PRIDE Middleweight Grand Prix 2005: Possibly the Best 16-Man Field Ever Assembled
Ricardo Arona vs. Dean Lister
Apr 20, 2005
ARONA: Brazilian jiu-jitsu stylist Ricardo Arona won the 2001 Abu
Dhabi Submission Wrestling Absolute & 2001 98-kg division
championships and the 2000 Abu Dhabi 98-kg (under 216lbs) division
championship. “The Brazilian Tiger” was the RINGS King of Kings
2001 middleweight class champion and trains with Murilo Bustamante,
Ricardo Liborio, Mario Sperry, Rodrigo and Rogerio Nogueira and the
rest of the Brazilian Top Team. He carries a record of 9-2 in MMA
and makes his 6th appearance (4-1) in the ring of the PFC.
Ricardo began his MMA career fighting in the RINGS organization in 2000. He missed the first King of Kings tournament and took part in the first Millennium Combine event against PRIDE veteran Andrei Kopylov. Ricardo pounded Andrei, even rear mounting him and swinging free, but he could not put the sambo stylist away. Arona took the decision and returned to Millennium Combine 3 and beat UFC/PRIDE veteran Jeremy Horn.
He then he ran into Fedor Emelianenko. Fedor frustrated Arona,
countering his skills on the ground and won a decision. Arona, a
takedown master, only scored two clean takedowns in the entire bout
but it was by no means a one-sided battle. He submitted PRIDE
veteran Hiromitsu
Kanehara in the RINGS World Title Series and defeated Horn for
a second time on the 10th Anniversary show. The four-man tournament
that included Arona, Horn, UFC veteran Christopher Haseman and Ruas
Vale Tudo fighter Gustavo
Machado would wrap up in August of 2001. “Ximu” Machado
advanced to the final but was stunned with strikes in less than 90
seconds, allowing Arona to claim his RINGS title.
Ricardo debuted in the PFC at PRIDE 16 and fought a back-and-forth battle with Lion’s Den fighter Guy Mezger. Early on Ricardo appeared rough around the edges and couldn’t take Mezger down without a great deal of effort. Mezger punched through Arona’s ground game and landed a beautiful kick in the throat in the second round. Arona looked rejuvenated in the third round and pulled out the split decision win. At PRIDE 20, Arona looked like he had worked a lot of the kinks out of his game and handed Dan Henderson a rare loss.
LISTER: Brazilian jiu-jitsu fighter Dean Lister is a four-time Machado National Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu champion, a two-time National Sambo champion and the former KOTC middleweight champion. “The Machine” (also known as “The Boogey Man”), wrestled in high school and began training in jiu-jitsu under Fabio Santos.
He is an Abu Dhabi Submission Wrestling World Championships veteran and Absolute Division Champion (beating Nathan Marquardt, Saulo Ribeiro, Márcio Cruz and Alexandre Ferreira among others). Dean is currently a BJJ brown belt training under the guidance of Royce Gracie at Team Gracie United and trains at City Boxing with Robert “The Hitman” Garcia (boxing) Janex (kickboxing), Brent Stuchlik (conditioning) and Mike Regner from Fairtex Muay Thai. As for his fight game, Lister likes leg locks (say that five times fast) and foot locks from his sambo training, in addition to the standard BJJ arm bars and triangles. Lister is 7-3 in MMA and makes his third appearance (1-1) in the PFC.
Dean would’ve made his Japanese debut on the Pancrase: Spirit Tour in September of ’02 but his opponent Daisuke Ishi had to pull out at the last minute. An eight-time King of the Cage veteran, Lister faced Jacen Flynn, Brendan Seguin and James Lee before losing to Miletich Martial Arts fighter Jeremy Horn at KOTC 31. Dean fought for Horn’s KOTC light heavyweight championship title with the four-round bout going the distance. Dean suffered a large cut early in the fight that bled throughout the bout and though it was a factor for Lister, Horn defended his title admirably and remained champion.
Dean has reportedly signed a six-fight deal with the PFC and made his debut at PRIDE Bushido 4 against Amar Suloev. He lost a decision to the Red Devil but scored a quick submission over long-time PRIDE veteran Akira Shoji in a four-man tournament. Since the other bracket winner, Paulo Filho could not continue, Lister “won” the tournament and advanced to the Middleweight GP with just one victory.
