Fighters Only

Issue 015

July 2006

5 May 2006, Osaka Dome, Osaka, Japan

PRIDE’s Open Weight Grand Prix kicked off on Friday May 5^th. The 15-man (predominantly heavyweight) tournament featured three cracking fights, some great finishes and, as only PRIDE can provide, some real mismatches. The 40,000 plus fans at the Osaka Dome saw seven men advance to the next round of the tournament, where PRIDE Heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko will join them. Strangely for a PRIDE event, all the best action came in the middle of the show, with Tsuyoshi Kohsaka’s retirement war against Mark Hunt, a great battle between the younger Emelianenko and Josh Barnett and of course, England’s best big man, James Thompson in by far the biggest fight of his life against returning Japanese star Kazuyuki Fujita. Those three fights alone made this one well worth watching.

Roman Zentsov vs. Gilbert Yvel

Zentsov earned a spot as the tournament’s reserve fighter by sparking out the Dutch hooligan in less than 5 minutes. Yvel started aggressively but was rapidly and predictably taken down by the much-improved Zentsov. An unsuccessful keylock attempt by the Russian allowed Yvel to take the advantage but Zentsov was soon back in control and staying busy with punches. Another missed keylock attempt gave Yvel the chance to stand but he was on the mat again in seconds, this time flattened by a perfect left hook counter that finished the fight. With Yvel clearly out of it and the referee badly out of position, Zentsov hesitated before making sure with one last shot.

Fabricio Werdum vs. Alistair Overeem

Werdum pulled off a mild upset, tapping out Overeem 3:43 into the second round of a disappointing fight. Much of the first round saw them standing and clinching with Overeem having limited success with knees to the body. Werdum continually retreated into a corner (his favourite tactic for neutralising his opponents and anaesthetising the audience) and did everything he could to simply defend. It was negative, boring stuff, but like its perpetrator, effective in the long run.

Overeem landed a couple of significant punches that Werdum took very well but seemed to use up considerable energy, particularly with repeated, and failed, jumping knee attacks. The second round opened with Werdum attacking and landing some decent punches and he even seemed to rattle the more experienced striker with a couple of them. Halfway through the session, a fatigued Overeem took Werdum down but unable to do anything offensive on the mat against the highly skilled BJJ practitioner, quickly fell victim to a kimura from the bottom that ended the fight. Werdum deserved his win but it was shame to see one of the tournament’s most dynamic fighters eliminated by its dullest.

Mark Hunt vs. Tsuyoshi Kohsaka

Before the tournament started, 36-year old Kohsaka announced he would retire the next time he lost. If he sticks to his word, this second round TKO defeat will be his last fight, but he went out in style. Kohsaka gave a memorable farewell performance, taking a real beating but always coming back for more and even complaining about the referee’s merciful intervention. Hunt dropped him with a stiff right hand two minutes into the fight but failed to follow up. This one-dimensional reliance on using his boxing, along with his legendary hatred of training and the stamina troubles that come with that, are Hunt’s major problems and all need addressing if he is to be truly successful in MMA. Hunt did little in side control and Kohsaka neatly reversed him and took his back. Looking for submissions, Kohsaka could find none and Hunt slipped free.

The ragged Kohsaka landed plenty of punches, none of which slightly bothered the former K-1 superstar, and Hunt scored with stiff left jabs and heavy overhand rights. Hunt rocked Kohsaka with a great combination two minutes before the bell and meted out more punishment in the last minute, repeatedly hurting Kohsaka with lefts and rights. The opening minute of the second saw Kohsaka taking some powerful jabs and a right hand that seemed to splatter his nose. With the blood wiped away, Kohsaka scored a takedown but Hunt escaped. Hunt easily sprawled or sidestepped a series of increasingly desperate takedowns, hurt Kohsaka with a low kick and even landed a nice high kick. Bashing Kohsaka yet again with a right hand and then a knee to the face, Hunt finished the fight 4:15 into the round, dropping his brave opponent with a big right hand. Kohsaka sank to his knees in the corner and Hunt stood back, allowing the referee to end it at just the right time.

Aleksander Emelianenko vs. Josh Barnett

Looking slimmer and in better condition than ever, the younger Emelianenko still gassed out, eventually submitting to a Barnett keylock 1:57 into the second round. They went back and forth almost from the opening bell in a fast paced, entertaining match. The hideously tattooed Russian looked sharp early, pressing the action and landing some good knees and hurtful left hands. Barnett constantly fired back and landed some powerful body shots. Ominously for Emelianenko, he was breathing heavily after just 4 minutes, his shoulders heaving as he tried gulping down as much air as possible. Barnett then started really pushing the pace and was forcing Emelianenko back. More effective in the clinch, Barnett was still taking punches at range as both men landed frequently.

With a couple of minutes remaining in the round, Emelianenko had slowed down considerably and his usually impassive brother was looking worried at ringside. Barnett, nose bloodied, kept pressing forward as both men kept firing and landing big punches. As the bell sounded Emelianenko draped himself over the top rope, gasping before sinking onto his stool. Neither man had attempted a takedown in the first round but Barnett used a bodylock and Greco Roman throw one minute into the second. Taking sidemount, he threw some knees at Emelianenko’s head before going for a keylock. The exhausted Russian powered out of it but when Barnett tried again he quickly tapped, bringing an end to the fight. The ever-cheesy Barnett then challenged the older brother (yet again), announcing that Fedor “is already dead.”

