TOKYO, Sept. 25 — The fists were flying at Ariake Coliseum tonight as PRIDE held the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds of its Bushido Lightweight and Welterweight tournaments.
Japanese lightweights Takanori Gomi (Pictures) and Hayato Sakurai (Pictures) pushed ahead, while long-time veterans of the so-called pound-for-pound list, Dan Henderson (Pictures) and Murilo Bustamante (Pictures), will fight on December 31.
Bushido ace Gomi faced Chute Boxe rival Luiz Azeredo (Pictures) in the semifinals. The last time these two met at Bushido 7, the match ended in a bit of a melee between Gomi’s camp and the members of Chute Boxe. A lot of bad blood has run between these combatants and no doubt Azeredo was looking to avenge his knockout loss to the Japanese superstar.
This bout, like many during the evening, was a real slugfest. The two fighters seemed to have no objections to settling their differences on their feet. Both were moving around the ring well, displaying their impressive boxing skills. The speed of the punches that these guys where throwing at each other was awe inspiring, showing no signs of slowing down throughout the duration of the match.
Gomi often came charging in with flurries of punches, gaining the upper hand by rocking the Brazilian in the corner. It was obvious that Gomi wanted to keep this entire affair standing up. When Azeredo did score the takedown, Gomi would do very little on the ground apart from holding his opponent, waiting for the referee to stand them up.
Azeredo got rocked many times from Gomi’s fists. The Bushido ace switched his stance between southpaw and orthodox several times, employing effective counter-punching throughout. The Japanese fighter often caught his opponent’s low kicks, following up with takedowns.
This match was going a mile a minute with neither fighter standing down. Azeredo wasn’t able to stagger Gomi to the extent to which he himself got rocked. The fight went the distance and Gomi was awarded the unanimous victory.
The other semifinal match-up on the lightweight side saw former SHOOTO middleweight champion Hayato “Mach” Sakurai face off against the Norwegian nightmare, Joachim Hansen (Pictures).
This was an extremely high-paced match-up, with a good balance between stand-up and ground work. My Sherdog.com partner, Stephen Martinez, commented that Sakurai looked like the 2000 SHOOTO version of himself — lightning fast, attempting difficult, high-risk moves and constantly pushing the fight.
Both fighters scored several takedowns from shots and throws. On their feet, both were giving and receiving heavy bombs. Sakurai was able to land a hard shot that sent Hansen reeling backwards to the ground. In the clinch, the Norwegian often threw his razor sharp knees, trying to connect with Sakurai’s head.
Hansen was an absolute stomping machine in this one, constantly standing and trying to cave in the head of his downed opponent with his foot. The ground work displayed by both fighters was masterful, as each constantly worked to achieve better position, attempted submissions and moved to escape from dangerous situations. Sakurai often tried Achilles and ankle locks, but Hansen had the presence of mind to see them coming and escape.
This fight was very even and went the distance. I remember thinking that I would hate to be the one to have to judge this contest. In the end, it was Sakurai who walked away with the decision.
In the welterweight tournament one semifinal pitted former Olympic wrestler and current Team Quest member Dan Henderson (Pictures) against tough Pancrase veteran and Grabaka fighter Akihiro Gono (Pictures). This fight remained mostly on the feet. Gono was the unfortunate victim of two unintentional headbutts, but the Japanese fighter recovered quickly to continue fighting.
Gono moved well laterally and covered well to defend against the bombs that Henderson threw against him. The Grabaka fighter mixed up his punches, throwing to the head and body. He also effectively utilized fast low kicks, often catching Henderson by surprise. But the American was able to block or avoid most of what was coming at him.
After trading back-and-forth on their feet, and a little bit of work on the ground, Gono found himself backed into a corner. From here he got drawn into a standing slugfest with the dangerous Henderson.
Both fighters started throwing with reckless abandon. In a situation like this, it’s only a matter of time before somebody eats a punch and in this case it was Gono who ended up taking a hard right hand, which sent him to the canvas.
Gono grabbed Henderson’s leg as an automatic reaction when going down after the powerful strike, but Henderson followed up with punches against his downed opponent until the referee stepped in to stop the fight.
The other welterweight semifinal saw the popular “real pro wrestler” Ikuhisa Minowa (Pictures) take on Brazilian Top Team ace Murilo Bustamante (Pictures). The often bizarre, yet always entertaining Minowa spent some time training on Mount Fuji to prepare for this tournament. Apparently however, he succumbed to altitude sickness for his efforts.
Minowa came to the ring wearing a red “wife beater” and the crowd roared and chanted with the beat of the hugely popular Japanese fighter’s entrance music. Watch on a TV monitor, I could feel the vibrations all the way in the interview room.
Bustamante scored several trips and shots but Minowa defended well against a Kimura attempt from the Brazilian. Minowa was able to sink in a deep guillotine after being taken down, but even though Bustamante looked to be a bit of trouble he managed to escape.
The Brazilian Top Team member was able to score the mount, then after a scramble he took Minowa’s back, only to end up in mount again, this time applying an arm-triangle choke. Minowa seemed to be fading, but managed to shrimp hard and escape.
After some more work on the ground, Bustamante stood at the ends of his downed opponent’s feet. From here he threw a stomp. This is where things get a bit mysterious. It seemed that the stomp may have hit Minowa low and the Japanese fighter reacted by trying to sit up, defenses down, almost expecting the referee to stop the action and give him a chance to recover.
Bustamante, of course, did not stop and proceeded to nail the half-prone Minowa with a monstrous soccer kick to face. This sent the Japanese fighter reeling back. Bustamante scurried around on his feet to Minowa’s side and continued to throw soccer kicks. Minowa turned to all fours and turtled to avoid the kicks. The referee rushed in and stopped the fight.