Issue 011

March 2006

Saitama Super Arena, Saitama, Japan

By Andrew Garvey

These days New Year's Eve is by far the biggest day in Japan's fighting calendar. K-1 and PRIDE FC pull out all the stops to win the all-important television ratings war. With prime time specials on the country's major TV stations these are the biggest MMA events of the year. This year PRIDE pulled off a surprise ratings victory against the usually dominant K-1. With a show that featured all of the company's top stars and some of Japan's biggest names, four Olympic medallists, three titles on the line, a few giants and even an actor, PRIDE’s Otoko Matsuri (Man Festival) may get lost in translation but the 12 fights on offer featured some of the very best seen in the last few years. 

Krazy Horse? Most definitely. 

Even fought under modified rules (2 x 5 minute rounds, no kicks to a downed opponent) Charles ‘Krazy Horse’ Bennett’s fight with Japanese actor Ken Kaneko had the potential to be an ugly massacre. Kaneko has trained for three years but had never fought before. Thankfully for him, Bennett clearly treated the entire thing as one big joke. 

Kaneko hung on for dear life throughout the fight until making a very hopeful triangle attempt. This allowed Bennett, who usually has all the submission defence of a confused infant, to roll through into a full mount. He landed a few punches before ending the fight with an armbar after 4:14. Ever the clown, Bennett became the first PRIDE fighter to be yellow-carded (and fined 10% of his purse) for double-legging referee Yuji Shimada after the fight! 

Thompson fells the giant

Giant Silva looks and fights like, well, a fairy tale giant, angrily fee-fi-fo-fumming and bumbling his way around the ring. His opponent James Thompson has built quite a following in Japan, due to his size, physique and raw style. The newly renamed ‘Mega Punk’ needed just 88 seconds to finish off the Brazilian behemoth. As usual, Thompson charged his opponent at the opening bell and a couple of punches floored the big man. Some messy groundwork followed until Thompson landed some punches and kicks to the head. Shrugging off a rudimentary kimura attempt, Thompson kicked Silva in the face and followed up with some stomps that prompted the referee’s intervention, ending an eventful and entertaining, if clumsy, fight.

Olympic gold fails to shine

Pawel Nastula, Poland’s Judo gold medallist in the 1996 Olympics, hasn’t had it easy in his short MMA career. Debuting against Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira in June he showed potential in defeat. On New Year’s Eve he was thrown in with the 6’ 7” Aleksander Emelianenko, Fedor’s big little brother. Blessed with size and real knockout power Alex was coming off KO wins in 11, 15 and 28 seconds in his last three fights. Nastula lasted much longer (8:45 to be exact) before eventually tapping out to a rear naked choke. Nastula had his moments scoring a couple of takedowns and even coming achingly close with an armbar attempt. It was a sloppy, roller-coaster ride of a fight where both men looked awful on their feet, swinging like brawling drunkards, but was enjoyably competitive on the ground. The end seemed to come through exhaustion as much as anything, as a spent Nastula gave up his back, giving Emelianenko an easy choke for the win. 

Fedor destroys ‘Little’ Zulu

Brazilian giant Zuluzhino wasn’t expected to give PRIDE heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko much trouble in their non-title match, but even though it was the expected result it was still amazing to see the incomparable Emelianenko tear him to pieces in a devastating 26 second onslaught. Decking Zuluzhino immediately with a left hook, the champion followed up on the ground with a wild barrage of punches and hammerfists. Zuluzhino hauled himself back to his feet but second or so later, Zuluzhino was flat on his back, floored by a beautiful right hook. 

More controversy for Henderson and Bustamante

In 2003 Dan Henderson and Murilo Bustamante met as alternates in the first PRIDE Middleweight Grand Prix. Henderson quickly battered the Brazilian to defeat, with Bustamante crying foul, claiming a headbutt had been the cause of his downfall. 

In this rematch it was Bustamante who controlled the majority of the fight, taking Henderson down frequently in the first and trying to stomp and kick the American whenever he was on his back. A couple of kicks landed, but that, along with a lot of clinching by both men, was the story of the first round. Henderson has always been overly reliant on his big right hand and he opened the second round swinging. It was only a matter of time before Henderson countered a stiff punch from the Brazilian with a couple of huge right hands, badly hurting Bustamante and catching him with a knee to the face on the way down. 

Henderson immediately tried to follow up with punches but even when dazed, Bustamante has a great defence. Switching his attention to kneeing his opponent in the head, Henderson knocked Bustamante down again a little later, but again couldn’t finish him off. Those two knockdowns swung the fight Henderson’s way for two of the three judges, giving him close decision win and the middleweight crown. 

Fireball Gomi burns his way into history books

Known as ‘The Fireball Kid’, Takanori Gomi KO’d his former mentor Hayato ‘Mach’ Sakurai in just under four minutes with a stunning display of aggression and punching power to become the first PRIDE Lightweight champion. Opening immediately Gomi landed a nasty right hook, and Sakurai fired back and landed some heavy leg kicks. 

Sakurai clinched and managed a headlock takedown but Gomi landed on top and instantly started throwing bombs to the back of Sakurai’s head. As the Shooto legend did his best to cover up and roll out of trouble Gomi unleashed around 50 punches. Few landed but his relentless attack forced a disorientated Sakurai up to his feet. 

