PRIDE looking to hold No Weight-Limit GP

[Lord of The Curry 0]

credit: MMAweekly.com

 

DSE/ Pride has made the GP tournament style popular these days and plans on expanding it this year. Sakakibara announced last weekend that Pride was looking at having their GP series in the months of May, July, and September this year. And, that this tournament was possibly going to be the Heavyweight GP. But, what was most interesting was the fact that Pride is looking into holding a No Weight Limit GP, from welterweights all the way up to the heavyweights. And, that Pride was possibly looking at holding this event in November.

 

Since then Pride has confirmed on their website that Osaka will be the location for the first round of the GP this year on May 5th. But that it isn't known whether this will be for the Heavyweight GP or for the No Weight Limit GP.

 

Hearkening back to the early UFC days of the no weight limit style tourneys, this conjures up limitless match-ups. Who will be invited? Who will fight who?

 

Sakakibara also mentioned that they would probably start the Bushido series in April and have those events on the even months till October. Since then, Pride's website has announced that they will start either the Lightweight or Welterweight Bushido GP in June.

 

As far as the next Pride show goes- Pride 31. That will be on February 26th. Pride's website mentions that they would like to have Rodrigo Nogueira, 'Shogun' Rua, 'Rampage' Jackson, and any heavyweights who did well on the 12/31 show to be on the card. It was also mentioned that Yoshida wanted to take a break

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

Not the bracketing and matches, yet, but I'd say these would be good contenders to be in the show.

 

Gomi

Shogun

Hendo

Fedor

 

Silva

Noguiera

Noguiera

Aleks

 

Busta

Sakuraba

Kharitonov

Arona

 

Rampage

Sakurai

Yoshida

Cro Cop

[I like Forums 0]

If we are doing fantasy booking, add BJ Penn, Royce Gracie, Matt Hughes, and GSP.

 

That would be incredible if UFC allowed their talent to work the openweight GP just for the bragging rights if one of their fighters won, or at least made a big wave by beating tough competition before ultimately losing.

[AboveAverage484 0]

Great, another GP. Let the choosing of the phantom UFC reps begin!

[starvenger 0]

What IS Penn's natural weight class, anyways?

 

It'd be interesting to see how the lighter fighters would match up against heavier ones in today's MMA landscape. But fantasy booking-wise I'd have to think that UFC would be best served to send a MW or LHW rep over. You could send some of your best, like Ace or Liddell, but I'd love to see a guy like Loiseau head over, because he'd come back from it just that much better.

[Lord of The Curry 0]

Loiseau and GSP would have to be the in the top ranked guys in terms of who could benefit from the PRIDE rules more then anybody else. Maybe Arlovski, too.

[Guest Brian]

I can't be the only one that is worried for the health of some of the smaller guys that will compete (those Japanese sure do love to watch their boys get mashed).

[Lei Tong 0]

No, you're not. Expect at least 1 brutal stomping that could've been avoided otherwise.

[Guest Brian]

Loiseau and GSP would have to be the in the top ranked guys in terms of who could benefit from the PRIDE rules more then anybody else. Maybe Arlovski, too.

 

Without elbows on the ground?

[Lei Tong 0]

Both are have good G&P and know how to use the cage well, so I wouldn't say they're the best examples.

[AboveAverage484 0]

I'd say the best way to match them up would be as such:

 

Say you had, for instance, these eight fighters (no real reason, just randomly thought of them):

 

Fedor

Nogueira

Cro Cop

Silva

Sakuraba

Henderson

Gomi

Kawajiri

 

Match Fedor against Nog, Silva against Cro Cop, etc.

 

Fedor/Nog winner faces Silva/Mirko winner, Saku/Hendo winner faces Gomi/Kawajiri winner, that way everyone would be fighting someone remotely close to their weight, and we won't have any fights like Mark Hunt vs. Sakuraba or Cro Cop vs. Minowa happening. (Don't get any ideas DSE!)

[Guest Brian]

The thing is, though that makes sense, at some point you're going to get a bigger guy and a smaller guy, and beside that, I don't think the logical thing is what they're looking for. They want Royce Gracie at UFC 1 all over again, and giant killers. They want Saku beating the gracies. They want underdogs.

[I like Forums 0]

I'm starting to love the idea of an openweight GP.

[Guest Brian]

Well, for me, the idea of open-weight tournaments have passed their expiration date. It was cool when it was Royce and MMA was in its infancy, but the "sport" has involved past that. The big guys are too well trained to be taking on small guys, as there's now not enough of a gap that will stop all of these small guys from getting smashed. We know the landscape of fighting in Japan; great fights come with the sideshow, and this will produce much of the same. Open-weight works great when you have style vs. style, where one (BJJ) negates the weight difference and gives the lower weight fighters a good chance, but when things evolve and the skill level gets more level, it's a lot rougher for small guys, and the risks are alot greater. Fedor might not be as skilled as Gomi (p4p), but he's enough of a fighter plus the strength, weight, and power to pull out four aces to Gomi's two pair.

 

So if the answer is that you divide guys up in brackets to match guys up better, but what you're really doing is segregating guys into weight classes, which really negates the purpose of this type of tournament. Yeh, you can fight open-weight, but first you have to fight all these guys in your weight class. We just went through two pretty decisive tournaments to decide two titles; why should these guys have to go through that routine again against much the same competition. What has changed in the week since that warrants these guys going through that? I just don't really see a purpose in doing this. And when you get into champion against champion and risk having your smaller guys get sacrificed easily, I have to blink twice about that, especially coming at it from a pro-wrestling perspective. I understand the purpose of the weight-class grand-prix, as they do well in building shows, contenders, (well, unless you think about where they can go with a middleweight grand-prix champ and a middleweight champ who have openly talked of throwing a fight) and you get some mileage out of a couple of shows through it. It produces some downsides, but some good fights. So I can understand those, but not this. Maybe all this fighting spirit bullshit really needs to take a rest, because I'm not really looking forward to a death in this sport. If Arona and his shitty stand-up can turn Sakuraba's face into hamburger, I'm not really interested in how Fedor would do against him, especially with regards to how the refs may let him continue going long past the point where he should be stoppped.

