FOS-
Imamura has experience fighting good competition (Minotoro, Allister Overeem, Andrade and Namekawa) Although he has no big wins I feel he will be more relaxed than Choi and win a decision. By the way I feel that soon Yujiro Kushida will be the number 2 guy at Takada Dojo. He recently won the ZST Genesis tournament and may be a bright star in the near future.
Yamamoto VS Cro Cop-
Yamamoto might be stupid enough to try and trade with Cro Cop. If he does it will be a brutal KO or TKO from soccer kicks at a downed Yamamoto in round 1. Yamamoto's takedowns aren't good enough to take down Cro Cop. So I can see Cro Cop sprawling on a double leg attempt, pushing Yamamoto down and TKO'ing him with soccer kicks as well. Definitely Cro Cop by TKO in round 1. I do have to give Yamamoto credit though for taking on Mark Kerr and Cro Cop in 14 days.
Ryuki Ueyama VS Sean Sherk-
Sean Sherk will take Ryuki down and hit Ryuki with some hard shots. I don't think Ryuki has that great of a guard to be able to submit or even neutralize Sherk. I would have to say Sherk by TKO, possibly in round 1 IF he comes out aggressive.
Namekawa VS Valavicius-
Namekawa has been defeated with strikes several times and will need to be careful here. Valavicius has only been beaten by Fedor Haseman and Kopylov. (Two of those losses were by submission) I think Namekawa will immediately take this to the ground and either TKO or submit Valavicius. If it stays on the feet for too long Valavicius will dominate the striking like he did in the first match.
Gomi VS Codsta-
Gomi has a great chin! He took all of BJ Penn's punches and was neither knocked down or KO'd according to people who saw the match. Gomi also has great takedowns and a good ability to dictate the pace of the fight. I know nothing about Codsta, but will have to go with Gomi by either decision or TKO.
Takase VS Brennan-
I have seen Takase's fights with Anderson Silva, Rodrigo Gracie and Yarborough. So I am definitely not an expert on him. However I do believe that his MMA grappling is better than Brennan's. In striking I would have to give the edge to Brennan. I would also give the edge in takedowns to Brennan. I think that Takase however will control the grappling overall in this match and win a decision.
Sakurai VS Rodrigo-
Rodrigo by BORING lay and pray decision. His fights with Takase and Saski were boring and I feel this one will be as well. Sakurai will need to have the fight of his life to KO Rodrigo. He can do it, but needs to prevent himself from constantly being taken down by Rodrigo. My heart says Sakurai by TKO but my brain says Rodrigo by boring decision.
Gono VS Shogun-
Shogun was easily taken down and almost submitted by Akira Shoji. I think Gono can take down Shogun and hopefully control the match from there. Gono has been TKO's from strikes before (Yuki Kondo comes to mind) so Shogun winning by TKO is not out of the question. However after seeing Gono successfully use his counter punching to eliminate the danger of De Castro's striking (Who is probably a better striker than Shogun) I think Gono will take this one by decision.
Minowa VS Vanderlei-
This matchup really pisses me off. Why the hell are they doing this to Minowa?!?!?! Minowa should cut down to 170 where I think he would be champ. (Yes, he would BEAT BJ Penn imo.) Sakuraba and Yoshida could not submit Vanderlei and I doubt that Minowa can catch him. It would be great to see Minowa catch Silva with a toehold or rolling kneebar (And I bet he will get at least one such submission attempt) But unfortunately Silva will TKO Minowa in round 1.
Oh yeah... Sperry will get an easy win over Mike B. I kinda feel sorry for Mike, but sperry really needs a win here. Sperry by submission in round 1.
SA
Interesting reads!!!....I don't see Takase handling Brennan on the mat though.
JB
Yeah I'd be worried if you expected Takase to outgrapple Brennan.
SA
"Yeah I thought Okami is gonna fight Sakurai's brother Ryuta."
Ryuta and Mach are not brothers. It seems likely that they're related (cousins perhaps) since Mach always seems to be in Ryuta's corner, but I know they're not brothers. Mach does have a brother who has fought MMA, Tatsuya Sakurai. Tatsuya got choked by Katsuta in his one and only MMA fight. Tatsuya also lost by rear naked choke to, I think, Masato Shiozawa in a Contenders match. I know Tatsuya lost in Contenders, but I'm not too clear on the details...
I don't know anything about Choi besides what fos posted, but I'll pick him because Imamura has not impressed me at all.
Namekawa vs. Valavicius: Namekawa is good and exciting, but Valavicius kicked his ass bad last time. It's difficult to see a second fight not going the same way. Valavicius by TKO.
Takase vs. Brennan: Difficult fight to call. I think both of them are too good to be submitted. Neither are good enough to score a KO on the feet. So whoever is more aggressive (or perhaps the better wrestler) will win a decision. I'll say Brennan, as his style is naturally more aggressive than Takase's.
