’s legs were turning an angry shade of crimson. Even when forced to the mat, Overeem was busy defending and used some great upkicks. 

The second round started off as more of the same with Nogueira’s punches missing and Overeem using kicks and some knees in the clinch. Nogueira began to step up the pace a little more and put the relaxed Overeem under some pressure. Then after taking a couple more low kicks Nogueira countered with a perfect hook that crashed into Overeem’s exposed jaw, snapped his head back and sent him retreating to the ropes. None of Nogueira’s resulting flurry of punches seemed to even land as Overeem covered up but his corner rapidly threw in the towel, ending the fight in strange circumstances. It later emerged Overeem’s neck was taped up because of a neck injury serious enough to see him in the hospital earlier in the day, and he only finally decided to fight during the show’s opening ceremony. Obviously his corner’s intention was to stop the match at the first sign of trouble but a safer, more responsible option would have been to simply pull out of the fight entirely.

Evangelista ‘Cyborg’ Santos vs. Kazuhiro Nakamura

Cage Rage regular Santos may be the scariest looking mediocre fighter in the sport. He’s a truly dangerous striker but if his opponent takes him down and has any real ground skills Santos is in serious trouble. Unfortunately for the heavily tattooed fingernail-painting wildman, that’s exactly what Nakamura did, earning a submission win 4:49 into the first round. Hidehiko Yoshida’s protégé just dismantled the Chute Boxe brawler. Nakamura took him down quickly and went to work with sustained punches, hammerfists and forearms. Nakamura is hardly a concussive ground n’ pounder but this was a perfect example of how to wear an opponent down, sapping his stamina and resistance. With Santos completely subdued, Nakamura went for a keylock and just cranked away. Even with his shoulder forced into a grotesque position, Santos didn’t tap, at least not for a while. With Nakamura still applying the pressure and throwing some knees to the face as well, Santos finally quit.

GP Quarter Final

Fabricio Werdum vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira

Former PRIDE heavyweight champion ‘Minotauro’ made it a great night for the Nogueira twins with a unanimous decision over Werdum. Nogueira was in a very unusual position here – fighting someone with better BJJ credentials – so he used his superior striking to control a sometimes slow but intriguing fight. He took the first round with a pair of knockdowns but Werdum’s boxing has improved over the last few months to the point he was at least competitive on his feet for brief periods. Sadly for Werdum, fighting just a couple of weeks after his old coach was shot dead, those periods were very brief and Nogueira easily took the first round. 

There was more of the same in the second, though Werdum did manage to take him down late in the round. The third round saw more action on the ground as Werdum scored another single leg takedown and both men went for submissions. Nogueira’s attempted guillotine and some slick reversals showed just how effective his BJJ is in an MMA fight. With both men tired and less time on his feet for Nogueira to continue his boxing exhibition, this was Werdum’s best round, but Nogueira still controlled the action. It wasn’t the most exciting fight of Nogueira’s career but he showed some great technique both standing and on the mat and thoroughly deserved the win.

GP Quarter Final

Kazuyuki Fujita vs. Wanderlei Silva

PRIDE middleweight champion Silva looked truly devastating as he became the first man to ever stop legendarily iron-chinned wrestler Fujita with strikes. Silva hurt him early and landed a nasty flurry of punches and knees. Fujita of course survived this abuse, and retaliated with a nice double leg takedown. He almost didn’t survive a slick armbar attempt from the bottom though. With the crowd imploring him to escape Fujita somehow broke free and eventually ended up in Silva’s guard. He threw a few punches but with very little going on both men were stood up and shown a yellow card for stalling. Fujita landed a couple of low kicks but missed a wild right hand. He did make a comical attempt at a spinning backfist but Silva easily ducked it. There was plenty of stalking but little combat aside from some hard low kicks by Silva but with 61 seconds left he bashed Fujita with an overhand right that clearly hurt the Japanese heavyweight. 

A four-punch combination dropped Fujita and the ‘Axe Murderer’ unleashed hell. Fujita scrambled to his feet but ate some more punches and again went down. Sitting, and then crawling on hands and knees, Fujita took a kick to the face, then five more punches and a final, sickening kick to the face that finally ended the fight 9:21 into the round. 

