PRIDE Total Elimination

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

 

Yeah, in terms of contact and impact Cro Cop's high kick was better. But Sak falling really made Silvas knockout.

[the pinjockey 0]

If you want to talk crushing defeat of the night then I would take Sak/Silva, but for pure knockout, HOLY SHIT that was sick, goodness I like CroCop.

[Styles 0]

Ok! As I said, Im a new fan so just from what I saw at this show it was an advantage.

Cro Crop gets KO of the night. Just a sick kick that left a gash in the dude's forehead! Fedor vs. Cro Crop is gonna rock!

[The Ghost of bps21 0]

It was pretty damn epic the way Saku was just plain out cold if you ask me.

 

First fight: Saku lost similarly...but was still alert and ok.

 

Second fight: Injury...and he fought a better fight.

 

Third Fight: Out. Cold.

[The Ghost of bps21 0]

They couldn't have asked for a better build up for Fedor/Cro Cop tonight.

 

Both guys crushed there opponents.

[the pinjockey 0]

How long do you think Fedor/CroCop would go? After the Fujita fight I think CroCop's first big shot would be the end, and Fedor certainly has some striking power. I haven't seen CroCop's chin yet, but I can't imagine this going more than a few minutes.

[LooseCannon25 0]

Fedor's a tough guy, and his straight forward style would definitely help against Cro Cop..........He needs to close the distance and avoid those deadly kicks. Find a way to get Mirko off his feet and go from there

[Styles 0]

I like Fedor, I think he could beat Cro Crop. Everyone else seems to fear Mirko and backs off and gets their head kicked off, Fedor would go right after him, and take him out with the choke. Maybe...

[The Ghost of bps21 0]

If the fight were to happen right away...I'd give it to Cro Cop.

 

He just seems to be hitting the exact level he needs to be at at exactly the right time.

[the pinjockey 0]

The thing about CroCop is he doesn't even seem like he is trying. Fedor seemed to be wanting to finish it early, maybe that Fujita fight got in his head a little. CroCop hopped around...lalala.....death kick. I am scared to see what he is like pissed off and intense.

[NoCalMike 0]

Last Night's event was simply amazing. Every fight was good. Now I can't wait for November. Why can't mainstream america get into MMA? Everyone has done a good job running everything down, I'd say as far as knockouts go, it is too close to call, I mean Saku and the Russian both looked like they died when they hit the canvas. Wow, just Wow.

[LooseCannon25 0]

The thing about CroCop is he doesn't even seem like he is trying. Fedor seemed to be wanting to finish it early, maybe that Fujita fight got in his head a little. CroCop hopped around...lalala.....death kick. I am scared to see what he is like pissed off and intense.

On the other hand....maybe getting him pissed off is what you have to do to beat him.....A lot of guys fight worse when they get pissed, they lose their focus and get caught with dumb mistakes. The guy so far has seemed cool as hell in the ring. I wanna see him in a pressure situation

[Brush with Greatness 0]

Exactly right Angle-plex. I thought the same thing. If you can justify giving Nog the win because he made more attempts then you could easily give Busta the win because he actually had some opportunities to finish the fight.

 

Ricco got screwed. That was worse than Holyfield-Lewis.

 

As for the rest of the card:

 

Fedor Emelianenko d. Gary Goodridge TKO (Strikes) 1:09 1

 

Goodridge is done. This match didn't show us anymore about Fedor either. That's too bad. Would have been nice to see him react to a few blows from Big Daddy.

 

Chuck Liddell d. Alistair Overeem KO (Strikes) 3:09 1

 

Liddell looked in trouble there before throwing that haymaker. Announcers were right though. Overeem looked gassed after those first few moments. Didn't actually show us what Liddell really has coming back from the Couture fight.

 

Quinton Jackson d. Murilo Bustamante Decision (Split) 5:00 3

 

Rampage's shorts coming down saved his ass. He was in plenty of trouble in the first round and seemed very tired after being in that guillotine for awhile. He was lucky he got that breather there. And how fucking long does it take to tie a pair of shorts up anyways? Busta's long lay off definetly was a factor as he seemed to be blown up later on. I would really like to see a rematch between these two with each guy getting proper training time. If anything, this fight showed that Jackson isn't the machine he is sometimes perceived to be.

 

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira d. Ricco Rodriguez Decision (Unanimous) 5:00 3

 

cough*bullshit*cough Whether it was wanting to build Nog up for a rematch with Fedor or not wanting to lose the rubber match in the "UFC Feud", one thing is for certain and that is that Ricco got screwed over here. You could justifiably use the announcer's argument that Nog tried for more finishes, however, you would then have to apply that same argument to the Rampage v. Busta match and give Busta the unanimous decision. The only thing this does is take away credibility from the organization. Or maybe they just figured there was a UFC fighter so they would give him UFC quality levels of judging.

