MMA Retro-Rants: PRIDE 6
Posted by Michael Huckaby on 05.03.2007
Newton/Matsui and Sakuraba/Braga steal the show while a (then) current UFC champion practically begs PRIDE for a contract.
July 4th, 1999 at the Yokohama Arena. Your announcers are Stephen Quadros and Bas Rutten. And please don't ask me to review the bare-knuckle karate fight where they can‘t punch in the face.
Fireworks explode, the sheets covering the ring are dropped, and the lights go out in between each fighter's initial intro. When they come back on a new fighter is in a corner of the ring facing the crowd. This is awesome.
- Match 1: Egan Inoue vs Carl Malenko
This is Egan's second fight in PRIDE, coming off of his dominating victory over Toyonaga at the last event. This is pro wrestler Carl Malenko's MMA debut.
Round 1: They feel each other out in the center before Egan lands a sharp leg kick and ducks away into the corner. Egan attempts the takedown but Carl gets underhooks and attempts his own. Still on the feet, Egan lands a knee before clinching Malenko into the ropes. Malenko then takes head control and walks Egan around the ring looking for his spot. We're still clinched in the corner with Carl looking for a takedown but Egan showing good defense. Malenko looks to have it twice but Egan's arm keeps clipping the ropes, keeping his balance. Egan looks to quickly go for a guillotine but Malenko takes the opportunity to slam him to the ground in top position. Malenko is not active at all from the top, rarely throwing one strike and then tucking himself back into Egan's chest. Halfway through the round there is still no action on the ground with Carl just laying and praying in Egan's guard with Inoue being more active. Carl explodes with a three or four punch combo but Egan immediately turns his hips and looks for a submission, that certainly won't embolden Malenko. Egan now has an open guard, looking for some space, but Malenko drives forward back into Inoue's chest. Malenko's ears are bright red from those shots from the bottom by Egan while Malenko throws the occasional lazy overhand which isn't landing. Heel shots to the kidney by Inoue lead to another punch or two thrown by Malenko but nothing more. Malenko goes body-head, body-head a couple of times and actually lands a shot but Egan immediately holds Malenko's arms and attempts a triangle. Malenko is too strong and just pushes forward and that is the end of round one. Not any action at all but Carl Malenko had top position for almost the entire round and Egan didn't do enough damage to steal it from him.
Round 2: Malenko comes out the aggressor, just throwing a couple of jabs and looking to close the distance. Malenko clinches but Egan isn't easy to take down and we're in the corner with Malenko looking to double leg. Malenko kind of winks for the camera and then gets the takedown of Egan in the corner. Now Carl Malenko is unloading a couple of shots to the head which land as the officials scoot them back out toward the center of the ring. Egan attempts a triangle and only needs to pull his foot down but Malenko powers out the back and lands right back on top of Inoue. Malenko started this round much more actively but you can almost tell any Inoue submission attempt is only met with more future hesitancy by Carl Malenko. Malenko again attempts to pass the guard but each time Egan flips over and Malenko follows him, tackling him right back into his guard. Malenko now in full blown protect mode on top, going so far as to not only tuck his head but covering it with his hands to avoid punches from the bottom. Egan peppers a couple of shots from the bottom but it met with a big overhand right (and only one) before Malenko tucks back up. Malenko, to the surprise of everyone, actually sits up in the guard at one point and looks for some type of leg lock but then throws the legs to the side in an unsuccessful attempt to pass the guard. After a couple of minutes with no activity on the ground, Malenko hears the "one minute" announcement and unloads a couple of punches. For a lot of this round Carl Malenko looks like King Hippo from Mike Tyson's Punchout on if he were on the ground and in someone's guard. Egan turns his hips and looks for an arm but like all of his previous attempts Malenko simply powers forward and gets back on his chest. End of our second 10-minute round and again Malenko didn't do much of anything but enough to win the round (if that mattered, which it doesn‘t).
The fight is ruled a draw. In a very strange explanation by Quadros he states that the judges determined there wasn't a clear winner (even if Malenko was he didn't do enough to impress them) so we will have a bonus round of five minutes. However the first two rounds don't count toward that bonus round, therefore (technically) Malenko could win the first two 10-minute rounds but still lose due to a five-minute bonus round. This seems off…. again, not that it matters.
