PRIDE or DIE: The History of PRIDE Fighting Championship - PRIDE 1

Posted by Randy Harrison on 04.15.2008

PRIDE Fighting Championship may be gone, but it continues to live on here at 411mania.com! It's the debut edition of PRIDE Or Die, and we're going ALLLLLL the way back to the beginning for PRIDE 1. Rickson Gracie main events against the most famous Japanese wrestler of the time, while Kimo and Dan Severn have a match for the ages. Bear in mind, I didn't say a GOOD match.

Welcome to the newest video review column, PRIDE or Die: The History of PRIDE Fighting Championship. I'm Randy Harrison, the author of The Sprawl and Brawl Video Review, and Five Rounds of News, as well as various other reviews and reports and things around the site. Before there is a massive groundswell of hate from the tens and tens of fans of The Sprawl and Brawl, I assure you that it is not disappearing, or even going on hiatus. The Sprawl and Brawl will be moving to Wednesdays to allow for these retro-PRIDE reviews to serve as a bit of a companion piece to McEwen's always interesting and entertaining History of the UFC reviews. These reviews will serve to give some historical perspective to the newer fans of the sport who might not have known just what PRIDE was or how influential the company has been in the history of Mixed Martial Arts. To know where PRIDE ended up though, one must go back to the beginning and see how it was created.

PRIDE Fighting Championship was originally intended to be a one-time card, with the intention of matching famed Japanese pro-wrestler, Nobuhiko Takada, against the vaunted Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu legend and undefeated Vale Tudo superstar, Rickson Gracie, in a one-on-one contest, the main event of this particular review. Based on the success of this event, both in live attendance and televison ratings, more shows followed and PRIDE began competing with popular kickboxing promotion K-1 on monthly television in Japan, as well as on pay-per-view. The rules at these early stages were a little sketchy, seemingly changing from fight to fight, and the early PRIDE shows also featured some kickboxing matches, which I will be refraining from reviewing, unless something extremely entertaining takes place. In these early shows and even until the end of PRIDE, there was no set rules pertaining to clothing to be worn in the ring, as fighters could wear the gi of their respective martial arts, fight shorts, wrestling shoes, knee or elbow supports, or anything else, so long as it was checked by the referees and officials prior to the fight. As the rules pull more into focus in the later shows, we'll go over them then, but for now we'll take it fight by fight as they're needed. Also of note in the early shows, there was no judge's decisions and any fights that went to the time limit were deemed draws.

With that, it's time to get this bad boy underway, so strap yourselves in as we take a ride through the tumultuous, influential, and highly entertaining history of PRIDE Fighting Championship!


PRIDE 1

This event took place in Tokyo, Japan on October 11, 1997 at the famed Tokyo Dome. Stephen Quadros and Bas Rutten are your announcers for all of the MMA action, although these commentaries have been dubbed in after the fact for these early shows. At certain times it's more obvious then at others, but you can tell that it's been dubbed in as Bas and Stephen even make it a bit of a running gag on occasion. Crazy little seizure-inducing opening video of a fighter standing menacingly in an empty warehouse with about a million jump cuts and flashing lights, all set to some sort of Japanese techno music. Interesting note in that I don't believe it was called PRIDE yet, and the ring features the letters KRS, which stands for Kakutougi Revolution Spirits, the company who put on this initial show.



Match One:
Kazunari Murakami vs. John Dixon

Murakami is outweight by Dixon by about seventy-five pounds in this fight, so he's going to have to use some speed to be sure. Murakami sports a Nike swoosh shirt under his gi as he's getting ready for the fight, showing just how far MMA has come in the past decade. Nowadays, he'd have a shirt with a hundred paid sponsors on, not a shirt that he grabbed out of the workout clothes section in his personal closet. Dixon is rocking an interesting bicycle shorts and cutoff t-shirt look, seeming more suited for a toughman competition than MMA.


