Now I REALLY wanna see Kev win it.

I'd like to say, first and foremost, that my sincerest condolences go out to Kevin and his family. Losing a father can be cataclysmic for even the strongest athlete, and for him to carry himself as he has, remain active in our sport despite his time of mourning, and press towards what could be a career-defining moment for him... is nothing short of extraordinary.

With that said... an athlete going in riding this kind of momentum can be a dangerous thing for anyone amongst the ranks of the competition. A Good example of this was Ian Freeman's all guts performance post-loss.

All the mushy gushy stuff aside... KNOCKED OUT Cro Cop. This is a wrestler who, not just a few months ago, dropped weight to get ktfo by Quinton... only to regain weight and make an impact in the GP of such severity. No one saw this coming... ironically enough, just like when his fellow Hammer House wingman, Mark Coleman, won the last heavyweight GP.

Coming off a KO win over Cro Cop, whom many hailed as the oncoming end of Fedor's reign, you have to know that Randleman's confidence is high. Fedor's got a lot of GnP skills, and after tapping out Coleman, he's displayed a little bit of ambition in the submission game, too. These are substantial threats to Kevin on the ground, but I can see them countered, as I believe that I will NEVER see anyone effectively hold Kevin down and beat him at his own game, at least not during my lifetime. He may get KO'ed, but outwrestled? Fedor probably *could*, but I would be understating Kevin's god-given ability if I said he *would*.

Randleman and Fedor is going to be the best fight the next Pride Card has to offer. I'm calling Randleman and Nogeuira in the final, and as much as I'm gonna get clowned for saying it... I think Randleman is going to beat him the same way Fedor did. Nogueira is an incredible ground tactician, but he's too god damn passive, and he waits too long looking for the opening, or the opportunity... and ends up looking at his opponents gloves over and over as a result. I think Kev could win a final by decision, but with this kind of motivation... I wonder if he can finish it.

Here's to a second American Pride GP Championship.

Couture certainly beat KR at his own game. Rampage too more or less. While I appreciate the pro-American sentiment, Fedor is the hands-on favorite to win this fight and whoever survives this war is going to be handicapped IMO to move on in the tourney.

"While I appreciate the pro-American sentiment, Fedor is the hands-on favorite to win this fight and whoever survives this war is going to be handicapped IMO to move on in the tourney."

I can see why you say this, and it's true that Couture did beat Randleman at his natural weight that once, but I don't see Fedor as clear-cut to win this as others do.

"If you call Nog going for subs constantly passive than i wonder what you would say about Arona?"

You don't wanna know.

I can see Nog winning by sub, too... easily, at that... however, Robo-Randleman is a different breed. He fucking KO'ed Cro Cop!!! How do people overlook this so heavily? They're holding the same types of wins up for Fedor, yet they shun Randleman. I do not understand it.

Erikson beat KR GnP-style too (technically KR was a HW at the time). Nobody's discounting KR's KO of crocop. But you know that's the nature of the game. A quick sub attempt or solid hook can end ANY fight. I think that we all need to see KR do it a little more before we can say for sure that it's a permanent part of his arsenal.

I hope to see more of that style from KR, but until I do I have to assume that it was a fortunate combination of circumstances; Mirko being fairly terrified of anyone's ground game, a very smart game plan (shot feint to left hook), KR's physical gifts (KRs speed made the feint/hook possible and his power made it work) and let's be honest an opponent who foolishly took KR lightly (and deserved the wake-up call).

Props to KR for coming correct, but by the same token Mirko did not. This one solid win in a string of bad outings just doesn't convince me that KR has what it takes to dispatch a guy with the kind of tools that Fedor has. But it's always been fairly widely accepted that Coleman is the greater of the two and Fedor took him to school. JMHO and anything can happen.

because of his nicely timed left hook hes unable to be held down? Ninja did a pretty good job holding him down and a much lighter and weak Sak subbed him. KR's has the greatest athletic ability in the sport but he will still fall short in the GP

I too think Kev matches up well with Fedor. Its hard to submit smaller, thick, powerful guys with short limbs when you are taller than them. Fedor could do it but if Kev keeps his head he has the tools to avoid it.
We saw how Coleman overpowered Fedor then got finessed into submission by a beautiful armbar - applied VERY quickly for a HW.