Round 3: Egan starts the round with an immediate superman punch that catches Malenko off-guard, allowing a quick takedown. This is the first time in the fight that Egan has been on top. In Malenko's guard, Egan is now playing the role of Malenko and just laying on top without improving position or throwing strikes. As I type that, Egan passes into half guard but gets a bit off balance which allows Malenko to jump back to his feet and charge at him like a maniac. Malenko blocks a high kick and gets into a clinch in the corner. Malenko drops to the legs and gets a very simple takedown of Egan, back in the open guard. Malenko tries to pass the guard and Egan tries to push him off at the exact same time and it results in no improvement for either. Malenko then tosses Egan over and briefly gets his back, going for a quick choke, but fails and winds up on his back with Egan in side mount. Egan moves to north-south but Malenko slides back to side and then stands back up quickly and we're in the middle standing again. Egan lands a knee but Malenko grabs the legs and gets yet another simple takedown. One minute remains. Malenko unloads several right hands that don't cleanly land but he remains in top position looking to stay active for the decision. The bell rings in that position and the fight is over. Winner: Carl Malenko, Decision, 25 minutes.
Interesting, but not exciting, fight. Malenko clearly won the first two rounds but the third "overtime" round was a winner take all and was fairly close. It could have went either way but with Malenko taking the first two rounds it was a correct decision.
- Match 2: Daijiro Matsui vs Carlos Newton
Reason #211 why it takes me so long to review one show: the littlest graphic or comment sends me on a 20-minute Google search for the most random things. Carlos Newton was apparently born in the "British Virgin Islands". Despite my college education in history, political science, and geography I was never really aware that British Virgin Islands existed. I just thought they were the "Virgin Islands" and that was that. But no, apparently on top of the American Virgin Islands of St. Thomas and St. Croix there are also British Virgin Islands of Tortola, Virgin Gorda, Jost Van Dyke, and others. I can't believe I never knew this. Though I'm sure the one person that actually got all the way to the end of this paragraph doesn't even care.
This is Newton's second PRIDE appearance coming off of his great loss to Sakuraba while Matsui makes his third PRIDE appearance, previously drawing Shoji and Kikuta.
Round 1: Matsui takes the center of the ring and pushes the action, starting with a huge right hook that connects to the face of Newton. After repositioning in the center, Newton throws a huge right of his own which cracks Matsui, rocks him, and causes him to shoot for a takedown. Newton sprawls and has north-south before trying to take his back. Newton gets the back and nearly has two armbars but both the proximity to the ropes and Matsui's defense get him out. When Matsui gets free he starts unloading shots before Newton switches it up and gets top position. Newton again in north-south looking for an armbar. Newton transitions to the back but both men know a RNC won't be successful so Newton just locks on and throws some punches. Newton stands over him in the corner, still holding his back, and when Matsui stands Newton picks him up and slams him down on his stomach. Newton again attempts an armbar but Matsui slams him on his head twice and is able to stop Carlos from clearing his head with his leg. As a result, Matsui escapes and attains top position. Newton for the fourth time attempts an armbar and looks to have it sunk in but they're in such a ball in the corner of the ring that Newton's leg gets caught up on the ropes and he can't get it cleanly. Matsui briefly back up to his feet but Carlos double legs and slams him back to the mat. Newton puts his knee on Matsui's stomach and quickly attains full mount. Newton lands some solid shots from the mount but after a few quick bucking attempts Matsui is able to turn his back. Again due to being so close and tangled in the corner ropes, Matsui is easily able to get some momentum and get out of it, briefly taking Newton's back before going for a RNC and completely missing as Newton just shot out the back and landed back on top. The referee finally turns them toward the center but the position has already cost Newton a couple of solid submission attempts. Some nice ground work and Matsui is eventually able to get top position and the mount himself for the briefest of moments before Carlos works it back to half guard and then in one swoop is back on top. Newton stands over the back of Matsui in the corner and delivers two knees to the ribs and an axe kick to his back. This gets Matsui to fly up out of his stance and the two each exchange one punch at the same time. Matsui throws two haymakers that both barely miss and then lands a nice legkick. After this action Matsui charges in for a single leg but Newton simply throws him off and then hits him with a quick clean uppercut while he's on the ground. Newton with another axe kick to Matsui's back followed by two strong punches that cause Matsui to flip over to his back. This is where we end round one. GREAT first round with absolute non-stop action. Meaninglessly, I give the first round to Newton.
