Your Paragon of Virtue Posted March 12, 2005 Report Posted March 12, 2005 Pride Fighting Championships: You’ve wanted to fight in PRIDE since its inception. Why now? Tsuyoshi Kosaka: Why? I’m always thinking of what I should do before I do it. I came back to Japan in 2001 and the first thing I did was create a place where I could bring up younger fighters. That required a lot of time. Fedor and Nogueira fought fiercely in RINGS and now the fight even harder in PRIDE. When I saw them fight, I felt that I need to fight them and this was my chance. Pride: Fedor is stronger than he was before. Kosaka: I’ve always thought that since we are fighting in Japan, if that Japanese don’t stand up, who will? Even in the heavyweight division, there is a difference in body types and a difference in power. Even so, I think the Japanese have to do their best. I will fight with Japanese pride and there will be opponents that I have to take on. Pride: How are you training now? Kosaka: I train with other pro fighters at G-SQUARE. Mainly we spar. I’m lucky. Many fighters come to train there and I really get pushed. We train how to use power and technique against a heavyweight foreign fighter to win. Pride: Who will be in your corner? Kosaka: I haven’t decided yet. Pride: How do you think Fedor has evolved? Kosaka: The biggest change is his confidence. He’s confident that he can fight the strongest in the world and win. Compared to when I first met him in RINGS, he’s sure of himself. Following the Q&A session, Kosaka surprised the media. Asked about where he thinks he is better than Fedor, Kosaka replied, “I think I can beat him at everything.” “I’m 100% certain I can beat him on the ground,” Kosaka continued. “Fedor has great striking on his feet and pounding on the ground but if you look carefully, there are a lot of holes. There are other fighters than have noticed them. That’s where I want to strike. I know where the holes are.” Not only is he confident against Fedor, Kosaka believes that he’s got Fedor’s weaknesses figured out. Kosaka is not one to talk trash so for him to go this far, he must have something up his sleeve. Perhaps it’s something that only Kosaka knows because of his history with Fedor. Pride: This will be a non-title fight. Would you like to have a title match next? Kosaka: You can only say that after you win. I can’t say anything. This is the battle for me. If I don’t win, I can’t go forward. That’s how I feel. source
Your Paragon of Virtue Posted March 12, 2005 Report Posted March 12, 2005 Then, a message from Fedor was read aloud: “Kosaka is the only fighter that I’ve lost to and I want to pay him back. I was able to rest a little after New Year’s Eve. I restarted my training following that and now I’m training intensively with my teammates. I’ve been learning many things about stand-up from a special coach and I believe that I am improving. Kosaka is a tough fighter and I won’t look past him but I will do my best to beat him convincingly, win over the next big challenge and end this year undefeated. Please support me.”
Guest Salacious Crumb Posted March 13, 2005 Report Posted March 13, 2005 The Ultimate Fighter has gotten me back into UFC. I went to Best Buy yesterday and picked up 43, 44, 47 and 49. I'm also really looking forward to ordering 52 on PPV.
cameron chaos Posted March 13, 2005 Report Posted March 13, 2005 Please support me It's this strange contrast of confidence and modesty that I like about Fedor. He can smash top class fighters, but still asks his fans "please support me". A class act through and through. I believe he is back in Holland right now improving his striking training with guys at the Vos Gym, Yvel and Hoost among them.
RavishingRickRudo Posted March 13, 2005 Author Report Posted March 13, 2005 Mmm. Fedor and Hoost... SC, your best buy is so much better than mine. 43, 44, and 49 are IMO in the top 10 of UFC shows. What was featured on the UFC 49 DVD???
Guest Salacious Crumb Posted March 13, 2005 Report Posted March 13, 2005 I haven't got a chance to watch any of the DVDs yet. Are 45, 46, 48 or 50 worth eventually getting?
Your Paragon of Virtue Posted March 13, 2005 Report Posted March 13, 2005 Please support me It's this strange contrast of confidence and modesty that I like about Fedor. He can smash top class fighters, but still asks his fans "please support me". A class act through and through. I believe he is back in Holland right now improving his striking training with guys at the Vos Gym, Yvel and Hoost among them. Yeah, that's what I noticed too. I love how he just leaves a statement like that, I would have bolded it but was lazy. He is supposed to be the evil Russian Cyborg from what I see, but he's just too damn humble and nice for you not to like him. For SC: I personally liked 48, and 50 is alright. 46 I'm iffy on, the main event was a wreck but the rest of the card was decent. If St. Pierre v. Karo was good, a fight that wasn't shown on PPV, than I imagine that this is a worth pickup as well. I have to say that I don't like 45 much though.
