The History Of Pride FC: Pride FC Bushido, The Tournament: Volume 9

Posted by Jeffrey Harris on 01.21.2009

The quarter and semi-finals of not one but two most excellent Pride FC Grand Prix's.

PRIDE FC BUSHIDO, THE TOURNAMENT: VOLUME 9, 9/25/2005



-Welcome back MMA fanatics. And so we jump ahead later into 2005. Maurico "Shogun" Rua won the 2005 Middleweight Grand Prix after defeating Ricardo Arona in the finals at Pride Final Conflict 2005. But two more Grand Prix tournaments were to be held in 2005, beginning at Bushido 9. However, these two tournaments would not only crown new Lightweight and Welterweight winners, but new champions as well. Pride FC was finally creating two new weight classes in addition to their heavyweight (Champion - Fedor Emelianeko) and middleweight (Champion - Wanderlei Silva) divisions. The Bushido events were typically held to showcase lighter weight class fighters.

-From the Ariake Coliseum in Tokyo, Japan. Mauro Ranallo and El Guapo, Bas Rutten, run down the tournaments and competitors. Four fighters will have to win twice in order to advance to the finals at Pride Shockwave 2005. Besides the quarter and semi-final matches there will also be a reserve match for each tournament just in case. Under Bushido rules, the matches are two rounds: a 10 minute first round and a 5 minute second round. The refs can use an unlimited number of red cards to dock 10% of the fighter's purse if they break the rules during their fight.

-The Japanese announcer and Lenny Hart introduce the lightweight and welterweight participants in front of the entranceway. Ladies and gentlemen, this is more than just MMA. This is the PRIDE FIGHTING CHAMPIONSHIP!

WELTERWEIGHT TOURNAMENT OPENING ROUND

Alternate Reserve Bout: Paulo Filho (2-0) VS. Ryuta Sakurai (0-2)
Filho had previously beaten Akira Shoji and Amar Suloev at prior Bushido events. The winner of the reserve bout could conceivably fill in for someone else if they are too injured to fight and continue to the next round. Both fighters go into the clinch. Filho gets the takedown and tries to pass the butterfly guard. Sakurai gets a nice sweep up into a slick knee strike. Filho pushes Sakurai into the corner, and Sakurai goes for some knees to the mid-section. Filho gets a single-leg takedown. Filho looks for a kimura, and then gets a full mount and lays in the punches to Sakurai. Sakurai gives up his back and Filho nicely transitions into an armbar. Filho wrenches it back, and the ref calls the fight.

The Winner: Filho wins via submission at 3:49 in Round 1. After the dissolution of Pride FC, Filho would go on to compete in the WEC and was widely considered one of the world's top middleweights after becoming the WEC Middleweight Champion. However, Filho's personal issues and substance abuse began taking their toll, culminating in his embarrassing rematch with Chael Sonnen at WEC 36. Still impressive domination and finish by Filho in this bout.

Quarter Final Bout: Daniel Acacio (2-0) VS. Akihiro Gono (1-1)
Gono lost to Shogun at Bushido 2, and recently had a win over Crosley Gracie at Bushido 7 in May. Gono's also going up some in weight for this fight. Acacio beat Daiju Takase at Bushido 6 and Kazuo Misaki at Bushido 8 en route to this bout. He's also a Chute Box fighter and has not lost a fight since the first fight of his career to Nilson de Castro.

Round 1. Acacio and Gono decide to keep it standing and make some nasty exchanges and wicked body shots. Acacio then is able to knock Gono down with a big punch and goes for the ground and pound. Gono defends in his guard and is able to separate from Acacio and return to his feet. Gono gets smacked some more by Acacio. Looks like Gono hits Acacio with an inadvertent low-blow. Acacio keeps advancing on Gono and looks to be getting the better of the standing strikes and combinations. Gono tries to lay into Acacio with some leg kicks and a nice right/left combination to the liver and Acacio's head near the end of the round. That round really looked like Acacio. He dominated the first half and knocked Gono down. Besides the end Acacio looked to get the better of the stand-up exchanges with Gono.