Round One

In the pre-fight instructions Bas talks about seeing Dixon fight previously in Kiev, Russia on the same card as some guy named Igor Vovchanchyn. Yeah, that guy sounds like a nobody. Honestly, that's like going to Liverpool in the 60's to watch a concert and seeing Clive James and the Scotsmen, along with some opening act named The Beatles. Quadros Stating The Obvious, Part One: "Well, it looks like Murakami is the smaller of the men, definitely". Thanks for that one, Fight Professor. The bell rings and Murakami rushes to the middle of the ring with a flailing combination and Dixon clinches for a moment before they separate with Dixon landing a kick to the body. Takedown from Dixon and he's on top of Murakami in half-guard, landing a couple shots to the body. Murakami tries for a brdige or a sweep but Dixon is JUST TOO FAT to get over. Dixon lays on top of Murakami and then backs up out of the guard and gets the fight back to its feet. Murakami circles and bounces before they clinch and Murakami gets a TREMENDOUS judo throw, sending Dixon flying through the air. Murakmi lands in side control, moving to sit on top of Dixon's head and then transitioning to a straight armbar in relatively short order.


Winner: Kazunari Murakami, submission (armbar) at 1:34 of Round One


Well, that was rather quick and decisive. Murakami used technique and speed to overwhelm Dixon and after the match Murakami is presented with a trophy that is almost bigger than he is. Quadros talks about how MMA is better than boxing because Dixon quit the fight with honor and didn't have to suffer any brain damage or die from the fight. I think that Stephen has watched Rocky IV one too many times, though I get the point he's trying to make.



Match Two:
Oleg Taktarov vs. Gary Goodridge

Two former UFC veterans are set to tangle in this fight, with Taktarov being the winner of UFC 6, choking out Tank Abbot in the final bout, while Goodridge made it all the way to the finals of UFC 8 before being stopped by Don Frye. They'll both be looking to recapture some of that past glory and begin to make their way back up the MMA ladder in this fight, which is a bit of a coup for PRIDE to be able to put on, less than a year removed from both fighters' biggest successes.


Round One

Classic grappler vs. striker match-up here and they circle for the first thirty seconds or so with nothing of note happening except for Goodridge flicking out a jab on occasion. Hard leg kick from Goodridge and Taktarov throws a punch at the same time, knocking Goodridge off-balance and onto his ass. Goodridge scrambles to his feet and they're swinging wildly against the ropes for a moment before separating to the center of the ring. GOOD left hook lands flush for Taktarov as we see on a close-up that he's already been cut under his left eye. More circling with Goodridge taunting Taktarov and trying to goad him into throwing a punch by keeping his hands down, but Oleg won't take the bait. Goodridge misses a combination and Taktarov is suddenly bleeding from another cut on his scalp. STIGMATA!! They trade punches again with Goodridge landing a HUGE right hook that puts Taktarov down and he lands a couple more rights before landing some hammerfists. Taktarov gets free and is in the butt-scoot position with Goodridge standing over him while Bas notes that Goodridge was coming all over Taktarov in that exchange. Ew. Goodridge lands a glancingly NASTY head kick that if it had connected full-force might have bounced Oleg's head off of the roof of the dome. They stay in this butt-scooting boogie for another minute before Taktarov gets back up to his feet. Goodridge does mroe taunting with a low guard and Taktarov tries to shoot inf or a takedown, but Goodridge sprawls out of it well and pushes Taktarov away. Goodridge with a little head movement and they come together in the middle of the ring before GOODRIDGE CRUSHES A RIGHT HAND TO THE TEMPLE OF TAKTAROV!! OLEG IS OUT COLD!! Unfortunately, he eats three more hard right hands before the referee steps in to stop the fight.