 

Mirko Filipovic d. Igor Vovchanchyn KO (Head Kick) 1:29 1

 

I fear Crocop. His feet are lethal weapons. He is the world's most dangerous man.

 

Hidehiko Yoshida d. Kiyoshi Tamura Submission (Ezekiel Choke) 5:06 1

 

What a pleasant surprise this turned out to be. Going in, with the rumours of Tamura not throwing any head shots, etc, I was expecting a very grounded fighter. However, we got the warrior spirit with two guys desperately not wanting to lose for different reasons slugging it out before Judo master used that questionable gi to get the victory.

 

Wanderlei Silva d. Kazushi Sakuraba KO (Punch) 5:01 1

 

Much like Big Daddy, and possibly Ice Cold, its time for Saku to hang 'em up. Silva looked good in his return (although he was never really tested) and Silva's quick hands make me long for a Belfort v. Silva rematch (assuming the Belfort we saw at UFC 43 is back to stay).

 

Overall thoughts:

 

With the great card on paper and all the hype, in the end I was a little dissapointed. Not that the matches weren't good. I think every match was entertaining in one way or another, although nothing blew me away. What dissapointed me the most was that of the many questions people wanted to know few were answered.

 

We never got to see how Fedor would respond to being punched hard by someone like Goodridge. How would Liddell truly respond to his loss to Couture (face it, he was losing the fight and land one good, be it extremely well timed, blow)? How would Silva bounce back from the knee injuries? Is Crocop a one dimensional fighter and how is his sprawl (although I don't think we ever expected to learn this against Igor)?

 

What did we learn? Well, we saw that Quentin Jackson isn't unbeatable by any means. And we also saw that, in my opinion, Yoshida isn't for real. Tamura is by no means a world class striker (in fact, of ten victories, only one was by KO and that was over Nobuhiko Takada). Yoshida took a few shots. And yes he with stood them. But if that had been Silva, Rampage or Liddell delivering those blows, Yoshida would have been done like dinner. Did he realize this and fake the knee injury to bow out of the semifinals and maintain his reputation? That is yet to be seen. But, in my opinion, whoever draws Yoshida in the semi's, draws a ticket to the finals.

 

In conclusion, if you had never seen, or seen very little Pride in your life, and knew nothing about this card, I would say it would be very entertaining. However, with everything surrounding this card I was a bit dissapointed.

 

7/10

[the pinjockey 0]

You might be right, but it would still scare the shit out of me to be the first to try angry CroCop.

 

I can't wait til November now.

[The Ghost of bps21 0]

A great night for me as an MMA fan...

 

Not a great night for me as a fan of my two favorite fighters...

 

1. Sakuraba is legend no longer

 

2. Vovchanchyn ate a foot.

 

My two favorite fighters with two devastating KO losses.

 

I guess I need to find a fighter to cheer for from the newer generation, eh?

[Styles 0]

May I nominate Fedor?

[The Ghost of bps21 0]

Possibly...but today was the first time I ever saw him since Pride DVD releases are so far behind.

[Angle-plex 0]

I just re-watched Tamura/Yoshida, and it does look a bit suspicious. Tamura knocks Yoshida down, then jumps on top of him and starts punching his chest! And Tamura seems to turn his head into the choke at the end.

 

If Yoshida withdraws, I wouldn't be surprised if this whole things turns out to be a work. He basically has no shot at beating Silva/Rampage/Liddell anyways.

 

EDIT: And does anyone know when the PRIDE: Bad Blood DVD is coming out? I've been waiting forever.

[the pinjockey 0]

I have quickly become a CroCop mark. His MDK kicks are one thing, but what really got me was during the Heath Herring fight when Herring would go down Mirko would offer a hand to help him up. That is awesome.

[AboveAverage484 0]

My thoughts...

 

Fedor made Gary look like an amateur, total domination. I mean, Gary didn't even hit Fedor one time with anything!

 

Liddell is a tough motherfucker. Getting hit on the top of your head hurts like hell, but to come back and make Allistair do the fish dance, and them fuck him up some more makes me yearn for a match with the ultimate monster badass, Vanderlei Silva.

 

Bustamante fought his ass off in his fight against Rampage. After seeing that fight, I'm skeptical as to whether Rampage could have beat Arona, because Arona may be the strongest 205 fighter in the world, and would have had a better chance at holding the submissions that Quinton escaped. Now this means that there will be some major BOMBS thrown in the second round, I feel sorry for Yoshida.