Sherk vs. Ueyama: This will likely be a repeat of the dreadful Sherk vs. Kunioku fight from 2001. Sherk by boring decision.
Mach vs. Rodrigo: Rodrigo has good skills, but he has been boring so far. Takase and Sasaki both have good guards, and you don't see them passed often, so you can't fault Rodrigo for not passing. He tried. Mach, however, also has an incredibly difficult guard to pass. I see this fight being very similar to the Takase and Sasaki fights, with Rodrigo in Mach's guard for the majority of the fight. I hope Mach pulls out something dramatic, but the likely choice is Rodrigo by decision.
Sperry vs. Bencic: Sperry by submission, easily.
Cro Cop vs. Yamamoto: Cro Cop by KO, easily. Neither of these two fights need much of an explanation, I don't think.
Jadson vs. Gomi: I know very little about Jadson, but Gomi is a monster, even though he's lost his last 2 fights. I think we can definitely expect Gomi to get the takedowns. On the feet, Gomi is a good striker with one of the strongest chins in the sport, and he's not afraid to brawl. He may do this to try to impress the big audience in his Pride debut. Another interesting point to make is that Gomi used his knees on the ground effectively in Vale Tudo Japan '99. Shooto doesn't allow them (to the head), but VTJ did allow them, and Gomi landed some nasty knees to Johnny Eduardo. If he gets the opportunity, look for more of those knees here. Either standing or on the ground, Gomi by TKO.
Shogun vs. Gono: Best matchup on the card. May not be the most exciting fight, but it's very intriguing. Shogun, the crazy wild aggressive striker, vs. Gono, the cocky counter striker. Gono looked great against Castro, although it wasn't the most exciting fight. Gono picked his shots well and scampered away, much like his idol Roy Jones Jr. Gono also has very good Judo (and good clinch work in general), so he could likely take Shogun down if he needs to. But Shogun has more power, and like fos pointed out, Gono tends to fold under pressure. If Shogun overwhelms him early and gets Gono off his game, Shogun by TKO. If Gono is able to control the pace, Gono by decision.
Vanderlei vs. Minowa: This is just depressing. Luckily, because Vanderlei is a fairly wild fighter himself, Minowa will likely have a few moments of glory in the fight, but in the end he will be brutally beat down. It's just not fair. He's too small to be fighting Rampage and Vanderlei. Axe Murderer by TKO.
Great thread guys.
SA: Fair point, but I also see alot more of his grappling that you never see (with people you would pick to beat him on the mat as well, that he wipes the floor with)....but that means nothing if it doesn't translate to the ring. (Which I believe took place in the last Bushido, and will take place again tomorrow against a very strong, but under-rated Takase)
JB
Mr. Brennan:
Yeah I can definitely see what you are saying. However people have also said the same about Takase. Supposedly he dominated ADCC Champ Kikuta in grappling as well as Caol Uno, Shoji, Genki Sudo, etc. Like you said great grappling during training needs to be shown in the ring for it to mean something. I hope that Brennan and Takase have an exciting match and hope that whoever the best fighter is wins.
I'm just really pissed off I won't be able to see this show...
Thanks for the clarification Ryan G. I always knew Sakurai had a brother in MMA but didn't know who it was. Ryuta looks like a roided out American wrestler! I just saw some of his DEEP 2001 pics where he won by KO in 6 secs.
SA
Hope its a good fight Chris is better than hes ever been and keeps improving, definately deserves to be where he is.
TTT
Wow, this thread has turned into a gold-mine of analysis and information. If only we could get Gunjin EX, and King of Pancrase to post their thoughts.
Please keep this thread TTT. It seems like Bushido is inspiring little interest on the UG, but to me this is a very compelling fight card.
BTW, Ryan G, I think you have seen some of Sherk's worst matches. I think more of his fights look like Sherk / Hughes than Sherk / Nakao or Sherk / Kiuma. I think that an aggressive Sherk is an exciting fighter. And I'll think he'll show us a lot in this Bushido.
fos
I agree, this is a really good card. Much better than that shit that was Pride 27, which inspired a lot more conversation on the UG. Doesn't make sense. Maybe it's just because this event isn't being aired for over a month after it takes place.
And I hope Sherk surprises me and makes for an exciting fight. But I'm not banking on it. :)
Choi Mu Bae wins by rear naked choke in the first round!
fos
You were right and I was wrong FOS!
Come join us on the other Pride Bushido thread.
SA
Where are you FOS?
SA
Good fight analysis.
Thanks for the info on each fighter and telling us of some of their previous opponents and how they did. I forget some of those guys names and who they fought against in their previous fights.
"Is Mike Bencic the guy who got TKO'd by knees to the body from rampage a few prides back? "
No I`m pretty sure it was Illoukhine that Rampage made quit with the "knees to the liver" as Bas would say about a hundred times.
Bencic was the guy who Overeem fought in the fight he had before he got K.O.`ed by Chuck.