Round 2. More standing exchanges. Gono tags Acacio with some more leg kicks and a jumping overhand right to Acacio. Acacio retaliates with a straight front kick that sends Gono to his knee. Gono is able to come back into a takedown into Acacio's full guard. Gono stands and goes for some stomps, but Acacio avoids them. Back to standing and Gono buckles Acacio with another leg kick and dominates Acacio some more from on top. Gono works into a full mount as the round ends.

The Winner: Gono is awarded the unanimous decision and the victory. It was a fun battle, but Gono did dominate most of the second round. However, one could maybe argue a split decision or victory for Acacio. But that's why you got to finish your opponents in MMA. Gono advances into the semi-finals.

Quarter Final Bout: Dan "Hollywood" Henderson (7-4) VS. Ryo "The Shark" Chonan (3-2)
Henderson made a bid for the 2005 Middleweight Grand Prix title, but lost in his first round match to Little Nog, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira via first round sub at Pride Total Elimination 2005. A video package shows Chonan getting knocked out by Baroni at Pride Bushido 8 and says don't stop his fight like that again. Henderson calls Chonan awkward, and Chonan says he will win because he has the bigger heart. Henderson's ring entrance is shown in full. Chonan is already in the ring. The bell sounds, and the combatants circle. Chonan tries for some leg kicks, but Henderson unloads with two huge overhand right hooks. Henderson starts pummeling Chonan, and the ref stops it.

The Winner: Henderson gets the KO victory and advances at 0:22 in the first round. Chonan gets up pretty quickly after the fight is stopped, but he was put down and he didn't have much of an answer or defense from those bombs Henderson was dropping. Wait . . . was that politically incorrect? Henderson goes into his next fight in the same night pretty fresh considering he finished his first one tonight in under 30 seconds.

Quarter Final Bout: Phil "New York Bad Ass" Baroni (2-0) VS. Ikuhisa "The Punk" Minowa (5-4)
Baroni's coming off of two KO victories in Pride over Ryo Chonan and Ikuhisa Minowa. Minowa wanted a rematch, and he's getting it here. In the pre-fight video package, Baroni flaps his gums about smashing Minowa and how he's going to become a champion, "a long time coming." Though Baroni does it with a lot more curse words. Some footage of Baroni's brutal KO of Minowa at Bushido 7. Minowa says he's learned from his fight and this time he's doing it his way, if anyone gets in his way, he "kills them." More trash talk and general BS from Baroni. Minowa in English: "Baroni. For you!" Baroni comes out to L.L. Cool J's "Mamma's Gonna Knock You Out" for his entrance music and struts a lot on the way to the ring. Mark Coleman is Baroni's cornerman for this bout. Minowa's already in the ring.

Round 1. Minowa is clearly the fan favorite here. Minowa gets the early takedown and looks for the top position over Baroni. Minowa lands two knee strikes. Kimura attempt by Minowa. Baroni breaks the grip. Minowa attempts the submission again. Too close to the ropes, and the ref breaks the action up and restarts them in the middle of the ring with the kimura hold. Baroni is able to get out of the hold, but is still being held down by Minowa. Baroni can't mount any type of offense against Minowa. After another restart Baroni shifts out and tries to land some shots and a soccer kick to Minowa's head. Minowa goes for the leglock submission, but Baroni spins out and lands a few more shots. Minowa is able to get back to his feet and the round ends. Baroni came back a little at the end, but Minowa really dominated and controlled most of the round. The fight's not really quite the "stand and trade" that Baroni wanted.

Round 2. Big takedown to start from Minowa on Baroni. Coleman's yelling like crazy to Baroni. Minowa tries for an armbar, and Baroni is able to defend and reverse the position. Minowa gets to his feet and tries for a double-leg pickup, but Baroni almost gets thrown through the ropes, out of the ring. Minowa shoots and gets another takedown. He looks for the armbar on Baroni and about gets it, but Baroni is able to stay away from getting submitted. They take it back up and Baroni wildly goes for some strikes and hits a few. He tries a flying stomp, but Minowa blocks. Time runs out and that's the fight.

