1.) Minowa/Leko - was it even shown? I started watching the fights 10 minutes in.
2.) Giant Silva/Choi Mu Bae - I'm glad they have brought along Choi with reasonable matchups instead of feeding him to the wolves, and I hope he gets a shot maybe against a Herring or a Yokoi soon. Let us hope we never have to see Giant Silva fight again.
3.) Anjo/Ryan - Who cares? Anjo had really no chance, and I look forward to someone decent stomping a mudhole in Ryan's stupid ass. Although maybe some Portugese primers for the Pride refs would help.
4.) Chonan Ryo / A. Silva - Ryo's striking surprised me, he at least gave as good as he got from Anderson. Silva used his limbs to stifle Chonan a bit, but never used them to much effect on the ground. That has to be the most incredible finish I've ever seen, however. For Chonan to pull out Volk Han-style move when he was winning the fight comfortably, is very impressive. Silva again shows a little vulnerability to grapplers.
5.) Takimoto/Sentoryu - I thank the editors of Pride of relieving us from watching this shitfest.
6.) Yoshida/Gardner - Gardner had the right game plan and executed it very well. His hands were good considering how long he's had to work on them. No shame in losing to Gardner for Yoshida - Yoshida was game but couldn't get Gardner down long enough to try any subs. Also, ANY talk of works for Yoshida should definitely end. Disrespectful to a very tough competitor. I look forward to seeing Gardner again, and I hope he can work on his hands, and maybe get his clinch striking a little farther along. Enormous potential.
cont'd
7.) Cro-Cop/Randleman - This fight was almost as strange as the first one, but a slightly more believable finish. At this stage in his career, with the fight experience he's had, Kevin Randleman should NOT BE GETTING CAUGHT IN A GODDAMNED GUILLOTINE. Kudos to Mirko for being cool during Kevin's initial rushes and seizing the opportunity to finish.
8.) Kondo/Henderson - Kondo got fucked. Henderson sleepwalked through half the fight and I don't agree that winning the last 120 seconds of a 20 minute fight should get you the victory. Very strange judging on that fight and I wonder if it is indeed due to Kondo's loyalty to Pancrase. Henderson looked like perhaps he hadn't trained enough for this fight.
9.) Gomi Takanori / Jens Pulver - Fight of the night for me. I knew Jens's hands were good but I had no idea Gomi's were THAT good. Great fight for both fighters, but I think Gomi's body shots are what made the difference. In the end it seemed more like Pulver just collapsed from the collective effect of Gomi's body shots rather than the head shot. I look forward to seeing both of these guys back in Pride. I'm also happy they are including lighter weight fighters on the big cards.
10.) Silva/Hunt - Holy shit is all I can say. I've never seen Silva look like he did in the second round. It just looked like his fire got snuffed. Hunt surprised me on the ground, and considering the prep time he had, his stamina held out fairly well. I was surprised Bas and Randy thought Silva won, considering he really did very little damage compared to the HUGE shots Hunt delievered to Silva. Respect to both fighters for a last minute replacement bout that turned out to be much better than the initially proposed fight.
11.) Nogueira/Fedor - Minotauro needs to give it up - he will NOT beat Fedor. Fedor was totally unafraid of Minotauro's hands, and combined nasty right hands with great throws to put Minotauro on his ass multiple times. Minotauro really seemed lost in the first round, although he did show a little life with his oma plata attempt and a decent combo in the third round. Fedor seemed a lot more mobile in this fight, and really unafraid of Nogueira. Minotauro is a great fighter, but Fedor just seems to come up with innovative strategies to beat very tough fighters easily.
Somebody give me attention.
100% agree top to bottom. Nice writeup!
leko got heelhooked in what seemed like 20 seconds
I agree with everything except for the silva - hunt fight. I thought silva won. Silva was in control most of the time. almost had a sub in the first round, took him down what seemed like at will.
All hunt had was have a couple of good shots and one good flury that almost took silva out, a yellow card, and a 70lb weight advantage.
Silva should have gotten a really close win.
I can see how people think Silva beat Hunt, but IMO, to get hit like Silva got hit, and to not really mount any great offense to counter that, should make you the loser in a fight.
JMO, of course.