Japan's Finest: The Pride FC Review: 10/27/2008: Pride 3
Posted by John Wilson on 10.27.2008
A steadily improving Pride FC puts on its third show, including what it is considered by many to be one of the finest grappling bouts in MMA history as well as a Nobuhiko Takada “fight”…
Pride 3 Review
Pride 3 comes from the Nippon Budokan back in June 1998, so only three months between this and the previous show. Stephen Quadros is providing the play-by-play; alongside him is former UFC champion and Pancrase legend Bas Rutten. We kick off the night with a clash between two of Japans most dynamic, if not talented fighters.
This has the potential to be a really good opener. Matsui is making his mixed martial arts debut tonight, while Shoji is coming off of his quick submission victory over Juan Mott at the previous show as well as a draw with Renzo Gracie.
Round 1: After a fairly slow period of feeling out, Matsui goes for a takedown which is blocked and gets caught with a nice two punch combination as he backs out. Another failed shot allows Shoji to control Matsui, who’s on all fours, as well as throw a knee to the thigh. Unable to gain an advantage they break and go back to standing, where we have a quick break to fix a glove. Matsui misses a speculative high kick then trades several blows with Shoji in a flurry of action, culminating in a third failed shot, allowing Shoji to take his back. Shoji begins to pound away with right hands to the head of his opponent as they go back to standing. Matsui leans halfway out of the ring to avoid the blows, before returning fire with some strikes of his own. Eventually the referee gets in and breaks them up for their own safety and they go back to circling as Bas comments that neither fighter has their hands above their waists in protection.
After another small lull of inactivity Matsui shoots in once again, although for the fourth time Shoji shows off a fantastic sprawl to prevent this and puts Matsui on the mat, taking side mount in the process. Shoji works for, and gets, the full mount for no longer than a second or two, before Matsui turns and slips out to take the fight back to standing. Matsui fails with yet another takedown attempt, allowing Shoji to once more control and hit a knee. Two more strikes connect to the shoulder, and Matsui decides to get back on his feet where they remain in a clinch. From here it’s more knees from Shoji, this time to the mid-section. Matsui tries to fire back with some right hands but gets hit with a trip and Shoji is in half guard. Matsui tries to escape by rolling out, but only succeeds in giving his back and Shoji sinks the hooks in. A potentially dangerous position is countered though, as Matsui stands up and slips out the back door. Shoji is aware though and stands up first, from where he hits two solid kicks to his kneeling opponent and them some right hands as Matsui tries an ankle pick before retreating from danger. Some looping rights from Matsui initiates a clinch, then he drops to the guard. This looks to be a bad decision though, as Shoji leans back and begins to drop some bombs, with a couple sneaking through and landing, although none hit clean.
An action packed first round then comes to a close as Matsui kicks his way back to standing. Really good fight so far, both guys are working to entertain as well as win. Once again decisions aren’t being used here so it doesn’t matter particularly, but I’d give that to Shoji. He stuffed every takedown that Matsui could throw at him and was the more effective striker standing and on the ground.
Round 2: They touch gloves to begin as Bas starts talking in a strange voice while in the ring Shoji gets a trip takedown right next to the ropes, forcing a restart in the middle. Shoji backs out of the guard and toys with the idea of striking Matsui who’s still on the canvas, before allowing him back up. Matsui is still looking for that double leg, but Shoji has perfected the defence during the course of the fight, and is able to get his opponents back. From here though, Matsui gets to his knees and rolls him and Shoji over to the side beautifully, and he ends up in the guard. It’s a very slick manoeuvre that rightly earns the plaudits of the commentary team as well as cheers from the fans. Matsui goes on to build from this, as he hits some good punches from the guard and then a nice leg kick as Shoji returns to standing and finishes with an even better straight right that momentarily stuns Shoji, who stumbles back to the corner.
After being put under pressure for more or less the whole of the fight so far, it’s now Matsui has a spring in his step, which is one of the great things about MMA. Side kick from Matsui keeps the action ticking over, before Quadros correctly predicts a Matsui takedown, which is defended back to the same position of Shoji on the back of a kneeling Matsui. From here Akira strikes with his right hand, alternating between up top and under the arm to keep Matsui guessing. We’re returned back to the centre from where Matsui fails to grab a leg and eats some more shots as a result. Daijiro rolls again to get free but winds up with Shoji in his guard pressed up against the corner, from where they both hit some hard punches, surprisingly Matsui getting the better of it from the bottom position.
