Nippon Joho: The Bushido Welterweight Tournament

I was very impressed with every fighter inside the welterweight tournament except for Ryuta Sakurai (Pictures) and Masanori Suda (Pictures) — and not because they are bad fighters but I just feel they are not ready yet to face the kind of opposition they’ve faced so far in Bushido.

Paulo Filho (Pictures) looked impressive as always. I just noticed “Paulao” bring an amazing record of 10-0 (4-0 inside PRIDE). Filho sure looks like a tank running over the opposition and I think it’s time for him to take his game to the next level.

With all the bad blood running between Chute Boxe and BTT these days and all the exchange of words between Filho and Rudimar Fedrigo along with the Ruas brothers I certainly won’t mind to see another chapter in the battle between the top Brazilian teams. How about Filho taking on Daniel Acacio (Pictures) somewhere down the road or, in case PRIDE wants to go with the Japanese versus Foreigner theme, why not bring Yuki Kondo (Pictures) for part two in a rematch from DEEP?

My “homie” Akihiro Gono (Pictures) did well in the first round, taking out Acacio just to later be overpowered by Dan Henderson (Pictures) in the semifinals. One thing I noticed from Gono since he joined Bushido is how smart he’s fighting. Picking his shots. Taking risks only when necessary. And giving fans a good standing match.

What he lacks from his Pancrase matches is the knockout magic but still I want to see him stick around Bushido instead of go back to Pancrase. I told PRIDE before they need to place Gono to face Baroni. I’m sure this fight will be fireworks, since neither likes to go to the ground and I guarantee this match will end up with someone getting knocked out before the final bell.

To finish, this is my wish list of fighters I want to see in the Bushido welterweight division in 2006:

Joey Villasenor (Pictures) - The eternal mystery of why Joey is not fighting in any major organization needs to be solved once and for all.

Anderson Silva (Pictures) - Not much to explain here. Just hope Silva leaves the Michael Jackson performance back at home for the sake of any children watching PRIDE.

Pele - Another fighter flying under the radar now who can find a new home fighting in Bushido.

Evan Tanner (Pictures) - Probably a fans dream but I always like those PRIDE vs. UFC gimmicks that the big promotions like to sell to the fans. So why not bring the ex-champion from the “other organization”?

Kazushi Sakuraba (Pictures) - It’s such a crime to see Sakuraba getting blasted by heavy guys and this division is tailor made to give the old war horse a belt from the same house he helped to build through blood, sweet and tears.