Silva is back in action against a Japanese fighter who has the potential to truly push him. Jiu-jitsu wizard Bustamante returns. It’s not the opponent Murilo trained for, but that fight will still happen soon. American wrestlers Randleman and Waterman battle for a spot as a potential tournament spoiler. And the young Emelianenko gets his first big shot to show what he’s made of while Filipovic gets to show he still has what it takes to be champion. Enjoy the fights!
To recap, my picks are:
• Bustamante def. Nakamura submission R3
• Nogueira def. Kharitonov submission R2
• Emelianenko def. Ogawa KO R1
• Randleman def. Waterman TKO R2
• Emelianenko def. Filipovic TKO R1
• Silva def. Kondo KO R1
• Emelianenko def. Nogueira TKO R2
PFC -- DOWN THE ROAD:
Wes Sims- Aleksander Emelianenko: It’s an opportunity to continue the Emelianenko Family-Hammer House rivalry. Sims is PFC material anyway.
Gilbert Yvel- Mirko Filipovic: Good stand-up war. Gilbert has been away too long and Pride has brought back less deserving fighters recently.
Heath Herring- Hirotaka Yokoi: A match of a potential gatekeeper against a serious Japanese threat to the heavyweight title.
Pedro Rizzo- Igor Vovchanchyn: Yet another long overdue stand-up war. Now that Igor has been training with Fedor and the boys, maybe he’ll have a renewed interest in competing again.
Frank Shamrock- Dan Henderson: Frank still appears to be willing to fight for Pride and Henderson is unlikely to turn down a rematch under MMA rules.
Hunter Herring- Eric Pele: Battle of the really big men. Heath’s “little” brother has won an eight-man tourney and is 4-0. KOTC Super Heavyweight Champion Pele is 4-1 since ’01.
Shonie Carter- Frank Trigg: Remember the verbal sparring match these two had some time ago? I know I do, I did the Carter interview. Shonie fights for Pride now so it could happen in Bushido very soon.
Luis Firmino- Takanori Gomi: Hot ground battle guaranteed. This could potentially be a Pride Bushido lightweight title match.
Mauricio Rua- Yuki Kondo: This is a better size battle and would make a great title fight too.
Alistair Overeem-Rogerio Nogueira: Overeem deserves another shot in the PFC and would give Nogueira a tough battle standing. The ground fight would be a different story.
WHAT I’D LIKE TO SEE IN PRIDE:
A lightweight title in the PFC. They could have a tournament in Pride Bushido and fight for the title in the big show. How about challenging the ZST champion and actually garner some non-Japanese interest in that show? No disrespect intended, but who stateside has seen a ZST show over here without going through a lot of effort to get it? Ralph Gracie, Dokonjonsuke Mishima, Takanori Gomi, Hermes Franca, Yves Edwards, Rich Clementi, Jeff Curran, etc. This one is easy guys.
A welterweight title in the PFC. They could have a tournament in Pride Bushido and fight for the title in the big show. Shonie Carter, Hayato Sakurai, Jason Black, Frank Trigg, Renato Verissimo ... etc. The talent list is long in this weight division and Pride can afford some of the best.
A real middleweight title in the PFC. Do I need to repeat myself about the Bushido thing? Kazushi Sakuraba, Sean Sherk, Andrei Semenov, Phil Baroni, Dave Menne and others. Sound good? Damn right it does!
A real light heavyweight title in the PFC. Silva would likely still wear it but he’d have to compete with the likes of Renato Sobral, Rich Franklin, Alistair Overeem, Chuck Liddell and Vitor Belfort.
Kazushi Sakuraba grant a rematch to someone he has not lost to.
WORDS OF WISDOM:
Don’t buy a bottle of Absolute Peppar Vodka unless you expect to make a ton of Bloody Mary’s that night. It doesn’t go with anything else but tomato juice and V-8. Believe me, I’ve tried.