Another restart in the middle of the ring with Shoji in the half guard leads to a rare period of inactivity as both fighters work to improve their positions. It’s Matsui who is successful though, twisting well to get back to his knees. Another action packed round actually ends during a bit of slowdown, with both fighters probably waiting for the bell. Definitely a much closer round to score than the first, Matsui had the escapes and the aggression, whereas Shoji had better takedown defence and just about the edge in striking. I’d give it to Matsui though, primarily so that we go into the third with everything to play for.
Round 3: No sooner does the round begin than it’s stopped, so the referee can dry off Matsui with a towel. As we get back to it, Quadros says that the main thing missing from both guys is a striking game, which is a fair comment. Both fighters are good at the wrestling aspect and getting good positions, but really lack the killer instinct and ability to finish fights that’s necessary. They then throw some strikes, with Matsui starting to come out on top, so Shoji gets a trip and falls into guard.
Not a lot going on for a minute or so, before Shoji jumps to pass the guard, but gets pushed away and they get back on their feet. Some stinging punches crash into the gloves and chest of Matsui, it gets the crowd going but nothing really got through to cause serious damage. Now Matsui comes in for a takedown and for the first time in the fight is actually able to get it and secure the guard position. A restart ensues and some weak striking from the guard keeps the fighters busy, until they break away from each other and they each get in a separate flurry of rights and lefts. Matsui is the one slightly worse for wear, coming out with a slightly bloody nose as he has another takedown attempt stuffed. After a short period of grappling, the round comes to a close with Shoji on the back of Matsui with the hooks in, looking for a choke. It’s another close one to score, with Matsui doing well at the start, although Shoji probably edged it in the later stages.
Round 4: With the fight just too close to score, it turns out they will be going to an extra fourth round to try and determine a winner. This is a good decision in my eyes, as it has been an entertaining opener so far. A high kick is wide of the mark to start, before we see the sprawl from Shoji for what could easily be the tenth time in the fight, and he starts to unload with knees to the shoulders before backing out and scoring with a right.
Matsui isn’t showing any signs of damage though, and neither fighter is carrying a knockout or submission threat at the moment as they continue to grapple and throw a few strikes in for good measure. It’s as I type this though that Shoji leans back and unloads with about five or six swinging fists to the head. A couple lands flush and force Matsui to drop to the deck and grab an ankle, calling a halt to the punches for now. Shoji instead lands four knees to Matsui, the last of which looked to strike the head, which is illegal for the time being. Some clubbing blows from Akira continue to land to the right arm and ear, although both men look pretty tired now, which is only to be expected after they’ve been fighting for over 35 minutes. A bull-rush from Shoji is the next offence Matsui has to defend against, which he does, grabbing a guillotine choke then dropping to guard. The choke isn’t sunk in fully though, allowing Shoji to pop his head out to safety. Full mount is achieved by Shoji, although Matsui is quick to twist and turn over to his back and then pop out of the back door again before being pushed underneath the ropes, which prompts a restart on the feet.
The final minutes of the fight go by as Matsui nullifies everything Shoji tries to do, then the duo fall out of the ring together, only for the bell to ring to end the contest as they get back in. Result: Draw after 40:00. Good fight, if unspectacular with regards to technique and finishing ability. Both athletes showed a lot of heart and determination in an action packed bout, which ultimately ended with both guys shutting each other down. Probably one of the only times it’s been a good idea not to have judges as neither man deserved to lose that one. I would worry for them against opposition that’s a step up in quality, particularly in the striking department.
It’s time for the second freak show in Prides brief history now, as middleweight Takase takes on super-super-super heavyweight Manny Yarbrough. If you’ve never seen these guys before I’ll try and paint a picture of them using words. Takase is a 6 foot tall, slightly muscular Japanese man. Yarbrough is a 6’8”, 600 pound sumo according to the weigh-ins. You may actually remember Yarbrough from UFC 3, where he was beaten by the much smaller Keith Hackney (of repeated groin striking fame). So the omens don’t look too good for the bigger man for a change.
Round 1: In an odd moment just before we begin, Quadros states that Takase weighs 169 pounds, 40 less than what we’ve just been told by the tale of the tape. Consistency is definitely not one of Prides strong points in the early shows, that’s for sure. Anyhow, the fight starts and Takase is just running around the ring as Yarbrough plods after him. The smaller man nips in for a good left hand to his opponents eye before going back to running away for a long period. Rutten says that you couldn’t even kill Yarbrough with a samurai sword, while Quadros thinks it’s like a horror movie.
