Filed under: MMA
The best way to describe Saturday evening’s PRIDE event is this: Un-freaking-believable.
First of all, this card is stacked by some really big names. The main event featuring two current title holders, Dan Henderson (Welterweight champ) and Wanderlei Silva (Middleweight champ) with the Middleweight belt on the line. Some of the best fighters in the world in all divisions were competing that night and honestly, I expected a bunch of one-sided slaughtering due to most of the good fighters fighting cans. This was most definitely not the case and I ended up seeing some of the best underdog victories in MMA history. Here is what I am talking about:
Frank Trigg VS. Kazuo Misaki: This was the second fight of the night. Frank Trigg is currently known for two things. He is the English-language color commentator for PRIDE, and he loses constantly via the rear naked choke submission. Words cannot express my true hatred for Frank Trigg. He is a horrible horrible commentator and says things that constantly make me angry. Misaki is an amazing Welterweight and the winner of the last PRIDE Welterweight Grand Prix championship. This means he won a tournament featuring the best Welterweights in the world. He even beat Dan Hnderson (current Welterweight champion) but did not take the title because of the tournament setting. OUTCOME: Trigg wins an honestly deserved unanimous decision. I wanted him to lose so bad.
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira VS Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou: This was by far the biggest upset of the night. A quick background on Nogueira (lil nog) basically entails that he is one of the best boxers in Brazil, AND a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Black belt (His brother Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira [big nog] is considered one of the top 3 heavyweights in the world, and the best grappler in MMA). Lil nog is also considered to be among the top contenders for the Middleweight belt. Sokoudjou on the other hand, has no background. He’s a judoka. Nobody has ever heard of him before, and most folks considered him a can to be fed to Nogueira on his road to a title shot. OUTCOME: Sokoudjou wins via KO in TWENTY-THREE seconds. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I would honestly say finding a stack of cash on my doorstep when leaving for work in the morning is more likely than the outcome of this fight. This proves anything can happen in MMA.
Takanori Gomi VS Nick Diaz: This was the fight I wanted to see most of all. Gomi is the current PRIDE lightweight champion. He is a great striker, has good cardio, and has beaten the best in his division. Nick Diaz is no slouch either. A pro boxer, Brazilian Jiu-jitsu brown belt, and successful UFC veteran. He is most famous for his childish smack-talking and cursing when doing appearances. Gomi was the clear favorite to win, and I would have bet money on him too. OUTCOME: Diaz wins by GOGOPLATA. Seriously, a gogoplata. Not only this, but he honestly dominated Gomi even when standing. Good for you Nick! Now grow up, stop being a tool, and keep winning fights. 
Honestly, I do not know why the Lightweight title wasn’t on the line for this fight, but Diaz surely deserved it.
Main Event - Wanderlei Silva VS Dan Henderson: This is a fight that I would have sworn would end one of 3 ways. Wandy by decision, KO, or TKO. This is a meeting between two champions well established in their division as good strikers and have both enjoyed long reigns at the top. Wanderlei is a Chute Boxe veteran and has proven his knees and wild punches truly lethal. He has a killer instinct and is very fun to watch. Henderson has been dubbed ‘Decision Dan’ by some folks, mostly because he wins a lot of fights through the judges. He has been known to throw a heavy right hand. OUTCOME: Henderson wins via KO in the third round! What a slugfest this fight was. I am an instant Dan Henderson fan after his domination of Wanderlei Silva who is considered to be one of the best fighters in the world.
This was one of the best MMA events I have ever had the pleasure of viewing. If you would like to watch some of the fights, contact me and I will try to work something out.
2 Comments so far
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I am not saying Diaz or Henderson deserved title shots. I’m saying they beat the champs, therefore they should have the titles. I understand what PRIDE was trying to do. They wanted to show their fighters can hang with the Americans and increase their fanbase. I agree that this ended up blowing up in their faces.
As much as I like Gomi, he shouldn’t be champ anymore. He’s had 2 losses since he got his belt. I’d say Diaz should have it, because he made weight and soundly trounced Gomi.
The only crappy thing about Henderson having both belts is, we will have HALF the title defenses because he can only fight 4-5 times per year with any kind of efficiency.
Comment by Ethan 02.26.07 @ 2:15 pmLeave a comment
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I’m going to have to disagree with yu here…Why does Diaz deserve this fight as a title shot?
The only reason he even got the shot was so Pride could market the fight as a Pride vs UFC. Nick has no background @ LW and sadly (and REALLY LIKE Nick) his last several fights have been dull at best. The Diaz vs Diego fight was his last decent fight.
Likewise..Dan H didnt deserve this fight either…and dont try to say this is a rematch of the first fight 6yrs ago. They only had the Hendo vs Silva fight so that Silva could call out Chuck…AGAIN!
I Really didnt see how they decide on these fights..unless it was all a PRIDE v UFC marketing ploy. If you look at the Japanese media that what they picked up on…the Silva fight was also barely even mentioned.
Sad weekend for pride….a big gamble that blew up in their face.
Oh and lord knows why they chose Trigg as the guy to fight their #2 WW…oh wait…he was UFC too!
Comment by Andrew W 02.26.07 @ 1:29 pm