The Winner: Minowa wins via unanimous decision and advances into the semi-finals. Baroni just didn't do enough to argue a decision in his favor. Minowa got the takedowns, and he went for the finishes with the sub attempts. Baroni returns to joke-ville.

Quarter Final Bout: Murilo Bustamante (1-3) VS. Masanori Suda (Pride Debut)
Bustamante was the undefeated UFC Middleweight Champion, but left for Pride FC and vacated the UFC Middleweight title. After debuting in Pride, Bustamante lost three straight fights to Quinton Jackson, Dan Henderson, and Kazuhiro Nakamura. Bustamante then picked up his first win in Pride over Ryuta Sakurai at Bushido 6. Murilo's also the oldest competitor in the tournament at 39 years of age. Bustamante and Suda trade strikes standing up, and Bustamante gets the takedown. Suda gets back up in the clinch, but is taken down again by Bustamante. Bustamante gets a third takedown, but Suda quickly makes it back to his feet. Suda swings and lands a discus right that rocks Bustamante. Suda goes for a ground and pound and falls right into Bustamante's quickly lain trap! Bustamante scissors Suda's arms and grabs the armbar. Bustamante pulls back, and that's it.

The Winner: Bustamante defeats Suda at 3:20 in Round 1 and advances to the semi-finals. Nice finish by Bustamante after taking such a big shot. Bustamante is finally putting together some wins en route to going for the Pride Welterweight belt.

LIGHTWEIGHT TOURNAMENT OPENING ROUND

Alternate Reserve Bout: Charles "Krazy Horse" Bennett (1-1) VS. Dokonjonosuke Mishima (1-2)
Video package with some silliness from Bennett in a ski mask and talks about being a masked murderer. He takes the mask off to show his new look. Bennett says his guns are so big because he doesn't get any women does a lot of "jacking off". Bennett says he was a knockout artist, but now he's going to be a submission artist. Mishima says Bennett's submissions are "terrible". Bennett says that he's going to show why jerking off is the greatest thing ever because "there's pleasure and there's fun." Why WWE didn't hire Bennett, I have no idea. Bennett does his traditional mugging for the camera before the bell. Rutten sounds like he's extremely amused by Bennett. Mishima starts things off with a body kick and a takedown. Bennett tries for a guillotine, but Mishima turns to side-control followed by an armbar attempt. Mishima gets a full mount and punches Bennett while Bennett tries to block. Bennett takes the fight back up. Mishima gets side control again, but Bennett is able to lift Mishima up and slams him down right on his head in nasty fashion. Mishima is somehow able to hold on though. Mishima goes for a toe-hold and finds it. Bennett taps and that is all.

The Winner: Mishima gets the submission victory at 4:04 in Round 1 to become the lightweight alternate for the tournament. Fun little fight, and Mr. "Submission Artist" Bennett gets subbed. Always good.

Quarter Final Bout: Jens "Little Evil" Pulver (1-1) VS. Hayato "Mach" Sakurai (3-2)
Pulver is excited and notes how he's the smaller guy going up facing the bigger guy going down. Pulver says he would rather get knocked out then have a boring fight. Pulver dares his opponents to stand and exchange. Sakurai says he just wants to enjoy the fight more than anything . . . and then go home and eat. Sakurai says guys with stronger punches will beat Pulver. Pulver lost his Pride FC debut against Takanori Gomi at Shockwave 2004. He came back with a win against Tomomi Iwama at Bushido 7. Sakurai's going into the fight at 160 lbs., while Pulver weighs in at 150.

