PRIDE or DIE: The History of PRIDE Fighting Championship - PRIDE 7

Posted by Randy Harrison on 05.27.2008

Wanderlei Silva debuts, Mark Kerr and Igor Vovchanchyn collide in a main event battle of the titans, and Branko Cikatic makes his return to the rings of PRIDE and he's not even the dirtiest fighter on the show! Now that's saying something!

The PRIDE train rolls on, making a repeat stop as for the second event in a row, the Yokohama Arena is the venue for the fighters from around the world to step into the ring and determine who is the better man. There's a big card lined up with the debuting Wanderlei Silva facing off against Carl Malenko, Branko Cikatic making his return to PRIDE after his disastrous MMA debut against Mark Kerr, as well as Kazushi Sakuraba facing off against a tough opponent in former UFC veteran, Anthony Macias. The main event is one of the biggest in PRIDE history, both literally and figuratively as devastating striker Igor Vovchanchyn steps up into a main event slot to face a dominating wrestler and arguably the best heavyweight fighter in the world in Mark Kerr. It looks like the crowd is a little better for this one and they're jazzed for action, so let's head back to Yokohama, Japan on September 12, 1999 for PRIDE 7!!


PRIDE 7


The usual cool opening for a PRIDE show as they have a warning siren going off and the sound of helicopters rocketing through the arena as the ring is covered in curtains and bathed in red light. As the helicopters get louder, a spotlight whips around the arena as if it were the actual helicopter flying around the arena. Some pyro goes off and the curtains drop to reveal the ring bathed in a deep blue light. We get a cut down version of the fighter introductions with music dubbed over it rather than actually getting to see the full fighter introductions like they would do on later shows. There's a flash of fire from the ring and the arena goes dark, leading to the opening match of the night!


Match One:
Bob Schrijber vs. Daijiro Matsui

Matsui has earned a lot of fans with his performances in these early PRIDE shows, especially in his fight with Carlos Newton. Schrijber is making his PRIDE debut and brings a somewhat dubious reputation with him into the ring. He's also got about forty pounds on Matsui, which he's going to try to use to keep the fight standing so that he can use his kickboxing skills.


Round One

Schrijber tries to strike and Matsui drops down immediately for a single-leg attempt, putting him onto his ass and then down for the full takedown. The referee breaks them up to reset them in the middle of the ring and they start with Matsui throwing strikes from the top as Schrijber has a full closed guard. Matsui backs out of the guard and kicks Schrijber in the head as he tries to get back to his feet. He takes the kick and actually does get back to his feet, throwing a decent jab and faking a knee before Matsui tries an overhand right. Matsui shoots in again and gets another single-leg takedown, working from the guard as Schrijber throws big punches from the bottom to try to get Matsui away. He uses his feet to push Matsui away but he can't get up and Matsui is right back into his guard. Bas and Stephen talk about Schrijber's girlfriend who is also a fighter and that they must work on "ground techniques" while they're at home. Tremendous. Schrijber lands a couple of shots from the bottom but there's nothing on them and Matsui has one of his legs isolated and falls back for a leglock. They end up tied in the ropes and the referee moves them away from them to allow the submission attempt to continue. Matsui cranks away while Schrijber tries to strike out of it and he actually turns away from it and gets back to his feet, landing a good knee to the midsection and a HARD knee to the chin as Matsui shoots in for a takedown. Matsui keeps trying that takedown but Schrijber actually sprawls and avoids it landing some hammerfists and just landing a kick to the face but with Mastui on his hands and knees it's an illegal strike. Yellow card for Schrijber!! Matsui fakes a shot and then gets an ankle pick into a takedown and Schrijber continues to punch away from the bottom as Matsui passes to half-guard and into the full mount, nearly getting an armbar before using a double-kick to push Schrijber away. Back to the feet and Matsui gets another deep takedown attempt into Schrijber's full guard, passing into the half-guard and controlling Schrijber's body, nearly getting another armbar out of a scramble. They end up back on their feet and after fixing Matsui's glove for a moment they're back to fi...SCHRIJBER HITS HIM BEFORE THE RESTART!! JESUS!! MATSUI IS PISSED!! Another yellow card to Schrijber!! Matsui is mad and starts trying to stand and trade with Schrijber before shooting in for the takedown again. Schrijber sprawls against the ropes and lands some hammerfists before standing up out of the takedown attempt and peppering the back of Matsui's head with hard punches. Matsui gets a trip takedown near the ropes and Schrijber FALLS OUT OF THE RING!! He's all the way to the floor and laying semi-dazed near the announcer's table. What a crazy fight so far. Leg kick lands for Matsui on the restart and Schrijber gets a good jab in response before Matsui picks the leg again and gets another takedown. Working from the guard on top, Matsui nearly gets kicked away but there's a JUMPING KNEE GUARD PASS!! He ends up back in the guard and looks to drop back for another leglock but misses it and instead goes for a DOUBLE JUMP STOMP!! Schrijber looks like that one hurt him and he ends up actually getting back to his feet, though Matsui has him in a bodylock. Foot stomps from Matsui in the corner and they sound and look VICIOUS. A restart in the middle of the ring and Schrijber just misses a big kick out of it. Another deep ankle pick from Matsui, transitioned to a double-leg attempt, but Schrijber is able to sprawl out of it. Matsui is trying for a leglock on the mat as they're scrambling but Schrijber lands two HARD right hands and a good combination right before the be..SCHRIJBER AXE KICKS MATSUI'S HEAD AFTER THE BELL!!! WHAT THE FUCK?? Matsui is hurt badly and Schrijber's corner seems to not understand what the problem is.

