Japan's Finest: The Pride FC Review: Pride 1
Posted by John Wilson on 10.13.2008
Japanese promotion Pride FC might not have lasted long enough to see the MMA boom for a multitude of reasons, but still is a key part of the sports history that should not be forgotten by the old fans, or overlooked by the new. So let’s have a look back at the shows, beginning with Pride 1.
Pride 1 Review
The event is being held in the Tokyo Dome in October 1997. It’s hard to tell how full the stadium is due to the lighting being used, but figures seem to indicate around 47,000. Before we get going I’ll just note that the copies I have for the early events feature Stephen ‘The Fight Professor’ Quadros and Bas Rutten on commentary and are edited on a fight after fight basis, so there’s very little filler in there.
Opening Match: Murakami Kazunari (Judo, 3-3) vs. John Dixon (???, 3-5)
Quadros states that Dixon has two MMA fights to his name, although his revised record includes six more. Regardless, he is coming off a three fight losing streak against the likes of Dan Severn, who will be competing later in the event, and Igor Vovchanchyn, a future Pride mainstay. Murakami has an even record, although is also coming off a loss, courtesy of a Maurice Smith KO. Dixons overall appearance, body shape and attire makes him look like an early UFC fighter, one who would KO somebody of similar ability but lose a submission to anyone of real quality. Murakami on the other hand wouldn’t particularly look out of place physically today.
Round 1: Dixon is a lot bigger and uses his size from the start to score with a nice slam takedown from the clinch. Dixon scores with shots to the ribs while Kazunari looks for a sweep before the big man backs out of the guard and they return to standing. Another clinch follows and Kazunari succeeds with a beautiful Judo throw to take Dixon to the mat then perfectly transitions to an armbar after throwing a few set-up punches. Winner: Murakami Kazunari by armbar submission in 1:34 of Round 1. Not a lot you can say about this really, Kazunari showed some decent skills in the short time, but you can only beat what’s put in front of you I guess.
Fight 2: Gary Goodridge (Arm-Wrestling, 6-5) vs. Oleg Taktarov (Sambo, 12-4-2)[
Both fighters are Ultimate Fighting Championship veterans, Oleg being the UFC 6 champion and Goodridge reaching the UFC 8 final. Taktarov is coming off two quick wins, while Goodridge has won his last three fights.
Round 1: As they circle Bas points out that although Taktarov is primarily a grappler, he has trained specifically on boxing in the build-up to the fight and looks like he wants to trade. Bas, Quadros and me eleven years in the future all agree this is not a good idea. Oleg perhaps proves me wrong though as is usually the case, when he gets a debatable knockdown on Big Daddy and follows with some quick jabs and good footwork to avoid the counters. The Russians scar tissue betrays him though as he is cut somewhere in the exchange, despite not taking a serious shot. Lots of circling follows as neither fighter seems to want to press the match. At last they go in for another exchange as Goodridge drops Taktarov with a big right, then follows up with a knee and a couple of clubbing blows to his downed opponent. Oleg is in real trouble on his back as Gary throws a kick to the leg and then gets the fight back on the feet. Taktarov has seemingly abandoned the boxing now and shoots for the takedown, which is stuffed by a nice sprawl. Goodridge presses the fight with some range finding jabs and then just swings with a huge right that ends Oleg’s night face down unmoving in the ring. Unfortunately the referee is slow to get in there and Big Daddy is actually able to connect with two more big shots to his unconscious opponent. Winner: Gary Goodridge by KO in 4:57 of Round 1. A good fight for those who are fans of highlight reel knockouts, although you have to give kudos to Taktarov for sticking with his boxing game plan for half of the fight. That must have taken real guts, although it’s no surprise that this was his last major fight for nearly a decade. Post fight and Gary looks like he might be suffering from a slight injury, while replays show Taktarovs corner man throws in the towel after the two devastating ground shots. Oleg has to leave on a stretcher, which is sad to see in any fight.
