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Report and photos by Nori Yoshida
Wanderlei Silva, the lone middleweight to remain in the tournament, needed just the one victory against Kazuyuki Fujita to advance to the final round. When it was decided that Emelianenko would be unable to participate in the Grand Prix, the spot that had been reserved for him after the first round was taken by Silva, PRIDE's Middleweight Champion. Though 16 pounds heavier than his opponent, it was Fujita who seemed out of his league as he took a beating from Silva. The fight almost ended in the early minutes when Silva landed a combination that sent Fujita stumbling backwards and to the ground. Even from the top of a guard position, the Japanese wrestler was powerless, getting caught twice in near armbars. In the final minute of the first round, Silva landed a punch combination that sent Fujita to the mat once more, and though he got back onto his feet, Silva sent him right back down again with another combination. The fight ended in classic Silva style as he set up Fujita like a soccer ball and landed a series of kicks to the face. The referee didn't stop the fight; however, Fujita's corner had to throw in the towel. Fujita's fight and Hidehiko Yoshida's main event match-up against Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic proved the dangers of being a high profile Japanese fighter in PRIDE. Yoshida's corner had to throw in the towel in this fight as well, when the referee refused to stop the fight even though Yoshida was on the mat unable to stand up. This was a result of seven-and-a-half minutes of continuous powerful low kicks from Cro Cop, which had Yoshida hobbling around the ring for the last few minutes before an uppercut sent him to the ground. Filipovic walked away, yet the referee demanded he continue to fight. The fight was actually reset and the Croatian reluctantly sent Yoshida to the ground again with a kick and again walked away refusing to pursue the fight, which was clearly over. The referee could be heard yelling, "Yoshida, get up!" instigating the fight to go on, but Filipovic had already turned his back to the judo Olympian who at that point could no longer stand.
Two highly anticipated match-ups made up the other half of the Open-Weight Grand Prix. Two of the greatest jiu-jitsu masters in Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Fabricio Werdum faced off in the first of these fights and put on an unlikely show. In what most thought would decide who be the greatest grappler on the PRIDE circuit, it was, instead, the better striker that prevailed. Aside from a near guillotine choke by Nogueira in the third round, most of the fighting was done on their feet. Even when the fight went to the ground, it quickly came back to its feet, usually with Nogueira refusing to go into Werdum's guard. The strategy paid off for the Brazilian Top Team figurehead, who landed several good punches throughout the fight and was satisfied with his unanimous decision victory.
Fans were hoping for more action when Josh Barnett and Mark Hunt entered the ring, but they witnessed an extremely one-sided victory by the American. Just two minutes into the first round, Barnett took the feared former K-1 champion to the ground, worked from side mount to a North-South position and cranked a Kimura lock that instantly sent Hunt's arm into an unnatural position. Luckily, the other arm was free to tap out. Five non-tournament fights started the night warming up the 44,606 fans for the Grand Prix matches to come. Vitor Belfort made a statement in his first appearance in PRIDE in over a year, knocking out Yoshiki Takahashi in 36 seconds. A series of punches ended with a left hook that landed cleanly on Takahashi's jaw, giving Belfort his first KO in a PRIDE ring in seven tries dating back to 1999.
The other notable match-up between Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and Alistair Overeem ended with a dominant BTT performance. Nogueira showed no signs of wanting to take the fight to the ground, though he faced a seasoned striker. His left leg was paying the consequences of his decision as it took repeated low kicks from Overeem. Yet, it was Nogueira who landed a clean shot at the start of the second round, followed by a series of punches that sent the Dutchman against the ropes. Overeem was still standing and trying to defend himself, but his corner, to Nogueira's surprise, threw in the towel at 2:13 into the round. PRIDE Open-Weight Grand Prix (2nd Round) Results Pawel Nastula def. Edson Drago - Submission (Armbar) 4:33 R1 Yoshihiro Nakao def. Eun Su Lee - TKO (Doctor's stoppage) 4:16 R1 Vitor Belfort def. Yoshiki Takahashi – KO 0:36 R1 Antonio Rogerio Nogueira def. Alistair Overeem - TKO (Corner threw in towel) 2:13 R2 Kazuhiro Nakamura def. Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos - Submission (Kimura) 4:49 R1 Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira def. Fabricio Werdum - Unanimous Decision Wanderlei Silva def. Kazuyuki Fujita - TKO (Corner threw in towel) 9:21 R1 Josh Barnett def. Mark Hunt - Submission (Kimura) 2:02 R1 Mirko Filipovic def. Hidehiko Yoshida - TKO (Corner threw in towel) 7:38 R1 PRIDE Open-Weight Grand Prix North American PPV premiere: July 2, 2006 Check out the FCF Shop for the lowest prices on Pride videotapes & DVDs! |
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