Winner: Daijiro Matsui, disqualification at 10:00 of Round One

After the fight, Matsui tries to get over to Schrijber and looks like he wants to rip his head off, though people are able to keep him away. They show a few replays of that vicious kick and Bas talks about how even BEFORE the bell, that kick would have still been illegal. They talk about how there's no place for actions like that in the sport with Bas saying it would make things seem barbaric. What a wild way to start the show.


Match Two:
Carl Malenko vs. Wanderlei Silva

YES!! Silva's PRIDE debut and he's up against a guy that fought a rather boring bout in his last effort in PRIDE. The two men are almost identical in size and Quadros makes the rather obvious statement that Malenko is going to need to take Silva down to survive the fight. Silva looks ANGRY and stares a hole through Malenko during the referee's instructions.


Round One

Malenko tries for a shot and he actually gets the takedown but Silva is hammer away with shots from the bottom before sweeping his way to the top into side control. He can't do anything with it though and Malenko gets things back to full guard with full body control. Silva lands a couple of right hands from the top and works over Malenko's body and Malenko tries a sweep himself but Silva avoids it and pushes Malenko away, landing a HARD knee to the head as Malenko gets back to his feet. Malenko eats a couple more and then gets another takedown into Silva's full guard in the middle of the ring. Malenko tries to make some space with a crossface and actually lands a right hand, but Silva is defending well and avoiding and damage while handing out some short, HARD punches from the bottom. Malenko tries to do a little striking to the body and lands a couple of shots but he's still taking a ton of punishment from Silva. Seriously, Silva's landing about ten or twelve punches for every one that Malenko gets. Silva uses his feet to push Malenko away and nearly gets a guillotine as Malenko shoots right back in for the takedown. Silva gives it up and continues to work away with punches off of his back. Malenko falls back for a leglock attempt but that just gives Silva a chance to get out from the bottom and he's got Malenko's back, working him over with punches as he's in a side control position on top of Malenko's back. Silva starts working knees to the body of Malenko and then backs away to get the fight back to its feet. High kick JUST misses from Silva and he gets a Thai clinch, landing a couple of HARD knees before Malenko shoots in for another single-leg takedown in the corner. Silva sprawls well to avoid it and lands a few hammerfists to the side of Malenko's head before he opens up and takes Malenko's back, nearly getting the rear naked choke in the last thirty seconds of the round. He locks in the hooks and nearly secures the choke but then just postures up to throw a couple of punches at the bell. Wanderlei dominated nearly the entire round, even when he was on his back, which prompts Bas to remark on how impressive a debut this is.


Round Two

Silva starts out the round with a high kick that just misses and after a flurry Malenko rushes to clinch and tries for the takedown again in the corner. Silva sprawls to avoid it and gets a WICKED knee to the face of Malenko, which immediately drops him into another takedown attempt. We're back to Malenko holding the single-leg and Silva landing some shots to the side of Malenko's head while sprawling away. Malenko finally manages the takedown and they get moved out of the corner to the middle of the ring and Silva starts working off of his back while in the full guard position. Malenko puts his head down into Silva's chest and holds him down while Silva is throwing a ton of punches from the bottom and keeping him from being able to mount any offense from the top. I'm not exaggerating when I say that this goes on for three or four minutes before Malenko tries to drop back for a leglock but it backfires HUGE as Silva rolls over into a full mount position with three minutes left in the round. Silva takes a moment to compose himself and then just raining in solid hooks around Malenko's arms every time Malenko tries to bridge or sweep. Malenko is just covering up and hoping for the best as Silva manages to posture up and land some HARD punches, forcing Malenko into giving up his back. Silva tries for the rear naked choke again in the last minute of the fight and he gives up the choke in favor of landing more knees to the body. Malenko tries to roll away but can't break free of Silva's grip until the last few seconds of the round when he finally manages to roll Silva to his back. Far too little, far too late.


