Pride SPOILERS

[Guest bps "The Truth" 21]

From the observer site:

 

*Kazuhiro Hamanaka b Nino Schembri via unanimous decision

*Daijyu Takase b Anderson Silva with a triangle choke in 8:33 in one of the biggest upsets in history

*Alistair Overeem b Mike Bencic via knockout in 3:44

*Quinton Jackson b Ilioukhine Mikhail b Quinton Jackson in 6:26 via tap out after a series of hard knees on the ground

*Mark Coleman b Don Frye via unanimous decision after 20:00

*Mirko Cro Cop b Heath Herring via knockout in :17

*Emelianenko Fedor b Kazuyuki Fujita via choke in 4:17

 

Said to be a great show

 

17 seconds??????????

 

Woah.

[Guest Lord of The Curry]

Ichiban Puroresu is reporting the Cro Cop/Herring fight at 3:17.

[Guest RavishingRickRudo]

PRIDE 26 airs in US and Canada on PPV on Friday night, 6/13

 

6/8/03

Yokohama Arena

Announced Drawing 17,187 (sell-out)

1. Kazuhiro Hamanaka (89kg /196lbs) defeated Nino ``Elvis`` Schembri (86kg / 190lbs) in 5:00 of 3R by unanimous decision (3-0).

-Hamanaka came out wearing a Sakuraba mask.

-1R: Schembri goes down and into the BUTT scoot. Hamanaka gets on top of him in Schembri`s closed guard. Schembri attempts an uma plata. Schembri almost gets it, but Hamanaka escapes and gets back to his feet. Schembri gets a jumping guard, pulling Hamanaka down, putting himself on his back. Schembri continues to look for a submission. The referee stands them up. Schembri lands a knee to the head that draws blood from the nose. Schembri pulls guard again. Hamanaka pulls out of another uma plata, resulting in both going to their feet. They exchange some small strikes. Schembri gets Hamanaka up against the ropes to land some punches, before taking it to the ground into Schembri`s closed guard. Schembri goes for the uma plata again, but Hamanaka quickly gets out and to his feet. Schembri tries to pull guard, but Hamanaka throws him down. Schembri tries to pull guard again and does. Schembri goes for a chickenwing, but Hamanaka gets out, but not before Schembri lands some good punches. Schembri is in BUTT scoot and they`re stood up. Both are bleeding from the nose. Not much happens standing before the round ends.

-2R: Schembri gets Hamanaka down again by pulling guard. Hamanaka lands some punches to Schembri`s face. Hamanaka continues to pull up and drop punches from Schembri`s guard. Schembri is bleeding quite a bit. The rounds ends.

-3R: Hamanaka lands some good shots to the face in stand-up. Schembri gets guard again with Hamanaka pounding Schembri. The referee gave Hamanaka a yellow card, possibly for inactivity, but he looked pretty active. Hamanaka continues to land punches to both the head and body. Schembri is bleeding badly now from the nose. Hamanaka stands up and waits for Schembri to get up. Hamanaka lands a good series of punches before the fight ends and will go to a decision.

-Hamanaka wins the fight by unanimous decision.

 

2. Daiju Takase (84kg / 185lbs) defeated Anderson Silva (85kg / 187lbs) in 8:33 of 1R by submission (triangle choke).

-Takase came out in an unusual robe.

-1R: Takase shoots, but Silva stops him. After two attempts, Takase gets the takedown and is in Silva`s half guard. Silva gets guard, using the triangle guard. Takase hits a Mongolian chop. They exchange some punches from the guard. Takase has a problem with glove that the referee has to fix for him. Takase passes guard into half guard. Silva gets a crucifix in the half guard, but lets it go. Takase goes for a kimura, gets out of half guard and gets it in tight. He turns it into a reverse armbar, but Silva escapes. Takase has side mount. He almost gets a reverse triangle. The fight is paused again for Takase`s glove. Takase lands a few punches. Takase tries for a neck crank, Silva prevents it. Takase applies a triangle choke. Silva taps out. A huge upset.

-They shake hands after the fight. Takase said, ``It took me a very long time to get here,`` and thanked everyone for their support. Takase stumbled over his words at one point and his corner, including Hidehiko Yoshida laughed at him.

 

3. Alistair Overeem (94kg / 207lbs) defeated Mike Bencic (102kg / 225lbs) in 3:44 of 1R by submission (strikes/injury).

-Bencic comes out in a Batman mask and cape. CroCop, who is fighting tonight, is in Bencic`s corner.

-Overeem comes out in an orange ski mask.

