PRIDE FC 4 – 10.11.98

Pride Fighting Championships
October 11, 1998
Tokyo Dome

Previously in PRIDE FC…

Igor Vovchanchyn vs. Gary Goodridge

Oh hell yes, Igor’s debut and I couldn’t ask for a meatier guy for him to debut against.

Igor starts with a low kick before Gary spins him to the mat and into Igor’s guard. Quadros speculates Gary didn’t want any of Igor’s knees. Igor is cut somehow from near his eye. Gary attempts a heel hook, impressing only the commentators as Igor escapes but can’t get any advantage before taking Gary into his guard again. Gary does everything to prevent Igor from kickboxing by sticking to the mat and trying wild right hands. They don’t connect fully however so Igor is able to shrug them off while pivoting to the feet. Igor pivots back to the mat for another stalemate.

Gary relents out of it while asking the ref if he can “kick face?” No, Gary. “Oh.” Back up, Igor lands strikes before Gary smothers him again. Igor nonchalantly punches Gary in the face with Gary not reacting for a few seconds before his leg gives way and he ends up staggering backwards into the ropes so the ref stops in and declares it a TKO at 5:58.

Crowd and Gary do not like that but the ref is right and good for him for having the balls to actually enforce the rules and do his job unlike some of the other work experience kids we’ve had reffing recently.

This wasn’t quite the demolition job I was expecting with Gary looking more impressive with his battleplan of preventing Igor from kickboxing. Almost a shame he lost, he was working so hard for it. Still a worthy fight to start the show.

Akira Shoji vs. Wallid Ismail

Akira spends his introductions by yoga stretching. Crowd loves him and/or yoga.

Ismail walks right into punches and a front facelock. Ismail keeps Akira in a seated position as Quadros explains Ismail has been trained by Carlos Gracie, and my expectations for this fight just plummeted. That kills a few minutes. Akira manages to stand up so Ismail takes him down and yeah it’s one of these fights. Ismail snaps at this biting criticism and starts mauling Akira with strikes on the mat. Akira is so tired from resisting the killer hug that he has no defence for Ismail’s shots. So this kind of strategy is effective, annoyingly. Eventually Akira is able to stand up and he’s so pissed at this fight’s pace that he lands crazy wild punches to keep Ismail away from him…before he’s taken down by Ismail and squeezed some more. Those were some emotional shots. Ismail squishes Akira some more before wailing away. His strategy is the same as a black widow spider. Akira rolls Ismail off of him and despite connecting with a solid head kick, it’s not enough to keep him away and he’s back on his back in no time. Akira somehow survives the round despite being exhausted and bruised.

Akira starts Round Two by throwing strikes again but this time he sends Ismail’s neck all the way back with one. Akira doesn’t capitalise immediately, maybe he suspects he’s faking but after rocking Ismail some more and getting no response, Akira fires everything to send Ismail facing the ropes for the TKO at 1:26.

Post-match Akira looks stunned that he won. I was happy to see anything send the Gracie method straight to Hell so thank you Akira and your cardio. Not a good fight but a rewarding finish.

Ismail would blame the jet lag for the loss. Yeah, he flew on a Boring 747.

Daijiro Matsui vs. Sanae Kikuta

Bas hopes Kikuta brings more tonight than he did against Renzo Gracie at PRIDE FC 2 before thankfully explaining we now have time limits OH THANK YOU GOD.

Kikuta shoves Matsui into the corner and keeps him there, with the occasional short shot making it through. Kikuta manages a trip to the mat as Bas begs them to move on the ground. No such luck as the lads are manually moved by the refs to a more exciting part of the mat. Quadros is positive and credits Kikuta for throwing more strikes in the opening minutes than he did in the 128 minutes he spent against Renzo. Matsui reverses out of the guard to get back up and to immediately land back down. But at least he’s working. Bas comments on Matsui’s panting, pointing out you don’t often get a chance to breath as much as you’d want to when fighting so you take your chance when you can. I appreciate the details Bas brings when he’s not mocking rubbish for being rubbish. Kikuta can only manage little strikes in the position he keeps on going to, which makes you wonder why he keeps on going for it. Matsui catches him slacking and lands an upkick to the stomach before applying his own side headlock. Matsui releases so both stand up to throw strikes, with Matsui landing singles and immediately retreating. Which looks almost comical but they do connect so well done.