Winner: Wanderlei Silva, Unanimous Decision


Silva looks very happy with the win, throwing Chute Boxe shirts into the crowd and this was possibly the most impressive debut out of the early PRIDE shows when it comes to big stars having a coming out party. After this fight we get a fight between Tully Kulihaapai and Enson Inoue that appears to be a grappling-type affair which ends with Enson finishing his overmatched opponent with a straight armbar.


Match Three:
Maurice Smith vs. Branko Cikatic

Oh great, Branko's back. He's the guy that marred both PRIDE 1 and PRIDE 2 with his nonsense and his flagrant rules violations and I think he's in trouble in this fight. Smith is already a bit of an MMA legend with wins over guys like Mark Coleman and Marco Ruas. Quadros runs through Cikatic's checkered history as Bas wonders if Smith is going to go for a takedown or if he's going to strike.


Round One

Leg kick is thrown by Cikatic but it misses and Smith's leg kick in response also misses as they go through a bit of a feeling out period early on. Cikatic misses with a big right haymaker and Smith moves into a clinch getting double underhooks into a trip-takedown attempt, which Cikatic reverses into a beautiful throw that puts Smith onto his back. Cikatic has a side headlock but Smith reverses it to put himself into top position in side control. Knee to the body from Smith and he lands a couple of short punches as well while holding Branko down on the mat. Cikatic almost muscles Smith off of him but it just ends up with Smith on top in the half-guard hammering away before moving back to side control on the opposite side. Cikatic rolls to his stomach and Smith takes his back and when Cikatic makes it to his feet, Smith just shoves him in the ass to get him off-balance. They circle and trade combinations that both miss and they end up clinched in the corner with Smith landing a couple of short punches to the face. Smith lands a couple of inside knees and tries for a takedown but Cikatic holds onto the ropes getting a warning from the referee for doing so. Smith gets another takedown attempt on the restart and Cikatic holds the ropes again, drawing a yellow card. Smith clinches again in the corner on the next restart and ends up holding onto Cikatic from behind, leading to more rope-grabbing, though Smith actually gets him down to the mat and into side control again. Smith gets a forearm across Cikatic's throat and he freaks out a little bit until he shrugs it off. Smith keeps on him with a couple of hard elbows to the body and he goes back to the forearm choke and Cikatic taps out? He didn't even have the choke on for that long. Bas and Quadros both seem a little shocked at what happened and they speculate that Branko might have just been exhausted and panicked a little bit. They may not be good fights, but Cikatic always manages to have an interesting bout.

Winner: Maurice Smith, submission (forearm choke) at 7:33 of Round One


Match Four:
Larry Parker vs. Akira Shoji

Shoji, the PRIDE veteran, faces off against Larry Parker, a relative unknown in the world of MMA at this point. Quadros talks about how he's fought in every PRIDE event so far, and by them not saying much about Parker, I can tell that he's not very well-known to them either.


Round One

Parker throws a leg kick and a combination off the bat and Shoji throws a hard leg kick of his own, leading to Parker shooting in and getting a short slam takedown against the ropes. Parker does a little striking from the half-guard and actually lands some good shots but Shoji is able to defend them well to keep the damage to minimum. They just trade short punches from in close until Parker postures up to strike and ends up nearly getting anklelocked by Shoji. They scramble for a moment and Parker ends up on his back with Shoji standing above him. Shoji throws and lands some leg kicks and the referee says that he's seen enough and the fight ends up back on its feet. Parker shoots in immediately for a takedown and after some struggling he gets it, but Shoji scrambles well and ends up putting Parker down on his back. They trade short strikes from the full guard position but there's not much going on until Shoji backs away from the guard and Parker tries for another leglock. Shoji stands and throws leg kicks and again the referee brings Parker back to his feet. Parker throws a high kick that misses and another high kick that gets blocked and when he rushes forward into a takedown attempt, Shoji just sidesteps him and throws him down against the ropes. Shoji stands above the prone Parker and after a minute of inactivity, the referee brings Parker back up. They trade kicks and jabs while they circle around the ring and Parker throws another high kick that gets blocked and he follows it up with a combination inside. They trade some punches and Parker looks like he pulls guard, though Shoji makes sure of it by slamming him down. They both work on some short punches from their respective positions and Shoji tries to fall back for another anklelock, missing it just as the bell sounds to end the round.