Guest Pariah Posted March 13, 2005 Report Posted March 13, 2005 So I finally figured I should post in here, I'm slowly getting into the UFC, I have 7 UFC DVDs and have been picking things up along the way but still know jack all compared to a lot of people I've seen talking online and outside of the UFC I know nothing, I mean I know of PRIDE but its a lot harder to get into as they don't sell their DVDs over here in shops and off the web they are a little too expensive. I personally wasn't a big fan of 48 when I watched it the first time, but I'm currently watching it again and it is growing on me. The main event is a disapointment, Baroni/Tanner is a mess as Baroni brings nothing for ages in the fight, Sylvia/Mir is a lot like the main, a little too short to really get into the fight, although the ending is pretty sick. The undercard matches make up the bulk of the show but from what I remember there is nothing that really stands out.
Guest Salacious Crumb Posted March 14, 2005 Report Posted March 14, 2005 I watched 43 and 44 last night and enjoyed both shows quite a bit. I think Vernon White vs Ian Freeman was my favorite match on 43. Matt Lindland was less than impressive since he basically knocked himself out during his fight. 44, it was funny to see all the celebrities picking Ortiz especially considering the fact that Couture just destroyed him. I was surprised that Caol Uno didn't break his neck with the way he got dropped on his head. Are the heavyweights more of a sideshow in the UFC?
Styles Posted March 14, 2005 Report Posted March 14, 2005 I haven't got a chance to watch any of the DVDs yet. Are 45, 46, 48 or 50 worth eventually getting? Haven't seen 45, but it seems like a skippable show, 46 is a good show, just a disappointing ending to the main event. Otherwise, I enjoyed it, 48 was ok, I still mark for the end of the World Title Match and Ken Shamrock fights if you're in to him. 50 I was at live, and besides the main event being changed on the fly do to injury this was a good show, worth getting. St. Pierre/Hughes alone gets a reccomendation.
RavishingRickRudo Posted March 14, 2005 Author Report Posted March 14, 2005 I actually really enjoyed UFC 45, likely because I heard it was a horrible show and it turned out to be good. I didn't find Ricco/Rizzo offensive, so take that as you will. Tank vs. Cabbage was pretty good, Hughes vs. Trigg was good, Lytle vs. Lawler was really good, Tanner vs. Baroni was good. I really enjoyed the legends ceremoy and as a Royce Gracaie mark thought it was fantastic.
Your Paragon of Virtue Posted March 14, 2005 Report Posted March 14, 2005 Something I just noticed; why is Ken Shamrock on the UFC 43 poster?
Lei Tong Posted March 14, 2005 Report Posted March 14, 2005 Wild guess: Was supposed to fight Tank, but got injured and they went with Kimo instead.
the pinjockey Posted March 14, 2005 Report Posted March 14, 2005 Chuck Lidell interview Chuck mentions in the 9th question Shamrock was supposed to fight Ian Freeman.
Lei Tong Posted March 14, 2005 Report Posted March 14, 2005 Chuck Lidell interview Chuck mentions in the 9th question Shamrock was supposed to fight Ian Freeman. My need to be correct < My laziness
Your Paragon of Virtue Posted March 14, 2005 Report Posted March 14, 2005 Did anyone else listen to the MMAWeekly radio show today? There was an interview with Chuck Liddell. Apparently he had a torn quad in his fight against Quinton. I didn't know that, of course Chuck wouldn't mention that since he's not that kind of guy, but interesting nonetheless. They said he is in better shape now than he's ever been for any other fight blah blah blah. I still think that the only chance he has is extensive work with Eddie Bravo and improved cardio. He said he was tired three minutes into the last fight with Randy.
Lei Tong Posted March 14, 2005 Report Posted March 14, 2005 Chuck has never had above-average cardio, IIRC. Also, I don't think a few months with Bravo are going to help much. The gap between him & Randy on the ground is not going to get much closer with that much training. Personally, I think he would've been better off finally learning how to tighten his punches & defense up.