Round 1. Pulver, be careful what you wish for because Sakurai is going to give it to you. Pulver and Sakurai stand and trade. Sakurai mixes it up with some stiff leg and body kicks. Sakurai lands the stronger and larger amount of blows and combinations. Big uppercut rocks Pulver, but Pulver turns it up and unleashes a flurry of strikes on Sakurai. Sakurai continues to land more punches and kicks. Pulver starts favoring his right eye, and Sakurai lands a nice straight, standing karate front kick to Pulver's head. Pulver looks to be getting wobbly, but knocks Sakurai down(!) after a left hook. Sakurai quickly retaliates with a short double-leg takedown. They take it back up. Sakurai continues to unload, and Pulver has little answer for it. Sakurai comes in with a brutal knee strike, and Pulver goes down. Some nasty soccer kicks, stomps, and strikes and the ref finally calls it over.

The Winner: Sakurai gets the technical knockout at 8:56 in Round 1. Hell of a battle considering Pulver was fighting a guy who was basically a career welterweight fighter. Pulver put up a great fight against Sakurai, but unable to do the greater damage. Sakurai being the much bigger fighter picked Pulver apart with his more impressive and winning striking combinations. It was only a matter of time before Pulver went down. Sakurai mixed up his striking a lot, and when Pulver knocked him down he retaliated smartly and saw it through to continue wearing down Pulver and finishing him. Good fight.

Quarter Final Bout: Yves Edwards (1-0) VS. Joachim "Hellboy" Hansen (1-0)
Edwards defeated Mishima at Bushido 7. Hansen beat Masakazu Imanari at Bushido 8. Hansen says that Edwards has never been hit hard by someone like him. Edwards says he makes guys miss and that he spars with incredibly hard hitters during training. Edwards gets his entrance shown in full before the fight.

Round 1. Hansen gets some takedowns in the first half, but is unable to do much damage from on top. Hansen then works for a rear naked choke on Edwards, but Edwards is able to get out of it and keeps it from being finished again and reverses the position. Edwards lands some punches before the fight goes back up. Edwards and Hansen trade some nasty knee strikes before Edwards sends Hansen down. Back up and Edwards puts together a nice combination that Hansen responds to with a slip. Hansen manages another takedown. Near the end of the round Hansen gets an inadvertent eye poke. Hansen gets taken down again and the round ends. Close round and tough call, but Hansen scored more takedowns, and he almost finished Edwards with the RNC. Very close though since Edwards did make some good comebacks and landed some nice strikes of his own.

Round 2. Hansen and Edwards keep the fight standing for a while. Edwards wins the stand-up exchanges and gets a takedown. Hansen gets a takedown and tries to pound on Edwards. Edwards gets a kimura applied, but Hansen just stomps Edwards to break it. Hansen gets the hooks and Edwards gives up his back to some hammering blows. Edwards gets up, but Hansen keeps hold of a waistlock and suplexes Edwards down to the canvas (more like a waistlock takedown, but whatever). Edwards gets up, and Hansen tries the slam again, but Edwards blocks it. Hansen keeps hold of the waistlock as the round ends.

The Winner: Hansen is awarded with the first split decision of the evening. It was a tough call, but agreed on the decision for Hansen. Hansen hit more takedowns and seemed to be doing more damage to Edwards by the end of the fight rather than the other way around. Still, not very hard for one to make the argument against Edwards based off his performance in rounds 1 and 2.

Quarter Final Bout: Takanori Gomi (7-0) VS. Tatsuya Kawajiri (2-0)
Pre-fight video package. Gomi and Kawajiri both want to go all the way in the tournament. Gomi's excited to fight Kawajiri. Kawajiri says he wants to dominate Gomi, break his spirit, and finish the Gomi. Good luck Kawajiri-san. Following the win over Jens Pulver at Shockwave 2004, the Gomi beat Luiz Azeredo at Bushido 7 and Jean Silva at Bushido 8. Kawajiri makes his entrance with his Shooto Welterweight title belt. Before the bell, the Gomi refuses to look in Kawajiri's eyes. Bas Rutten says he's the same way.

