PRIDE or DIE: The History of PRIDE Fighting Championship - PRIDE 3
Posted by Randy Harrison on 04.29.2008
Gary Goodridge taunts, Daiju Takase runs like hell, and Mark Kerr gets another less than sportsmanlike opponent. All of this, along with Kazushi Sakuraba and Carlos Newton putting on one of the greatest grappling displays in MMA history, is only one click away!
Three months after the success of PRIDE 2 (financially, not artistically because quite frankly the fights were terrible), we move to the Nippon Budokan for PRIDE 3. Kazushi Sakuraba is back, along with Mark Kerr, Gary Goodridge and the usual cast of characters from these early PRIDE shows. The main event for this show is a fight between the famous Japanese puroresu star, Nobuhiko Takada and Kyle Sturgeon, who as far as I can tell was possibly working at a train station somewhere in Tokyo when the PRIDE folks asked if he wanted to make some quick money. It should be an interesting show and hopefully with a little more action than the last one. Stephen Quadros and Bas Rutten are at "ringside" set for the play-by-play, so let's get right to the ring!
PRIDE 3
Match One:
Daijiro Matsui vs. Akira Shoji
Shoji is the veteran of both previous PRIDE cards, drawing Renzo Gracie and getting a submission win over Juan Mott last time out. Matsui is an MMA newcomer that Bas Rutten has heard some great things about apparently. Matsui also comes from the same camp as Kazushi Sakuraba, the Takada dojo. He also has Caol Uno in his corner.
Round One
The bell rings and they circle a little with the referee already calling for action. Matsui tries a single-leg but Shoji sprawls out of it and gets a nifty little one-two combination to the face. Another shot from Matsui and Shoji sprawls away from it, kneeing at Matsui and then pushing off to get the fight back to the feet. A kick from Mastui misses and they trade combinations before Shoji sidesteps a takedown attempt and takes Matsui's back. He hammers away with some rights and ends up nearly pushing Matsui out of the ring through the ropes. Either that or Matsui studied up on Shoji's technique against Gracie. Matsui starts peppering away with left hands while he's hanging almost all the way out of the ring and the referees push him back into the ring. Matsui takes a couple of shots because he didn't bring his guard up on his way back to the ring and they go back to circling in the middle of the ring. Shoji stuffs another takedown and reverses it, putting Matsui onto his back and moving into side control. Shoji mounts for a moment but gets bucked off and we're back onto the feet with Shoji sprawling away from another takedown attempt and front facelocks Matsui. Matsui is REALLLY telegraphing that takedown from a mile away, making Shoji's sprawl work relatively easy. Knee to the shoulder from Shoji and he rams his chin into the back of Matsui, striking with anything he can. Matsui back to his feet and Shoji gets a couple of good knees before Matsui fires back with some inside punches. Shoji gets a takedown and works the half-guard against the ropes, moving to full mount and then taking Matsui's back. Matsui works free from it and takes a KICK IN THE ASS from Shoji, and another to the body, all while trying desperately to get the fight back to the ground. They both get back up to their feet and circle a little before Matsui throws a wild hook that misses. Into a bodylock in the corner and Shoji gets a trip takedown out of it, starting to work from Matsui's full guard. Short punches from both as Matsui holds Shoji close before Shoji postures up to throw a couple of hard shots. Bas and Quadros talk about how this fight is what people really want to see and that these are the kinds of guys that the fans want to see fight. They really put over both as having competitive spirit and that it's a battle of wills. Shoji and Matsui circle a little more and Shoji stuffs another Matsui takedown attempt in the corner right at the bell. Shoji did a great job avoiding the takedowns and using top position and held the advantage for nearly the entire round.