MY PICK: In a sneak preview of May’s Abu Dhabi super-fight, I see Arona coming out on top. The two were close to meeting under MMA rules at an earlier PRIDE event but it will be interesting to see what advantage, both mental and physical, the winner of this bout will have in the submission wrestling match. And what if one is seriously injured? Will Sheik Tahoon Bin Zayed and the powers that be at Abu Dhabi hold a grudge against PRIDE if the super-fight has to be called off? Interesting stuff huh? Since they both want to fight again in a month, I feel it will be quick with Arona winning by submission in the first round.
Ricardo began his MMA career fighting in the RINGS organization in 2000. He missed the first King of Kings tournament and took part in the first Millennium Combine event against PRIDE veteran Andrei Kopylov. Ricardo pounded Andrei, even rear mounting him and swinging free, but he could not put the sambo stylist away. Arona took the decision and returned to Millennium Combine 3 and beat UFC/PRIDE veteran Jeremy Horn.
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Ricardo debuted in the PFC at PRIDE 16 and fought a back-and-forth battle with Lion’s Den fighter Guy Mezger. Early on Ricardo appeared rough around the edges and couldn’t take Mezger down without a great deal of effort. Mezger punched through Arona’s ground game and landed a beautiful kick in the throat in the second round. Arona looked rejuvenated in the third round and pulled out the split decision win. At PRIDE 20, Arona looked like he had worked a lot of the kinks out of his game and handed Dan Henderson a rare loss.
He faced Murilo Rua at PRIDE
23, taking another decision but injuries kept Arona from fighting
for the next year and half. He returned to the ring last June in
the Grand Prix but was slammed unconscious by Quinton Jackson. Then
last Halloween at PRIDE 28, Ricardo faced Russian Top Team fighter
Sergei Ignatev and choked him out late in the first round.
LISTER: Brazilian jiu-jitsu fighter Dean Lister is a four-time Machado National Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu champion, a two-time National Sambo champion and the former KOTC middleweight champion. “The Machine” (also known as “The Boogey Man”), wrestled in high school and began training in jiu-jitsu under Fabio Santos.
He is an Abu Dhabi Submission Wrestling World Championships veteran and Absolute Division Champion (beating Nathan Marquardt, Saulo Ribeiro, Márcio Cruz and Alexandre Ferreira among others). Dean is currently a BJJ brown belt training under the guidance of Royce Gracie at Team Gracie United and trains at City Boxing with Robert “The Hitman” Garcia (boxing) Janex (kickboxing), Brent Stuchlik (conditioning) and Mike Regner from Fairtex Muay Thai. As for his fight game, Lister likes leg locks (say that five times fast) and foot locks from his sambo training, in addition to the standard BJJ arm bars and triangles. Lister is 7-3 in MMA and makes his third appearance (1-1) in the PFC.
Dean would’ve made his Japanese debut on the Pancrase: Spirit Tour in September of ’02 but his opponent Daisuke Ishi had to pull out at the last minute. An eight-time King of the Cage veteran, Lister faced Jacen Flynn, Brendan Seguin and James Lee before losing to Miletich Martial Arts fighter Jeremy Horn at KOTC 31. Dean fought for Horn’s KOTC light heavyweight championship title with the four-round bout going the distance. Dean suffered a large cut early in the fight that bled throughout the bout and though it was a factor for Lister, Horn defended his title admirably and remained champion.
Dean has reportedly signed a six-fight deal with the PFC and made his debut at PRIDE Bushido 4 against Amar Suloev. He lost a decision to the Red Devil but scored a quick submission over long-time PRIDE veteran Akira Shoji in a four-man tournament. Since the other bracket winner, Paulo Filho could not continue, Lister “won” the tournament and advanced to the Middleweight GP with just one victory.
MY PICK: In a sneak preview of May’s Abu Dhabi super-fight, I see Arona coming out on top. The two were close to meeting under MMA rules at an earlier PRIDE event but it will be interesting to see what advantage, both mental and physical, the winner of this bout will have in the submission wrestling match. And what if one is seriously injured? Will Sheik Tahoon Bin Zayed and the powers that be at Abu Dhabi hold a grudge against PRIDE if the super-fight has to be called off? Interesting stuff huh? Since they both want to fight again in a month, I feel it will be quick with Arona winning by submission in the first round.