Round 1. Kawajiri comes in with a big swing that Gomi tries to avoid, and Kawajiri doesn't get all of it. Gomi and Kawajiri stand and trade at a very quick pace. Gomi later comes in with a big uppercut. Kawajiri smiles and pounds his chest. Gomi gets some strong combination left and right punches. Gomi continues to land some really big punches, and the crowd is getting very psyched up for this fight. Rutten can hardly contain himself over the awesomeness that is the Gomi. Kawajiri is sent to his knees, followed by a clinch and a knee strike to the head by Gomi. See, that would be illegal in the UFC. Gomi keeps at it and unloads more swings to Kawajiri's head, but Kawajiri is not going down. Rutten's about to have a heart attack in glee over Gomi. Kawajiri stays in it and gets a discus punch. Gomi finally gets Kawajiri down with two huge knee strikes to the head. Gomi starts the ground and pound and the ref isn't calling for the fight to stop. Gomi gets the hooks on and unloads more unecessary punishment to Kawajiri. Kawajiri isn't defending. Gomi keeps the body scissors, pulls and lays back, and there's the RNC - Rear Naked Choke! Kawajiri taps out and that is all! Whew!

The Winner: The Gomi gets the submission with the RNC at 7:42 in the first round. Bas Rutten goes legitimately nuts over Gomi's "everything you need to know about mixed martial arts(!)" victory. Gomi gives his winning medal for the fight to Kawajiri because Gomi is going to win the belt. Amazing fight to see Gomi in his prime. Another great fight that didn't make it out of the first round, but was wildly fun and entertaining.

Quarter Final Bout: Luiz Azeredo (1-1) VS. Naoyuki Kotani (Pride Debut)
Azeredo puts Kotani down in 0:11 seconds with a nasty right hook, and Kotani looked out before he even hits the ground. However Azeredo still has time to get some more ugly shots in before the ref pulls him off. I think this is one of the quickest knockouts ever in Pride FC.

WELTERWEIGHT TOURNAMENT SEMI-FINALS

Semi-Final Bout: Dan Henderson (8-4) VS. Akihiro Gono (2-1)
Gono's more of a 170lb fighter going up in weight for this tournament. Not only that, Henderson sustained barely any damage from the first fight which was ended in about 30 seconds, while Gono went all 15 minutes in his first fight against Acacio.

Round 1. Henderson grabs a kick from Gono and puts him down with a big right hook. Looks like Henderson accidentally head-butted Gono when Henderson went down for the ground and pound. Gono then complains about another headbutt, and Henderson gets a yellow card. I think Gono is milking it. The replay shows that it wasn't really a headbutt, and Bas Rutten agrees. Back on the feet, Henderson later puts Gono down again with a huge left and swarms on Gono. Henderson dominates Gono from the half-guard. Henderson tries for a guillotine. Ranallo points out Mickey Rourke in the crowd, who is probably in Japan promoting Sin City since the ads are plastered over the Pride ring. Henderson keeps Gono back pedaling most of the time, but Gono scores with a very loud body kick to Hendo. Henderson keeps digging in with some big shots on Gono, and Gono staves off a takedown attempt. Gono can't keep Henderson's strikes past his guard. Henderson keeps combining left and rights and puts Gono in the corner, and Gono finally goes down. Henderson rains down some more punches, and the ref stops as Gono is unable to defend or answer the strikes.

The Winner: Henderson gets his second KO of the night, this one at 7:58 in Round 1. Henderson advances to the Welterweight Grand Prix tournament finals at Shockwave 2005, where he will have a chance to become Pride FC's first ever welterweight champion. Gono held on as long as he could, but he was a little out-matched by someone like Henderson. While the fights tonight are good, a lot of the fighters have had to go outside their natural weight classes or fight over or undersized opponents. Henderson hugs one of the ring girls who gives Henderson his trophy. Look away Alison! Henderson has a big celebration after his win and fist bumps Rutten. Awesomeness.

Semi-Final Bout: Murilo Bustamante (2-3) VS. Ikuhisa Minowa (6-4)
Bustamante only went 3 minutes and 20 seconds in his first fight, while Minowa went the full 15 minutes for his fight with Baroni. The winner of this fight will face Dan Henderson to become the winner of the Pride 2005 Welterweight Grand Prix and become the new Pride FC Welterweight Champion.