 

Man, Ricco got robbed. And he was fat as hell, too! Damn, Nogueira couldn't get anything on Ricco. Granted, he was outweighed by a good twenty-nine pounds, but this is the HW division, where we fight, dammit! Ricco was robbed. The only decision that even comes close to the shittiness of this one was Arona/Mezger from a couple years ago.

 

CroCop is a fucking animal. Damn, he is very impressive. Makes me wonder why Aerts or LeBanner don't try their hands at MMA. Mirko is so cool and collective in the ring. He'll have to be even more so to become the hands-down greatest fighter in the world. His goal is to win both Pride and K-1 this year. Hoost and Fedor are good opponents for Mirko, as they are also cool and collective, and wait for their oppurtunity to come. Mirko vs. Fedor, the showdown!

 

Yoshida vs. Tamura was a great fight, totally exceeding my expectations. Tamura was kicking some Yoshida ass, until Yoshi put the judo on him. Something smells fishy about this fight, though. Yoshida gets hurt after the match, then just walks to the back under his own power. Sounds like someone's wetting himself over the prospect of facing Silva, Liddell, or Jackson.

 

Silva is another fucking animal. IMO, Sak should have tried for more takedowns, but I think Vanderlei would have just mauled him with knees anyway. I would pay sixty dollars to see another Mirko vs. Silva fight, but I don't see that happening, comes times have changed.

 

Wow, next PPV has the possibility of being even better? Silva/Rampage/Liddell, Fedor vs. Cro Cop, other superfights? Can you dig it, suckas?

[The Ghost of bps21 0]

I just re-watched Tamura/Yoshida, and it does look a bit suspicious. Tamura knocks Yoshida down, then jumps on top of him and starts punching his chest! And Tamura seems to turn his head into the choke at the end.

 

If Yoshida withdraws, I wouldn't be surprised if this whole things turns out to be a work. He basically has no shot at beating Silva/Rampage/Liddell anyways.

 

EDIT: And does anyone know when the PRIDE: Bad Blood DVD is coming out? I've been waiting forever.

1. But Tamura didn't really knock him down. Yoshida fell after his knee made contact.

 

2. Bad Blood would be the next DVD to be released...and there's STILL no announcement.

[the pinjockey 0]

Would they replace Yoshida, maybe with Overeem or Busta, or would they just have a bye (which is completely unfair)?

[Brush with Greatness 0]

After re-reading my post just a bit of clarification.

 

Looking at strictly the card and nothing surrounding it, I thought it was very entertaining. No blow away matches but some excellent KO's.

 

Basically, I'll sum it up this way.

 

During the actual card, I was very entertained and marked out numerous times.

 

Post card, looking back at all the questions surrounding the card, a little dissapointed.

 

Looking back a few months or years from now, this will rank up there with the best Pride shows.

[Angle-plex 0]

Would they replace Yoshida, maybe with Overeem or Busta, or would they just have a bye (which is completely unfair)?

Bye. Liddel wouldn't get it, then he'd have to beat Silva AND Rampage in the same night.

 

PRIDE is corrupt~!

[Brush with Greatness 0]

I thought they fought an alternate grand prix match in this situation (dark match). I thought it was Ryan Gracie v. someone. That was the rumour but I'm not sure if it actually happened.

[Angle-plex 0]

After this Rico/Nog incident, Liddell HAS to KO his way to victory. He won't get a decision even if his opponent was wearing a crimson mask.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

GASP!

 

No!

 

Pride is about the purity of fighting dammit!

 

That's why we got Sapp vs. Tamura!

 

[the pinjockey 0]

After watching the match again I can't buy Yoshida's injury. It goes from ok during the match, to limping, to collapsing, to yelling when they straighten it, to yelling when they touch it, to barely limping walking back from the ring.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

Ah the Cro Cop bandwagon continues to grow lol.

 

The only real fighter he beat has been Herring, and Herring was jumping around like he was on speed or something in that fight. I don't think Cro Cop should get a title fight with Fedor, I think Nog should get his rematch first.

[Angle-plex 0]

I still don't buy Yoshida's injury. I think they're trying to make him the next Sak, and they know none of the other guys advancing would job to him, and he has no chance of beating any of them on his own.

 

However, I CAN buy Igor's injury. Cro-Cop's limbs are lethal weapons. If Fedor lets Cro-Cop get the same amount of opportunities to strike as he let Fujita, he can kiss the belt away.