WHAT THE
HELL HAPPENED HERE?
Pride
Shock Wave Analysis
Copyright
2002 Kyodo news service
Tokyo, Japan
If there was
ever a bad call In any Martial Arts competition, this one beats them
all. I am not a referee but I
train in Jiu-jitsu and I am an active competitor in tournaments. You don't
need to have 50 years of experience
to see that Gracie wasn't in any trouble when the referee stopped the
fight.
If there was
ever a bad call In any Martial Arts competition, this one beats them all.
I am not a referee but I
train in Jiu-jitsu and I am an
active competitor in tournaments. You don't need to have 50 years of
experience
to see that Gracie wasn't in
any trouble when the referee stopped the fight.
NO
DISCREDIT to Yoshida who is a Olympic Gold Medalist in Judo. The fact is
that was a bad call. If you
didn't see Pride over the
weekend, it was a great event overall. It had fights with K-1 rules,
Pride rules, and a
special grappling match.
As you probably already guessed, the
Gracie vs.Yoshida
was the special grappling match which for many,
turned out to be a big disappointment. Not the fight Itself but the call
the referee made.
Let
me tell you how the fight went - both guys came out, both seemed relaxed.
Yoshida the bigger of the
two. Gracie
does his fake front kick, grabs Yoshida and pulls him into his guard.
Gracie plays the guard
game for a little bit and as Yoshida gives him a
little space, Gracie wraps his right leg in-between and around
Yoshidas
left leg trying to bring him down to sink in the heel hook. Yoshida, aware
of this, grabs onto
Gracies belt and Gi. After doing this for a while,
Yoshida does go down but to sink in his own heel hook. It
seemed Yoshida
was causing some damage as Gracies face showed some signs of pain. Both
men
escaped. As Gracie stood up and walked, he seemed to be limping
slightly. They go at it again and more of
the same with Yoshida on top and
Gracie attempting different things from the bottom. Finally, Yoshida gets
the mount and goes for a box choke. Gracie relaxes and scoots down toward Yoshidas chest making it hard
for Yoshida to execute a good box choke. So
Yoshida tries to smother him with his chest holding the box
choke. Gracie
was still relaxed, putting his hand in-between Yoshidas chest and his face
making sure he
has an opening for him to breath. When this happened, the referee
stopped the fight (probably because he
thought Gracie was out).
Gracie upset, gets up immediately and goes to his corner. His corner is
throwing a
fit! GRACIE GRABS YOSHIDA FROM THE BACK OF HIS GI AND
PULLS HIM TOWARD THE JUDGES -
PROTESTING THE CALL . GRACIE TOLD THE JUDGES
- HE KNOWS I DIDN'T TAP- I WASN'T OUT ! BUT
THE JUDGES DID NOTHING
ABOUT IT. THE REFEREES CALL STOOD. Maybe after they get to review the
tape, they might reverse the call.
Gracie was not out and he deserves at the very least a rematch. We'll keep
you updated on the situation.
Vanderlei
Silva vs. Tatsuya Iwasaki
Originally
Silva was supposed to fight Jerrel Venetian. For some reason or another,
he ended up fighting
Iwasaki. On paper this seemed like a great match even
though it was Iwasakis debut. It wasn't to be. Silva,
true to his style,
was just too much fury for Iwasaki to control or stop. Silva came out
banging with rights and
lefts. Iwasaki could not stop them. Many landed
which forced Iwasaki down. Silva jumps on top of him and
starts delivering
left after left to Iwasaki face. Iwasaki turns - now facing the floor.
Silva gets his back with the
hooks in and starts punching away. Iwasaki
pulls away but as he tries to stand-up, Silva delivers a soccer
kick to
his face that connects sending Iwasaki down. Once again, Silva rushed him
and was able to connect
with a lot of punches. The referee finally stops
the fight in the first round. Winner Silva by TKO.
Jerrel Venetian vs.
Matsui
Venetian took control right away with his jab. He was able to avoid the
take down. Matsui was able to take
him down a couple of times but was
unable to put anything together. Venetian was able to push Matsui off
and
stand-up. The rest of the fight went the same way. Venetian, landed
strikes with his hands and feet -
Matsui trying to take Venetian down. Venetian
winner by split decision.
Gary Goodridge vs.
Lloyd Van Dams
Both came out to the center of the ring, Van Dams ties Goodridge up on
top. Goodridge pushes him slightly
into the ropes. They both bounce off
and Goodridge is in the bear hug position - lifts and turns Van Dams a
complete 180 degrees into a slam with Goodridge landing on top. Goodridge
starts playing the ground and
pound game. Van Dams seemed to not know how
or what to do from the bottom. Goodridge gets the mount
and starts picking
his punches straight into Van Dams face. After a few well placed punches
to the face, the
referee stops the fight in the first round. Winner
Goodridge by TKO.
