Black Tiger MMA Review: PRIDE 8 (11.21.99)
Posted by Mike Campbell on 04.10.2010
The Gracie hunt begins!
PRIDE 8
November 21, 1999
WANDERLEI SILVA vs. DAIJIRO MATSUI
Given that PRIDE places such heavy influence on a fighter’s overall performance, not just wins and losses, I can see why Matsui is so popular within PRIDE. Matsui really doesn’t have a prayer, but he goes out and fights hard anyway. He eats a punch from Silva to start and tries to take him down, Silva blocks him and holds him down, taking his time and waiting for Matsui to give him an opening, Matsui does and Silva explodes with knees to the face that bloody Matsui up in a hurry. If this was UFC, the fight would have been stopped right then. Matsui finally gets away and then tries to actually trade strikes with Silva, which Stephen acknowledges is basically a suicide mission for him. Matsui isn’t able to really get anything going, but he’s impressive for his guts/lack of brains, and his ability to take a beating. He’s able to hold off Silva from finishing him, but that’s as good as he’s able to do.
Silva starts the second round the same as the first, outsmarting Matsui and getting him into position to unload on him with knees to the face. Silva also gets him in a clinch to land some shots. Matsui can’t do much against Silva other than neutralize him, which he does by taking the fight to mat and into Silva’s guard. Silva throws punches at Matsui, and Matsui is able to position himself so that the punches don’t cause much damage, but that’s the best he can do. He holds Silva to the end of the round and the fight is an easy decision for Silva. Matsui made the fight exciting, but he wasn’t nearly as aggressive as Silva.
FRANK TRIGG vs. FABIANO IHA
So, Frank Trigg has actually won an MMA fight? I’ll be damned. In all seriousness, Trigg looks really good here. He’s able to take Iha down relatively quick, and shows some good defense from Iha’s triangle, he slams him to escape the armbar, and nicely dodges an up kick. On their feet, Trigg still looks great, easily landing several punches and knee shots to Iha, including three nice punches while Iha is down. Trigg gets the win via ref stop when he lands a flurry of shots that drop Iha like a safe.
ALLAN GOES vs. CARL MALENKO
Malenko tries to take Goes down to start and winds up in the guard guard, which is the worst possible place for him to be. They methodically work their way out of the guard, with Goes trying to get a submission and Malenko smartly keeping himself out of harm’s way. Goes tries for an armbar and Malenko slips out and they’re back to they’re feet. They go back to the mat and this time it’s Malenko on top, Goes tries to flip him over but it doesn’t work. Goes eventually gets a side mount and seamlessly traps Malenko into a kata-gatame (arm triangle) for the win.
MARK COLEMAN vs. RICARDO MORAIS
As useless a statement as this is, it sums up this first round perfectly, this would have been good if something good happened. Coleman uses his wrestling to take Morais down, but he mostly just sits in the dominant position. He seems to try to finish the fight a couple of times with a grounded headlock, but that’s not too often. Morais doesn’t get much more than a sprawl to block the takedown, although Coleman still counters into the guard, but he’s not able to neutralize Coleman’s wrestling at all, or do anything to pick up steam. Coleman would easily win the round by virtue of being in control, but it was hardly a dominating fight.
Second verse, same as the first. Coleman takes him down and gets top position, which he remains in throughout the whole fight. They’re in several different grounded positions, mount, side mount, guard, and half guard, but Coleman is always on top. The best thing Morais can do is keep moving and block Coleman’s attempts to ground and pound, but that’s the best he can do. Coleman isn’t particularly dominating either, aside from being on top. Coleman wins by decision, but the fight was less than thrilling.
TOM ERICKSON vs. GARY GOODRIDGE
This starts out looking promising, Erickson flies out the gate with strikes, knocking Gary for a loop and then taking him over with a hip throw. Erickson to finish him off, first with ground and pound, and then with a kesa-gatame. That’s as good as the fight really gets though, after that it turns into a slightly better version of the Coleman fight. Erickson maintains control in top position, whether they’re in a guard, or various mounts, and he at least tries to finish him off with a keylock, in addition to ground and pound. But, Goodridge is good enough to keep a gap between them and cover up. That’s really all there is to say.