Round Two starts with a quick wipe of Kikuta because he’s too wet. Matsui should have had one too as he slips attempting a sidekick so Kikuta cocoons him on the mat. “Back to the huffing and puffing.” Kikuta somehow slaps the mat which causes confusion with the commentators wondering why he’d do that. Kikuta appears to lock in a tight neck crank but Matsui kicks his legs out, despite the cameras showing him looking like he was about to pass out.

“I’m sorry but Kikuta is not an exciting fighter.” I’m giving that Quadros quote a line break so it stands out more.

Kikuta continues to fight with the idea of drawing rather than winning. Bas is a bit more diplomatic and advises Kikuta to work on his strikes while on the mat “next time”. I hope there isn’t a next time. Matsui manages to remove Kikuta from off his back and onto the mat but sadly he continues Kikuta’s strategy of holding the guard while landing tiny unhelpful jabs. “Not a lot going on here, folks” sums up the end of Round Two which gets no reaction from the crowd.

Round Three starts with Kikuta applying the body lock once more. Bas is so sick of this he starts guessing the next move. Quadros goes one further and lists Kikuta’s Moves Of Doom: “Body lock, spin off the ropes, trip into the guard, wait.” Sure enough, that’s the round. Quadros says he doesn’t care who wins but also likes the idea of Matsui jumping out the guard and sparking out Kikuta’s boring arse. That’s wishful thinking as both men proceed to ride out the final round. “If you want to sell this sport to audiences, you can’t show them fights like this.”

It goes to a draw due to no judges yet and the decision results in barely any reaction from the crowd. The first round tricked us all into thinking this would be different to Kikuta’s previous non-event. It wasn’t, despite Matsui’s improvement. Next.

Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Allan Goes

Bas speculates that Goes is looking forward to extracting revenge from Sakuraba after he defeated his team-mate Marcus Silveira at UFC Japan. Sakuraba going after stables? Don’t give him ideas mate.

Commentators do a good job of getting everyone hyped by explaining how embarrassing it can be for a Brazilian to lose to a Japanese fighter via armbar. They’re so grand at making complicated things sound simple.

Sakuraba throws a wild kick to warn Goes what he’s capable of, all while standing there with his Charlie Brown expression. Sakuraba gets a takedown but Goes keeps him in prime punch-face position so Sakuraba pauses to consider his next move. Goes manages a guillotine from a downed position with Sakuraba wriggling out and to his feet in no time, where Goes persists with kicks from a downed position. Goes knows Sakuraba ain’t waiting around for anything. Sakuraba is bleeding from the ear as he waits for the right moment to…cartwheel to take the ground???

Crowd loves that but Goes removes Sakuraba easily and goes back to kicks. Goes feels like Red Grant from Russia With Love, trained specifically to deal with this annoying guy who keeps embarrassing the Brazilians. Sakuraba lands some kicks to Goes legs but they don’t appear to be doing much. Goes lands upkicks but Sakuraba wades through them to try a leglock while throwing punches. Leglock is blocked so Sakuraba tries an ankle lock and then a toe hold as Goes attempts to get him off of him. Sakuraba goes to the side-mount because no matter where you go, Sakuraba is there. Goes is landing the strikes first but they’re not doing any noticeable damage so it’s hard to decide who is winning. Sakuraba holds one foot with one hand but waits too long so Goes takes him down with just his feet. Oh forget it, Goes has won this round on (metaphorical points). Sakuraba gets stuck in a choke but somehow wriggles out even though that looked locked in.

Goes takes him down with his feet again with both men fighting on the mat to end the round, with Sakuraba helping Goes to his feet afterwards. Wonderful stuff so far.