James Thompson vs. Kazuyuki Fujita

Then came the match British fight fans were really looking forward to, Bristol’s ‘Colossus’ taking on the Japanese superstar pro wrestler/fighter Fujita. Wrongly dismissed by many fans outside the UK as an untalented musclehead, Thompson is a hugely entertaining, constantly improving fighter with size, strength, youth, intelligence, charisma and a highly respected team on his side. Well aware of the reasons for his soaring popularity in Japan, Thompson (3-1 in PRIDE going into this fight) has become a cult hero due to his wildly aggressive style. Charging headlong at Fujita would have been a suicide mission though, and Thompson’s team came up with a great gameplan for this outing. They abandoned his usual ‘Gong & Dash’ approach in favour of a strategy based on sprawling away from Fujita’s takedowns and wearing him down with short punches and knees in the clinch. It was working perfectly too, with Thompson putting in a career best performance, dominating the match before tiring and being knocked out in truly dramatic fashion 8:25 into the first round.

With his athleticism and reflexes, Thompson excelled at the sprawl, stuffing four of Fujita’s takedown attempts in the opening minute. Clinched in the corner Thompson threw some knees to Fujita’s legs and body, and aside from a couple of scrappy exchanges, was firmly in control of the fight. Sticking to the gameplan, Thompson scored with some decent low kicks and deftly avoided yet more of Fujita’s takedown attempts and his wildly optimistic, swinging punches. Fujita’s enormous head is hard to miss and Thompson connected with some nice jabs and right hands. Forcing the Japanese heavyweight onto the ropes, Thompson landed a heavy knee to the face and followed up with some neat body punches and knees.

However, six minutes into the match Thompson started to slow down considerably. Whether it was the pressure of such a high profile fight or a simple by-product of being that big and that active, Thompson’s energy was just draining away. Fujita, who has made a career of taking punishment until the other man tires, wasn’t looking much better either. He tried a weak takedown, which Thompson blocked. James ended up on top in Fujita’s guard but his ground n’ pound looked almost in slow motion by this point. Standing up, Thompson wanted to fight on the feet but immediately took a left-right combination to the face that stiffened his legs and Fujita, exhausted as he was, went wild, throwing close to 40 punches in the ensuing 30 seconds, ranging from weak uppercuts to short jabs and some hefty right hands. Out of gas and hurt from the start of the flurry, Thompson’s defence simply fell apart. He was taking punch after punch, and Fujita’s non-stop onslaught never gave him the chance to do anything about it. The last shot of the fight was an emphatic right hand that sent him to crashing to the canvas. A hugely relieved looking Fujita celebrated his come-from-behind win, but Thompson has every right to be proud of his performance. Fujita was certainly impressed, admitting later that Thompson’s punches hurt him and saying it was “an intense battle of willpower” and expressing his respect for the Englishman.

Mirko Cro Cop vs. Ikuhisa Minowa

Few expected the hugely popular yet equally-eccentric Minowa to last long, and he didn’t, being rescued by the referee just 70 seconds into the match. Aside from his usual moment of in-fight comedy (a rolling Koppo kick he swiped from the repertoire of pro wrestling legend Jushin Liger) Minowa offered little offence against the deadly serious Croatian. Cro Cop patiently stalked Minowa, trapped him in the corner and unleashed a knee to the face, followed by a pair of vicious left hands, first an uppercut then a body shot. Pushing aside a last-ditch takedown attempt and bashing away with a few short punches, Cro Cop then forced Minowa onto his back and blasted away with another 10 right hands, finishing a very easy fight with clinical efficiency.

Antonio Rodrigo Noguiera vs. Zuluzinho

This was another quick and woefully predictable fight. It started with a quick flurry of punches from each man and the gigantic Zuluzinho sprawling away from a takedown attempt. The ever-resourceful Noguiera slipped neatly from an unusual position at Zuluzinho’s side, into his guard and then effortlessly switched to side control. The big man did nothing but hold on as Noguiera threw some punches and knees to Zuluzinho’s body. In total control of his opponent, Minotauro moved into the mount and fired off a couple of punches. Zuluzinho’s only response was to lift up his right arm and use it to push Nogueira’s face away. Either Zuluzinho has absolutely no idea how to defend against submissions or he was already looking for an easy way out. Either way, he put his meaty limb in the perfect position for an armbar and Noguiera took it, earning the simplest of submissions in 2:17.

Hidehiko Yoshida vs. Yosuke Nishijima

Thankfully Nishijima wasn’t allowed to go through with his ludicrous plan of wearing boxing gloves for a thoroughly unsurprising, anticlimactic main event. Had he done so, this would have been an even quicker defeat. Nishijima’s extraordinary display of courage against Mark Hunt last time around made him an instant star but stylistically this was a far different, and far worse, match for him. Yoshida bided his time, using his underrated striking to close the distance. The inevitable takedown soon came and Yoshida worked patiently on the ground. Using his Gi for control and short punches to distract Nishijima, the 1992 Olympic Judo gold medallist manoeuvred him into position for a triangle choke. A more experienced fighter could probably have defended against such a sluggishly set up submission but Nishijima really had no chance and tapped out 2:33 into the fight.

The Next Round

The tournament’s first round may not have been an all-time classic show but it had its moments and sets up an intriguing second stage at the Osaka Dome on July 1^st. While not quite featuring fighters from every weight class (notice the lack of middleweights or welterweights included in the roster) it has become a high quality heavyweight tournament, featuring some of the very best in the business. Emelianenko, Werdum, Hunt, Barnett, Fujita, Cro Cop, Noguiera and Yoshida is a fantastic line-up, regardless of how the second stage matches will be drawn.