PRIDE Welterweight GP

[Lord of The Curry]

Here ya're, luv.........

 

Makoto Takimoto

Gegard Mousasi

Ryo Chonan

Joey Villasenor

Akihiro Gono

Kazuo Misaki

Dong Sik Yoon

Denis Kang

Paulo Filho

Phil Baroni

Murilo Ninja

Murilo Bustamante

Amar Suloev

Hector Lombard

[AboveAverage484]

Chonan vs. Villasenor and Takimoto vs. Mousasi are the two confirmed match-ups so far.

 

I wonder if Henderson is going to participate in this or not?

[Lei Tong]

Takimoto is probably getting smoked, while Conan/Villasenor should be semi competive (with Joey as a slight favorite).

 

Also, as previously mentioned, seeing Sik sub Kang would be good times.

[AboveAverage484]

Kang has been getting the verbal blowjob over at Sherdog lately so it would greatly please me as well. More power to him if he beats Sik though.

[Lei Tong]

...if Kang got props for beating Sik, it'd simply be a continuation of one of the reasons I want him to lose badly.

[I like Forums]

Why the hate for Kang?

[Lei Tong]

1) ATT

2) He's overrated, with his best win over the past 4 years beaing Andrei "Call My Agent" Semenov.

3) I dislike his girlfriend

4) "This win is for Korea."

"Say that in Korean."

"..."

5) He didn't add his name to Thales Leite's resume.

[Lord of The Curry]

Kawajiri, Aurelio, Mach Sakurai and Ishida are also all fighting on this card at LW.

 

Kawajiri/Sakurai? That's proper.

[Lei Tong]

Aurelio/Kotani is rumoured. ZST-style ownage.

[Your Paragon of Virtue]

Tell me about Mousasi.

 

Isn't Joey a WW? Like UFC WW I mean.

[Lei Tong]

Villasenor is a MW.

 

Also, Mousasi is an average, lanky Euro strker with some ground skill. Nothing special.

[Your Paragon of Virtue]

So why do you think he's gonna smoke Takimoto? Takimoto went to the distance with Sik I believe, a guy who you peg to submit Kang, a decent fighter.

 

Sidenote, about people on SD liking Kang: RObby park or whatever he goes by is a fucking tool.

[Lei Tong]

Takimoto was gifted a win over Sik, who though exponentially improving, is still a novice, one-dimensional judoka like Takimoto himself. Mousasi has already beat guys at that level.

 

Also, I don't think Sik would be favored to beat Kang, but Kang is so middle-of-the-road that I think Sik would be a live dog in that fight.

[Lei Tong]

Also, Lombard is an Olympic Judo medalist with a style suited for MMA competition, yet will also get him pwned by someone like Gono (who he wants) until he gains some more experience.

[Lei Tong]

Some good and not-so-good fights round out the line-up:

 

Olaf Alfonso vs Hayato Sakurai

- Should be an exciting brawl until Sak knees Olaf's head off. Of course, he'd be smart to make this a quick and uninteresting ground battle.

 

Murilo Bustamante vs Amar Suloev

- Like Henderson, Busta is showing his age in almost every other fight, so Suloev stands a good chance of kicking his teeth in... or standing around, getting jabbed.

 

Phil Baroni vs Kazuo Misaki

- Misaki has the skills to take Baroni down and sub him, but the fact that Baroni goes into overdrive against Japs has me worried.

 

Akihiro Gono vs Hector Lombard

- Lombard gets his wish, which is to get pwnt by my boy in the opening round. Of course, Gono has trouble with guys who set a torrid pace early, but eventually Hector's crack power is gonna' run out or lead to a mistake, at which point it's the Gono Show.

 

Murilo Rua vs Denis Kang

- If YPOV's boy doesn't outclass Kang here, I'm holding him personally responsible for the ensuing increase in Kang nuthugging.

 

Paulo Filho vs Yoon Dong Sik

- No, this won't be another boring Filho win that is somehow considered exciting because he finishes.

