After Yoshida got kicked in the balls, he stopped fighting.
Yoshida basically lays down for Royce for whatever reason. Anybody who watches it, knows that this is not the same fighter that submitted Hunt and gave Wand two close fights.
Takada/Royce was a work to ensure sakuraba/Royce in the semi-finals. this is common knowledge.
Watch the fight and see if Takada tries to do anything besides latch onto Royce's gi to ride out the clock.
If there was a more obvious one-sided fix.. i would be surprised.
"Yoshida basically lays down for Royce for whatever reason. Anybody who watches it, knows that this is not the same fighter that submitted Hunt and gave Wand two close fights."
It appears that Yoshida had the flu or something. He gassed really quick. Was he even wearing a cup?
"Severn lasted a while but I don't remember ever thinking Royce was in trouble."
I thought Royce was in trouble that whole fight. I couldn't believe that he pulled out the win.
when he beat Shamrock, shamrock was experienced on the ground and in striking.
His win over KIMO was cool because Kimo was a wild man at that point in time.
His quick submission over Pardoe was also cool as Pardoe had dominated a few other fighters.
These are all good wins as far as I'm concerned.
None of those guys were as experienced as the guys today but they were tough fights and Shamrock and Severn were arguably two of the better fighters in the world at that point in time.
"It appears that Yoshida had the flu or something. He gassed really quick. Was he even wearing a cup? "
well. back then, YOshida stated in his diary that he had was in no condition to fightbut was basically forced to by the DSE executives.
His knee was still not recovered from the Tamura fight and he sustained some injuries from the Wand fight.
In addition, fighting 3 times within a few months is mentally very draining.
If you add in the fact that YOshida trained for a gi-clad Royce , and the fact that Yoshida got kicked field goal style in the balls, it's no surprise that Yoshida basically lays down for half of the fight.
i just dont see how anyone could compare what royce DID to what matt is DOING. ive held undergroung nhb tournaments and beat 3 guys in about 10 min. how? becase none of them knew what i knew. i fought a guy that was 6'9 285 lbs and tapped him out with a side choke. i fought a guy that was 6'1 330 lbs and slammed him and front neck cranked him. im 5'6 180 lbs. so im not buying the bullshit that royce is a legend cuz he won a tournament. i couldve probobly won ufc 1 with the proper training. that is far fetched and away from the point im just aggrevated that all these people are blind to what royce really accomplished. yes i thank him for the ufc but he didnt beat any great fighters the likes of hughes.
Shamrock, Severn, Kimo, and Pat Smith were all good wins at the time. Those guys were dangerous back then......but Matt would have beat them all as well.
"However that fight was really strange with Yoshida not actually fighting for nearly 15 minutes and Royce failing to do much despite his dominant position. Even Koscheck's seems like a machine on the ground by comparison."
Oh Tim man, you disappoint. That's UG revisionism at it's best.