Shooto welterweight champion Tatsuya Kawajiri (Pictures) faced off against Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez (Pictures) in a highly anticipated fight. Melendez absolutely dominated DEEP lightweight champion Nobuhiro Obiya (Pictures) in his PRIDE debut last August, while Kawajiri needed only 29 seconds to defeat Chris Brennan (Pictures) in his last outing in a PRIDE ring.
But the undefeated Californian managed to shake off the effects and return to his feet before the 26-year-old Shooto welterweight champion could take advantage of the situation. Then, a short time later, Melendez returned the favor, knocking Kawajiri to the canvas.
The fight basically continued like this for the duration, with each man connecting heavy punches, especially their right hands. Just as it looked like one had gained the upper hand, the other would connect and reverse the momentum.
Both went after takedowns and each fighter took the other’s back, but neither could sink in a choke. Toward the end of the bout, Kawajiri (19-4-2) appeared fatigued, but he continued to move his head well as Melendez charged forward with punches.
This was a great bout that’s sure to go down as a classic for fans of both PRIDE and Shooto. The fighter’s traded right until the final bell and when it was over, it was Melendez (12-0-0) who took the decision.
Aoki pulls “Sub of the Year” on New Year’s Eve
It was widely suspected that Shooto middleweight champion Shinya Aoki (Pictures) would be paired off against Gilbert Melendez (Pictures) tonight, however, Dream Stage Entertainment opted to save that one for later and instead put the “Norwegian Nightmare” Joachim Hansen (Pictures) into the mix against the Paraestra fighter, setting up a very interesting bout.
Hansen likes to throw leather and is notorious for his devastating knee strikes, nearly decapitating Aoki’s buddy Mazakazu Imanari with one in his PRIDE debut at Bushido 8. While having relatively weak stand-up abilities, Aoki instead is an absolute master on the ground, submitting both of his opponents early in his two outings in PRIDE via triangle choke.
Aoki, 23, scored a takedown early after catching Hansen’s very first kick. From here the Paraestra submission marvel threw down punches from the guard and transitioned to a nice armbar that forced Hansen to think fast in order to escape.
Off his back, Aoki (9-2-0) once again pulled the same rubber guard he used against Jason Black (Pictures) and Clay French (Pictures), eventually catching the “Norwegian Nightmare” in an extremely rare gogoplata submission.
Hansen struggled mightily to escape, but the technique was perfect and it left the 27-year-old former Shooto champion, now 14-5-1, no other option but to tap early in the first round.
Gono out-points Kondo
Grabaka striker Akihiro Gono (Pictures) first met Yuki Kondo (Pictures) in the ring five years ago in Pancrase. In that one, Gono’s corner threw in the towel in the third round when their fighter, now 32, had taken too many punches on the ground.
Since that time, the charismatic Grabaka fighter has made a home for himself in PRIDE, recent making it all the way to the semifinals in this year’s 183-pound tournament.
Kondo, a Pancrase legend, has had a lot of bad luck in PRIDE, going just 1-5 in the promotion, including losses to champions Wanderlei Silva (Pictures) and Dan Henderson (Pictures). Last New Year’s Eve, he faced Kazuhiro Nakamura (Pictures) and got absolutely robbed on a terrible decision.
The first round of this one was a striker’s war. Both guys displayed very crisp boxing and counterpunching. Gono circled the ring well, firing strong body punches while keeping the distance with quick kicks. Later in the round the Grabaka fighter connected with a great left hook counter that puffed up the area around Kondo’s right eye.
Gono (27-12-7) continued to move and slip punches in the second, pushing the fight more than the 31-year-old Kondo (46-19-6) and inflicting a good amount of damage with his left hand.
Very little time was spent in the clinch and barely any on the ground. The fight went to the judges and Gono picked up the split decision.
Shogun goes to the mat to beat Nakamura
2005 PRIDE Middleweight Grand Prix champion Mauricio Rua (Pictures), 25, has been on a roll since being sidelined by a horrible elbow injury against Mark Coleman (Pictures) in February.
Picking up wins against Cyrille Diabate (Pictures) and Coleman’s teammate Kevin Randleman (Pictures), “Shogun” found himself squared off against Yoshida dojo’s Kazuhiro Nakamura (Pictures).