 

Mitsuhiro Ishida vs Marcus Aurelio

- MMAos material after Ishida suplexes Aurelio through the mat, but it'll be much easier on my constitution to perhaps rank Ishida @ 1 than Marcus.

 

Tatsuya Kawajiri vs Charles Bennett

- G&P display. Nothing more.

 

Jason Black vs Eoh Won Jin

- I pray that Jin kills Black so I never have to see him fight on a huge card again, but sadly I don't think it's in the cards, though I'll take a win via Korean wrestling prowess.

[Your Paragon of Virtue]

Weird matchmaking, but that's par for the course with PRIDE.

 

Rua will make Robby Park cry.

 

Baroni will make LT cry (again).

 

Then they will have to fight each other. That would be AWESOME.

[I like Forums]

Mitsuhiro Ishida vs Marcus Aurelio

- MMAos material after Ishida suplexes Aurelio through the mat, but it'll be much easier on my constitution to perhaps rank Ishida @ 1 than Marcus.

 

These fights are at 185 not 155 right? So would it really affect what I assume you are refering to in the Lightweight top 10?

[Your Paragon of Virtue]

Not all fights are in the tourney.

[I like Forums]

Ah, my mistake.

[Lei Tong]

So would anyone like to argue that GRABAKA & T-BLOOD don't fucking own?

 

Bring it, son.

[Lord of The Curry]

KANG, ya heard?

 

Good grief that Olaf KO was painful.

[Lei Tong]

Kang's roid spaz during his post-fight comments was funny, though sad when thinking of YPOV crying into his pillow, then funny again when I realized he picked Baroni to blow Misaki out of the water.

[RavishingRickRudo]

[Lei Tong]

Too bad "Run-of-the-Mill Canadian" isn't nearly as marketable as "Displaced Korean Warrior."

 

Oh, and Kang's still overrated and not Top 15.

[RavishingRickRudo]

And I can't possibly like Gono, Misaki, or Ishida -even if I wanted to, which I do- just because Lei Tong liked them first. I DO NOT FOLLOW!

[Lei Tong]

Then I suggest you take the sig down.

[RavishingRickRudo]

That is merely a good picture and I am a fan of fight fotography. It in no way implies Fisher Fandom.

 

So who is in the final 8?

 

Kang

Chonan

Misaki

Gono

Filho

Suloev

Mousasi

Henderson

 

If so, Suloev/Gono would be swank, Filho/Hendo, Mousasi/Misaki, and Chonan/KANG.

[Lord of The Curry]

Filho has beat Suloev. Misaki, Gono and Chonan have all lost to Hendo and Gono and Misaki probably won't fight each other as they're team mates.

 

Rudo's bracketing is probably how it'll work itself out.

[Lei Tong]

Actually, Gono & Kang were supposed to be matched up before, so switch it to Gono/Kang & Suloev/Chonan. Then again, it's a toss up between Gono and Misaki as to which one gets the pass into the semis against Mousasi.

[Your Paragon of Virtue]

Kang's roid spaz during his post-fight comments was funny, though sad when thinking of YPOV crying into his pillow, then funny again when I realized he picked Baroni to blow Misaki out of the water.

 

 

- Kang is still overrated as fuck and as you said, is not a top 15 guy.

 

- Ninja is not the fighter I thought he would be, and may never live up to the potential his skills say he should live up to.

 

- I should have realized that Baroni's streaky tendencies would catch up to him. Him blowing through Kondo only reinforces the fact that undersized LHW may not necessarily make great MW.

 

- PRIDE's WW division is awful, filled with either lacklustre or boring fighters. Even though some guys might look good in this tournament, just remember that they're a far cry from what you get on this side of the pond. When Denis Kang is the best you've got, uhh fuck it.

 

It's kinda sad, my first BJJ club is associated with his team, the Marcus Soares fight team, and I'll probably run into the guy sooner or later. I still want him to lose though, his internet fandom is ridiculous. In fact, I'll tell him as much to his face, that turncoat traitor gook/chink/jap/whatever-offensive-term-koreans-don't-like.