The second round isn’t any better than the first round, Erickson takes Goodridge down and gets top position, where remains for the whole round. They mostly sit in the guard, yes they sit in the guard, they don’t really work the guard the way Goes and Malenko did. But Erickson does manage to pass guard into a side mount. But, just like before, he’s not able to close the gap enough to finish off Goodridge. Time runs out and Erikson wins decision in another boring fight.
FRANCISCO BUENO vs. IGOR VOVCHANCHYN
There’s a bit of backstory to this, Bueno won at PRIDE 5 and requested to fight a big name veteran, namely Vovchanchyn or Mark Kerr, and he got his wish. They dance around for a minute and then Igor hits two punches for a total of three hits. Two of them are Igor’s punches and the third is Bueno hitting the mat. He’s out like a light. That’s probably the sickest knockout I’ve seen since I’ve been watching PRIDE.
RENZO GRACIE vs. ALEXANDER OTSUKA
This is the difference between working the guard and just laying in the guard. Otsuka winds up on top in the guard, but not once do they come off as lazy with how they work it. Otsuka tries to wear down Gracie with body shots and Gracie keeps his knees high so that he can get a submission hold if he’s given the opening. Otsuka gives him the opening and he tries for a triangle. He loses the choke, but does accomplish busting up Otsuka’s nose with up kicks. They go back to the guard and it’s more of the same, with Otsuka sticking to body shots and Gracie keeping his knees high, he gets the same opening again and springs to action, and doesn’t lose the hold this time, but Otsuka keeps him from getting it. Otsuka hurts his leg at some point, because a single kick from Gracie almost makes him collapse. Gracie tries to finish again with a guillotine choke, but Otsuka gets his head out to survive the round. This was actually pretty close, but I’d give the edge to Gracie for the up kicks and submission attempts.
Both men stick to their guns in the second round, Gracie with Otsuka in his guard waiting to strike. Otsuka tries using other punches, but Gracie is good at neutralizing them, so he sticks with body shots. Gracie tries for armbar, but Otsuka escapes. Gracie gets side control and tries a couple of knees from the top. To their feet and Gracie gives the pro wrestler a German suplex, but Otsuka holds the arm and tries for an armbar, but Gracie is able to prevent it. The round ends with Otsuka still holding the arm trying to get the hold. Gracie wins the decision in a highly entertaining fight.
KAZUSHI SAKURABA vs. ROYLER GRACIE
I’ll give Royler credit for trying to seemingly get into Sakuraba’s head and make him fight his way, but it backfired on him horribly. They start out in a sort of seated clinch, which is apparently total jiu jitsu style, but Sakuraba is able to hold off Gracie from taking him down or landing any good shots. Gracie then changes gears and gets in a crab walk position, trying to bait Sakuraba into going on the ground with him. It doesn’t work, and instead Sakuraba spends the remaining seven or so minutes of the round pelting him with nasty leg kicks. Gracie’s thighs get several welts on them as a result, and despite his attempts to be stoic, it’s clear he’s getting hurt pretty badly. Sakuraba even plays with him a bit by faking a jump on him, and offering his hand, as if to help him up, but then hitting another kick. The round ends with Gracie narrowly missing a spin kick to the head. Again, good idea in theory by Gracie, but Sakuraba really made him look like a fool.
Gracie doesn’t fall into the same trap twice though, he tries to stand with Sakuraba, but isn’t much more successful. Sakuraba hits a knee early on then surprises Gracie with a punch and then a low kick. Gracie sizes him up and knocks him clear on his ass with a high kick and takes advantage with the leg kicks. That’s how most of the round goes, with Gracie trying to stand with him and Sakuraba striking him at will, and unloading the leg kicks when Gracie goes down. It even gets comical with Gracie flat out asking him to get on the mat with him, and Sakuraba dragging Gracie to the center of the ring. Sakuraba finally does get on the mat and succeeds in getting a Kimura on Gracie, and bends the arm, probably dangerously far, it’s a bit hard to watch actually. Gracie doesn’t tap but the ref calls it off. The other Gracie’s protest, but it was the right call, it looked like Sakuraba was a hair away from breaking his arm.
The 411: For the most part, this is a very good event. The only big negatives are the Coleman and Erickson snoozers. Everything else was very fun, thumbs up for PRIDE 8.