Round 2: Matsui starts the round with a big right hand and a right legkick. Newton blocks a Matsui high kick but eats a left jab. Another nice legkick seems to piss Newton off as he charges forward landing two shots that bounce Matsui off the ropes and then right into a straight kick to the gut. Matsui drops to all fours and again looks for a foot which he rolls over and gets top position. Yet another armbar that Matsui escapes through the ropes. We have a quick medical check due to some blood around the left eye of Matsui and we're back underway. The Matsui legkicks seem to be getting to Newton as he switches to southpaw and shows a very slight limp. Matsui goes for another take down which he achieves and winds up in Newton's full guard. We have our very first small inactive time as Matsui remains in top position occasionally peppering a shot or two. Great transition as Matsui looks for a neck crank, Newton immediately goes for an armbar, Matsui grabs for Newton's leg as it comes over looking for a leglock, Newton grabs for Matsui's leg looking for the same, and we end up with Matsui missing a back kick and Carlos on his knees. This all happened in roughly 3 seconds. We're back on the feet with Matsui missing two wild punches before getting another takedown into Newton's guard. The announcers are laughing because every time the referee moves them back to the center it seems as though neither fighter really cares about the previous position they were in. Both men are just incredibly active in the fight going for submissions, not really caring if they briefly find themselves in a poor spot. Matsui now standing over Newton and gets a nice cartwheel guard pass (someone call the CSAC!) winding back on top. Newton is moving his hips looking to separate an arm while Matsui lands several body punches from the top. After a couple inactive minutes, Matsui stands back up and we're back in the center of the ring. Nice lowkick by Matsui and another shoot but Newton transitions to Matsui's back and then to the side looking to sink in the hooks. Newton gets the hooks but again we're right up against the ropes in the corner and there is no room for any real action. The round ends with Newton holding Matsui's back but I still have to give a close round to Matsui for having better position and better standup in that 10-minute frame. We're at 1-1 on the meaningless scorecard and that means….
Round 3: As predicted the judges ruled it a draw and it's time for a third and deciding round. Matsui throws a wild right haymaker and Newton just ducks it and grabs his back before standing back up. They exchange nice right hands and Matsui lands a second before shooting for another takedown and getting it in the corner. Newton tries to work a kimura from the bottom but Matsui pulls it out and stands back to his feet. They're exchanging and missing some shots in the center of the ring before Matsui finally lands a right. Newton isn't really doing anything to win this overtime round. Matsui goes for another shoot but fails and eats a punch by Newton. A couple of sick uppercuts by Newton briefly stagger Matsui who then unloads a connecting overhand right. They exchange some sloppy but crisp boxing (which makes no sense in written form) as neither man is currently looking for the takedown. Newton eventually gets a clinch and tosses Matsui to the ground on his stomach before following it up again with strong shots to his downed opponent. After another shot to the face, Matsui again flops over to his back in the corner before Carlos lets him up. With one minute remaining Matsui with a desperate shoot takes Newton down in the corner. The bell rings with Matsui laying on Newton. Winner: Carlos Newton, Decision, 25 minutes. It was unanimous but a pretty close fight. Newton won the first round pretty clearly but Matsui squeaked out the second and might have even taken the third overtime period if it weren't for the 5 or 6 strong Newton strikes that looked to daze him. Excellent fight all around.
- Match 3: Igor Vovchanchyn vs Carlos Barreto
Igor is 2-0 in PRIDE with a TKO over Gary Goodridge and his decision victory of Shoji at the last event. Barreto is an accomplished BJJ fighter coming in as a brief UFC veteran and holding wins over Kevin Randleman, Paul Varelans, and Branden Lee Hinkle. The BTT member now teaches BJJ and holds seminars if you'd like to have him.