Semmy Schilt vs.
Ernesto Hoost (K1
Rules)
This was a great fight. Both men were in incredible shape. Schilt with the
obvious height and reach
advantage at 7'1" versus Hoost at 6'5".
Schilt controlled the first round with his front kicks and front jabs. In
the second round, Hoost seemed more comfortable landing some of his own
jabs and kicks. This was a
great technical fight - both men picking and
landing their punches. I would have loved to have seen one of
these guys
just go for it all in the last round. It seemed both men had a lot of
respect for each other and they
knew that one slight mistake would mean a
knockout so both were cautious till the end. Five round Draw.
Don Frye vs.
Jerome Le Banner (K1
Rules)
Frye rushes Le Banner with rights and lefts. Le Banner blocks most of
them. Le Banner, coming out of the
K1, was very calm and composed. He's
been under this kind of pressure many times before. At one point, it
looked like Frye was getting ready to slam Le Banner to the ground but he
remembered this was a K1
match, not a Pride rules match. La Banner took Frye's
best and turned the tables. It was Le Banners turn to
rush Frye. Unlike
Frye, Le Banner landed many of his punches and some kicks forcing Frye
into the ropes
where he landed a jab and followed it up with a right cross
right to Frye's jaw Knocking him out in the first
round. Winner
Le Banner by K.O.
Antonio Rodrigo
Noguiera vs. Bob Sapp
This was the fight I personally was waiting for. Bob Sapp is a monster
going against the Pride heavyweight
champion. This was a incredible fight.
This fight alone was worth the money. Round one saw Noguiera shoot
immediately but runs into a tree trunk (Sapps leg). He was unable to take
Sapp down. Sapp grabs Noguiera
around the waist and pile drives
Noguiera right on his head and shoulder. Sapp lands on top and starts
pounding on Noguiera face .To Noguiera credit, he took it. Noguiera even
attempted a triangle choke but
Sapp just lifted him up and slammed him. At
one time, Noguiera attempted a knee bar while Sapp was
standing. Sapp just
crushed Noguiera as he bent his leg forward. Sapp just manhandled Noguiera
throughout
the first round. As the bell rang, Noguiera looked really beat
up. Round two saw Noguiera deliver a right hand
that landed but had no
affect. He also delivered a Thai kick to the leg of Sapp but once
again, Sapp didn't
seem to notice. Sapp delivered a left jab of his own
that stuns Noguiera. Noguiera shoots for a single leg,
grabs the leg but
cannot hold on. Noguiera doesn't have enough strength to take Sapp down.
Sapp just lands
on top of Noguiera after a few minutes of Noguiera
attempting submission after submission. Sapp is just to
strong for Noguiera to submit him from his back. Finally, Noguiera gets the mount but
Sapp just pushed him
off. Noguiera fighting for the top position, lands
the side mount. Noguiera grabs Sapp's left arm and pushes
him on his side,
sliding his knee on Sapps back. Sapp was unable to lay flat. Noguiera
grabs Sapps left arm
in a kimura, utilizing both hands - grabs and very
quickly goes for the arm bar. He gets the arm bar but Sapp
is holding his
left hand with his right hand. Noguiera struggles to break his hands apart
and does so.
Noguiera grabs with both hands the left arm of Sapp and
leans back making Sapp tap in the second round.
Winner Noguiera
by submission (tap out - arm bar).
Kazushi Sakuraba
vs. Mirko ''Cro Cop'' Filipovic
Round one saw Sakuraba immediately shoot on "Cro Cop". He stops
the shoot and pushes Sakuraba back.
Sakuraba circling to "Cro
Cops" left. "Cro Cop" delivers a good Thai kick to
Sakuraba's leg. Sakuraba pulls
back and starts circling again and once
again "Cro Cop" delivers another low Thai kick to Sakuraba's
leg.
Finally, Sakuraba shoots and gets the leg and takes him down. "Cro
Cop" holds Sakuraba tight. Toward the
end of the round, Sakuraba is
able to land a good right hand . Round two saw "Cro Cop"
immediately land a
high kick to Sakuraba's head . Sakuraba wanted no part
of the stand-up game so he shoots and takes "Cro
Cop"
down. "Cro Cop" puts him in the guard toward the end of
the round. Sakuraba unleashes a variety of
punches. "Cro Cop"
pushes Sakuraba back with his feet (on Sakurabas thighs). "Cro
Cop" quickly stands
up, Sakuraba shoots again and takes "Cro
Cop" down with a single leg. The bell rings to end the second
round. Sakuraba does not go back to his corner. He stays down complaining about
his right eye. Winner
"Cro Cop" by doctor stoppage due to
possible broken eye bone.
Talk to you
after the fights,
Al
(9/2/02)
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