Round Two

Parker manages to land a good left hand when Shoji hops in to throw a combination of his own and they move back to circling before there's a clinch situation with Parker jumping guard and Shoji slamming him down again. Shoji gets a good glancing left and they just work at trading punches back and forth from the full closed guard of Parker. Shoji makes no real movement or attempt to pass the guard and they just keep throwing shots back and forth on the mat. Parker tries for an armbar that misses and he rolls to his stomach, then tries to roll from that into a kneebar but he misses it and they end up right back into the full guard. They do a little work on the mat and then end up back on their feet, throwing some combinations before Parker does the guard pulling and Shoji does the short slamming to get the fight back to the mat. They trade short punches until Shoji backs out of the guard and they get back to their feet. Shoji gets a hard leg kick and a BIG right hook that stuns Parker, finally putting him down to the canvas after a moment of staggering. Shoji jumps into the guard and throws another flurry of punches before Parker can get control of hiim. Shoji backs out of the guard and gets the fight back to its feet and Shoji his the low kick again before Parker pulls guard again. They work their punches from the guard and the round ends with Shoji in top position. Bas and Quadros both seem to believe that Shoji won the round and the fight, but it turns out the judges disagree and call the fight a draw, which means we'll get five minutes of overtime.


Round Three

Shoji lands a hard leg kcik and a big combination of punches that stun Parker again, forcing him into a desperation takedown attempt. Shoji swings away as Parker flips around to lay on his back with Shoji standing above him and after getting back to the feet, Shoji puts him right back into that position before diving into Parker's guard. They work in the guard trading short punches for almost two full minutes before Shoji backs out of the guard and forces Parker to get back to his feet. Inside leg kick from Shoji lands and Parker continually throws a front kick that is missing by a good six inches. Parker does the guard pull again and immediately gets booed by the crowd and this position leads to Shoji backing away and forcing Parker back to his feet. Parker ends up on his back again immediately and Shoji holds the top position until the bell sounds. The judges HAVE to give this to Shoji now, especially after he stunned Parker again with that combination to begin the round.

Winner: Akira Shoji, Unanimous Decision


Match Five:
Kazushi Sakuraba vs Anthony Macias

Macias is probably best known for his fight with Dan Severn which led to him being ragdolled and suplexed around the Octagon like a training dummy. This is actually a VERY rare occurence as it's a fight where Sakuraba actually has the size advantage by about fifteen pounds.


Round One

Macias throws a couple of high kicks that end up missing and he nearly catches Sakuraba with a good left hook. They grapple a little and Sakuraba gets a takedown but Macias gets back to his feet and they end up going back to mat again with Sakuraba on top in half-guard. They do a little more grappling and struggling on the mat and Sakuraba moves past the guard into side control, with Macias doing well to scramble and get the fight back to the full guard. Macias lands some good strikes from the bottom as Sakuraba looks like he's setting up a leg lock but he just backs away and resets his attack, moving back into side control and landing a couple of digging elbows to the body. Sakuraba looks to be setting up a straight armbar attempt but he can't get Macias in position and they end up back into the side control position. Sakuraba tries to set the arm up again, leaning his forearm against Macias' throat and setting up for it but he hesitates and Macias escapes, getting back to his feet. Macias lands a left hook but misses the follow-up and Sakuraba responds with a HARD three-punch combination that stuns Macias. Spinning back fist followed by a spinning back kick both miss from Macias and Sakuraba gets a beautiful throw that puts Macias on the mat again. Sakuraba in side control and Macias tries to scramble out, actually getting things back to guard with Sakuraba landing double-palm strikes before posturing up for some serious punches. He doesn't get to throw any though and just ends up back in Macias' guard, throwing a couple of shots before backing out of the guard and standing above Macias. Macias nearly lands and up-kick and Sakuraba backs away with a grin before throwing a sliding side kick that lands, and the crowd goes nuts, chanting for Sakuraba as even Macias smiles a little. They end up back in the full guard and Macias takes a couple of hard shots before almost attempting an armbar but he can't get anything locked up. Macias is on his back smiling and Sakuraba backs out of the guard, grabbing one of Macias' ankles and spinning him around the ring before trying a jumping stomp but Macias defends it and time expires in the round. Always exciting stuff when Sakuraba is involved and honestly it looks like he's just enjoying himself and toying with Macias a little bit. Not that he's dominating the fight, but that he could probably get an armbar or something whenever he wanted it but he's putting on a show, which is fun.