Renzo is undefeated and defending the legendary Gracie family tradition while the relatively inexperienced Shoji is coming off his first career loss. So it doesn’t look too promising for the Japanese fighter.
Round 1: Renzo presses the fight and gets underhooks near the ropes early on. Fast forward a short period and Gracie manages to manoeuvre the fight back into the centre of the ring and score with a takedown and gets full mount position. Shoji manages to defend an armbar attempt successfully only to give up his back a short period later and is rewarded with a rear naked choke. Akira shows well, unorthodox defence to counter this by getting to his feet and throwing both of them through the ropes to the outside. Call it cheap, but it is most definitely effective as with the rules still pretty sketchy at this point, all it leads to is a restart on the feet. Not a lot goes on for the rest of the round apart from a Renzo guillotine attempt, but Shoji survives and the bell rings for the end of round 1. It should be pointed out here that although Renzo easily takes the round via his submission threat and overall aggression, Pride didn’t score the rounds at this point in time so, unfair as it might be, it’s still a tie.
Round 2: Slow start to the round sees Shoji wind up in top position on the floor after stuffing a Gracie takedown attempt. Renzo attempts a triangle submission but Akira is wise to it and they go back to standing. Some weak striking from both fighters eventually sees Renzo get Shoji on his back in the half guard. There’s some transition to the mount and then to Shoji’s back and an armbar attempt, although Shoji stands and slips right out of it. The escape could be seen as technique although it was more to do with his slippery body from all the sweat. The round peters out with Shoji standing and Gracie taunting from his back. If it was being scored, a pretty dull round that could go either way depending on how strongly you value submission escapes over aggression.
Round 3: Shoji is suffering conditioning-wise compared to the Brazilian, who looks like he could go for a couple more rounds and you would assume Akira is fighting for a draw. Granted I’ve only seen him fight two rounds, but I don’t see anything in his arsenal so far that’s going to end Renzo’s night with a loss. Gracie struggles with his takedowns on the squat Shoji during a slow start to the fight. This allows Shoji to throw some knees, although is warned for doing so soon after by the referee. Given that Goodridge dropped one from a similar position in the last fight, you would have to assume that the rules are different from fight to fight. The fight closes with Renzo being active on the ground but Shoji does well to avoid everything as the bell rings. Fight ends in a draw. Not a lot in terms of fight entertainment here for the casual fan, although a big result for Shoji as I really expected Renzo to take a submission win here. Neither man was ever really in a lot of trouble and the fight as a whole would have benefited from the added pressure of a judges decision for sure.
Fight 4: Nathan Jones (???, 0-0) vs. Koji Kitao (Sumo, 0-2)
The WWE fans among us may be familiar with Jones, who had a short stinted run in the company as well as a part in The Condemned. This is his first and to date only MMA fight while his opponent is coming off having his nose broken by the much smaller Mark Hall in UFC 9. This is the very definition of a super-heavyweight fight (Jones is about 350lbs, Kitao is nearing 400lbs), something which Pride happily provided now and again over the years. It’s also one of those fights that seemingly can only go one way if you judge a book by its cover, as Jones is a tank while Kitao is, well, a sumo.
Round 1: Some circling for a good forty-five seconds is ended by a spinning crescent kick by Jones then followed up with a left footed high kick although neither were in danger of connecting. The big Australian then looks for what I assume he thinks is a guillotine, but looks more like a front headlock. Quadros points out some deficiencies in both fighters games as Jones realises that his submission attempt is going to be fruitless and throws a knee. Kitao catches it though and just falls forward onto his opponent, landing in side mount as well as likely taking the wind out of Jones. The shock of having such a big guy on top of him is a lot to take for Jones as he bucks and gives out several audible screams. Surprisingly Koji applies a keylock and Jones quickly taps, as Bas and Stephen suggest that neither of them are likely to be breaking the top ten in the future. Winner: Koji Kitao by a keylock submission in 2:14 of Round 1. A quick side note at this point, I feel the need to point out that the winners are being given gold trophies that must be at least three or four feet high. It is quite incredible.