[cameron chaos 0]

If they do have a UFC rep, I think Randy Couture, assuming Chuck retains his belt, would be a good candidate. He's been a champ in both the UFC HW and LHW divisions, could finally face Silva, is retiring in the not too distant future which means this could be either the perfect cap to his career or the opportunity for someone to build their reputation by defeating him.

 

I think if fighters only over 183lbs enter then it could be somewhat balanced, if someone like Gomi goes in against Noguiera, Rampage, Fedor etc it could be very nasty.

 

If Arona and his shitty stand-up can turn Sakuraba's face into hamburger, I'm not really interested in how Fedor would do against him,

 

I thought it was Arona's knees while controlling from a sprawl top position and his GnP that smashed Saku's face in, not his stand up skills.

[AboveAverage484 0]

This is a PRIDE open weight GP thread, not a UFC. I am almost 99.99999999% certain there will absolutely NOT, NOT, NOT, NOT, be a "UFC rep" in this tourney.

[Lord of The Curry 0]

But not 100%, right?

[Guest Brian]

If they do have a UFC rep, I think Randy Couture, assuming Chuck retains his belt, would be a good candidate. He's been a champ in both the UFC HW and LHW divisions, could finally face Silva, is retiring in the not too distant future which means this could be either the perfect cap to his career or the opportunity for someone to build their reputation by defeating him.

 

I think if fighters only over 183lbs enter then it could be somewhat balanced, if someone like Gomi goes in against Noguiera, Rampage, Fedor etc it could be very nasty.

 

If Arona and his shitty stand-up can turn Sakuraba's face into hamburger, I'm not really interested in how Fedor would do against him,

 

I thought it was Arona's knees while controlling from a sprawl top position and his GnP that smashed Saku's face in, not his stand up skills.

 

You're right. Still, Fedor's ground and pound, to quote Jim Ross, "ain't ballet". To put it lightly, it's a scary thought, but one that has probably not only considered but wanted (Fedor/Sak would do big business more than likely). I agree that most welterweights will walk around at about 200, so it's not that bad, but they will want to put in a lighter domestic fighter against all these gaijins. And if that happens, this looks like the circus.

[Lei Tong 0]

I predict Jens vs. Fedor first round, because Lord knows thrashings by Gomi & Mach aren't enough.

[AboveAverage484 0]

This news saddens me. Of course Saku will want to be in it. He fights a true middleweight for the first time in more than two years and, surprise surprise, he dominates and wins. The only thing I worry about is his striking. As long as he is fighting around 185 he will not have the power problems that he had against Arona and other LHW's. Time is ticking no matter what, though.

[Guest Brian]

For reference (http://www.pridefc.com/pride2004/news/news_05/news_05_0801_a.htm):

 

Sakakibara: Sakuraba's face was incredibly swollen. The length that he was willing to go was amazing and it exceeded the limits of what can be shown on TV... His face was on the spread of FRIDAY [popular magazine in Japan]. I think most people would turn away from looking at it. But, I think that if you are going to get beat, you should be beaten thoroughly. Actually, I think it was good that he fought that far, his face being destroyed that way... That scene got a 19.6% rating... (Sakuraba) has probably been beaten more magnificently than anyone else in PRIDE. Although, Takayama's face was swollen after Don Frye punched him.

Yamamoto: It exceeded that!

Sakakibara: Yes, it did.

Yamaguchi: Both of Saku's eyes were swollen shut.

Sakakibara: Both of his eyes were shut and blood was coming from his nose, his ears, and his mouth, everywhere.

Yamaguchi: Not just one side. Both eyes were swollen shut and the way it looked was a gruesome picture. If all of the fighters really went at each other, they would end up like that, too. Sakuraba looked mortified. It's a paradox but that bringing that scene out was probably fortunate.

Yamamoto: I want to emphasize that it was Sakuraba's pro-wrestler genetics that made him do that! That's his nature! If he was just a fighter or an athlete, he wouldn't take it that far and his corner men would have stopped it earlier.

Sakakibara: I think that Saku letting his face be damaged so much will be an asset for his in the future.

[Guest Army Eye]

I'm pretty much in agreement with Brian. The days of having an open-weight tournament, and having it be anything but a showcase for the heavyweights, are basically over. This tournament might be interesting at least, to see how some of the top light-heavies do against the heavyweights. Wandy has shown that he can hang with heavyweights. I think a few of the other guys too could at least be competitive. However, anybody below the top-tier of light-heavies, or in any weight class below that, will just end up being splatter marks on the ring in this event. They'll be doing the finals later on in the night and saying "Hey what's that mess in the corner? Ewww that's Sakurai! Awwww clean it up"

[AboveAverage484 0]

I really don't think there will be anyone less than LHW in this tourney. I think this is just to throw some LHW's like Silva, Rampage, Overeem who walk around heavy into some interesting matchups with fighters like Nog, Cro Cop, Fedor, who aren't necessarily that much heavier than those guys at their "walk around" weights.

[Your Paragon of Virtue 0]

If wanderlei fights Gomi, I'm picking Gomi. Seriously.

[AboveAverage484 0]

If wanderlei fights Gomi, I'm picking Gomi. Seriously.

 

Regardless of whether or not Gomi is a better pound for pound fighter (he is), Wanderlei would still be too strong for him, I think.