NAGOYA, Japan, Aug. 26 — In the devastating heat of a Japanese summer, the streets of Nagoya were alive with mixed martial arts excitement as PRIDE hosted Bushido 12 in this city’s Rainbow Hall.
Sometimes this is even true of big name fighters. Today Fedor Emelianenko (Pictures) and his brother Aleksander could be seen walking down a public street like a normal pair of guys. Hatsu Hiyoki was at a convenience store just hours before his fight. Even PRIDE General Manager Nobuhiko Takada (Pictures) arrived to the event in a very normal looking taxicab.
The main focus of this event was the second round of the Welterweight Grand Prix, with the last tournament fight of the evening pitting PRIDE welterweight (183-pounsd) champion and 2005 Grand Prix champion Dan Henderson (Pictures) against tough GRABAKA striker Kazuo Misaki (Pictures).
The last time these two meet at Bushido 10 it was Henderson who edged out a decision in a very close fight. To help him prepare for the American champion this time around, the hard-hitting GRABAKA striker spent three weeks in New Jersey training with Ricardo Almeida (Pictures).
This looked more like a technical boxing bout than an MMA fight, with the whole affair remaining mostly on the feet and in the clinch. Just like his fight with Phil Baroni (Pictures), Misaki once again showed that he’s a hard guy to hit — he did a excellent job of moving his head and using footwork to avoid the bombs Henderson threw at him.
The Japanese fighter’s boxing was sharp and crisp, and while both fighters connected it was Misaki that landed the more effective shots, especially uppercuts, tagging the American several times. The low kicks that he often threw also seemed to take Henderson out of his game.
Misaki was just more effective than Henderson on his feet this time around. The exciting, high-paced bout went the distance and it was Misaki who walked away with a justified unanimous decision.
Misaki’s teammate, Akihiro Gono (Pictures), went through Hector Lombard (Pictures) in June to make it to the second round. Tonight the Grabaka striker faced off against young Armenian Gegard Mousasi (Pictures).
The GRABAKA member is more know for his stand-up than his ground game, but in this bout he totally dominated Mousasi on the mat, moving through positions such as side-control and mount, scoring reversals and even taking the back.
In round two Mousasi come alive with strikes, unloading some big flurries, but Gono weathered the storm and eventually brought things back to the ground, where he continued to exert the control he showed in the first.
After briefly taking Mousasi’s back, the GRABAKA fighter transitioned to a textbook armbar, scoring the submission victory at the 4:02 mark.
During his fight with Joey Villasenor (Pictures) at Bushido 11 in June, DEEP middleweight champion Ryo Chonan (Pictures) suffered a severe orbital bone fracture from a stomp in the closing moments of the final round. It was questionable whether or not the Japanese fighter could continue in the tournament, but he opted to stay in and face Brazilian Top Team fighter Paulo Filho (Pictures).
Chonan never really had a chance to get into this one.
Filho scored an early takedown off the opening bell, passed guard and threw punches and knees from side-control. The Brazilian then scored mount. When the Japanese fighter executed a nice bridge he fell into a textbook armbar, forcing a tap at 2:30 of the first.
The striking war expected between American Top Team fighter Denis Kang (Pictures) and Red Devil member Amar Suloev (Pictures) did take place in the early part of the first, with both men exchanging punches. But the fight quickly changed to a mat battle once Kang knocked down the Armenian.
From here the Korean-Canadian pasted Suloev’s legs to get to side, then transitioned to knee-on-belly. As Suloev twisted to escape, Kang took his back. The Red Devil fighter worked to fend off the choke, but he could not as Kang sunk in the technique with only one arm and forced Suloev to tap at 4:04 of the first.