Gomi stayed on him, blasting him with a right hand to the temple. Quickly following up with a powerful straight left Gomi finished the fight with an emphatic right hand to Sakurai’s cheek. Sakurai fell flat on his face as the referee dived in to wave off a short and memorable fight.

Return of a legend

PRIDE legend Kazushi Sakuraba beat fellow Japanese fighter Ikuhisa Minowa with a vicious looking kimura just one second before the end of the first round. Entering dressed in a dubious leather outfit Sakuraba looked his usual impassive self. He was certainly passive early on, earning a yellow card for stalling as he held a tight, purely defensive guard. Minowa did well, escaping a nice guillotine in the opening minute and seemed to have Sakuraba in trouble with a heel hook at one point. After some artful mat work and a lengthy, failed attempt at a rear naked choke, Sakuraba went for the arm lock and trapped Minowa in the corner late in the first round. 

Minowa held on for a ridiculous amount of time, over 40 seconds, with his arm pushed grotesquely far behind his back, his legs kicking maniacally, clearly in agony until the referee stopped the fight in dramatic fashion, ending a slow paced, but exciting fight. It’s taken PRIDE’s matchmakers long enough but they finally seem to have figured out that, carefully matched up, Sakuraba may still have some life in that battered body yet.

Hunt defies the law to take out Cro Cop

Mark Hunt out-worked and out-punched a one-dimensional Mirko ‘Cro Cop’ on his way to a clear decision victory, avenging his decision loss in K-1 a few years back. How one judge gave it to Cro Cop is something of a mystery since despite landing some meaty high kicks and a couple of flashy axe kicks, the Croatian back-pedalled or clinched for much of the fight. 

Hunt deftly avoided any takedown attempts and controlled the exchanges with a wider variety of punches and combinations, landing some heavy hooks and using some beautiful body shots. Cro Cop looked good early in the third but soon reverted to his routine of kicking and retreating until he was staggered by a right uppercut late in the fight. Waving his hands to indicate he was fine seemed to enrage the Samoan Monster and he charged after Cro Cop with a flying kick. It missed and Hunt ended up on the mat with Cro Cop in side mount and just 40 seconds to do something about it. He couldn’t and Hunt lay there defending until the end. 

Whether its his outside interests, over-training, fighting too often or just the simple fact Hunt is a very good fighter who can just shrug off more or less anything thrown at him is open to question. Whatever the excuses, Hunt deserved the win in a tense, absorbing fight.

No less hate between Silva and Arona

PRIDE’s judges have never been willing to hand somebody a title based solely on good takedowns and efficient ground control, and this fight between middleweight champ Wanderlei Silva and arch-nemesis Ricardo Arona reinforced that. Neither man really did any damage standing or on the ground and both were given yellow cards for stalling in a disappointing fight that went to a split decision. Silva dominated the first seven or eight minutes as Arona seemed content to lie on his back accepting leg kicks or holding guard. 

Arona’s superior wrestling saw him come back strongly in the second, and the third round was close but Arona’s idiotic strategy of pulling guard in the last 40 seconds seemed to cost him dearly. While in his supporters’ eyes he may have done just enough to squeeze past Silva, he really has only himself to blame for not putting in a convincing enough performance. Arona, however, seemed utterly convinced he’d won and petulantly stormed off when the decision was announced in the middleweight champion’s favour.

Golden boy Yoshida pockets a small fortune

The main event between Hidehiko Yoshida and Naoya Ogawa may not have appealed to many outside Japan, but the long-awaited clash between the former rivals in judo was huge in their home country. Both are Olympic medallists, and both are national celebrities. Speaking of huge, so were their wages, as the pair of them reportedly earned a combined total of around $3 million. 

As expected, Yoshida won the fight, tapping Ogawa with an armbar from his back. The armbar, which Ogawa really should have seen coming, ended a fairly spirited fight where Ogawa looked stiff and awkward on his feet. He managed a couple of reversals but never looked a threat to his smaller, more skilled opponent. Yoshida, without his trademark judo-gi for the first time in his MMA career, landed some decent punches and a nice stomp to the face. Continually looked for submissions, he finally caught one 6:04 into the fight. A theatrically limping Ogawa entertained the crowd with a comical post-fight speech, proving again he’s more talented on the microphone than in the ring.

Full results

Charles Bennett def Ken Kaneko by submission (armbar) Rd1 4:14

Kazuhiro Nakamura def Yuki Kondo by decision (unanimous) after three rounds

James Thompson def Paulo ‘Giant’ Silva by TKO (strikes) Rd1 1:28

Sanae Kikuta def Makoto Takimoto by decision (unanimous) after three rounds

Aleksander Emelianenko def Pawel Nastula by submission (rear naked choke) Rd1 8:45

Fedor Emelianenko def Zuluzinho by submission (punches) Rd1 0:26

Dan Henderson def Murilo Bustamante by decision (split) after two rounds

Takanori Gomi def Hayato Sakurai by KO Rd1 3:56

Kazushi Sakuraba def Ikuhisa Minowa by technical submission (kimura) Rd1.9:59

Mark Hunt def Mirko Filipovic by decision (split) after three rounds

Wanderlei Silva def Ricardo Arona by decision (split) after three rounds

Hidehiko Yoshida def Naoya Ogawa by submission (armbar) Rd1 6:04