Issue 156

July 2017

The men who didn’t belong in the same ring as the great man.

Fan favorite – Naoya Ogawa

The semi-final bracket of the Pride 2004 Heavyweight Grand Prix division was decided by a fan vote. They could have matched Fedor with ‘Minotauro’ Nogueira or Sergei Kharitonov. Instead, they chose a judoka who’d only had to beat kickboxer Stefan Leko and carnival attraction ‘Giant’ Silva to get this far. He was out of there in 54 seconds.

Fall guy – Yuji Nagata

The man known in pro wrestling as ‘Maybach Blue Justice’ had one previous fight – a 21-second defeat to Mirko Cro Cop. He flailed for a leg lock, ran away, curled up in a ball and ate punches. The ref had seen enough after 62 seconds.

Faking it – Zuluzinho

The six-foot-seven, 400lb son of vale tudo legend Rei Zulu claimed to have a 39-0 record. The best fighter in the world had 24 wins that could actually be verified. After 26 seconds, he had 25.

Last resort – Singh Jaideep

Fans hoped Fedor would return against Shane Carwin. Instead, he got a kickboxer with two MMA fights. He didn’t last long.  

The bigger they are… – Choi Hong-Man

Another giant. After the fall of Pride, everyone wanted Emelianenko vs. the UFC champion, Randy Couture. Instead, we got Emelianenko vs. a seven-foot-two, 350lb ‘Techno Goliath’ at an event known as ‘Zombie Pride’, Yarennoka! Despite a solid attempt at smothering, the Korean giant was armbarred quickly.

Past his best – Pedro Rizzo

There’s no doubt ‘The Rock’ was a great fighter at his peak. However, by the time he was picked to fight Fedor for his ‘retirement fight’ in Russia, he was about 10 years past his prime. The knockout at 1:24 of round one tells its own story.

Sweet revenge? – Tsuyoshi Kohsaka

‘The Last Emperor’ has always seemed to be above such petty things as seeking revenge, but Pride had a story to sell: its champion taking on the only man to ever defeat him, albeit controversially after a doctor’s stoppage. The Russian looked a little out of shape and was carrying a hand injury, but ‘TK’ was a long way past his prime and easy prey. Kohsaka put up a fight, but after a bloody beating, his corner threw in the towel between rounds.