Winner: Gary Goodridge, KO at 4:57 of Round One


After the match, Goodridge beats his chest and screams like King Kong on top of the Empire State Building while Taktarov lays supine with his face buried in the mat, unconscious and looking like he's in training for the Russian Skeleton team in the '98 Winter Olympics. The man is literally laying there like a CPR dummy, not moving. Wait, his head twitched, he should be alright. Goodridge is hobbling a little and then getting some treatment in the ring for his right foot, which he thinks is broken. Probably from that kick to the head that barely landed. Replays show that Oleg's corner threw in the towel, just in case the referee wasn't going to see fit to stop the fight after those two extra crushing right hands. Gary's cornerman brings a touch of class to the proceedings by taking pictures of Taktarov's lifeless carcass as they stretcher him out of the ring. Seriously, the man hasn't regained consciousness since he got smoked, so let's take a picture or four to make sure we remember this moment forever. Or maybe he was just being polite and taking them for Taktarov to view later when he's trying to piece together why ten minutes of his life went missing.



Match Three:
Akira Shoji vs. Renzo Gracie

The rules change slightly for this fight, with it being contested in three, ten-minute rounds, rather than one, thirty-minute round as every other fight is apparently being fought tonight. This is also the first fight where both men appear to be of a similar weight, which is nice for a change. Shoji was a virtual unknown at this point in the MMA world, while Gracie was thought of as the second most dangerous fighter in the world, after Rickson. Quadros talks about Gracie's last fight, which took place two weeks before this fight, against Eugenio Tadeu. That fight ended in one of the scariest riots I've ever seen, and for Gracie to be looking so calm and fighting again two weeks after nearly being killed says a lot about just how bad a man he is.


Round One

Circling to start out and Gracie flicks out a couple of left jabs before they settle and bounce around the ring a little. Gracie shoots in and gets a bodylock, with Shoji playing keep-away from referee Yuji Shimada, using the arm the referee can't see to hold the ropes and avoid the takedown. HEEL SHOJI!! Gracie finally yanks Shoji out of the corner a little and takes him down with a trip, almost taking the back before ending up inthe mount on top of Shoji in the corner. Shoji ends up wiggling out under the bottom rope a little and the referees come in to drag them back to the center of the ring. Shoji tries to buck Gracie off but it does nothing and Shoji rolls to give up his back. Gracie has both hooks in and sinks in the rear naked choke, with Shoji standing up and carrying Gracie on his back before rolling out through the ropes, onto the apron and down to the floor. Quadros calls it clever strategy on the part of Shoji, while I call it panicked desperation to avoid getting choked out. Potato, potahto I suppose. They restart the fight standing up and they're back to circling with Gracie throwing a body kick and Shoji landing a couple of punches off of it. They're back to the clinch with Shoji holding double-underhooks and they struggle in the corner for a good minute or two with no real movement one way or the other. Gracie grabs a shoulder crank or a half-guillotine but it's not there and he lets it go to fight against the takedown again. Gracie is bone-dry in the corner, calm and collected while Shoji is sweating like a baby daddy on the Maury show. More clinching in the corner until Renzo jumps guard on a guillotine, with one of Shoji's arms in. Shoji fights and pops his head out, to a roar from the crowd, landing some short right hands to the head. He works over Gracie's ribs with the odd body shot, but they just kind of lay there until the round is over. Shoji survived the round, but Gracie thirved and this is his fight to lose.


Round Two

They bounce around and circle again to start the round and Gracie tries to throw a combination but it misses and they go back to circling each other. Gracie shoots in for a takedown but Shoji does REALLY well to sprawl out and reverse it, putting Renzo onto his back. Shoji in the full guard of Gracie and they lay in that position for a couple of minutes before Gracie brings up a rubber guard and uses that to lock in an omaplata that Shoji is able to struggle free from. Gracie on his back with Shoji standing above him and the crowd seems to really be enjoying Shoji's fighting spirit so far. Renzo gets back to his feet after a little inactivity and they continue to circle each other with Shoji flicking out a jab here and there. Gracie throws a leg kick and Shoji fires back with one of his own that lands HARD on the outside of Gracie's left thigh. Renzo shoots in for a single-leg and Shoji sprawls out of it well, fighing it until he's out under the ropes and they reset the fighters nearer to the middle of the ring. Gracie gets the takedown almost immediately off of the restart and Shoji has the full guard with control of Gracie's head and body. Gracie gets the mount and Shoji scrambles onto his hands and knees. Gracie takes the back and nearly locks in an armbar and Shoji shrugs him off to the mat, to another roar from the crowd. Gracie laying on his back again with Shoji standing above him as Gracie tries to goad him down to the mat. Some patty-cake leg kicks land for Shoji and he bounces around in front of Gracie as Shoji tells him to get back to his feet. This continues ad nauseum until the bell sounds to end the second round. Again, a round that was Gracie's in terms of any type of scoring, but Shoji still managed to survive and get the fans behind him even further.