Round 1: Barreto has a solid 7 or 8 inch height advantage as he circles Igor to begin the fight. Fairly rare matchup here with the much taller fighter being the ground guy and much smaller fighter wanting to bang. Barreto tries a couple of kicks but doesn't want to get too close, Igor shows why by landing a big left hook and right straight before tossing Barreto back away from him. Bas makes a point about the awkward matchup by pointing out that Barreto would not only have to close the distance on a striker but since he's so much taller he'd have to lower himself into Igor's punching zone. As Igor closes the distance Barreto uses his reach and lands a nice punch. Igor is really trying to get close as he's stalking Barreto and finally throws a big right hand. HUGE left hook by Igor knocks Barreto back but he stumbles away to his right once again. Legkick by Igor and a couple of missed punches lead to another leg kick. Barreto is still just circling to his right and keeping Igor away, eating the occasional punch. Barreto has "RED NOSE" on the back of his trunks which seems to be like sporting "DEFORMED ARM" on your trunks going into a fight with Big Nog. Barreto finally attempts his first clinch but Igor hits him on the way in, pushes him to the side, and makes him eat another one on the way out. Sick snap on a legkick by Igor as he continues to stalk Barreto around the ring. Igor misses with a punch, Barreto misses with one of his own looking to clinch, and Igor tosses him back off and into the ropes. Igor responds to a kick attempt with a huge punch and kick of his own. One minute left in the round and very little has happened. End of the round standing as they were and the Japanese crowd actually boos. Barreto only attempted one takedown by my count and was stuffed, otherwise he just ate some punches and jogged around the ring away from Igor. Round one easily in favor of Vovchanchyn.
Replays of round one show Barreto can't get a takedown because he has to overcome the 8 inches and when he's able to clinch Vovchanchyn, Igor just ducks down even more leaving the taller Barreto hanging in the air.
Round 2: It's obvious Barreto has no boxing ability as he can't even land a jab without being scared of the man eight inches shorter than him. Barreto will duck left right left right and then miss with his jab while Igor counters. Igor isn't exactly successful but atleast he's throwing the occasional punch. After another minute with no action the referee deducts one point from Barreto for stalling. Igor is now just peppering leg kicks and then lands a huge left hand which drops Barreto but only enough to knock him back before charging forward for a takedown. After getting jacked, Barreto finally gets the momentum to clinch and then just puts his height and weight into Igor and falls forward for a takedown. Igor has him in half guard and just holds Barreto's head and right arm down. Carlos can't get free so he lands a few left hands to the back of Igor's head and is warned by the referee. Rinse and repeat a second time, complete with referee warning. Carlos is trying to pass the half guard but Igor is holding on to that leg with his tree trunk thighs for dear life. Three minutes left in the round and Barreto hasn't tried one submission attempt since he took him down but he has thrown some punches. Barreto heard the three minute warning and tried for his first submission but this allowed Igor to fight out and get back to his feet. After a quick circle, Barreto drops down on his own to the butt scoot but after a crowd sigh he gets back to his feet. After a few leg kicks back and forth Igor goes in and just pushes Barreto to the ground before letting him back up. Nice leg kick by Barreto and we have one minute left in the second round. Igor tries a couple of wild punches and some leg kicks but nothing is landing. Barreto's legkick is caught by Igor and the responding right hand sends Barreto to his back. Barreto misses several legkicks as the second round ends. Igor clearly won the first and the second was a bit of a standstill with Igor winning the standup and Barreto getting one takedown for some lay and pray.
The judges rule it a draw (though Igor got the better of him in the fight) and we're going to have one 5-minute overtime round.
Round 3: Round three begins like the last two with Igor in the center and Barreto circling. Igor is throwing some legkicks and Barreto's are being blocked. The announcement comes that three minutes are left, meaning those last two sentences completely describe the first two minutes of the round. Igor seems frustrated and moves in but this gives Barreto the chance to take him to the ground. Carlos has Igor down in the corner and again Vovchanchyn is holding down Barreto's head and arm. One minute remains in the fight and Baretto continues to lay on Igor and throw some occasional punches, namely weak hammerfists. That time is now up and the fight is over with little action throughout. Winner: Igor Vovchanchyn, Decision, 25 minutes. I believe the first split decision in PRIDE history.
