The two went back and forth for just over six minutes before Pulver fell to the canvas. Gomi -- in the rare moment that reminded fans this wasn't a stand-up-only contest -- pounced, firing off several shots before the referee jumped in to stop the contest. Perhaps Pulver, like Silva in the fight that followed, could have been given an opportunity to recover. But that did not happen, and it should not diminish what either man brought into the ring on Friday.
The Japanese fighter owned the opening 10 minutes, never allowing Henderson to find a rhythm. When he stood in front of Kondo, he got hit. When he tried to wrestle Kondo to the mat, he was denied or countered.
Clinched in the corner, Henderson attempted to slam Kondo, but in mid-air the Japanese shifted his weight, forcing himself on top of Henderson, causing the maneuver to go awry. From the top position, Kondo controlled from the half guard, side mount and all the way to full mount.
The American appeared sluggish.
Between periods, Henderson's corner let him know the deal and he responded aggressively to open the second round. Early punches led to a takedown. His ground-and-pound freed up space to get North-South position from which he could deliver heavy downward knees. But Kondo was never hurt and when the fight turned to standing, he caught Henderson with a high kick to the right side of his face.
As the round progressed, Kondo again landed the top position and took a page out of Henderson's book, delivering strikes from the mount. The American was lacking his usual ceaseless energy, and his fatigue was obvious.
Kondo's stamina played a role in the final stanza, too. In what to that point was a too-close-to-call fight, Kondo landed the period's few meaningful punches. But his inability to fend off Henderson's wrestling attacks left him on his back for much of the five-minute round. At fight's end, the judges awarded Henderson the split decision win, though it could have easily gone the other way.
Looking to avenge the worst defeat of his mixed martial arts career, Croatian star Mirko Filipovic faced the only man to knock him out since joining PRIDE, Kevin Randleman. Though the stakes were far less in the rematch -- Randleman's KO came in the opening round of the PRIDE heavyweight Grand Prix -- this was still a battle between two men unbending in their desire to defeat the other.
Filipovic's revenge came early. Fending off a Randleman takedown, he wrapped his left arm around the American's thick neck. Though at first it seemed like there was no submission available to him, Filipovic kept at it, until he found what he was looking for and cranked. Without any options, Randleman tapped out just 41 seconds after the opening bell.
The win puts Filipovic back in line to fight Emelianenko, a contest desired by many mixed martial arts fans.
In a bout of relative MMA novices, PRIDE pitted former Olympic gold medallists Hidehiko Yoshida, who earned his in 1992 for judo, against American Rulon Gardner, victor of the 2000 gold in Greco-Roman wrestling.
This was, literally, the first time Gardner would face another man -- in or out of competition -- in which he could strike or be struck with intent. There were, of course, numerous questions about what sort of success he would find against a competitor like Yoshida, who with his judo background was proficient in submission, and had already faced some of the best mixed martial artists.
The answer came quickly. In the opening minute, a thudding jab from Gardner knocked Yoshida back and down to the canvas. The surprisingly light-footed 300-pound American followed in and smothered his Japanese counterpart. And this is where is inexperience shone through. Unable to muster much of an offense within Yoshida's guard, Gardner peppered away with short, chopping hammer-fist strikes.
As the fight progressed into round two, Gardner gained confidence. With Yoshida's face swelling and his nose dripping blood, he appeared to switch from fight to survive mode. Perhaps he realized that with no shot of putting Gardner on his back -- at his size and with his skill, there are probably only a handful of men in the world that could put the American on the bottom -- he was better off entertaining the fans than getting pummeled.
Behind a stiff jab, a willingness to exchange punches without shying away from Yoshida, and an impeccable takedown defense, Gardner impressed in his debut. Should he decided to exercise the option on his contract, Gardner would have two fights remaining with PRIDE. If, as is planned, PRIDE promotes its first U.S.-based event in June, he'd be the man to sell it to American audiences.
In other action, Ryo Chonan employed an incredible scissors-sweep-to-inside-heel-hook attack to finish Anderson Silva 3:08 of round three. Up to that point, the fight was very competitive. Silva was aggressive early, securing a back-triangle to control Chonan. However, a submission never materialized and Chonan finally reversed to land in Silva's guard. Though Silva began to find the range in round two, Chonan controlled the latter half of the period.
But the end is the only thing people will remember from this fight:
The setup was beautiful. With the southpaw Silva standing in front of him, Chonan leapt forward feet-first, entangling his legs perfectly with Silva's. As soon as the Brazilian fell backwards to the canvas, Chonan cranked on the submission and Silva, in pain and hoping to avoid torn ligaments in his right knee, tapped out. This marks consecutive wins for Chonan against Carlos Newton and now Silva.
Ryan Gracie, known for his hot-headedness, was methodical in victory, armbarring veteran Yoji Anjo 8:33 of round one.
Korean Mu Bae Choi wore down Paulo Cesar Silva, before the seven-foot-two, 385-pound Brazilian succumbed to a side choke, 5:47 of round one.
Ikuhisa Minowa used a nifty setup to sink in a heel hook against German-born Stefan Leko, finishing the fight after just 27 seconds. For the quickest victory of the night, Minowa was awarded $10,000.