Seemingly motivated by a feeling that Fujita can take inhuman levels of punishment and still come back to win (and the business imperative of putting a much-needed Japanese fighter in the semi-finals) this was poor refereeing by Yuji Shimada. In fact somebody outside the ring actually called for the bell. Fujita remained conscious throughout, somewhat proving the theory his legendarily thick skull means he can’t be legitimately knocked out by another human being’s fists or feet, but he was utterly defenceless in there and should have been given more protection by the official.

GP Quarter Final

Mark Hunt vs. Josh Barnett

Charismatic anime and Puroresu geek Barnett made short work of the ultra-dangerous Hunt. Following the most cheerful staredown of all time Barnett avoided a wild swing and clinched immediately. Hunt broke free but Barnett followed a right hand with a good takedown and quickly shifted into side mount. Throwing a couple of hammerfists while going for a kimura on Hunt’s right arm, Barnett used a headscissors to control his opponent and slapped on a fast hammerlock for the win just 2:02 into the match. An excellent showing from Barnett. 

GP Quarter Final

Mirko Cro Cop vs. Hidehiko Yoshida

A bored looking Cro Cop destroyed his opponent. He lashed Yoshida’s left leg with a pair of vicious low kicks in the first minute and did well to block the 1992 Olympic judo gold medallist’s first takedown attempt. The Croatian even fought off a headlock takedown, utilising his great balance to shove Yoshida away. The always-game Japanese star was actually pressing the action on their feet but Cro Cop easily blocked or slipped his punches. Cro Cop grazed him with a high kick, swatted away some wild punches and whipped in another low kick to Yoshida’s left leg. The Croatian stuffed another takedown and just shoved Yoshida over when the judoka went for a silly high kick. 

Dropping down into Yoshida’s guard seemed odd, but he appeared to do it just to prove he could and to take a breather before standing back up. With just over four minutes left, Cro Cop landed his fifth kick to Yoshida’s left leg, then spun his opponent around with another barely twenty seconds later. A follow up had Yoshida limping heavily and Cro Cop mixed things up with an attempted high kick. His eighth low kick seemed to reverberate all the way through Yoshida’s body, and then Cro Cop floored him with a sneaky left uppercut. Instead of going in for the finish Cro Cop stood back, forcing an injured and humiliated Yoshida back to his feet. A left hand counterpunch rocked Yoshida, and Cro Cop floored him with the ninth and final savage low kick of the fight. Ordered to stand up by the referee, Yoshida simply lay there in agony and the referee waved it off 7:38 into the fight.

The Next Round

Nogueira, Silva, Barnett and Cro Cop are a fascinating final four. PRIDE has already announced the semi-final pairings as Silva against Cro Cop (they drew under limited, stand-up only rules in 2000) and a fascinating clash between Barnett and Nogueira. The winners fight each other later that night to decide the 2006 open weight Grand Prix champion, and the overall victor will face Fedor Emelianenko for the heavyweight title. With Silva fresh, healthy and in destructive form, Barnett at his very best and Cro Cop and Nogueira still two of the sport’s top heavyweights, September’s event will be something special.

Full results

Pawel Nastula def Edson Drago via Submission (Armbar) Rd1 4:33

Yoshihiro Nakao def Eun Su Lee via TKO (Swollen Eye) Rd 1 4:16

Vitor Belfort def Yoshiki Takahashi via KO (Punch) Rd 1 0:36

Antonio Rogerio Nogueira def Alistair Overeem via TKO (Towel - Strikes) Rd 2 2:13

Kazuhiro Nakamura def Evangelista Santos via Submission (Keylock) Rd 1 4:49

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira def Fabricio Werdum via Decision (Unanimous) Rd 3

Wanderlei Silva def Kazuyuki Fujita via TKO (Strikes) Rd 1 9:21

Josh Barnett def Mark Hunt via Submission (Kimura) Rd 1 2:02

Mirko Filipovic def Hidehiko Yoshida via Verbal Submission (Leg Kicks) Rd 1 7:38