Igor probably won the fight but this is one of those rare circumstances where the wrong person won but you agree with it. Igor clearly won Rd1. Rd2 was fairly close but due to the takedown and lay-and-pray of Barreto you have to give it to him. Then Rd3 is supposed to be an overtime with the slate cleared and neither man did any damage except Barreto taking Igor down and peppering some shots. By PRIDE rules Barreto should have won this fight but with any modern rules Igor did more to win. Bad decision (via the rules) but an acceptable one. Both Bas and Stephen believe Carlos Barreto should have won as well.
- Match 4: Guy Mezger vs Akira Shoji
Guy Mezger comes in as a King of Pancrase, making his PRIDE debut with a 4-1 UFC record, losing to Tito Ortiz in his last fight at UFC 19 in the famous match that caused the tension with Ken Shamrock. Shoji comes in at 2-1-2, having fought in all 5 previous PRIDE events.
Round 1: Bas points out Mezger is wearing Pancrase shin pads, which will soften his opponents blow but will also do the same to his own shots. Shoji goes for a clinch and Mezger switches it into the ropes as they both have an underhook. Mezger has Shoji in the corner and lands a couple of body shots. We separate and are back in the center with Mezger throwing a couple of kicks before we clinch again with Mezger putting Shoji in the corner. Eventually he breaks and Shoji throws a couple of punches before we're back in the center of the ring. Nice legkick by Shoji as Mezger again looks to clinch for whatever reason in the corner. We're back in the middle as Shoji misses with a shot and Mezger takes his back, only to run him into the ropes pro wrestling style and have Shoji grab them. The ref finally gets Shoji to let go and Mezger slams him on his face before Shoji hops back up immediately and is clinched into the ropes again. Shoji switches position and briefly has double underhooks before catching a Mezger knee and the ref restarts them in the center. Mezger throws a couple of punches and then takes Shoji back into the corner where there is no action. Restarted, Mezger tries a combination that misses and we have one minute left in the round. Mezger again clinches Shoji into the corner where Shoji knees Mezger in the balls causing a very brief stoppage. It seems as though Mezger's strategy is to clinch and then throw weak one-twos once the break happens, this has caused a very boring first round. Mezger hits a leg kick and a punch to end the round. Both Bas and Stephen give the round to Mezger but really neither man did absolutely anything to win it. Perhaps Mezger came out on top but I'd call it a draw.
Round 2: Mezger takes center of the ring and pushes the action but Shoji gets the immediate takedown. Shoji stays low in the guard while Mezger pins both of his arms under his own shoulders. Mezger attempts the sweep while Shoji chin slams into Mezger's chest. Mezger now has a full, closed guard while Shoji is doing very little from the top except the occasional punch. Mezger finally works his hips into a favorable position and then pushes Shoji off of him to get to his feet and we're back in the center of the ring. Mezger stalks Shoji into the corner and when Akira backs away he lands a couple of strikes. Mezger continues to go for a bodylock in the corner for no apparent reason and lands a couple of body shots. We're all curious why Guy keeps looking to clinch up instead of straight kickbox in the middle. The referee breaks them up and we're back to striking in the center. Mezger again clinches Shoji into the corner and knees him in the thigh. Shoji attempts a guillotine standing but Mezger just pops his head back up and lands a couple of body shots. No action except dueling right hands to the body so the ref stops them and restarts them standing in the center. Wide shot by Mezger leads to another clinch attempt but when Shoji backs away Mezger hits a high kick. Three minutes left in the second round as Mezger again stalks and body clinches in the corner. Shoji fights out and we're in the center again. Wild left hand misses by Shoji but it leads to double underhooks and a trip takedown in the middle of the ring. Both announcers agree that despite the takedown, Mezger has it won. Shoji is in Mezger's full guard with little action before Shoji makes a great move, sliding into side mount and then flipping immediately into full mount. Shoji goes crazy with strikes but Mezger simply flips to his stomach and slides out. Shoji misses with two strikes as the bell rings to end the second round but this doesn't stop Akira from throwing 4 or 5 more wild punches after the bell and needing to be restrained by the referee.
Both announcers seem to believe Mezger did enough to win but I don't feel either did enough, Mezger might have landed some extra strikes but then he simply body locked with no extra damage afterwards. The officials call it a draw and we're going, again, to the overtime round.