Round 1. Bustamante gets the takedown early and controls Minowa on the ground. Minowa tries for some leglocks, but Bustamante avoids. Back on the ground, Bustamante gets some hammer strikes. Ref breaks the two up after a while and stands them both up. Bustamante shoots and gets the takedown, but Minowa grabs the guillotine choke. Bustamante is just barely able to slip out, and the ref breaks them when they are too close to the ropes and sends them back to the position in the middle of the ring. We get some nice over the ring camera shots of the action. Minowa and Bustamante scramble for a while, but Bustamante gets back into control and slips on an arm-triangle choke. Crowd is loudly behind Minowa. Minowa escapes and is eventually able to fight back to his feet. Minowa lands with a couple punches, but later gets taken down with a nice leg trip by Murilo. Bustamante starts striking and lands a nasty soccer kick to Minowa's head. Minowa tries to roll away, but Bustamante continues with the ugly, ugly soccer kicks to Minowa's head and the ref calls it over with only 9 seconds to go.

The Winner: Bustamante with the TKO at 9:51 in Round 1. Minowa despite the guillotine and some other submission attempts could do little against Bustamante who at the end just said the heck with it and started kicking Minowa's head like Bustamante was Team Brazil in the World Cup. Bustamante wins to go to the finals of the Welterweight Grand Prix at Shockwave 2005. Bustamante now has a shot at becoming a champion of his weight class in both UFC and Pride FC.

LIGHTWEIGHT TOURNAMENT SEMI-FINALS

Semi-Final Bout: Joachim Hansen (2-0) VS. Hayato "Mach" Sakurai (4-2)
Hayato gets a full entrance video. Hansen's going in having gone a close two full rounds with Yves Edwards earlier in the night, while Sakurai finished Pulver at about 9 minutes into the first round of their fight.

Round 1. Sakurai and Hansen go back and forth on the control. Sakurai is able to knock Hansen down with a big left, but Hansen is able to get up and go back to the clinch. Beautiful judo takedown by Sakurai and slides on the armbar! Bas Rutten: "IT'S OVERRRRR!!!!" Actually, no because Hansen slips out. Rutten: "WHOAAA!!!" Hansen takes control and lays on top of Sakurai for a while, and gets a takedown and a soccer kick. Sakurai comes back and gets control again. Back on the feet, and Sakurai hits a spinning back kick and then a big discus right. Hansen retaliates with a belly to belly suplex. Hansen pounds Sakurai on the ground, and Sakurai makes it back to his feet. Another big punch from Sakurai sends Hansen to his knee. Getting into the last minute, Sakurai hits another takedown just as the round ends. Wow, heck of a first round. It was pretty close, but with submissions and the larger amount of takedowns, knockdown, and strikes the round went to Sakurai. Sakurai knocked Hansen down several times with his punches.

Round 2. They trade leg kicks. Sakurai gets the takedown and tries for a heel hook, but Hansen gets out. Sakurai hits another takedown and avoids a triangle attempt from Hansen. Hansen comes back with another nice takedown of his own. Round gets close to the end, and Hansen and Sakurai get really furious and start laying into each other with some sick stuff. Hansen lands a nasty kick to the back of Sakurai's head, but Sakurai keeps his composure and gets a quick and low single-leg takedown. Sakurai fights Hansen from up top and the round ends.

The Winner: Sakurai wins via unanimous decision. Furious two round battle with some serious striking that never slowed down. Really great battle. It was the right decision. Sakurai totally outstruck Hansen standing up. Hansen did well with the takedowns and some of the strikes, but Sakurai simply scored more. Sakurai now advances to the finals of the Pride Lightweight Grand Prix to get a shot at becoming the first Pride FC Lightweight Champion.