Round Two
Shoji was GUZZLING water in the corner and looks a little tired, as Matsui bounces around fresh. They touch gloves and Matsui fires off a leg kick before Shoji gets the bodylock into a trip takedown. They move them to the center of the ring away from the ropes and restart the action as Matsui lands some heel strikes in the full guard. Shoji backs out of the guard and Matsui finally pops back to his feet after a moment, with the referee calling for action again. They circle and Matsui scores again with the leg kick before they go back to circling each other. Matsui shoots in again and misses on it, allowing Shoji to take his back and they scramble with Matsui ending up on top and in Shoji's full guard. Great move from Matsui there to get himself out of trouble. Matsui postures up but gets kicked away and the fight is back to its feet with Matsui landing a GOOD right hand. More circling as Shoji's hands are down to his hips, leading to another Matsui takedown attempt that gets stuffed. Shoji moves out of the sprawl and takes Matsui's back again, peppering his head and body with some right hands before the referees move them to point towards the center of the ring again. Shoji holds on tight as Matsui tries to grab a leg for a submission or reversal, shutting it down and maintaining back control. Matsui rolls to his back and ends up stuffed in the corner against the buckle, throwing some short punches and landing a HARD up kick despite the bad position. That one got an OOOOOH out of the Japanese crowd. The refs stop the action to get things back towards the center and Shoji lays on top of Matsui in the half-guard. Matsui tries a sweep but there's nothing there and Shoji is still on top, trying to mount, but Mastui scrambles out of it, grabbing for a single-leg attempt. More knees to the shoulder from Shoji as he holds a front facelock and Matsui gets back up to his feet to try for another takedown. Shoji sprawls to avoid and holds the front facelock to end the round. Another really good round for Shoji and they're both looking tired and slamming down the water in their corners now. A replay of that sweet up kick from Matsui shows that he landed it really solidly.
Round Three
Another glove touch and time gets called nearly immediately for them to towel off Matsui and the action restarts with another glove touch. Matsui rushes forward with a couple of punches but doesn't land anything and they go back to circling and feinting. Another call for action from the referee, which I'm noticing happens a LOT more since the last PRIDE event with the two Gracie snoozers. Shoji gets another trip takedown and ends up in Matsui's full guard again, throwing a couple of punches to the body while Matsui holds him down. More heel strikes to the back from Matsui on the bottom and the pace slows a little bit before Shoji tries to pass the guard. They scramble and Shoji ends up on his feet standing over Matsui, who is on the mat in the butt-scoot position before he hops back to his feet as well. They circle and fake some jabs before Matsui rushes in with a combination, missing all of the punches. Shoji gets a GREAT right hand off of a combination and Matsui rushes forward with it, getting a hard takedown into Shoji's guard. Shoji closes off the guard completely while Matsui throws some short punches from the top. Matsui tries to posture up but Shoji gets out from underneath and puts Matsui onto his back, raining down with some punches that mostly miss, but I appreciate the effort. Matsui with another deep takedown attempt and Shoji sprawls out of it well again, holding the front facelock as Bas calls for knees to the shoulder. Shoji stands up for a big right hand but it misses and he takes Matsui's back for a moment before they're back to their feet. Shoji sprawls out of another takedown and gets Matsui's back with a minute left in the round. Matsui tries for an anklelock or leglock and he almost gets the ankle crank but there's not enough time left and the round ends with Shoji holding the back. 3-0 for Shoji so far, and it's a shame that there aren't any decisions in these fights because unless Shoji finishes here it's going to be a draw. I guess it's fitting considering that Shoji was in Matsui's position in the Gracie fight, holding on and lasting the thirty minutes without ever putting Gracie in trouble.
