World-Class Final Four Remain in Open-Weight GP
Non-tournament fights
Jason Nowe Jul 1, 2006
In his bout against Brazilian Top Team fighter Antonio Rogerio
Nogueira (Pictures), Alistair Overeem (Pictures) came to the ring with a lot of
tape along the back of his neck and shoulders. The Dutch fighter
seemed to have the advantage on the feet, scoring with hard low
kicks that nearly swept Nogueira’s feet out from under him at one
point. “The Demolition Man” mixed in knees with his hands and
kicks, and by the second Nogueira’s boxing was looking a bit
sloppy.
Yet “Lil Nog” was able to turn the tables, catching Overeem with a perfectly timed punch just as he was coming in to chop at the legs. The Dutch fighter staggered back into the ropes upon impact and Nogueira following up with an unanswered barrage of punches. Overeem’s corner saw that he was in trouble and threw in the towel at the 2:43 mark.
At first appearance, this looked like a premature call by his
corner, but later in his post-fight interview, Overeem revealed
that he suffered a neck injury day during his final training, hence
the taping. He further stated that this hindered his movement on
the ground and affected his performance during the fight.
Yoshida dojo member Kazuhiro Nakamura (Pictures) exercised complete ground control in his fight against Cage Rage veteran Evangelista Santos (Pictures). The Japanese fighter scored a single-leg takedown early on, passing to side and pinning Cyborg’s arm to the mat with his knee. From here he fired punches down to his opponents head and applied a vicious keylock.
Cyborg was totally trapped with Nakamura’s weight across his head and chest. The Japanese fighter continued to crank on the keylock, twisting it fully backwards. This thing looked painful it was amazing that Santos didn’t tap. After repositioning the technique and giving it another try, Nakamura eventually got the submission at 4:49 of the first round.
PRIDE and UFC veteran Vitor Belfort (Pictures) made short work of former Pancrase heavyweight champion Yoshiki Takahashi (Pictures), scoring a knockout from a left hook at the 0:36 mark of the first round.
Yoshiro Nakao had a successful PRIDE debut, defeating Korean Eun Su Lee at 4:16 of round one by doctor’s stoppage.
Judo legend Pawel Nastula (Pictures) defeated Edson Drago (Pictures) by armbar at the 4:44 mark of the first.
Yet “Lil Nog” was able to turn the tables, catching Overeem with a perfectly timed punch just as he was coming in to chop at the legs. The Dutch fighter staggered back into the ropes upon impact and Nogueira following up with an unanswered barrage of punches. Overeem’s corner saw that he was in trouble and threw in the towel at the 2:43 mark.
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Yoshida dojo member Kazuhiro Nakamura (Pictures) exercised complete ground control in his fight against Cage Rage veteran Evangelista Santos (Pictures). The Japanese fighter scored a single-leg takedown early on, passing to side and pinning Cyborg’s arm to the mat with his knee. From here he fired punches down to his opponents head and applied a vicious keylock.
Cyborg was totally trapped with Nakamura’s weight across his head and chest. The Japanese fighter continued to crank on the keylock, twisting it fully backwards. This thing looked painful it was amazing that Santos didn’t tap. After repositioning the technique and giving it another try, Nakamura eventually got the submission at 4:49 of the first round.
PRIDE and UFC veteran Vitor Belfort (Pictures) made short work of former Pancrase heavyweight champion Yoshiki Takahashi (Pictures), scoring a knockout from a left hook at the 0:36 mark of the first round.
Yoshiro Nakao had a successful PRIDE debut, defeating Korean Eun Su Lee at 4:16 of round one by doctor’s stoppage.
Judo legend Pawel Nastula (Pictures) defeated Edson Drago (Pictures) by armbar at the 4:44 mark of the first.
