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Results & Fight Summaries By Aaron Crecy Fight One Renzo Gracie def. Michiyoshi Ohara via judges' decision, 3-0 Gracie dominated the bout from start to finish, maintaining a consistent attack of jabs, hooks and knees. The fight remained in the standup for the entirety, with Ohara backing up and Gracie pressing. Ohara threw only a handful of punches and failed to land any significant kicks. It was a rather uneventful bout, with Gracie manhandling his larger -- but overmatched -- opponent. Fight Two Quinton Jackson def. Yuki Ishikawa via KO, 1:52 of R1 Jackson opened with a devastating assortment of right hooks and uppercuts. Then, he shot in on a double leg, elevated it and slammed Ishikawa to the mat. After Jackson landed several knees to the head, Ishikawa gave up his back, but was able to escape to the standup. However, Jackson followed with an uppercut and then dropped Ishikawa with a straight right, causing the referee to intercede and stop the bout. Fight Three Dan Henderson def. Murilo "Ninja" Rua via judges' decision, 2-1 Easily the closest fight of the night, Henderson prevailed because Pride rewards damaging blows and aggressiveness over technique and control -- and even then, the margin of victory may have been as narrow as the yellow card Rua received in the final round. Henderson opened the fight with a barrage of punches and knees that stunned Rua. Much like teammate Vanderlei Silva, the reeling Rua dropped to a double leg in an attempt to recover. Henderson then sank a guillotine choke that nearly caused Rua to tap. After eventually escaping from the submission and scoring the takedown, the Brazilian spent the remainder of the round on top, landing occasional knees and elbows while Henderson used his knees effectively from the bottom. The second round brought more of the same, as Rua scored a high amplitude takedown off a Henderson knee from the clinch, lifting the American and slamming him to the ground. Then, he spent the rest of the round trying to maintain control while landing sporadic knees and elbow strikes. A motivated Henderson opened the third period with his own high wire act, performing virtually the same takedown that Rua had scored a round earlier. After catching the knee with one hand and securing an underhook with the other, he lifted his opponent and slammed him to the ground -- this, despite being outweighed by 13 pounds. After Rua scrambled out from the bottom, Henderson scored with knees from a front headlock. Once Rua returned to his feet, he moved into the clinch, where he kneed Henderson twice in the groin. Though not overtly intentional, the wayward knees earned Rua a yellow card. Once the fight was re-started, Henderson commenced a sustained barrage of knees and punches that rendered Rua nearly out on his feet. In the final minute, Rua shot a double leg takedown to combat a Henderson guillotine attempt, and the fight ended with no further activity to speak of. When the decision was announced, it was met with bitter disappointment by the Chute Boxe team. Had Rua not been issued the yellow card, it may very well have been scored a draw, as Henderson landed all of the damaging blows and nearly finished the affair with an early submission while for his part, the Brazilian controlled the fight on the ground for nearly twelve minutes. Fight Four Semmy Schilt def. Masaaki Satake via KO, 2:18 of R1 Schilt used every bit of his reach advantage to keep Satake away, delivering straight kicks and stinging jabs while stalking his opponent around the ring. Just as in the previous fight, Schilt was issued a yellow card for an inadvertent knee to the groin. Once the fight was re-started, it was more of the same -- straight kicks and jabs until Schilt unloaded with a straight left that made its way through Satake's defense and dropped him. Once Satake crumpled to the ground, Schilt followed with a straight right to the head before the referee could call the fight. Fight Five Mario Sperry def. Igor Vovchanchyn via verbal submission (arm triangle), 2:52 of R1 Sperry attacked from the outset, taking Vovchanchyn down early with a double leg. Working from inside the Russian's guard, Sperry landed an assortment of punches to the head. Vovchanchyn, who entered the fight with a sizable cut on his head -- the result of a head butt in training -- began to bleed profusely. Once Sperry gained a half mount, he worked into an arm triangle and earned the submission with relative ease. Fight Six Tom Erikson def. Matt Skelton by verbal submission (choke), 1:11 of R1 As expected, Erikson took the fight to the ground immediately, lifting Skelton into the air and slamming him with a bodylock. Once on top, Erikson took advantage of the K-1 fighter's feeble ground skills and gained a full mount. After landing several punches to the head, Erikson looked for a choke. While it appeared as though he might be able to secure an arm triangle, Erikson instead garnered the submission from the mount by simply clenching Skelton's throat