Round Four
Fourth and final round now and it begins with another glove touch and more circling as both guys still look fresh as daisies. Bas figures it's a bonus round, but he's not sure how long it is. You'd think that with doing the voice-overs for these matches after they happened, that they'd have a little better grasp on things, but to no avail. I'll go on the assumption that it's another ten-minute round added on. Matsui misses a wild high kick and they circle before Matsui shoots in for the takedown again and gets stuffed again by Shoji. Bas continues to call for Shoji to throw the knees to the shoulder but instead of that Shoji just backs out and gets the fight back to the feet. Bas and Quadros foreshadow the end saying that they don't think that there is going to be a KO or submission and that neither guy is going to catch the other with anything to end the fight. Matsui gets a good short combination but they do a lot of circling in the early part of the round. Matsui misses a kick-looking thing and ends up on his back with Shoji standing over him. Matsui rolls back to his feet and they exchange some punches that miss before Matsui shoots in for another takedown. Shoji sprawls away from it and takes the front facelock again and they scramble to their feet with Shoji landing a REALLY good combination that looked like it stunned Matsui a little. Matsui with another shot that gets stuffed and he's bleeding from the nose from those punches Shoji landed. Shoji holds that front facelock and knees himself in the elbow before landing some knees to the side of Matsui. Hammerfists from Shoji to the side of Matsui's head and he moves to land some to the body as well. Matsui falls onto his back and then gets back to his feet and there's three minutes left in the round. Shoji comes forward with a combination then gets a good SLAM on Matsui, ending up in the full guard. Heel strikes from Matsui on the bottom and Shoji does some striking from the top with short punches. Shoji takes the mount and Matsui ends up slipping out the backdoor and they end up tangled in the ropes causing a restart on the feet. Yet ANOTHER Matsui takedown attempt gets stuffed and they do a little rolling on the mat before ending up back on their feet. Shoji takes Matsui down and they go all the way through the ropes to the apron and almost onto the floor. Just as they get back into the ring to restart the bell rings to end the fight.
Winner: None (technical draw)
A really entertaining fight that slowed a little at times, but was NOWHERE near as tedious as the Gracie fights from PRIDE 2. There was some good grappling, some random points where the striking fired up and they both did really well at keeping the crowd from turning on the fight by keeping active.
Match Two: PRIDE Freakshow Match
Daiju Takase vs. Emanuel Yarbrough
PRIDE FREAKSHOW!!! Takase is about 175 pounds soaking wet, while Yarborugh tips the Toledos at a little over 600 pounds. They try to make it seem a little better on the graphic saying that he weighs 209, but that's a load of crap. Yarbrough is so large that you can't even see his nipples on his man-boobs. They're tucked up underneath the generous portions of flab. There's a visual that will no doubt haunt your dreams.
Round One
Takase gets on his bicycle early on and runs circles around Yarbrough. Bas and Quadros talk strategy for Takase, and interestingly enough neither of them say anything about not being eaten by Yarbrough. Takase continues to run and they talk about the Yarbrough/Hackney classic from the early UFC days. Yarbrough is sweating merely from walking around after Takase and Takase continues to trot around the ring like a show horse. Takase fakes throwing a body punch but he must have reconsidered when he thought about how he would have been stuck up to the elbow in folds. Yarbrough chases Takase around and Takases continues to hot-foot it around the ring, almost like it's a cartoon or something. Overhand left lands for Takase and he's abck to running like hell from the scary fat man. Yarbrough looks like he's going to collapse any second and Takase pounces in but eats a hard punch and then gets back on the bike, spitting out his mouthpiece to allow for better cardio on his run. Good plan for Takase and the referee calls for Takase to commence with the action. Yarbrough looks a LOT winded now and Takase decides to bust out the acrobatics, doing a somersault in the ring. Bas busts out the classic joke about Takase asking his trainer what Yarbrough eats for breakfast, with the trainer replying "About 169 pounds". Classic Bas, simply classic. Yarbrough stops chasing and just stands in the corner, sweating and looking angry. Yarbrough just misses with a jab and Takase lands a low kick, with Bas saying "lord knows what he hit there" and Quadros saying that Takase should start sprinting and get Yarbrough dizzy a la Humpty Dumpty. If Takase ran fast enough I bet he could end up taking Yarbrough's back just from getting around to the other hemisphere. I mean, to his back. Takase does more running and avoiding as Yarbrough swats at him like a gigantic black bear. Yarbrough's sweating so much I think I might have to wipe the television off between rounds. The round ends with more running and Quadros talking about how silly a match-up this is. Agreed, 1000%.