Your Paragon of Virtue Posted March 14, 2005 Report Posted March 14, 2005 Yeah but he's not learning how to apply submissions or anything mostly, since that would be hard to learn in a few months. I think it's more of a escapes and ground positioning defense, so he doesn't get mounted like the last time. I think it's just part of his style to be loopy. He can't really change his looping punching style that he's been using for years and years. I guess he can tighten it a little bit, but not drastically. He kept a good defense and had a tighter game, which Randy pointed out, against Tito. Although admittedly, that was against Tito.
cameron chaos Posted March 16, 2005 Report Posted March 16, 2005 Chuck is a BJJ purple belt under John Lewis. If he doesn't know mount escapes, which as I as blue belt know, then something's up. I think in all honesty it's just hard to shift a guy with great balance who has been training wrestling for 32 years whil he is punching you in the face. Escaping mount is one thing, escaping being mounted while getting GnP'd by a guy with fantastic balance is a much more difficult task. Chuck went a good while against Belfort, he's not got bad cardio when he fights strategically. It's when he tries to stand and brawl like he did against Vernon White that he gasses. The quad thing was mentioned about 2 months after the Quinton fight on MMAweekly's main page.
Guest Deft Posted March 22, 2005 Report Posted March 22, 2005 Yikes. Randleman, Overeem, and VITOR~! are officially in the Middleweight Grand Prix. Belfort swears revenge on Sakuraba! http://sportsnavi.yahoo.co.jp/fight/pride/...spnavi-spo.html (via Sherdog)
Your Paragon of Virtue Posted March 22, 2005 Report Posted March 22, 2005 Confirmed Fighters for PRIDE Middleweight Grand Prix 2005 (Total Elimination): - Wanderlei Silva - Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson - Dan Henderson - Rogerio 'Minotouro' Nogueira - Vitor Belfort - Mauricio 'Shogun' Rua - Igor Vovchanchyn - Kevin Randleman - Alistar Overeem - Yuki Kondo - Kazushi Sakuraba - Kazuhiro Nakamura - Hidehiko Yoshida + PRIDE Bushido Volume 6 Middleweight Tournament Slot [Amar Suloev/'Paulão' Filho/Dean Lister/Akira Shoji]
Your Paragon of Virtue Posted March 22, 2005 Report Posted March 22, 2005 I heard that the matchups that are probably gonna happen will be Saku/Vitor and Silva/Yoshida. The winners are most likely to face off. Everytime I fear for Silva, he pulls it out and beats his opponent. I thought he would lose the GP, thought he would lose the rematch to Rampage, but he manages to stay on top. His loss at NYE is nothing to be ashamed of though, all things considered, as that's already been discussed in depth. Again, I fear him losing to Vitor and he didn't look so good against Yoshida last time around. He's definitely the favourite, but this looks to be the first sixteen fighter tournament I know of that hasn't had at least one fighter significantly weaker, dare I say a can, than all the rest. Everybody in this one is a stud.
Guest Deft Posted March 22, 2005 Report Posted March 22, 2005 Another rumored matchup is Kondo vs. Igor.
Guest JebusNassedar Posted March 26, 2005 Report Posted March 26, 2005 A few months late, but still groady.
Your Paragon of Virtue Posted March 26, 2005 Report Posted March 26, 2005 ODDS TO WIN Entire PRIDE Fighting Middleweight GP CHAMPIONSHIP - April 23rd, 2005 3am est Vanderlei Silva +225 Dan Henderson +325 Rogerio 'Minotoro' Nogueira +400 Igor Vovchanchyn +800 Mauricio 'Shogun' Rua +1000 Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson +1200 Hidehiko Yoshida +1300 Vitor Belfort +2200 Kevin Randleman +2350 Kazuhiro Nakamura +2500 Kazushi Sakuraba +2950 Yuki Kondo +3000 Alistair Overeem +3200 OdessaBets by the way.
AboveAverage484 Posted March 26, 2005 Report Posted March 26, 2005 Here's the results for the HERO's show that was on yesterday: http://kakutougi.info/content/view/103/
RavishingRickRudo Posted March 26, 2005 Author Report Posted March 26, 2005 Lyoto Machida def. BJ Penn by Decision (3-0) Sam Greco def. Heath Herring at 2:41 in the first round by TKO (soccer kick after Heath went down with a twisted knee) ABUH?!
Your Paragon of Virtue Posted March 26, 2005 Report Posted March 26, 2005 You'd think Heath would learn how to throw a lowkick after practicing Muay Thai for like six years. Oh, and Fuck BJ.
Nevermortal Posted March 26, 2005 Report Posted March 26, 2005 Some questions on MMA techniques: EXPLAIN~! - Anaconda Choke - Calf Slicer - Bicep Slicer - Americana Also, what does it mean on Sherdog when they say that a fighter won via "punishment"? Is it when he's on top of the other guy, punching his face until the ref stops the fight?
RavishingRickRudo Posted March 26, 2005 Author Report Posted March 26, 2005 http://bjj.org/techniques/ This is a good resource for BJJ moves. Bicep Slicer is in there Anaconda Choke Americana
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