Round Two and Sakuraba again tries to do anything with Goes on his back. Sakuraba’s going from limb to limb but Goes has an answer for everything so far. Even another cartwheel doesn’t go anywhere. Sakuraba ends up on the mat instead, with Goes making things as uncomfortable as possible for our lad. Sakuraba is bleeding from the nose and looks fed up. Sakuraba tries to stand so Goes tries the choke but again can’t get it locked in but is happy to have control while he gets his breath back. Sakuraba attempts a kimura and boy does he get close to applying it. Crowd is like “OH NO FUCKING WAY, THAT’D BE THE FUNNIEST OUTCOME” so it doesn’t happen cos reality sucks. Sakuraba ends the Round stood up, looking for an opening and instead finding upkicks. Commentators think Round Two was a draw. I don’t agree but I’m also not hard.

Sakuraba had better provide some of his trademark craziness if he’s going to end this fight in Round Three. Sakuraba’s single leg is blocked so Goes abuses him into the corner until the refs move them away. Sakuraba is all defence as Goes’ choke again fails due to extreme turtling not seen since Michelangelo. Goes’ fourth time at the choke is really nailed in this time and yet Sakuraba still manages to wriggle out. Big pop from the crowd and commentators. Sakuraba stands back up but all his composure he started the fight with is gone.

Goes nails upkicks to the mid-section as Sakuraba circle strafes with low kicks. Goes stands up and it looks like we’ll end swinging but nope, Sakuraba tries a takedown so we go back to the above photo as some of the crowd are heckling. Then the fight ends and there’s boos. Well that’s unfair.

It’s a draw due to a lack of judges. Commentators begrudgingly admit Goes did “more” in that fight but to a stupid layman like me, I had Goes winning every round as Sakuraba’s magic tricks were only implemented in defence of Goes’ offence, with Goes being the more aggressive fighter by far. Even with the unpopular result, that first round was still beautiful and it’s a fascinating look at Sakuraba’s evolution as he faces someone who had the answer to his question for the first time.

In between fights, Koji Kitao announces his retirement from shooting on opponents MMA. He should do this every show to boost morale. November To Remember 1998 would have been improved greatly if Kitao showed up to announce his retirement. It’d be better than Boys 2 Men at the Superbowl.

Naoki Sano vs. Satoshi Honma

Sano is back to redeem himself after his god-awful performance at PRIDE 2. Quadros approves of Honma’s gelled-up hair.

Honma starts by knocking Sano down with a right hand. It’s already better than Sano’s previous. The camera lingers too long on Honma’s corner man so Bas tells the editing team to show the fighters. And they do, great comedic timing from Bas. Sano turns a low kick into a takedown but Honma lays on his back throwing strikes to make Sano’s life difficult. Honma gets back up and lays the shots in with ease. Honma is full of movement and keeps changing his pose, I love him. Sano starts throwing the occasional shot back and increases the amount when he sees the affect a punch to the face is having on his opponent. We get some thrilling punch exchanges which cuts Sano above the eye. Honma goes to the low kicks instead with Sano having no defence for them. Sano’s jabs only push Honma back rather than do any damage. Sano tries to grapple Honma into the corner until the ref has a look at the claret pouring out of Sano’s face that was rubbing off onto Honma’s shoulders. “He looks like he smashed through a car window at 60 mph!”

The crack PRIDE staff declare he’s OK to go so he resumes absorbing low kicks until Honma goes back to the face-punching. Quadros wonders why Sano is choosing to stand and strike against a guy far more qualified than him. Because he’s even worse on that, I guess. What are his qualifications for being in PRIDE anyway? Honma low kicks Sano so hard he collapses to the mat where follow-up strikes end it at 9:25.

Horrifically one-sided beatdown. Sano would somehow return to PRIDE but I don’t know why.

Marco Ruas vs. Alexander Otsuka

Oh it’s this fight! Otsuka is seconded by Tiger Mask and receives a big pop for his second ever MMA fight. Ruas is the UFC VII winner and seconded by Bas.