Kev is quick enough to get Fedor down, get on top, G&P and do some damage. The whole key is to avoid the sub. I doubt Fedor will use the guard to exhaust Kevin like Couture did, becuase Randleman is on a mission and he should have good cardio - plus Fedor doesn't have half the takedown skills of Randy.

On the feet this could be a repeat performance of Kevin against Mo - again though, only if Randleman is on top of his game like he was in that fight. He KO'd Ninja and Cro-Cop so he has KO power as well. And Fujita rocked Fedor so we know Fedor can be hurt by punch from a hard-hitting wrestler.

This is going to be the fight of the night, I second that, and Kev has a great chance if he brings his A game. With that said, Fedor still has to be a slight favorite.

Besides the Cro Cop fight when did KR bring his "A" game????????

"because of his nicely timed left hook hes unable to be held down?"

Nope. The two are irrelevant to each other. If I structured my sentences to imply that the two had relevance, I apologize for confusing you.

"Props to KR for coming correct, but by the same token Mirko did not."

When I saw him backstage taking a nap, rather than warming up, I was flaberghasted. I could not BELIEVE he was napping before getting into the ring with the monster. At this point, I almost knew it was Kev's night.

"Kev is quick enough to get Fedor down, get on top, G&P and do some damage. The whole key is to avoid the sub. I doubt Fedor will use the guard to exhaust Kevin like Couture did, becuase Randleman is on a mission and he should have good cardio - plus Fedor doesn't have half the takedown skills of Randy.

On the feet this could be a repeat performance of Kevin against Mo - again though, only if Randleman is on top of his game like he was in that fight. He KO'd Ninja and Cro-Cop so he has KO power as well. And Fujita rocked Fedor so we know Fedor can be hurt by punch from a hard-hitting wrestler."

You're my new best friend.

you didnt answer my question. I believe that although KR is an excellent athlete, he is the same exact fighter who won the Ironfighter Tourny in Brazil in the late nineties in his debut

Many good points. Kevin stand a good chance of beating Fedor. I would probably bet on Fedor, but Kevin is explosive enough to make it hard on Fedor. How ever, I think Nog would dispense with Kevein fairly quickly by sub.

"you didnt answer my question. I believe that although KR is an excellent athlete, he is the same exact fighter who won the Ironfighter Tourny in Brazil in the late nineties in his debut"

Kevin has a long and expansive record of fighters. He KO'ed Ninja. He beat Babalu. Recently, he KO'ed Cro Cop.

This is one of those fighters that, despite his record, you really need to consider the style vs. style matchup. Him vs. any other fighter that's top ranked right now... admittedly, probably not much of a chance... but a Kevin Randleman that has an entire two months to train for Fedor, after coming off a win where he had an entire 2 months to train for Cro Cop, is deadly... like it or not. Facts here are plain...

* Fedor was rocked by Fujita. Fujita was also choked by him, yes... but this was, and remains, the chink in his armor.... his first signs of mortality in the ring.

* Kevin's biggest upsets have come via knockout, over fighters whom he apparently had no chance against beforehand. Consider how underdogged he's been.

* Kevin's most explosive (and most boring) displays have come via way of his ground game. This also represents where he establishes much of his control, and mounts his offensive. Me and Harlan see the same things coming from this.

"How ever, I think Nog would dispense with Kevein fairly quickly by sub."

I can't say quickly, but on paper... you have no choice but to give it to Nogueira, based on track record alone. GO HEATH!!!!!! hahahahahaha

It would just be cool, at the risk fo sounding silly and patriotic,
if two Americans won both Hwt Grand Prixs. It would just be
neat, nothing else. Two Hammer House guys winning the GP
would be beyond neat, it would be nutty. Seeing how
Coleman and Randleman pretty much are the hammer
house in big time MMA, they would really be doing more than
enough to keep it on par with the teams that have more
members

Kevin has a long and expansive record of fighters. He KO'ed Ninja. He beat Babalu. Recently, he KO'ed Cro Cop

he held down babalu and avoided triangles for 15 minutes. he had a good hook against ninja, which was a cut stop not a KO, which was similiar to his punch against cro cop.