with one hand while trapping his head with the other arm. Fight Seven Nobuhiko Takada vs. Mirko "Cro Cop" Filopovic, DRAW In what was perhaps the most forgettable fight in MMA history, Takada literally flopped to his back throughout each of the five three-minute rounds -- when he wasn't running away from the advancing Filopovic. By the third round, the pro-Takada crowd turned against him and vocalized their disapproval for the remainder of the fight. Meanwhile, an increasingly frustrated Filopovic gamely stalked Takada around the ring, but was unable to land any punches because his opponent would retreat to the guard whenever the Croat was anywhere near striking distance. Due to special rules in place for the K-1 versus MMA exhibition, the fight was not judged and ended in a draw. It was a particularly ignominious performance by Takada and one that only served to underscore the recent demise of the famed Takada Dojo. Fight Eight Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira def. Heath Herring by judges' decision, 3-0 Given the Takada embarrassment, it is not without irony that this fight will surely be remembered as one of the great fights in the MMA history. Though 25 pounds lighter, Nogueira remained in control both in the standup and on the ground, driving Herring into the ropes time and time again with jabs and straight rights. But the Texan gave no quarter and responded with knees and punches of his own, often missing by only the slightest of margins. The action was fast and furious from the opening bell, as Nogueira attempted submission after submission when on the ground, with Herring successfully countering each of them. It was an unbelievable, continuous flurry of parry and thrust, attack and counter, as both fighters unleashed everything in their arsenals from start to finish. When Nogueira succeeded in pinning Herring into the corner in the standup, he would drop to a double leg shot, lift and finish. At no time was Herring ever out of the fight, but Nogueira initiated much of the action, scoring a multitude of takedowns and gaining a rear mount several times. However, Herring defended every choke attempt and was able to reverse positions several times. In the end, it was Nogueira's dominance in the standup that seemed to earn him the victory, rather than his famed submission skills. For his part, Herring displayed phenomenal defense and positioning on the ground, but his standup proved to leave room for improvement. Thus, after 20 minutes of seemingly nonstop action, Nogueira was awarded the unanimous decision. As a footnote, it was later reported a Herring low kick had briefly dislocated the Brazilian's knee in the first round -- an injury significant enough to warrant a trip to the hospital after the fight but not one that deterred Nogueira during the battle. Fight Nine Vanderlei Silva def. Kazushi Sakuraba by referee stoppage (injury forfeit between rounds, 10:00 R1 If anything could surpass the previous fight, logic dictates that it would be the highly anticipated rematch between Sakuraba and Silva. Sadly, that did not prove to be the case, as the evening's main event was cut short after an exciting first round. The fight opened with Sakuraba shooting and scoring a single leg takedown, a vast departure from the first meeting in Pride 13. And Just as Sakuraba came out with a different strategy, so, it seemed, did Silva, who circled cautiously from the outset rather than charging across the ring as has become his trademark. After working from inside Silva's guard for several minutes, Sakuraba began to look for ways to pass. When the opportunity presented itself, Silva kicked Sakuraba away and returned to his feet. The fighters then clinched against the ropes, with Silva landing knees to the abdomen before pushing off and throwing a brief but authoritative combination of punches and knees. But Sakuraba was able to avoid serious damage by shooting an unsuccessful single leg takedown that caused Silva go on the defensive. However, Sakuraba was able to finish an ensuing single leg shortly thereafter. Unable to control Silva for long, he moved to a guillotine after the quick escape. In response, Silva picked up his lighter opponent -- there was a 17-pound weight discrepancy -- and slammed him to the mat, driving Sakuraba's left shoulder into the ground. This would prove to be Sakuraba's undoing, as the shoulder was immediately dislocated. Even so, Sakuraba fought gamely from his guard for the rest of the round. Between rounds, however, the ringside physician wisely determined Sakuraba was unable to continue and Silva was awarded the victory. It was an unfortunate and anticlimactic finish, because the fight was very even to that point and it seemed as though Sakuraba very much had a chance to win.  Click here for Pride 17 post-fight pictures Complete coverage of the event in the November 2001 issue of FULL CONTACT FIGHTER, subscribe now! Check out the FCF Shop for the lowest prices on Pride videotapes & DVDs! |
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