Round Three

Shoji is all fired up at the start of the third and they touch gloves before circling in the center of the ring. HARD leg kick from Shoji again to the left thigh of Gracie and they're back to circling before Gracie lands a grazing kick to the body. Shoji pulls back on a right hook and then hits another hard low kick, with Gracie's leg starting to bruise visibly already. More circling and dancing from both men and it looks like things are slowing down a LOT. Another low leg kick that lands for Shoji and Quadros talks about how for the day after and the week after those leg kicks HURT. I'd say that a kick that causes a bruise to form less than a minute later would hurt a lot, for a lot longer than that, but then again I'm a candy-ass. Gracie shoots in FAR from the outside and comes up short, with Shoji ending up on top of him, landing some knees to the head while Gracie is turtled on the mat. Renzo pulls Shoji into his guard and they lay for a couple of minutes in that position with Shoji landing the odd strike and Gracie trying for a kimura a couple of times. Knees to the ASS from Shoji and he's landing them right on the tailbone as Gracie tries for a kimura again, transitioning to the rubber guard to look for that omaplata again. A couple of right hands off of his back land for Gracie as he keeps trying for that rubber guard submission. Gracie gets a wonderful sweep and takes the mount, but Shoji rolls to his stomach and slips out the backdoor, pulling another cartoon-like escape. A close-up shows the NASTY bruise on the back of Gracie's left leg. Quadros Stating The Obvious Part Two: "He (Shoji) should go back to those low kicks". Lots more circling and feinting from both fighters and when the announcement is made for a minute left Shoji lands a HARD leg kick again and then stuffs a Gracie takedown attempt and ends up on top of Gracie, wailing away with short punches. Shoji almost takes the mount and ends up standing over a prone Gracie as the bell rings to end the fight.


Winner: None (technical draw)


The crowd was going nuts for Shoji during that closing sequence and after the match Gracie looks disappointed while Shoji looks like he's elated. They hug after the decision is announced as a draw and Shoji gets on the microphone and screams in Japanese REALLY LOUDLY!!! SHOJI!!!



Match Four:
Mitsuharu Kitao vs. Nathan Jones

This is famous for many reasons, the most important being that this is the first ever instance of a PRIDE Freakshow Match!! Both guys are well north of 300 pounds, with Kitao being perilously close to four bills. Jones is probably most well-known for his short stint in the WWE and not for any mixed martial arts career, so that should tell you how well the fight went for him. Koji Kitao though is also probably best known for his time in the then-WWF, working WrestleMania VII in a bout against Demolition. This was after he was banned from competing in sumo in Japan after allegedly bumping into one of his boss' wives and breaking her arm during a dispute with said boss. Quadros Stating The Obvious Part Three: "Look at these guys!! These guys are HUGE!!"


Round One

Kitao spits his mouthpiece out seconds after the bell rings and Jones comes out like a house on fire, circling and bouncing around Kitao before throwing a spinning back kick at Kitao's head. Nowhere near landing, but impressive nonetheless. High kick misses for Jones and he gets a front-facelock in on Kitao, although he doesn't know what to do with it at all, holding on but not coming anywhere near the submission. Jones tries a knee to the body and it gets caught, with Kitao taking him down and ending up on top in side control. Jones tries to bridge out or move from underneath but Kitao is..say it with me children...JUST TOO FAT! Jones' grunts of anguish from the bottom are eerily reminiscent of any prison rape scene in Oz, which probably hits close to home for Jones considering his prison time. Kitao gets a keylock on and Jones looks like he's panicking and taps out almost immediately.


