Pulver vs Uematsu on 3-22-04

ttt

NHB or Muay Thai?

Jens Pulver will be fighting Eddie Yagin in an NHB match at Super Brawl 33 this Saturday! It will NOT be Muay Thai as rumored.

Frankie, its late and Im bored so I will give you some more info about Uematsu.


Naoya Uematsu trains out of the famous K'z Factory gym in Japan and has been fighting since late 97 (when he won the lightweight "tournament of J") including a 23 second submission win (ankle lock) over Caol Uno.


For the next 4 years Uematsu went 8-0-1. Drew with Kimihito Nonaka, and finished fighters such as Katsuya Toita, Mamoru Ohkouchi, Eric Payne, Ryan Diaz, Nonaka in a re-match, Joey Gilbert, before his finishing streak was finally ended when he fought former Shooto champ Noboru Asahi (who he soundly beat by unan decision) and then beating Mike Cordosa a few months later (also by decision)

However Uematsu is a big fan of Muay Thai and went to Thai land to train Muay Thai (he had done this before). However this time around he caught a nasty virus that almost killed him, in fact the doctors had actually called in his parents to say their last goodbys. Uematsu some how managed to pull threw and made his return to MMA against Kazuhiro Inoue after over a year away from the MMA scene.

Despite showing flashes of his old self, Uematsu was obviously not 100% and the fight went to a draw.

Not to long after that he lost against to Bao Quatch in which Uematsu looked awful.

he came back 4 months later faced Joao Roque. And despite dropping a decision loss to Roque (his second loss in a row) he looked like his old self again, almost catching Roque with a kneebar.

Uematsu's last 2 fights he has looked FANTASTIC. Submitting both Jin Kazeta, and Katsuya Toita. And both of those guys are as tough as they come.


Uematsu is simply put, amazing.


Pulver has lost twice in the past to leglocks, and the guys who did it to him before have NOTHING on Uematsu (in leg attack skill at least)


I have unreal amounts of respect for Pulver, but Uematsu is as tough as they come for a comback fight.

"Submitting both Jin Kazeta, and Katsuya Toita. And both of those guys are as tough as they come."

While submitting Toida is an impressive feat, Kazeta is a kickboxer who is still learning the ground game. His striking is damn good, but his ground isn't up to par yet. (I'm not sure how long he's been training the ground game, but I know he was a kickboxer first, and that's his strong point.) That said, Uematsu looked incredible in that fight, and it proved he was back in top form.

Toida is a very slick grappler. He even came close to tapping Baret, popping his elbow with an armbar, but Baret gutted through it. I can't remember anyone else ever coming remotely close to submitting Baret. Toida is a very, very good grappler. And Uematsu has submitted him TWICE! Both in the first round, no less.

Jens via horrible ko. At 143 these guys are in for a shit storm the likes they have never seen. Uematsu is good but he won't be able to take Jens down or match his power on their feet. He may be good but he don't punch or kick as hard as jens and that will be the difference. As far as Shooto's judging; it's hard to screw a guy in a fight when the other is being carted off out cold. TTT, Uematsu, Kid, and Pequeno better get tied on because evil is coming to wreck shop.

You say Bao beat Uematsu while he was in a slump? slump or dump Jens will be to much for him Jens by KO 2nd rd..jmax

lol, the slump excuse is legit in my opinion. He recovered from a life-threatening illness and was a shadow of himself when he came back to MMA....Perhaps Uematsu has come back to top form, judging by his last two performances. We'll see......

the only man to go for an upside-down reverse standing triangle (LOL) in a MMA fight. And he dropped out of it and got a takedown.. awesome

Yeah, usually excuses are lame, but Uematsu has a legit excuse. He damn near died, lost 40 pounds (reportedly), and then made his return to MMA less than a year later. It's a pretty amazing story, really. Most people thought he would never go back to his dominance before the illness, but it certainly looks like he's back.

Punchers chance my ass. He's got a great ground game and his ground defences are as good as they come. Need I remind everyone that BJ and Holman both could not do shit against Jens and standing up its lights out.Jens by KO

Frankie, E-mail me at dragonballjiujitsu@hotmail.com


I would also like to see Jin Kazeta vs Pulver. Eddie Yagin (who Pulver is fighting this weekend) has a decision win over Kazeta (in a SUPER good fight).


Pulver has 3 fights this month, so Im not sure how seriously he is taking Uematsu which is a BAD idea imho. As I have said before Pulver has lost twice to leglocks in his career, and Uematsu has the best leglocks in the bizz (yes I think he's better than Imanari)