Round Two
After cleaning off my screen, the second round starts with Yarbrough almost getting a hold of Takase on a couple of occasions. EAT HIM!!! EAT HIM YOU BIG MOTHERFUCKER!!! Rutten talks about how he would freak out and tap as soon as Yarbrough had him mounted and Quadros figures that Takase is fearing for his life. Yarbrough lunges with a jab and misses while Rutten calls for a double jumping side kick. Yarbrough gets a close-up from the camera and looks like he could use a nap and his binky at this point. Takase gets a YELLOW CARD FOR STALLING!! Where was that shit ten minutes ago when Takase was running the Budokan Marathon and doing front rolls like he was a six-year old at gymnastics class. It is historich though because it's the first yellow card in PRIDE history. Yarbrough leans against the top rope and wheezes until the action restarts. Takase shoots in for a single leg and YARBROUGH FALLS ON HIM. OH THE HUMANITY!!! Takase fires off with a ton of right hands and Quadros compares it to when the guy was sliding off the boat into the jaws of the shark in Jaws. Takase tries for an armbar as Yarbrough lays across his legs. Quadros calls it a horror movie and Takase just starts punching at Yarbrough's bulbous thighs and ass. Yarbrough is bleeding from the nose and Takase gets his legs free and starts WAILING AWAY WITH LEFT HANDS from side control on the back of Yarbrough and it's all over. Yarbrough taps while Quadros and Bas talk about how terrifying the experience of being smothered by Yarbrough's flab would have been, with Bas comparing it to quicksand. HAH!!
Winner: Daiju Takase, submission (strikes) at 3:22 of Round Two
Match Three:
Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Carlos Newton
Now this is a little more like it! After that debacle of a fight last fight, we get the always exciting Sakuraba against Newton in his prime!! Bas Rutten is in the ring before the bout, giving flowers to both Newton and Sakuraba. Sakuraba looks like he's about ten years old for this fight, comparted to how he looks now after getting the beatings he has in his career. Bas gets the mic and talks about how he's going to fight Randy Couture in the UFC and that when he's done with that he's planning on coming to PRIDE to fight Rickson Gracie. O for 2 on those huh Bas? They LOVE Bas over there, that's for sure. Rutten is "out of breath" from running to the broadcast position from his appearance in the ring. Heh. Bas is fantastic. The introductions are out of the way and this match is set to get underway.
Round One
Low kick from Sakuraba to start things out and and Newton fires one right back. Newton shoots in for a bodylock against the ropes and Saku takes it back out to the middle of the ring before reversing a trip takedown attempt with a cartwheel and reversing things to put Newton on his back. Sakuraba goes straight for an armbar and almost locks it in but Newton pulls free from it and stacks Saku up before moving to side control. Sakuraba explodes out of that and reverses to top position for a moment before Newton nearly takes his back. Newton on top in side control and they stop to catch their breath and let my fingers rest for a second. A BUSY first minute of the fight. Sakuraba gets an ankle and puts Newton down onto his back again, working from the full guard and trying to free his hands to strike down. Sakuraba looks so CALM in the ring, almost like he's napping or waiting for a bus or something. Just expressionless and doing his job. After a bit of struggling to pass, Sakuraba stands out of the guard and jump passes into an armbar attempt but Newton frees himself and they scramble before ending up back in Newton's guard. Lots of hand-fighting in the guard but no real striking as Sakuraba fakes an attempt at a toe hold and then backs out of the guard to let Newton back to his feet. Low kick from Sakuraba misses and they bounce and circle a little before Newton rushes forward with a big right hook that misses and the fight gets taken right back down to the mat by Sakuraba. They continue hand-fighting and Sakuraba lands a good left before going for a toe hold again. Newton frees himself and takes Sakuraba's back, sinking in both hooks and looking for the rear naked choke. Right hand from Newton with the full back control and another as Sakuraba just shrugs him off and the fight is back to Newton's guard. Sakuraba throws a good right hand after a little more hand-fighting between them on the mat and Sakuraba tries one more guard pass as they scramble back to their feet. Sakuraba with a high kick that misses and he gets another ankle-pick takedown right at the bell. Lots of action in that round and there was a ton of great grappling bursts throughout, with Sakuraba getting the best of things.
