PRIDE Veterans Grace Sunday’s 2H2H Card
Chaitu Satbhai Nov 10, 2006
The curse of last-minute fighter dropouts, which for years has
plagued big Dutch fighting events, has struck this year's 2 Hot 2
Handle, scheduled for Sunday in Rotterdam.
Several fighter injuries and illnesses have led to numerous fight card changes. However, despite the loss of Alistair Overeem (Pictures), Murilo Rua (Pictures) and Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos, the final card for this year's event is world class.
The mixed martial arts portion features seven PRIDE veterans, while
the kickboxing and Muay Thai bill naturally features some of the
very best strikers in the game today.
Milco Voorn (Pictures) vs. Jessie Gibbs
Anil Dubar vs. TBA
Thiago Tavares vs. Ulas Aslan
Germaine de Randamie vs. Joanna Generowicz
Brian Lo-an-joe vs. Oktay Karatas
Dave Dalgliesh vs. Lukasz Jurkowski
Alviar Lima vs. Marco Pique
Samir Bennazouz vs. Ashwin Balrak
Michael Knaap vs. Murad Chunkaiev (Pictures)
Ray Staring vs. Murat Direkci
Ali Gunyar vs. Faldir Chahbari
Barrington Patterson vs. Henk Kuipers
Tyrone Spong vs. Joerie Mes
Jon Olav Einemo (Pictures) vs. James Thompson (Pictures)
Aleksander Emelianenko (Pictures) vs. Fabricio Werdum (Pictures)
Gilbert Yvel (Pictures) vs. Rodney Faverus
However, neither fighter will have an easy ride, as both their opponents are also PRIDE fighters: Aleksander Emelianenko (Pictures) and James Thompson (Pictures).
Finally two of the most popular local MMA fighters Gilbert Yvel (Pictures) and Rodney Faverus will duke it out in what no doubt will be a standup war. Suffice it to say, the quality of heavyweights on Sunday’s 2H2H bill rivals the stable of any fight promoter.
Jon Olav Einemo (Pictures) vs. James Thompson (Pictures)
We have here a classic brute strength versus technique match-up. Expect Thompson to charge in from the word go and relentlessly attack the Norwegian.
Thompson showed in his fight against Kazuyuki Fujita (Pictures) that he has good takedown defense, which will be crucial for him if he is to win this fight. The key for Einemo will be to weather the initial storm and wait for Thompson to gas, which will enable him to score a takedown and submission.
It was exactly this tactic of surviving that enabled Fujita and Rob Broughton (Pictures) to knock Thompson out. Essentially, as long as Thompson has gas in the tank he will be a serious threat to Einemo. However, once he runs out of gas his chances will look very grim. All in all, expect a late submission victory for Einemo.
Aleksander Emelianenko (Pictures) vs. Fabricio Werdum (Pictures)
The last time Aleksander Emelianenko (Pictures) fought in Holland he brutally knocked out Rene Rooze (Pictures) in less than 30 seconds. That image is still fresh in the minds of most Dutch MMA fans. While another KO victory for Emelianenko is definitely not out of the question, it will be a much harder task against the likes of Fabricio Werdum (Pictures).
It's no secret that Emelianenko is very beatable on the ground. Josh Barnett (Pictures) showed it in the PRIDE GP and Pawel Nastula (Pictures) also came very close to submitting him. The challenge for Werdum will be to get Emelianenko to the ground. If he manages that, there is little doubt he will dominate.
While the Brazilian managed that nicely against Tom Erikson (Pictures), his efforts to take the fight to the ground against Sergei Kharitonov (Pictures) consisted merely of butt scooting.
This fight can really only go two ways: If Werdum can score a takedown then he will more than likely submit Emelianenko; if not, then expect another KO victory for Emelianenko.
Gilbert Yvel (Pictures) vs. Rodney Faverus
Faverus deserves a ton of respect for taking this fight on such short notice. Not only was he training for a fight in the light heavyweight division, but his opponent had also changed twice before he accepted this fight (originally from Gegard Mousasi (Pictures) to Murilo Rua (Pictures) to “Cyborg”).
Yvel originally trained for a fight against Alistair Overeem (Pictures), a fight most feel he didn't stand much chance of winning. Now against Overeem's teammate Faverus, his chances of winning are much improved.
What worries me about this fight is the weight difference between the two fighters. Faverus has fought in the past as a heavyweight, but his more recent efforts have been at middleweight and light heavyweight.
The expectation here is for a relentless stand-up war, Faverus being the better technical striker while Yvel has a generous size advantage.
If either fighter has been training on the ground extensively then the best tactic would be to take it down and work for a submission since neither fighter is known for his ground game. Either way, Faverus has wanted this fight for a long time and he will most likely win by a late TKO despite the size differential.