Winner: Mitsuharu Kitao, submission ("keylock") at 2:14 of Round One


After the fight Jones is smiling and Kitao is yelling and either overcome with emotion, or feeling the effects of low blood sugar after not eating for the ten minutes it took him to fight. Quadros Stating The Obvious Part Four: "Uh, I don't know, I don't think we're going to see either of these guys breaking into the top ten." Replays show just how weak that keylock was as Bas explains that sometimes guys who aren't well-versed in submissions tap out, even if there isn't any pain because of the fear they have of breaking something. Good point Bas, but that hold barely looked like it was on. I'm not claiming work, but Jones was just terrible at MMA.



Match Five: Kickboxing Bout
Branko Cikatic vs. Ralph White

Remember how I said I wouldn't be covering the kickboxing matches unless something exciting happened. Well, something exciting happens in this one, and it features Branko Cikatic, a fighter that we'll be seeing again a little further down the road. Branko is a K-1 kickboxing champion and apparently runs a security business in his native Croatia.


Round One

Shitty move from Branko as he touches gloves then goes for a spinning back kick to the body. Unbeknownst to me, this will be the first of many shitty moves for Branko in the next couple of reviews. White fires back with a couple of body kicks and they circle around, feinting and throwing leg kicks. More circling and combinations thrown by both men until Branko lands a right hand and then follows it up with a shin kick to the face while White is on his hands and knees. Branko runs to a neutral corner and literally seconds after taking that strike, White has a gigantic knot on his head about the size of a golf ball. Quadros and Bas start joking about the knot being from Scanners or the Alien movie. Quadros Stating The Obvious Part Five: "That must hurt". White is getting checked out by the referee and by the doctors while Quadros and Bas continue to mock and laugh at the situation, comparing it to the Rocky movie when Rocky gets his eye cut to stop the swelling so he can see. They see the replay and both respond with "OW!!!" and they're amazed that he's not knocked out from that shot. White's cornerman is PISSED as Bas and Quadros both relate stories about Branko's past including him causing a near-riot with illegal strikes in Holland, and trying to start a fight with Dennis Alexio in the locker room after they fought in the ring in Las Vegas. That thing is growing more and more and starting to look REALLY disgusting. More replays of the shin to the dome and it's not getting any easier to watch the more times they show it. White's cornerman continues to protest for a disqualification and Branko does a little shadow-boxing and bouncing around while White continues to sit in his corner and look like a human experiment with this MASSIVE lump growing and throbbing out of his head. Branko then looks SHOCKED...absolutely SHOCKED that he's being disqualified for an illegal strike before heading over to apologize to White and the two men shake hands.


Winner: Ralph White, disqualification (general Cikatic jackassery)


How Branko ever got another fight I'll never know, but he did and we'll be seeing him again in next week's review. Last I heard, White got that unborn fetus removed from his head and continued on with his kickboxing career. Check it out for yourself and see one of the wildest injuries in MMA and kickboxing history.





Match Six:
Kimo Leopoldo vs. Dan Severn

Kimo and Severn were both UFC veterans and had until recently been fighters in the UFC stables, so this was a bit of a coup again for PRIDE, as they got two of the more famous heavyweight fighters of the early UFC era to face off on their supershow in the Tokyo Dome. Severn is famous for his wins in the early UFC tournaments, while Kimo is famous for his loss against Royce Gracie at UFC 3, the fight that caused Gracie to withdraw from the tournament and end his run as two-time UFC champion. Before anyone asks, yes it is THAT fight, and I am going to fix myself a drink because I figure I'll need it. Scotch and water for those of you scoring at home.