More running from Takase, his intentions are clear as day for everyone watching, he’s going to stay out of harms reach till Yarbrough gets tired from carrying his own weight around for a long period of time. The sumo does almost get hold of him though to gasps from the crowd, although Takase slips away. Another attempt at a left hand from Takase and Yarbrough is getting really tired very quickly. After more inactivity and general running around, Takase does a kind of front flip to try and impress the fans and detract attention from his stalling tactics. Finally Yarbrough sees sense and decides to take up a position in the ring and stay there, forcing Takase to come to him, although for some reason gives this up quickly and goes back to chasing him. Literally nothing else happens for the rest of the round, apart from a few weak punches and kicks from Takase and Quadros calls it “a really silly fight…a spectacle”.
Round 2: The second round begins with more excitement than the first as Yarbrough manages to actually get a hold of Takase for a second on two occasions, but he slips out before he can do anything. A minute or two of action, and I use that word very loosely, follows as Takase continues to back away from a very tired Yarbrough, before the fight is stopped momentarily as the referee issues a warning to Takase for stalling. What follows is quite incredible, as on the restart Takase actually shoots for a single leg. Yes that’s right; 169/209 pound Takase tries to takedown 600 pound Yarbrough, something which even at the threat of a disqualification for stalling I wouldn’t do. Obviously the takedown fails and Yarbrough just collapses onto his opponents legs as the crowd go wild in anticipation and Quadros calls it “just like Jaws”. Most likely fearing for his life, Takase begins firing off rapid rights and lefts to the head of Yarbrough, then to his knee and Yarbrough is actually bleeding from the nose. With no energy left whatsoever, the sumo is just laid on top of the foot of Takase. He finally pulls it free however and gets back to standing, from where he delivers shot after shot to the exposed head of Yarbrough. Down on the mat and with no energy to cover up or get back to his feet, the 600lb behemoth has to tap out. Winner: Daiju Takase by submission through strikes in 3:22 of Round 2.
A fight that, while it might have been entertaining at the time, is frankly embarrassing today. A spectacle and nothing else, this is a good example of the sort of thing that gave MMA a bad name, at a time when the UFC back in America were beginning to try really hard and push it through as a legitimate sport. Admittedly there will always be something entertaining about these freak show fights, although this even fell short in that respect. A big man - little man fight should a) Get the fans rooting for the little man over the bigger guy and b) Not have to wait nearly fifteen minutes for something to happen. This failed on both accounts as Takase and his inactivity not only saw him warned, but got me and everyone else I know who has seen the event rooting for Yarbrough to get hold of him. That said, Takase would later go on to face another bigger guy in the UFC, in the shape of the much more mobile and conditioned Jeremy Horn. Let’s just say the result is a touch different in that fight.
Fight 3: Kazushi Sakuraba (Catch Wrestling, 2-1) vs. Carlos Newton (Dragonball Jiu-Jitsu, 3-2)
After the debacle that was the last fight, it’s pleasing to see that the next fight is between two active, exciting and energetic fighters. Sakuraba is coming off consecutive armbar victories in Pride and the UFC, while Newton has just lost a decision to Dan Henderson in a tournament final at UFC 17, defeating Bob Gilstrap with a triangle to get there. Before we start though, we have Bas Rutten notably absent from commentary momentarily as he presents flowers in the ring to the two combatants, before announcing that after he completes his UFC contract with a clash against Randy Couture (a fight that would sadly never take place) he would like to come to Pride and fight Rickson Gracie.
Round 1: As the fight begins Rutten is back, having pretended to be in the ring during that segment, rather than admit they’re not live. As I said earlier, consistency is one problem that plagues these early Pride shows. Nonetheless Sakuraba gets a big cheer, having obviously picked up a few fans after beating Vernon White in an entertaining bout last time out. We kick off with a good low kick to the leg from Sakuraba (pun entirely intended) which Newton doesn’t want a part of and shoots in, able to get a body lock. An attempt at a trip from Carlos falls short, as Sakuraba shows fantastic balance to stay on his feet and move to Newton’s open guard. Straight away Sakuraba stands up and runs round Newton to his side. Carlos tries to swivel and stay with him but Sakuraba keeps going and is able to get to the side and lock in an armbar attempt to complete a very nice move. It looks to be in quite tight, which makes it even more impressive when Carlos stands up and is able to pull free and get to side mount.