Round Two

They touch gloves to start the second round and Sakuraba hits a spinning back kick to the body of Macias and they scramble standing before Sakuraba tries an armbar on the mat with Macias defending it and ending up on top with some punches. Sakuraba tries to roll and ends up on top in Macias' half-guard before moving into side control again. Sakuraba tries to step over to set up another straight armbar attempt but it's not there for him so he decides to throw a couple of punches instead. Sakuraba looks for it again and the crowd buzzes as they see him actually lock it in. Macias has his hands clasped and is trying to fight it but he can't get free and he has to tap out once Sakuraba extends his hips to lock in the armbar.

Winner: Kazushi Sakuraba, submission (armbar) at 2:30 of Round Two


Match Six: Main Event
Mark Kerr vs. Igor Vovchanchyn

This is the first PRIDE main event that seems worthy of that title. Both men come in at the top of their games, both are somewhat similar in size (at least in weight) and they're probably the two best heavyweight fighters in the promotion, if not the world at the time.


Round One

They shake hands and show a ton of mutual respect before the fight and there's no feeling out process once the bell rings as they throw punches into a clinch and Vovchanchyn gets a good right hand pushing away from the clinch. Kerr tries a takedown but misses it and they end up back on their feet with Kerr throwing a body kick and Vovchanchyn catching it and DROPPING HIM with a big right hand. Kerr's had enough of that and shoots in deep, getting the takedown on Vovchanchyn against the ropes as you hear Kerr's cornerman, Mark Coleman talking about how badly Vovchanchyn is cut and that Kerr needs to work on it. Kerr tries to pass the guard and postures up to throw a couple of punches and they end up slowing their pace for a moment on the mat. The pace hasn't slowed, it's stopped really, as there's nothing happening at all on the mat until Vovchanchyn throws a short little combination from the bottom that leads to Kerr posturing up with BIG power shots and he backs off to stand above Vovchanchyn. Axe kick semi-lands for Kerr and Kerr gets a big uppercut that is followed by a HUGE right hand from Vovchanchyn that landed right on the temple and Kerr goes back to the takedown again, ending up in the full guard. They continue to throw the short punches back and forth and Vovchanchyn does well to hold on and control Kerr, waiting for a stand-up. No stand-up comes and Kerr looks like he's trying to go for an anklelock and almost gets it but he lets it go and drops back into the guard for more trading. Igor lands some strikes from the bottom and Kerr is holding him down while landing the odd shot to the body. Vovchanchyn continues to throw from the bottom and lands shots all the way up to the bell. Vovchanchyn took the round with his action from the bottom as well as the big overhand right that nearly dropped Kerr. I know Kerr had the takedowns, but he ended up doing nothing with them.


Round Two

They come out a little tentative to start the second round but Kerr shoots in on a deep double-leg and gets the takedown into the full guard. Vovchanchyn continues his strategy of the short punches from the bottom that are landing but not doing a ton of damage before pushing Kerr off with his heels on Kerr's hips. It only lasts for a moment because Kerr just bulls right back into another takedown and puts Vovchanchyn to the mat. More short punches from both men and Kerr stands again like he's going to try for a leglock but instead just falls back into the guard of Vovchanchyn. Vovchanchyn pushes Kerr away again and lands a HARD uppercut as Kerr tries for another takedown and the referee steps in and calls the fight as Kerr is out on his hands and knees. The winner is announced as Vovchanchyn, and he's given the trophy, along with having his hand raised by the referee. After the fact though in the locker room and in the days following the fight, the rules would be reviewed and the tapes would be watched and the fight would end up being ruled a no contest due to the illegal knee strikes that Vovchanchyn landed before the stoppage. I guess the streak of normal matches in PRIDE for Kerr ends at one.

Winner: No Contest


Bas and Quadros thank us for joining them and Stephen says "domo arigato" from Yokohama!

The 411: A decent show top-to-bottom that ends up not aging quite as well because of the controversy surrounding the main event, as well as the relative slowness of the Shoji/Parker bout. It was awesome to get to see the PRIDE debut of Silva and he was dominating which is no surprise, but there was still way too much drama surrounding the fights at this point because of the lack of continuity in the rules from one event to the next. It seemed as if every main event in the early PRIDE shows ended in some sort of controversy or problem, and this one ended up being no different. Nothing spectacular outside of the Silva debut and the craziness of Bob Schrijber leads to a middle of the road rating.

Final Score:  5.5   [ Not So Good ]