Round One

I'll try my best to break the tedium into palatable paragraphs, but I'm almost inclined not to since I have to suffer through watching this fight again. Kimo comes out ready and Severn lands a couple of jabs before they clinch a little and separate into the center of the ring to circle. Circling and jabbing abounds from both men and we're over a minute in with no strikes of consequence landing. Kimo throws wild haymakers every once in a while and misses all of them while Severn shoots in for a double-leg against the corner pad and tries to bodylock Kimo down. Bas gets in a good line calling it the "Clash of the Kittens" while Kimo and Severn paw and slap at each other. They move to separate in the middle of the ring and Kimo misses another CRAZY haymaker while Bas and Quadros compare the fight to a Toughman contest. I get up to fix myself drink number two at five minutes in and still nothing of note has happened. More wild Kimo punches that miss and more circling and stalling from Severn mark the next two or three minutes of "action". I think I might need to move on to doubles soon just to be able to sit through this fight. Severn shoots for a takedown but misses it and they're right back to circling as Kimo gives Severn a kick in the junk. Bas compares Severn to Freddie Mercury and Quadros brings up that Tank Abbot said that about Severn on commentary at earlier UFC events in a somewhat more derogatory sense. The crowd starts to get on them a little and gets vocal about their displeasure while Quadros sounds more and more frustrated. I give up on the fight for a couple of minutes to watch a bit of the hockey game (Detroit winning 2-1 in the second period, by the way) and come back to find that I've missed nothing. Past the twelve minute mark and Severn begins to circle faster as I decide it's time for drink number three. Quadros talks about how Kimo is slapping at Severn with a downward slap and Severn shoots in for a takedown, which Kimo stuffs. Kimo swinging wildly and missing as Severn lands a good right hand and they've filled their action quota for the next three or four minutes. Quadros calls the fight a dance contest as Bas gives them both strategies on how to strike and land some punches. Severn gets a REALLY deep takedown attempt but Kimo manages to sprawl out of it again and they're back to separated in the middle of the ring. Halfway through the thirty-minute time limit and I can count on one hand the number of strikes that both men have landed up to this point. Bas is confused by the rules as he was expecting three, ten-minute rounds. Quadros: "Both men continue to box…. or at least throw punches towards one another. I don't know that it's boxing." Rutten: "I'm speechless right now." Yeah, you and me both Bas, let's go have another drink! Scotch and water number four is on its way as Quadros sounds almost exasperated by the whole ordeal before saying that he'd like to see women's boxing over this fight. OOOOOH SNAP!! They almost throw more punches in the ring, but that's over quick enough and they're back to dancing and menacing each other. Severn shoots in with a bodylock and gets a good knee to the body in the corner for the first meaningful strike of the contest, and only nineteen minutes in. Cue the slow, sarcastic clapping now. Kimo is cut on his forehead and Bas and Quadros both seem shocked as to how that could have happened. STIGMATA!!! The cut on Kimo's forehead has closed itself up as Kimo lands a left hook that didn't have much on it. Severn responds with a short right hand and the audience has seen enough, yelling at both fighters to throw something.....ANYTHING!!! Severn with a DEEP shot and it misses and Quadros talks about how in the old days of the UFC with no time limits on the fights he ended up missing the end of UFC 4 when the main event ran over the alotted PPV time. That could happen now and I wouldn't be too disappointed actually, so thanks for planting the seed of hope Quadros. Severn SLAPS at Kimo. SLAPS AT HIM LIKE KIMO STOLE HIS BOYFRIEND THE WEEK BEFORE HOMECOMING!! I've seen thirteen year old girls fight with more passion than this. Kimo throws a leg kick that lands and then gets his leg caught on the next one and dumped on his ass. Severn ends up in side control but they end up restarted on their feet for some godawful reason. Quadros Stating The Obvious Part Six: "Marathon of Inactivity". Yeah, that would be the best way to describe this fight. No wait, I take it back because TORTURE would be a better way to describe it. Bas and Quadros are bored to tears as the circling in the ring continues and they just start talking about random stuff. Onwards to scotch number FIVE!!! Five minutes left in the fight now, and the crowd cheers the announcement. Severn with a deep single-leg shot and Kimo sprawls out of it, and they end up back on their feet. Quadros: "Don't stop to re-adjust your kneepads, PUNCH HIM!!" Leg kick from Kimo lands and Quadros says that this fight isn't a sprint, but a jog. (3-2 Detroit early in the third period). Quadros Stating The Obvious Part Seven: "This is tedium personified". They trade punches and Severn slaps Kimo with a right and Kimo turns tail and runs like no one's business. They end up tangled in the ropes as Quadros makes me laugh using terms like "clawing away" as Severn tries for a late takedown. Severn gets a trip takedown with thirty seconds left in the fight and Severn moves to side mount, landing hammerfists and knees. Quadros Stating The Obvious Part Eight: "We wish we would have seen this twenty minutes ago, but we'll take it now". Severn with a couple of knees to the body and Severn throws more hammerfists until the bell rings to stop the fight.


