Pride Shockwave 2 Preview
Fedor Emelianenko vs. Rodrigo Nogueira
Dec 28, 2004
EMELIANENKO: Sambo stylist
Fedor Emelianenko is
27-1 in MMA and trains with his brother Aleksander Emelianenko,
Arman Gambaryan,
Roman Zenstov and rest of
the Red Devil Fight Club. Fedor is the RINGS 2001 World Title
Series heavyweight class champion and RINGS 2002 World Title Series
Absolute Weight Class champion as well of the PFC heavyweight
champion and holder of numerous sambo and judo championship titles.
Fedor spent time fighting in Russia (eight bouts there, 8-0) and
competing in sport grappling competitions before making his
international MMA debut.
Emelianenko showed his fighting dominance in RINGS Japan against Ricardo Arona, Renato Sobral, Kerry Schall and Christopher Haseman among others. His “loss” to Tsuyoshi Kohsaka was a fluke. At the opening bell they both threw strikes. TK caught him with a forearm/tip of elbow to the temple and it opened him up.
He made his Pride debut against Semmy Schilt at Pride 21 and took a
decision over the giant but the bout didn’t show his full talents.
He returned to batter top contender Heath Herring at Pride 23 and took
the title from Rodrigo Nogueira at
Pride 25. After a pit stop at RINGS Lithuania, Fedor was back at
Pride 26 where he choked out Kazuyuki Fujita. Bouts with
Gary Goodridge, Mark Coleman and Kevin Randleman followed and
then the Pride Final Conflict show was next. He discarded Naoya Ogawa in the semis and the
bout with Nogueira in the final had to be stopped due to a cut.
NOGUEIRA: Rodrigo Nogueira is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt with a 24-2-1 record in MMA and trains with Murilo Bustamante, Ricardo Liborio, Ricardo Arona, Mario Sperry, Rogerio Nogueira and the rest of the Brazilian Top Team. “Minotauro” is the interim PFC heavyweight champion, a two-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion, the RINGS King of Kings 2000 tournament champion, the former WEF heavyweight champion and an Abu Dhabi veteran.
Rodrigo began his MMA career in the U.S. at the World Extreme Fighting shows where he faced UFC veteran David Dodd, Miletich fighter Nate Schroeder and earned the WEF heavyweight title by defeating Jeremy Horn. Nogueira also began competing in RINGS events the same year. He defeated Valentijn Overeem and Andrei Kopylov before losing a decision in the semis to Dan Henderson in the ’99 tourney. In the 2000 tournament he defeated Kiyoshi Tamura, Hiromitsu Kanehara and Overeem again to become the RINGS King of Kings 2000 tournament champion.
Five months later Nogueira moved over to Pride, quickly taking out Gary Goodridge and Mark Coleman by submission. In his third appearance, Nogueira fought for and won the heavyweight title defeating Heath Herring and he went on a tear, defeating Enson Inoue, Sanae Kikuta (in UFO), Bob Sapp, Semmy Schilt, and he got his revenge in a bout with (a much smaller) Dan Henderson.
It wasn’t until another RINGS champion crossed his path, Emelianenko Fedor, that Nogueira tasted defeat in Pride. He bounced back getting a controversial decision over Ricco Rodriguez, and won an interim championship title by submitting Mirko Filipovic. In 2004 Nogueira went undefeated in his quest to recapture the title from Emelianenko by taking out Hirotaka Yokoi, Heath Herring and Sergei Kharitonov in the early rounds of the tournament. The bout with Emelianenko for the title was an exciting one but a cut stoppage for Fedor forced a No Contest ruling and leaves much unsettled.
MY PICK: Emelianenko. Although Rodrigo looked better against Fedor for the first few minutes, he still has demons to vanquish. The beating he took back in March of 2003 has to be fresh in his head. None of the other wins since mean much if he doesn't get that title. Fedor is a beast on the mat and standing and now he has been able to focus on one opponent for almost 5 months. Even if Rodrigo has perfected the infamous punch-knee combo he's been talking about, he has to land them cleanly and that will be tough. And hoping to KO Fedor in the first round? He couldn't do it with Kharitonov, Herring or anyone other than Kikuta. Nogueria is great but I don't see the title changing hands. Emelianenko by TKO in the 2nd Rd.
Emelianenko showed his fighting dominance in RINGS Japan against Ricardo Arona, Renato Sobral, Kerry Schall and Christopher Haseman among others. His “loss” to Tsuyoshi Kohsaka was a fluke. At the opening bell they both threw strikes. TK caught him with a forearm/tip of elbow to the temple and it opened him up.
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NOGUEIRA: Rodrigo Nogueira is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt with a 24-2-1 record in MMA and trains with Murilo Bustamante, Ricardo Liborio, Ricardo Arona, Mario Sperry, Rogerio Nogueira and the rest of the Brazilian Top Team. “Minotauro” is the interim PFC heavyweight champion, a two-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion, the RINGS King of Kings 2000 tournament champion, the former WEF heavyweight champion and an Abu Dhabi veteran.
Rodrigo began his MMA career in the U.S. at the World Extreme Fighting shows where he faced UFC veteran David Dodd, Miletich fighter Nate Schroeder and earned the WEF heavyweight title by defeating Jeremy Horn. Nogueira also began competing in RINGS events the same year. He defeated Valentijn Overeem and Andrei Kopylov before losing a decision in the semis to Dan Henderson in the ’99 tourney. In the 2000 tournament he defeated Kiyoshi Tamura, Hiromitsu Kanehara and Overeem again to become the RINGS King of Kings 2000 tournament champion.
Five months later Nogueira moved over to Pride, quickly taking out Gary Goodridge and Mark Coleman by submission. In his third appearance, Nogueira fought for and won the heavyweight title defeating Heath Herring and he went on a tear, defeating Enson Inoue, Sanae Kikuta (in UFO), Bob Sapp, Semmy Schilt, and he got his revenge in a bout with (a much smaller) Dan Henderson.
It wasn’t until another RINGS champion crossed his path, Emelianenko Fedor, that Nogueira tasted defeat in Pride. He bounced back getting a controversial decision over Ricco Rodriguez, and won an interim championship title by submitting Mirko Filipovic. In 2004 Nogueira went undefeated in his quest to recapture the title from Emelianenko by taking out Hirotaka Yokoi, Heath Herring and Sergei Kharitonov in the early rounds of the tournament. The bout with Emelianenko for the title was an exciting one but a cut stoppage for Fedor forced a No Contest ruling and leaves much unsettled.
MY PICK: Emelianenko. Although Rodrigo looked better against Fedor for the first few minutes, he still has demons to vanquish. The beating he took back in March of 2003 has to be fresh in his head. None of the other wins since mean much if he doesn't get that title. Fedor is a beast on the mat and standing and now he has been able to focus on one opponent for almost 5 months. Even if Rodrigo has perfected the infamous punch-knee combo he's been talking about, he has to land them cleanly and that will be tough. And hoping to KO Fedor in the first round? He couldn't do it with Kharitonov, Herring or anyone other than Kikuta. Nogueria is great but I don't see the title changing hands. Emelianenko by TKO in the 2nd Rd.
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