-1R: Overeem gets Bencic down in the corner. Bencic gets guard. Bencic goes for a triangle, but Overeem evades it and gets half guard, but Bencic gets full guard again. Overeem throws some punches to the head, while Bencic ties to defend. Overeem gets side mount position. They return to their feet. In a weird moment, Overeem lands a left, hits a jumping knee and takes him down. There was a weird moment where the fight seemed to have been paused, but wasn`t as Bencic appeared to be in great pain. Becic taps out due to an apparent injury. Possibly to the ribs.

 

4. Quinton ``Rampage`` Jackson defeated Mikhail Illoukhine in 6:26 of 1R by submission (knee to the body).

-Jackson came out, howling as usual and shaking hands with the fans.

-Jackson gave the referee a yellow card, playing up on his unhappiness about being given a yellow card in his fight with Randleman at last PRIDE.

-1R: Jackson tries to slam Illoukhine, but Illoukhine twists out of it. Illoukhine gets a guillotine, going for a guard, loses the guillotine and gets guard. Illoukhine goes for a kimura, but Jackson gets his leg in to block it. Jackson can`t do much but punch with his other hand while Illoukhine tries to crank it. Illoukhine almost got it out from his knee, but Jackson pulls it back in. Jackson rolls out for an amazing escape, nails Illoukhine with a knee and right and almost knocks Illoukhine out of the ring. More strikes from Jackson. Down into Illoukhine`s guard. Jackson gets up, wanting Illoukhine standing. Illoukhine gets a hold of a leg and they go down into Illoukhine`s guard. Illoukhine goes for a kimura and a triangle, but loses both, letting Jackson get side mount. Jackson goes for big knees, but they don`t land fully. Jackson hits one big knee to the body. Illoukhine taps out.

-Jackson wants the microphone, but no one will give it him.

 

-Intermission

-Nobuhiko Takada gave a speech, saying PRIDE would live forever, playing up on the ``REBORN`` subtitle being used in Japan. Vanderlei Silva is in the ring and this quickly turned into something that looked a lot like the opening of WWF Raw in 1999. Takada asks Vanderlei if he`ll fight in the Grand Prix. Silva says he will. Takada says, ``You are real man.`` Quinton Jackson gets up on the apron. Takada says Jackson can fight in the GP and fight Silva if he wants. Jackson agrees. Takada says to Jackson, ``You`re a man, too.`` Renzo Gracie then gets the microphone and asks, ``How can we have a Grand Prix without a Gracie?`` Takada asks Renzo if he wants to be in the GP. Renzo says the Gracies will send someone to be the GP. Takada says the Gracies are real men. Then Takada said that there was one person everyone was forgetting: Sakuraba. Sakuraba then came out with his mask on. He apologizes for losing his recent fights and says he`ll fight in the GP. Takada asks him if his health is okay. Sakuraba says it is. Takada says that Sakuraba is a real man also and that the Grand Prix will happen on 8/10.

 

5. Mark Coleman defeated Don Frye in 5:00 of 3R by decision (3-0).

-Frank Shamrock is in Frye`s corner.

-They have a big staredown.

-1R: Coleman hits a left and shoots, but Frye spralls. Frye with two knees to Coleman`s body with a very tight guillotine. It looks like it could end the fight, but Frye lets go. Frye gets another guillotine, but lets go again. They go into an over-under clinch. Strikes to the body are exchanged. Coleman looks tired. Frye pushes Coleman into the corner. The referee breaks them up. Coleman with a left to the head. He gets a double-leg takedown into Frye`s guard. Some good shots to Frye`s body. Coleman continues, landing shots to both the head and body. The referee moves them away from the ropes. Coleman gets side mount, almost mount. They get into a weird tangled position before getting into Frye` guard again. More small strikes to the body and face by Coleman for the rest of an unexciting round won by Coleman.

-2R: Coleman shoots and gets himself in Frye`s guillotine again. Coleman takes a single-leg and gets in side mount. Coleman hits a knee to the head and one to the body. Coleman gets a north-south position. The referee brings them back to the center of the ring. Coleman goes back to side mount. Frye covers Coleman`s nose and mouth with his hand. Coleman gets north-south again and lands a series of light knees. More knees, not very hard, but they`re hurting Frye. The round ends. Frye took a good beating, taking about 20 knees, but gets up without a problem. Frye will probably have to finish the fight in he third round to win.