Round Two
They touch gloves for round two and Newton gets a trip takedown that Sakuraba almost turns into a kimura before they've even hit the mat. They roll and scramble on the mat with Sakuraba giving up his back to Newton and Newton landing a couple of hard knees to the body. Newton rides Sakuraba's back with no hooks in and tries to sink one of them in but Sakuraba uses that to try to reverse positions and they end up with Newton holding a crucifix position. Saku continues to drive forward and keeps attempting that takedown but he can't get it and gives up his back again. Newton stands and throws a couple more knees to the body and Sakuraba responds by going for a side kimura but there's nothing there and they scramble again with Newton ending up on the bottom. Sakuraba passes to side control and explodes into an armbar attempt, but he can't close it off and Newton ends up on top and back to controlling Sakuraba's back. Newton tries to free his left hand to strike but he can't and instead tries to set the hooks in. Sakuraba struggles and avoids that and grabs one of Newton's legs and while they roll, Newton leaves a leg hanging out and Sakuraba snatches it up for a kneebar. He cranks back on it and Newton is forced to tap.
Winner: Kazushi Sakuraba, submission (kneebar) at 5:19 of Round Two
Great respect from both men as they kneel in the ring and shake hands, with Sakuraba even asking if Newton is alright after that submission move. The crowd applauds both men and they embrace in the center of the ring. Quadros calls it a new high for grappling in MMA and I'd agree with that because it was a masterful performance from both men.
Match Four:
Gary Goodridge vs. Amir Rahanvardi
Well, this is a change of pace from the last fight I'd say. I don't think we'll see any rolling kneebars in this one.Last time we saw Goodridge he was tapping out to Marco Ruas at PRIDE 2 after seemingly pulling something or tweaking one of his knees. He looks back at 100% for this fight though. Rahanvardi kneels and does some praying in his corner before he's introduced and with "Big Daddy" in the opposite corner, that's not a bad idea. This would also be a good time to mention that while scanning Goodridge's record, I came across something that I've never seen before in years of watching and now covering MMA. It seems that in 1997 Goodridge lost a fight to Mario Neto by submission. Usually there is a spot in parentheses that says what the submission move was, but in this case it merely says (No Apparent Reason). That's a new one for me.
Round One
Rahanvardi hits a low kick and a left hand to start the round and Goodridge actually smiles at him, as if to say "Bitch, PLEASE". This won't end well. Goodridge gets a clinch and lands a HARD uppercut and a couple of nasty knees up the middle to the body. Rahanvardi with a jab and he tries to throw Goodridge down but ends up on the bottom taking BOOMING rights from his half-guard. Goodridge tries to move to side control but he can't get it and Rahanvardi closes off and controls the head and body to avoid any crushing damage. Two more CLUBBING rights as Goodridge postures up and Quadros apparently spoils the fight for us two minutes in talking about how Rahanvardi called him afterwards and told him how it had went. I won't repeat what he said so as not to spoil it for all of you. The dangers of voice-over commentary. You could almost hear Quadros cringing as he painted himself into a corner with the story. LONG pause on commentary as Bas takes over on things for a minute while Quadros no doubt curses himself off microphone. They struggle a little in the full guard and Goodridge lands another HARD right hand. Quadros almost seems to be pouting a little as he says next to nothing until he starts back in on regular commentary as if nothing happened. Goodridge tries to pass guard again but can't get past Rahanvardi's half-guard. The pace has slowed considerably as Rahanvardi just holds on and tries to survive, not doing anything in the way of striking. Two more hard right hands from Goodridge and he postures up to land another couple of them. Rahanvardi has a kneebar attempt on and Goodridge is able to push away from it and even gets a hard kick on the mat before Goodridge gets back on top. He postures up as Rahanvardi throws up his guard for a triangle attempt into an armbar attempt, but he can't lock up either and Goodridge looks to be pissed now. Goodridge tries for a keylock but misses that and Rahanvardi ends up turtled on his hands and knees taking a HARD punch. Goodridge ends up in Rahanvardi's guard and eating some punches from the bottom, laughing and screaming "AGAIN!!" every time that Rahanvardi connects. That would scare the SHIT out of me if someone did that to me when I was punching them in the face. "AGAIN...WHOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Yeah, that'd be time for me to submit right there. Goodridge gets two HUGE RIGHT HANDS AND RAHANVARDI IS OUT COLD. I mean out COLD.