Moments later though and Sakuraba slips out from the bottom and gets back to the guard of Newton smoothly as Quadros calls his abilities “something else”. Newton remains calm though and scrambles to avoid a possible toehold, getting to the North-South position in the process. Meanwhile Bas Rutten says that after the fight (the one happening as he is speaking) he spoke to Newton about his training, although wasn’t he in the ring moments ago giving him flowers? Consistency is not high in his priorities, as we’ve established. If they’re not going to say its post show commentary, they could at least try and do a good job of pretending to be there. From here Sakuraba turns and gives up his back, but then quickly turns and is in Newton’s guard. Both guys work for position for a short while, and you see a good example of how all the little things going on in a fight can lead to a big opportunity, as when Newton reaches out with both hands Sakuraba jumps over and attempts another armbar, but once more Newton stands to escape.
Sakuraba then takes a single leg from kneeling to get back into the guard as Quadros states that this is so far eclipsing Sakuraba – White as the most technical fight he has seen to date. Sakuraba starts to fake with his hands as a set-up but Carlos doesn’t buy into it and Sakuraba gets them both back to standing. Good side kick from Sakuraba doesn’t quite connect cleanly. Newton charges in with punches which are disregarded by Sakuraba, who drops down shooting for a single leg and after attempting to pass to the side decides to settle for guard. Newton’s guard is wide open though and after connecting with a right hand, Kazushi spins and is able to apply a toehold. It’s another showing of great submission defence from Newton however; as he is able to pull his leg out of the hold and take Sakurabas back. Rear naked choke attempt with the hooks fails, and after a few punches to the head from Carlos, Sakuraba flips him off and again goes into the Canadians guard.
Attempt to pass to side mount fails, as Quadros throws in the possibility that the two have agreed not to throw many strikes during the fight. It’s a suggestion that loses a touch of credibility moments later when Sakuraba lands a strong right hand from the guard. After some fruitless grappling they split up and return to standing to deserved applause. Kick from Sakuraba then a single leg takedown, although the bell rings straight away. Sakuraba would have took the round if scored I’m sure, although it was by no means dominating.
Round 2: We start with a bang as Newton quickly goes behind Sakuraba and falls back to the mat for a takedown, although nearly gets caught in a kimura. Still behind a kneeling Sakuraba, Carlos tries to roll backwards perhaps looking for another rear naked choke, but some good defence from Sakuraba denies it. They keep moving though in a quick sequence which for a split second has Newton in full mount but ends with him back behind a kneeling Sakuraba. Two good knees to the body and a right hand land well, setting up another choke attempt which is defended and turned into a single leg.
Another short sequence of movement ends with Newton once again on the back of a kneeling Sakuraba, from where he tees off with some powerful swinging rights and lefts and another knee to the body. Another attempt at spinning into a kimura fails for Kazushi, although he is able to turn and get into Newton’s guard like we’ve seen so many times already in this fight. The next thirty seconds or so is a bit of a chess match as they weigh up their next moves, with Sakuraba acting first and coming inches away from a certain armbar submission. Newton shows a combination of strength and technical ability to prevent the extension of the arm, and gets back behind Sakuraba, while the commentary point out that while Newton has defended well, Sakuraba has been the more offensive fighter which is a fair assessment of the fight.
With five minutes remaining in the round, Newton leans back but Sakuraba doesn’t go with him, Carlos leaves his right leg trailing. As Newton tries to defend the leg, Sakuraba simply switches to the left one, applying a kneebar which this time Newton cannot escape from and has to tap. Winner: Kazushi Sakuraba by kneebar submission in 5:19 of Round 2. Post fight and the two kneel together in the ring and exchange compliments as the ground clap their appreciation and Bas Rutten calls it a new high in grappling standards. Really good fight for anyone who’s even slightly interested in the grapping aspect of mixed martial arts as both guys were innovative, intelligent and active the whole match. This fight is now over a decade old and still stands up as a milestone fight for grappling in the same way Ruas/Varelans does for striking. It’s one of those bouts that both guys come out of in a positive way, win or lose.
Fight 4: Gary Goodridge (Arm-Wrestling/Kuk Soo Won, 7-6) vs. Amir Rahnavardi (Muay Thai, 0-0)
Goodridge is back in Pride with a 1-1 record and coming off a disappointing submission loss to Marco Ruas at Pride 2, in a fight that he dominated until the end. Rahnavardi is making his MMA debut, although it should be noted he is considerably smaller than Big Daddy, it looks to be at least 35lbs difference.
Round 1: Amir starts off with a low kick and them some weak strikes which simply play right into Goodridges hands as he just grabs hold of him and hits some good strikes from the clinch. They break momentarily after some brutal knees before engaging close up in the corner again. Amir tries a Judo throw on Gary but can’t quite get it as they both fall down side by side but Big Daddy winds up on top in half guard hitting some big bombs.