The first period was a grappler’s war. The fighters spent a lot of time in the clinch, with Rua scoring all the takedowns. But just as impressive as Rua’s ability to bring things to the mat, was Nakamura’s ability to bridge and get back to his feet.
On the canvas, Rua passed guard several times, taking side-control and mount. The Chute Boxe fighter had a great arm-triangle attempt in the last three minutes, but somehow Nakamura, held on. Rua eventually gave up on the technique, moving back to the mount and getting behind his opponent for a strong rear-naked choke, but again Nakamura dug deep and escaped danger.
Rua continued to dominate positions in the second, again scoring mount and back-control. The third saw Nakamura, 27, open with strong striking, only to end up back in the clinch. Rua again took the mount, but couldn’t capitalize on the position before the wily Nakamura escaped.
The last two minutes of the round saw the Brazilian fighter employ knees from the side and stomps on his resilient opponent. Nakamura escaped the mount in the last 15 seconds to trade strikes until the final bell.
Nakamura (11-6-0) really displayed a lot of heart in this one, but Rua (15-2-0) just dominated on the ground. The judges awarded the very justified decision to Rua.
Thompson upsets Yoshida
Nakamura’s teacher and mentor, judo Olympic gold medalist Hidehiko Yoshida (Pictures), gave up about 50 pounds to the UK’s James Thompson (Pictures).
Originally PRIDE was trying to match Yoshida against K-1 Karate fighter Francisco Filho, but that deal fell through and Thompson was chosen as a last minute replacement.
This bout served as a great example of how momentum in a fight can change in an instant. Yoshida was totally in the driver’s seat for the first half, getting a takedown early and transitioning from an armbar to an ankle lock from the bottom.
When the fighters returned to their feet, it was Yoshida who was really going after Thompson with punches, badly rocking the giant Englishman in the corner.
Another Yoshida hip toss followed, after which he applied an excellent Kimura, which Thompson only barely escaped. Once back on their feet, Thompson connected with a hard punch that knocked the Japanese Olympian to the mat.
This was where the beginning of the end happened for Yoshida — he somehow struggled to his feet but took a lot of damage in the process, even falling out of the ring. Yoshida looked pretty injured from this and it took him a long time to crawl back through the ropes. The fight restarted and Thompson (13-5-0) poured on the punches.
Towards the end Yoshida, 37, looked almost dead. The was similar to the Sakuraba fiasco at K-1 HERO’S — the referee actually had to drag Yoshida away from the ropes to re-position him. At this point Thompson easily scored mount and rained down punches until the referee mercifully ended the fight.
Like the Sakuraba incident, this fight should have been ended much sooner, but Yoshida (7-5-1) is the big Japanese star and the promotion wants to see him win no matter what.
Minowa and Fujita win quick
Ikuhisa Minowa (Pictures) and Kiyoshi Tamura (Pictures) first face off against each other at DEEP’s 6th Impact back in Sept. 2002. It was Tamura who came out the victor in that exciting and high-paced match. Since then, Minowa has become extremely popular in the PRIDE ring, often being placed in spectacle bouts. Tamura’s last PRIDE outing saw him lose by armbar to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (Pictures) back in February.
This one started out as a slugfest with both guys connecting. Minowa often came charging forward with punches, but Tamura kept the distance with low kicks.
Just as Minowa was coming forward with another barrage, Tamura connected with a perfectly timed knee to the ribs that sent the “Real Pro Wrestler” to the mat.
Once on the ground, the referee didn’t stop the action even though Minowa was clearly hurt. Tamura fired vicious soccer kicks to the face of his helpless opponent, eventually connecting and knocking Minowa out cold. Tamura, visibly upset by the slow stoppage, grabbed the referee and expressed his dislike of the officiating.
Iron-chinned Kazuyuki Fujita (Pictures)’s last participation in a New Year’s Eve event was at K-1 Premium Dynamite!! back in 2004, when he knocked out Egyptian Olympic gold medalist wrestler Karam Ibrahim (Pictures). This time around DSE pitted him against another Olympic and world champion wrestler, Eldari Kurtanidze.
Kurtanidze held his arms strangely high throughout this short bout. Fujita circled as the Geogian wrestler looked for the takedown. Fujita then connected with a strong uppercut from the clinch just after Kurtanidze shot for a takedown attempt. Upon impact Kurtanidze turned his back and crumpled to the ground. Fujita followed his opponent down and continued with punches until the referee called for an end to the bout.