Winner: Gary Goodridge, KO at 7:22 of Round One
Post-match, Goodridge celebrates with his trophy, posing for pictures and screaming like a lunatic. No cornerman to take pictures of the carnage like in the Taktarov fight though and that greatly saddens me. Quadros calls him a dominant force, and I'd say that he's putting it mildly.
Match Five:
Mark Kerr vs. Pedro Otavio
After the Branko Cikatic disaster, Kerr is back in the PRIDE ring for another go at having a match. He's still considered one of the dominant forces in MMA at this time and looks to be completely motivated after his last bout. Otavio is a Brazilian Vale Tudo veteran and looks to be ready and up to the challenge of derailing the Kerr freight train.
Round One
Kerr with a leg kick and a high kick that JUST misses and Otavio holds his hands at his hips for a second. Kerr shoots in and gets the takedown, moving from half-guard and landing a knee to the head as Otavio hangs on to Kerr's body. HARD body punches from Kerr land and Otavio might be reconsidering his position. Kerr grabs a keylock and Otavio starts SCREAMING at the top of his lungs, causing the referee to step in and stop the fight. As soon as he does though, Otavio starts protesting the stoppage while his arm is still bent behind his back.
Winner: Mark Kerr, submission (keylock) at 2:13 of Round One
Otavio is still protesting and SCREAMING at the referee. His corner looks pissed and Otaio is stripping down in the ring, throwing his knee sleeves and mouthpiece into the crowd. Kerr bows to Otavio, despite the apparent disrespect. How the hell does Kerr keep getting these horribly rude opponents? Otavio moves all the way to the back, protesting the entire way as we see the upper levels of the Budokan and they are EMPTY. WOW, seeing the huge crowds that they'd get later on in Saitama, it's weird to see the upper levels of the arena completely empty, minus a smattering of people. This was the only show PRIDE ever held at the Nippon Budokan, and I guess this would be why.
Match Six: Main Event
Kyle Sturgeon vs. Nobuhiko Takada
Takada, famous Japanese pro wrestling star. Sturgeon, apparently trains with Kimo (or got his picture taken with him), and has no previous MMA experience. Got it? Good. Let's get this bullshit over with.
Round One
Bas on Sturgeon: "I haven't heard of him". This should be a great fight then. Sturgeon throws a high kick that gets blocked and Takada motions him to come on. Sturgeon lands another high kick and Takada goes "sprawling" like he's been hurt by it. Quadros: "Is Takada hurt from that kick?". Bas: "No, no, no, no, no". Leg kick alnds from Sturgeon and he fires back with one of his own. Sturgeon shoots in for a takedown and then seizures on top of Takada for a second before Takada kicks him away and the fight gets back to its feet. Takada shoots in and gets a takedown while Sturgeon tries to look like he's busy on the bottom while doing nothing. They struggle a little more on the mat and do a little more nothing before Takada drops back for a heel hook and gets Sturgeon to tap out.
Winner: Nobuhiko Takada, submission (heel hook) at 2:18 of Round One
Feeding Takada someone that he could easily beat and trying to build him back up as a threat to Rickson for a rematch? Perish the thought. His was bad jujumagumbo from the word go, and as much as I hate to throw around the only scarlet letter in MMA, the beginning of the fight looked really worked to me. Takada jumps around like he just won the World Series or something, and Bas and Quadros seem to be almost mocking it, calling it an "unexpected" ending, with some subtle sarcasm. That's the end of the show with Stephen and Bas saying sayanora from Japan!!
The 411: Easily the best of the earliest PRIDE cards, with the great Sakuraba/Newton fight, no real boring fights outside of the slower-paced Shoji/Matsui contest, and Gary Goodridge acting like a maniac before completely decimating his opponent. I'm not saying there weren't bad things, because the Freakshow match and the main event were both pretty awful, but for once in these early shows, the crap was kept to a minimum.