Fight 5: Dan ‘The Beast’ Severn (Wrestling, 20-3-1) vs. Kimo (Freestyle, 6-2)
Right, lets not beat about the bush here, this is not a good fight. In fact, it’s considered one of the benchmarks for bad fights. It is also thirty minutes long in total. Dan Severn, as most MMA fans know, is a good (at the time great) wrestler. Kimo is ruggedly speaking, a jack of all trades, master of none. Neither of these guys have a good striking game. However for 27 minutes that’s exactly what we get, a terrible stand-up ‘fight’. The only way the fight even becomes watchable is because of the hilarious frustration of the commentary team. Quadros stating that, “will Kimo survive the onslaught and institute that devastating K-1 low kick?” being a highpoint. So I’ll have a go at thirty minutes in a sentence. Severn and Kimo slap each other for 25 minutes while 50,000 Japanese fans boo; Severn gets a takedown with 10 seconds left. That just about does it, fight ends in a draw. As Quadros points out, it really is tedium personified and I can only recommend that if you want to inflict this fight upon yourself, you pick up a copy with Quadros and Rutten on commentary, otherwise its going to seem even longer than it does with them. I could review the fight properly like others have done in the past, but if you’ve seen the fight then you’ll agree, there really is no point. It wastes your time and mine. Anyhow, this is Severn’s last appearance in the big leagues for three years while Kimo would have one more UFC fight somehow. They must not have had talent scouts in that night.
Prior to the fight they play both Brazil and Japans national anthems. A nice touch to try and give it the big fight feel, but no amount of hyperbole is going to take away from the fact that Takada is up against it. For those who aren’t quite aware of these guys backgrounds, Takada is a very popular ex-professional wrestler making his MMA debut, while Rickson is one of the figureheads of the legendary Gracie family and considered by many to be one of the best on the planet at this point. If that doesn’t put it into perspective then the story of Yoji Anjo told by Quadros at this point probably will. Basically, Anjo (a friend of Takada and arguably a similar level fighter) travelled to Ricksons studio with a camera crew to try and challenge Rickson. Rickson agreed to a fight and Anjo supposedly took a brutal beating behind closed doors.
Round 1: The opening minute of the fight passes by as Takada circles an emotionless Rickson who’s trying to cut off the ring and get Takada close to him. A low kick to the thigh from Takada connects to a cheer from the home crowd, although its power is questionable. Some more uninspired circling until Rickson shoots in and tries to grab the leg, but before he can complete the takedown Takada grabs the ropes and gets the fight restarted to the disappointment of both Gracie and Quadros. As I said, the rules are still sketchy at this stage and its obvious most decisions are likely to go in favour of the fan favourite. At the restart they both grapple and Rickson goes down low for a takedown but eats a knee from Takada. Despite this he still completes it, picking Takada up and body slamming him to the ground. Gracie lands in side mount and takes advantage of Takadas inexperience by going straight into full mount and this isn’t going to go much longer. Takada tries the lay and pray strategy of keeping Ricksons head close to his chest and hooking the arms, but Rickson pulls away as Quadros states that “The worst case scenario just unfolded”. Takada is offering nothing now as Rickson uses the blade of his forearm to push Takadas head from his chest and scores with some punches to the ribs. Thirty seconds later and as Quadros goes out on a limb and calls Gracie the best fighter on the card, Rickson transitions to the armbar and Takada has to tap. Winner: Rickson Gracie by armbar submission in 4:47 of Round 1.
This ends the show, as Rickson celebrates with another of the aforementioned enormous trophies.
The 411: Worth seeing due it being the original, although there’s a lot of forgettable stuff on here. The opener and the mismatch aren’t really likely to stick in the memory and Severn – Kimo is just hideous, even for 1997. That said, the main event is watchable and there is actually a pretty entertaining fight in Goodridge – Taktarov and Shoji – Renzo could have been much worse. On the whole though, it’s an event which would largely be a chore to sit through again once you’ve seen it once and know the results.