Im not saying hes not good im saying he has changed his style, and will continue to struggle form the bottom and sturggle against stronger guys. i hope he sticks with chute boxe so new skills can be added to his repitoure

"Besides the Cro Cop fight when did KR bring his "A" game???????? "


Viking, I have already given one key example, the Maurice Smith fight. Watch how Kevin's standup game, the quick punches and athleticism combined with the threat of a take down, totally neutralizes Smith. At the time Smith was the "Cro-Cop" of MMA, the guy who'd been #1 in a striking sport then came to MMA and KO'd Coleman among others. He was considered the best standup fighter in MMA and Randleman literally tore him up standing. And this wasn't a flash KO like Cro-Cop, he beat Mo up for 20 minutes.


I've watched Kev since the early days and know a little bit about his life from "Rites Of Passage" and all the interviews over the years. Kev's been around a long time for this sport and has faced quite a variety of fighters. Now he's got Liddel and others in his corner and seems to have broadened his training.


If a guy with this kind of talent, this skill set, gets mentally focused and harnesses his huge emotions, he's very very hard to beat. And as Ghost points out, anyone who's followed NHB for awhile knows every fight is all about how styles and techniques matchup. That's why "A beat B, B beat C, so A will beat C" (transitivity) doesn't apply in this sport. And I think its clear Randleman's game matches up pretty well with Fedor.

Watch the Fujita fight then imagine a quicker, equally strong version of Fujita in there, and moreover one who punches quicker and harder than Fujita plus has more NHB experience. And now he's fighting with the strong emotions resulting from the death of his father. I think a guy like that has a darn good shot against Fedor.

Well you have a point that Fedor did look human against Fujita. That shot he took put him on queer street for a bit. I'd be curious to know how KRs power matches up to Fujitas. After seeing the punishment Fujita layed on Sapp, it speaks volumes of the way Fedor was able to clench and recover...

But I still think Fedor wins this fight. I'm really curious to see if he trys to defend the takedown & box or if he plays a ground series game like he did with Coleman.

One thing's for sure, it's looking like the matchup of the night. I still think it sucks that these guys have to meet 2nd round.

NameCaller - Fujita is super stong and could be a bit stonger than Randleman but its hard to say. Its generally hard to compare strength between fighers because you can measure it so many ways: Bench press, mat strength, arm strength, and so on...


I agree it sucks that one of these guys will have to go down in the second round while Ogawa or Giant Silva will advance. Of course I felt worse for Coleman getting the top seed in round 1.

it just pains me to see him do simple subs wrong (such as the key lock attemps againt Ohara a few Prides back) and seeing him struggle on his back against fighters. His strengths are obviously his takedowns and ability to control on the ground. his weaknesses are subs, working from the bottom and his lack of aggressiveness. I feel had he not been with Coleman for so long he could have been a much more complete fighter.

I agree that the Hammer House crew has stubbornly *refused* to evolve their games. Refused might be too strong a word, but their evolution has been much slower than many of their early teammates (Team Quest). It is frustrating to see such a gifted athelete not get full potential out of so much raw talent. But they are hard working guys, so it's easy to like them I guess.

Personally, I'm still pulling for the Russian even though I'm American and usually pull for US fighters. But in this case I root for who has more game, and I believe that to be Fedor. I look at it this way, there's really only 1 or 2 ways this fight can go in KRs favor. But Fedor could win it up or down. Sub, KO or decision. I think it's his fight to win or lose. But anything can happen.

Rocky type movie outcomes are always wonderful. Kevin was able to pull such a feat off last time, but I give Kevin zero chances of being able to beat Fedor. I have not seen anything in Kevin's game that would lead me to believe he has any chance whatsoever of winning. Sometimes the loss of a family member can fuel an athlete to greatness, but I don't see how anything short of a mircle will get Kevin the win. Fedor has dispatched everyone Pride has put in front of him with ease. The man is amazingly well rounded and intelligent in the ring, I don't see any heavyweight in the world being able to take him.

"ocky type movie outcomes are always wonderful. Kevin was able to pull such a feat off last time, but I give Kevin zero chances of being able to beat Fedor."

lol

The build up on that was comedy.