Winner: None (technical draw)

Bas giggles as Quadros says that the fans are relieved that the fight is over and it's true. Quadros calls the fight a "draw" and he wonders why either man took the fight if their plan was to take the fight to the distance. Quadros: "We have a replay…. a replay of what, them slapping away?" Final scotch and water count, six, score of the hockey game, 3-2 Detroit with nine minutes left in the third period. Now let us never speak of this again.



Match Seven:
Rickson Gracie vs.Nobuhiko Takada

This is the fight that everyone was here to see. The Vale Tudo and Jiu-jitsu master in Gracie, putting his purported record of 300+ wins with no losses up against the popular Japanese puroresu star in Takada. Gracie is bald with a shaved head and looking like an absolute BAD-ASS. They play the Brazilian and Japanese national anthems before the fight starts, like it's the Olympics or something, in a really cool touch. Quadros talks about Gracie's "behind closed doors" fights that happened back in Brazil in the old days. He talks about the Japan Vale Tudo tournaments that Gracie won, the second of which is featured in the stellar documentary film "Choke". Quadros tip-toes around the Yoji Anjo story, without actually giving any details, leaving it up to me to fill you all in. Yoji Anjo had famously been challenging Rickson before showing up at the Gracie dojo with a camera crew. Anjo was let into the dojo, sans cameras, and when the cameras were actually let in a few minutes later, Anjo was a broken, bloody heap, choked out on the floor of the dojo. Moral of the story: you don't FUCK with Rickson Gracie.


Round One

Gracie has his hands down near his chest, throwing a front kick out at Takada but missing it. Takada circles to his right and tries to avoid Gracie as much as humanly possible. I would think the best way to avoid him would have been to not sign the contract. Takada actually starts RUNNING in circles around the ring and looks petrified. Takada changes it up and circles TO THE LEFT! STRATEGY!! Takada lands a low kick and the crowd ERUPTS! Another leg kick gets checked by Gracie and Gracie lands a jab and then gets a clinch on Takada in the corner. Takada hangs onto the ropes to avoid the takedown and Gracie looks PISSED. They shake hands again and Gracie front kicks at the leg of Takada again and the fight ends up on the ground with Gracie getting a SLAM on Takada and taking full mount. Right hands to the side of the head from Gracie and he crossfaces Takada's head down to the mat. Lefts to the body land for Gracie and he peppers them in there as Takada tries a buck but it is nowhere NEAR working. Takada is hanging on for dear life at this point and Gracie finally puts him out of his misery, slapping on the armbar and ending the fight. Takada lays on the mat in considerable pain, clutching at his elbow as the Gracie clan comes in and kisses and hugs all over their hero.


Winner: Rickson Gracie, submission (armbar) at 4:47 of Round One


Gracie doesn't look terribly excited with the win and we see Yoji Anjo in the corner of Takada and Quadros touches a little more on the story, but not much. He touts Gracie's strategy and execution as perfect and it really was. Gracie bows to the crowd and that's it for PRIDE 1!!

The 411: Interesting enough to see where it all began, but the action was slower than slow and mostly non-existent for the night. No compelling match-ups and the fights were either boring, slow decisions or total squashes. The Gracie fights are interesting to watch, just to see them working at their finest, but that's not enough to save this one from Dudsville. I guess things that end with a whimper can begin with them too.

Final Score:  3.5   [ Bad ]