Semi-Final Bout: Luiz Azeredo (2-1) VS. Takanori Gomi (8-0)
Azeredo finished his opponent in like 10 seconds, and Gomi finished Kawajiri in about 7 minutes. Rutten labels this a grudge match as Gomi knocked out Azeredo previously at Pride Bushido 7.

Round 1. They trade a lot on the feet. Gomi hits the superior punches and jabs, and Azeredo gets the single-leg. Azeredo lays on top of Gomi for a while and the ref stands them both up. Gomi and Azeredo swing wildly, but Gomi is landing a lot more and is rocking Azeredo. Azeredo recovers, but Gomi keeps at it and looks unstoppable. Azeredo comes back with another takedown but does absolutely nothing on top. Ref breaks it up and green cards Gomi, but I'm not sure why? Was there a headbutt? I'm guessing it was a headbutt since Azeredo is bleeding profusely from the mouth. Gomi keeps pressing and outstriking Azeredo. Gomi catches a kick and punches Azeredo to the ground. Gomi keeps Azeredo grounded until the round ends. Credit to Azeredo for surviving that first round, but Gomi definitely took that. Gomi still looks like he has a good amount of gas left despite the furious, quick pace of that round.

Round 2. Gomi remains the aggressor and gets the bigger shots on Azeredo. Gomi catches another kick and a series of lefts sends Azeredo down again. Gomi's standup looks fantastic. Azeredo tries to fight up from the ground and goes for a sweep reversal, but Gomi stands back up and so does Azeredo with a minute to go. Azeredo then suddenly becomes a wussy since he now knows he doesn't have a chance to win or finish Gomi in a minute. So Azeredo starts doing dumbass martial arts poses. Azeredo starts back pedaling like a coward and rides out the remaining minute like the coward that he is, not wanting to be destroyed or knocked out by Gomi again. I'm very upset that Rutten didn't attack Azeredo for this.

The Winner: Takanori Gomi wins via unanimous decision. The Gomi will be facing Sakurai in the Pride Lightweight Grand Prix finals to crown Pride FC's first ever Lightweight Champion. Gomi in his prime was seriously scary. Some of his strikes were wild, but wild with technique if that makes any sense. He overwhelmed his opponents with amazing powerful strikes and looked untouchable standing up. Azeredo put up a good fight despite getting rocked by Gomi, but his behavior near the end of the second round was despicable, disgusting, and pathetic. If Azeredo is Chute Box, I would hope his teammates would flog him for his behavior at the end. Just a total complete and utter lack of class by Azeredo to lose like a man.

-And thus ends the first two rounds of the Pride 2005 Welterweight and Lightweight Grand Prix's. Welterweight finalists Henderson and Bustamante, and Lightweight finalists the Gomi and Sakurai come to the ring. All the competitors thank the fans and look forward to their title bouts. Gomi graciously doesn't bash the cowardly acts of Luiz Azeredo. Gomi brings Genki Sudoh to the ring, and Sudoh says he's looking forward to Sakurai VS. the Gomi as the credits roll. Ranallo and Rutten bid the fans sayonara, and that is it for the greatest Pride Bushido event of all time with a total of 14 fights.

-There are a video video features on the second disc of this DVD set. These include a video preview of the event with a rundown of the competitors and match-ups. There's also a short TV spot commercial for Bushido 9. There's also an 8 minute promotional video package for the Pride FC organization that's specifically like propaganda. Kevin Randleman talks about wanting to "kick somebody's butt." The video puts over the safety of the fighters in the rules. I guess this was made a time when while MMA was growing in popularity, there's still the whole too much brutality, human cockfight aspect. So they make a video like this to put over the rules and regulations of the organization since Pride FC was trying to establish a larger fanbase in the US.

The 411: Great event and night of fights. Some of bouts were clear mismatches with fighters having to go outside of their weight classes. But the lightweight quarter and semi-final fights were all pretty amazing. This is a great show to view The Gomi when he was probably the greatest lightweight fighter on the planet. Also see the rise of Dan Henderson before he makes MMA history. Strong recommendation to view this show if you are getting into Pride FC.

Final Score:  9.0   [  Amazing ]