Round 3: Despite Quadros' suggestion of "just box" for Mezger, he goes for a bodylock but gets flipped around in the corner by Shoji, who gets double underhooks but it separated by the ref. Mezger again with a bodylock as the crowd boos. Opposing Mezger's random bodylocks, Shoji goes for a takedown but gets stuffed and winds up in north-south briefly before both men go back up. Immediately back on the feet, Shoji gets the trip takedown. One minute left in the fight and very little action. Shoji is still on top just holding Mezger down the best he can. Shoji gets his back for about half of a second before he turns and we're back on the feet. Mezger attacks him into the corner with a left high kick leading to another bodylock with no action in the corner. Mezger lets go and throws a weak side kick to the end the fight. Winner: Akira Shoji, Decision, 25 minutes. Split decision, our second in a row.
The fight could really have went either way and no one could complain. I personally would have ruled the fight a draw as neither man did much of anything to win. Pretty boring fight with little action, Guy threw a lot of missed kickboxing attempts while Shoji didn't do anything to woo the audience at all. While people could argue Guy pulled out the first two rounds he didn't do enough to put it away and in the overtime period Shoji probably did take it home. Pretty boring fight but no argument to a blah decision.
- Match 5: Gary Goodridge vs Naoya Ogawa
Naoya Ogawa, a 1992 Olympic Judo silver medalist and NJPW wrestler, makes his PRIDE debut. Gary Goodridge is 2-2 in PRIDE, coming off a win over Chief Andre Roberts at UFC 19, his last UFC appearance.
Round 1: Goodridge starts with huge combinations which seem to confuse Ogawa, almost sending him to his knees and looking for a bodylock. Goodridge with huge, wild haymakers before pressing him into the ropes and throwing some knees. Ogawa with a couple of punches (one of which lands flush) and then he gets the underhooks, leading Goodridge to grab the ropes to avoid the takedown but when the ref stops him we're down on the ground with Ogawa on top. Ogawa immediately looks for the Americana but Gary defends, quickly giving up full mount before bucking and taking top position. Ogawa looks for the triangle choke but Gary pushes out. Ogawa now quickly goes for an arm from his back but Goodridge continues to hold him down. Gary stands up in the guard and acts like he's going for a leglock but then drops down to a kneebar which surprises roughly every single person watching. He can't flatten the knee and Ogawa moves to top position and into side mount looking for a keylock. Ogawa again looks for a keylock in the sidemount but Gary pushes him off and gives up his back. Ogawa goes for the hooks and lands a punch to the head of Goodridge. He now peppers shots to the head of Big Daddy in the corner while holding his back. Gary flips over to his back and gets half guard but Ogawa quickly improves into full mount and unloads a few punches. Ogawa with uncontested hammerfists on Goodridge before Gary uses the ropes to push him off and back into sidemount. Ogawa again goes for the arm but Gary spins back out and is again mounted. Ogawa tries to pin the arms of Goodridge as he lands shots, either Goodridge is completely out of energy or the fix is in. Ogawa now landing some half contested shots to Goodridge still in the full mount as he seems to be looking for an armbar. It doesn't work and he's back in the side mount. One minute left in the round and Ogawa is in Goodridge's half guard. Ogawa again goes for the armbar but again it doesn't work so he begins to unload devastating hammerfists to the face of Goodridge. The bell rings with Ogawa dominating Goodridge, this round wasn't even close.
Round 2: Ogawa has a cut on his nose while Goodridge has a very bloody lip. Gary starts the round by throwing three or four hard punches, each of which Ogawa ducks down for and backs away. After another punch by Ogawa, Goodridge gets taken down and immediately put into a keylock where he can't help but tap. Winner: Naoya Ogawa, submission (keylock), 0:36 of Rd2. Ogawa raises Goodridge's hand and then straps on his pro wrestling belt.
- Match 6: Kazushi Sakuraba vs Ebenezer Fontes Braga
Sakuraba comes in at 3-0-1 in PRIDE with all four being very entertaining bouts. In his last outing he destroying Vitor Belfort in route to a simple decision win. Braga makes his PRIDE debut as an already well known and traveled Vale Tudo fighter that was well versed in Muay Thai and submissions. Among his many stops, months earlier he defeated Jeremy Horn by submission in his lone UFC appearance.