-3R: Coleman goes for the takedown, but Frye gets the guillotine again, but they go down into Frye`s guard. Coleman gets mount. Coleman lands some punches, nothing huge yet, but enough to cut Frye. Coleman puts his weight on Frye`s face, doing a neck crank, but it doesn`t appear to be effective. Left and rights by Coleman. Frye rolls and almost gives him his back. More punches by Coleman. The bell rings and will go to a decision. The fight was dominated by Coleman. It wasn`t very exciting and both look very tired.

-The judges give the fight to Coleman by unanimous decision.

-Frye may have a rib injury, as he`s holding his abdomin.

-Coleman got the microphone and said, ``I`m sorry this wasn`t one of my more exciting fights. But it`s been a long time. I`ve had a lot of injuries. I told you I`d come back. I`m halfway back... I promose to become the dominate fight I once was... Don Frye is a true champion. He`s one tough man and I`m very happy to get the win.`` Frye turned around and acknowldeged him. ``I gonna work hard and I`m gonna get that f***ing belt back! I know it`s gonna take a lot of work, but I promise I`m gonna do it!``

 

6. Mirko ``CroCop`` Filipovic (104kg / 229lbs) defeated Heath Herring (108kg / 238lbs) in 3:17 of 1R by TKO (middle kick / punches).

-Herring gets a big pop coming out. Herring and his cornermen have to push their way through the crowd like in old All Japan main events.

-1R: Herring comes after him with punches. CroCop throws him down twice, leaving Herring to get up both times. CroCop goes for a high kick, but it`s block. Herring goes for high kick, also blocked. They go down. CroCop lands some knees from the north-south position. Herring escapes and gets to his feet. Herring goes for a double-leg takedown, but isn`t successful. Big middle kick by CroCop as Herring goes for a low kick. Herring goes down. CroCop gets on him with about 10 unanswered punches. The referee stops the fight.

-CroCop remains undefeated in mixed martial arts competition.

-CroCop said on the microphone that he his big dream is to become the champion in both PRIDE and K-1.

 

-Antonio Inoki made his entrance. The crowd mobs him. Security really has to shove the crowd out of the way. ``Genki desu ka!? Fujita, get out here!`` Fujita then made his entrance.

 

7. Emelianenko Fedor (107kg / 236lbs) defeated Kazuyuki Fujita (116kg / 266lbs) in 4:17 of 1R by submission (rear naked choke).

-Kendo Kashin is in Fujita`s corner.

-1R: One-two combination by Fedor. Fujita punches back. Fedor goes for the takedown, but can`t get it and they separate. They touch gloves. Big right by Fedor and pushes him down. Kick to Fujita`s head. Fujita goes for a single-leg. Fedor stands back. Big left by Fujita and they`re back on their feet. Those two exchanges happened very fast. Big right by Fujita, stunning Fedor. They tie up. He puts Fedor on the ground. Fedor gets guard. Fedor is cut over the left eye from that right punch. They return to their feet. Fujita goes for the takedown, but doesn`t get it. Right by Fedor. Left by Fedor. Fedor gets Fujita`s back. Rear naked choke applied by Fedor. Fujita taps out. Very exciting fight.

-This is the first time that Kazuyuki Fujita has ever been submitted or knocked out in MMA.

-Inoki got the microphone again and did one of his usual clever speeches. He says, ``Wearing a suit will not produce dreams,`` probably referring to the Japanese economy and businessmen. ``I`m going after mixed martial arts dreams. Fighters produce dreams.`` Then he said, ``Today is the beginning of the new PRIDE. I would like to start this new PRIDE with courage.`` And everyone did ``ichi, ni, san, da!``

-The show ends around 9:45pm Japan time, so the PPV ran about three hours, 45 minutes, which I think is shorter than the usual. I think I remember some of those shows like the Dynamite! stadium show went something like five hours.

[Guest RavishingRickRudo]

I'm mixed on Cro Cop vs. Herring.

 

I'm sad Herring lost cause he's one of my faves, but I'm happy because:

 

a)He could easily go to the UFC

and

b)Cro Cop vs. Fedor... CRO COP VS. FEDOR!

[Guest Insane Bump Machine]

b)Cro Cop vs. Fedor... CRO COP VS. FEDOR!

awesome matchup right there. I can't wait. They could do that match and Jackson/Silva on the same show, right? Woha!

 

Oh, and Pride 26 looks really good. It's not on PPV around here, but at least I can download it sometime next weekend.

[Guest RavishingRickRudo]

Well Jackson/Silva will probably take place at the Middleweight GP... which looks to be awesome!

 

Fedor vs. Cro Cop is fitting, cause the only way I can see Fedor losing is in standup - and Cro Cop is fantastic at striking.