Several fighter injuries and illnesses have led to numerous fight card changes. However, despite the loss of Alistair Overeem (Pictures), Murilo Rua (Pictures) and Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos, the final card for this year's event is world class.
Advertisement
Milco Voorn (Pictures) vs. Jessie Gibbs
Anil Dubar vs. TBA
Thiago Tavares vs. Ulas Aslan
Germaine de Randamie vs. Joanna Generowicz
Brian Lo-an-joe vs. Oktay Karatas
Dave Dalgliesh vs. Lukasz Jurkowski
Alviar Lima vs. Marco Pique
Samir Bennazouz vs. Ashwin Balrak
Michael Knaap vs. Murad Chunkaiev (Pictures)
Ray Staring vs. Murat Direkci
Ali Gunyar vs. Faldir Chahbari
Barrington Patterson vs. Henk Kuipers
Tyrone Spong vs. Joerie Mes
Jon Olav Einemo (Pictures) vs. James Thompson (Pictures)
Aleksander Emelianenko (Pictures) vs. Fabricio Werdum (Pictures)
Gilbert Yvel (Pictures) vs. Rodney Faverus
At last year's Rotterdam Rumble event the Dutch crowd witnessed
world-class wrestlers in the form of Hammer House fighters Mark Coleman (Pictures) and Kevin Randleman (Pictures). This year the Dutch crowd will
be treated to some of the best heavyweight submission fighters on
the circuit today, namely ADCC champions Fabricio Werdum (Pictures) and Jon Olaf Einemo.
However, neither fighter will have an easy ride, as both their opponents are also PRIDE fighters: Aleksander Emelianenko (Pictures) and James Thompson (Pictures).
Finally two of the most popular local MMA fighters Gilbert Yvel (Pictures) and Rodney Faverus will duke it out in what no doubt will be a standup war. Suffice it to say, the quality of heavyweights on Sunday’s 2H2H bill rivals the stable of any fight promoter.
Jon Olav Einemo (Pictures) vs. James Thompson (Pictures)
We have here a classic brute strength versus technique match-up. Expect Thompson to charge in from the word go and relentlessly attack the Norwegian.
Thompson showed in his fight against Kazuyuki Fujita (Pictures) that he has good takedown defense, which will be crucial for him if he is to win this fight. The key for Einemo will be to weather the initial storm and wait for Thompson to gas, which will enable him to score a takedown and submission.
It was exactly this tactic of surviving that enabled Fujita and Rob Broughton (Pictures) to knock Thompson out. Essentially, as long as Thompson has gas in the tank he will be a serious threat to Einemo. However, once he runs out of gas his chances will look very grim. All in all, expect a late submission victory for Einemo.
Aleksander Emelianenko (Pictures) vs. Fabricio Werdum (Pictures)
The last time Aleksander Emelianenko (Pictures) fought in Holland he brutally knocked out Rene Rooze (Pictures) in less than 30 seconds. That image is still fresh in the minds of most Dutch MMA fans. While another KO victory for Emelianenko is definitely not out of the question, it will be a much harder task against the likes of Fabricio Werdum (Pictures).
It's no secret that Emelianenko is very beatable on the ground. Josh Barnett (Pictures) showed it in the PRIDE GP and Pawel Nastula (Pictures) also came very close to submitting him. The challenge for Werdum will be to get Emelianenko to the ground. If he manages that, there is little doubt he will dominate.
While the Brazilian managed that nicely against Tom Erikson (Pictures), his efforts to take the fight to the ground against Sergei Kharitonov (Pictures) consisted merely of butt scooting.
This fight can really only go two ways: If Werdum can score a takedown then he will more than likely submit Emelianenko; if not, then expect another KO victory for Emelianenko.
Gilbert Yvel (Pictures) vs. Rodney Faverus
Faverus deserves a ton of respect for taking this fight on such short notice. Not only was he training for a fight in the light heavyweight division, but his opponent had also changed twice before he accepted this fight (originally from Gegard Mousasi (Pictures) to Murilo Rua (Pictures) to “Cyborg”).
Yvel originally trained for a fight against Alistair Overeem (Pictures), a fight most feel he didn't stand much chance of winning. Now against Overeem's teammate Faverus, his chances of winning are much improved.
What worries me about this fight is the weight difference between the two fighters. Faverus has fought in the past as a heavyweight, but his more recent efforts have been at middleweight and light heavyweight.
The expectation here is for a relentless stand-up war, Faverus being the better technical striker while Yvel has a generous size advantage.
If either fighter has been training on the ground extensively then the best tactic would be to take it down and work for a submission since neither fighter is known for his ground game. Either way, Faverus has wanted this fight for a long time and he will most likely win by a late TKO despite the size differential.