We enter a period of slowdown in the same position now, as Goodridge throws the occasional heavy shot and makes a few failed attempts to transition to side mount. Amir is actually laughing from the bottom now, although he soon cuts it out when Goodridge frees an arm and hits a good right to the side of the head. Back to full guard, although Gary continues to rain down some big shots. He leaves an opening when leans back however, which allows Amir to attempt a kneebar/heel hook. In what would be a massive upset, there’s a split second where he could sink the submission in fully, but Goodridge is able to pull the leg out just in time to save the fight.
A short period of grappling sees the opportunity for Amir to get a triangle or armbar pass, and then he rolls to avoid a keylock and winds up rolling again, this time back to guard to avoid some heavy shots. With only a few minutes left in the round we get one of Gary Goodridges more infamous moments. As Amir strikes him from the bottom, Goodridge does nothing to stop it, instead he just shouts, “Childs play! Woo!!!” over and over, as he shrugs off the punches from his opponent. With Amir a surely broken man, Goodridge leans back and smashes a huge shot to the face of Amir, knocking him out. He hits two more big shots to the glassy eyed fighter before the referee jumps in and ends the contest. Winner: Gary Goodridge by knockout in 7:22 of Round 1. An impressive showing from Amir, giving that he supposedly took the fight on a days notice, he even nearly caught Goodridge with a kneebar. Big Daddy continues to improve his reputation and fan base in Japan with some highlight reel moments.
Fight 5: Mark Kerr (Freestyle Wrestling, 8-0) vs. Pedro Otavio (Luta Livre, 12-3)
UFC veteran Kerr is entering this fight still undefeated and having beaten Branko Cikatic in the farce of a main event last time out. Pedro has an impressive record in Vale Tudo competition but I wouldn’t think will be too much trouble for Kerr to handle. He is on a four fight winning streak, his last loss coming to Gary Goodridge nearly a year prior to this event.
Round 1: Kerr possibly looks a bit smaller than he did in his last fight, and isn’t much bigger than ‘The Pedro’, although I think the weight is spread out in a slightly different way. The Specimen starts out with a stinging low kick to remind Otavio that there’s more to him than the wrestling, then follows up by just missing a right high kick. In comes the shoot from Kerr and he takes a double leg down into the half mount then unloads with five or six rights to the body. A slight lull in the fight is ended as Kerr gets an arm and applies a keylock. The hold is fully sunk in and the referee ends the fight as The Pedro is screaming in pain. Winner: Mark Kerr by keylock submission in 2:13 of Round 1. Straight after the fight and Otavio is disputing the decision, presumably saying that he never gave up. Although when someone is on the verge of breaking your arm and you’re screaming in pain that is in my mind, barring saying “I give up”, as close to a verbal submission as you can get. Regardless, he throws his kneepads into the crowd and storms off down the aisle, as Kerr celebrates in the ring with the customary massive trophy and a certain Bas Rutten, whose voice has strangely disappeared from the commentary.
Main Event: Kyle Sturgeon (Kick Boxing, 0-0) vs. Nobuhiko Takada (Pro-Wrestling, 0-1)
Sturgeon is making his debut with Amir from earlier in his corner; Takada is coming off his debut armbar loss to Rickson Gracie. I should point out here that all of Takadas wins in MMA are generally regarded as works by everyone who has seen them. So let’s get this over with.
Round 1: It starts with two high kicks from Sturgeon, one misses but Takada jumps across the ring anyway, the second grazes him with no power on it, but Takada hits the deck anyway as Sturgeon stands off him despite supposedly being in a dominant position. Then despite having almost won the fight with a high kick the kick boxer decides to take the wrestler down in a moment of bizarre logic. Straight away back to standing as if he’s reading my mind then it’s Takada with the takedown to the guard. Some dull action from the guard (If you’re going to work a fight, they could at least make it exciting) before Takada stands up and falls backwards grabbing a heel hook for the tap out win. Winner: Nobuhiko Takada by heel hook submission in 2:18 of Round 1. It is what it is, a bit of bad way to end an otherwise average show.
The 411: Aside from the main event, which was just a cheap way to try and build Takada up in the hopes of a rematch with Rickson Gracie, this is a decent show. An active if lacking in technique draw in the opener sets the tone and Sakuraba vs. Newton is for pure grappling as good as anything you are likely to see. Goodridge and Kerr winning are watchable if nothing else. In fact if it wasn’t for the main event and the Takase – Yarbrough freak show you could probably give it a 7/10 instead.