Round 1: They feel each other out but Sakuraba surprisingly takes the center position though with caution. They clinch and Braga grabs his back so Saku does his old standby of leaning his body between the first and second rope while trying to isolate an arm. Braga drags him near the corner and then lets go and throws a strong high kick that misses. Saku flies in with two or three punches to the clinch where Braga gets the dominate position against the ropes. From the clinch, Braga lands a hard knee to the face and then separates with a vicious high kick which just skims Saku's retracting face like he's in The Matrix. Saku flies in for a takedown but Braga sprawls and unloads a right-left combo to Saku's head as he clinches him again into the ropes. In the center they exchange some kicks that miss until Sakuraba shoots in and gets a single leg takedown in the center of the ring. Braga immediately attempts a triangle but Saku pulls himself up and gets back to his feet over Ebenezer. Sakuraba does a showy jump in place right over Braga, allowing Ebenezer to hop back to his feet. Wild left misses by Saku so Braga goes on the offensive, unloading several punches and then sprawling to get the clinch into the corner. Another knee by Braga separates the two into the center before Sakuraba gets another nice single leg takedown in the middle. A second triangle attempt by Braga is unsuccessful so Sakuraba takes advantage of the situation and tries to achieve side mount. He's stopped by the ropes so they're restarted near the center where Ebenezer gets half guard back. They exchange some petty shots on the ground before Sakuraba is able to work his way out of the half guard and eventually take Braga's back. A failed RNC attempt later and Braga fights his way out and back to his feet. The have a brief exchange on the feet when Sakuraba attempts another takedown but with Saku at his feet, Braga attempts a reverse triangle. Sakuraba fights his head out and gets side mount on the ground very briefly before Braga flips out and attains full guard. Sakuraba lands a strong left hand and then passes again to side mount where he looks for an armbar. Braga has nice defense and is immediately gets out but Saku is back in the side mount. Sakuraba lands some hard strikes from the side mount, just enough in fact to get Braga to bring his arm up to block them. This of course was the strategy and Saku grabs the arm and moves straight into an armbar. It's not straight at first and Braga tries to fight his way out but loses his grip and is forced to tap. Winner: Kazushi Sakuraba, submission (armbar), 9:23 of Rd1. Excellent and entertaining fight both way though Sakuraba did have the advantage pretty much the entire way.
This match also marked the fourth Brazilian that Sakuraba had handled and soon this would ignite the Saku/Gracie series.
After the fight, UFC Champion Frank Shamrock enters the ring. As a timetable, this was just before Shamrock's win over Tito Ortiz, his last Ultimate Fighting Championship appearance. Shamrock says he wants to throw his hat in the ring and believes PRIDE has the best fighters in the world…. probably not a good sign for re-signing him if you‘re the UFC. He states that he'd like to fight Enson Inoue, Akira Shoji, and Sakuraba (still in the ring mind you and giving a smile). He says he'll "see (the fans) soon", which of course he won't because he's a pompous jackass. What? I'm being totally objective.
- Match 7: Nobuhiko Takada vs Mark Kerr
Mark Kerr comes in undefeated and widely considered the best fighter in the world. Takada comes off of his… match…. with Mark Coleman.
Round 1: Takada comes charging at Kerr, which probably isn't the best strategy. Kerr gets double underhooks before picking him up and slamming him down. This only lasts a couple of seconds however as Kerr was off-balance for the takedown and Takada immediately jumps back up. Takada attacks with some legkicks but Kerr just grabs him and flings him back to the ground, this time holding him in a side mount before Takada works back into the full guard. Takada kicks him off, which is ridiculous, but Kerr just charges in and slams him back down for the third time. Kerr works into the side mount and isolates an arm which he twists until Takada taps out. Winner: Mark Kerr, submission (kimura), 3:04 of Rd1. Easy, dominating win for Kerr and his first without some strange happenstance to go along with it. Well…. except for the fact he was fighting Takada in general.
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FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Carlos Newton vs Daijiro Matsui
NON-FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Guy Mezger vs Akira Shoji
The 411: 5/10. Four 25-minute decisions probably aren't the best way to start out any card but they all weren't necessarily bad and had something different to offer. Newton/Matsui was a fantastic back and forth while your Igor/Barreto could have went either way. Newton/Matsui, along with Saku/Braga, made this card completely. Without those it's a 3/10 absolute tops.