Ruas throws a hard kick to Otsuka who rolls with it to take Ruas to the mat. Didn’t seem to bother him as Otsuka is able to keep him there without allowing himself to be wrapped into anything. Otsuka releases so he can throw some strikes and looks remarkably calm considering the quality of the fighter he’s in there with. Ruas is in no rush to attempt anything either, holding Otsuka while absorbing the occasional close shot. Otsuka gets vertical and throws kicks to a downed Ruas, not letting him up which is in stark contrast to a lot of fighters on these shows so far allowing their foe to stand up. Commentators are shocked at how well Otsuka is doing, as well as Ruas lack of immediacy so far. As they’re talking about it, Ruas beautifully takes down Otsuka with his just his feet.

That ruled and proves Ruas knows what he’s doing. Ruas then effortlessly rolls Otsuka onto his back. Ah ha, he merely looked tired and sweaty! Ruas really goes for shots on a downed Otsuka and they look brutal. The Battlarts lad takes them as well as some blatant eye pokes. Otsuka turns his back so Ruas tries for the rear naked choke but it’s effectively resisted. Ruas appears to get it fully locked in but somehow the round ends without him submitting. Crowd roars their approval, this fight has been thrilling so far. Otsuka looks way better than he should but Ruas is also proving he can end it pretty much whenever he wants.

Round Two starts with extra towelling for Ruas who looks noticeably tired. If they gave him a blanket, he’d have wrapped himself around it and fallen asleep. Otsuka attempts a charge and falls right into Ruas’ hold. Ruas’ breathing really hard as Bas says he took some “medicine” a few days ago for inflammation. Yeah, in the Iron Sheik sense of the word. Otsuka is also tired so he sticks to keeping Ruas in the corner but Ruas is at Kimbo Slice levels of exhaustion. If this was Street Fighter 2, he’d have little bells flying around his head. Bas can’t believe how out of it he is. Otsuka leg locks Ruas to the mat so he can finally have a nap. Otsuka persists in dogging Ruas with punches and making him expend more energy. Crowd gets behind Otsuka the more shots connect. They’re only little short-distance shots but it’s more than Ruas is capable of doing right now.

Otsuka is the one to bide his time now and wait for openings for bigger shots. The camera shows Ruas bleeding from the eye and the crowd “OOOOOAHHHHS” in approval and shock.

Round ends with Ruas having to be helped to his feet by the ref. During the breaks between rounds, Ruas is slumped over the ropes because he doesn’t have the energy to sit down. When he finally tells his corner he can’t continue, Otsuka celebrates by backflipping off the top rope as Quadros yells “OH MY GOD.” Otsuka bows to Ruas as Bas says “I believe Marco will be back.” Uh no, he wouldn’t.

Tremendous first round and giant upset make this a very good reason to check out this show. You’d have thought Otsuka was a grizzled veteran with the way he was hanging with Ruas.

Hugo Duarte vs. Mark Kerr

OK let’s see if Kerr can finally finish an opponent with no controversy this time. Hugo’s the guy who upset Kitao when he attempted Vale Tudo and stood on his head after the fight to let him know how out of his depth he was.

Kerr starts with a wild high kick that had no chance of connecting but looked nice. Kerr instead heads into Hugo’s guard on the mat. Bas tells Kerr to go for the liver punch but I’m sure he tells everyone that regardless of position. He probably yells that at the screen during Olympic fencing. Hugo starts barking at the ref. “What was that??” asks Bas. Hugo sticks to keeping Kerr so close to him that he can’t smash him. Kerr gets sick of this so stands up and kicks Hugo on the mat. Hugo dares Kerr to get on the mat so Mark takes him up on his offer. Hugo barks some more so Quadros compares him to Flipper the seal. Hugo is so upset at that comment he attempts to escape the ring, with the refs having to re-position them back inside. Kerr continues to punch and kick Hugo, demonstrating he’s only going to Hugo’s guard because he can. That sums up the rest of Round One with Hugo only managing an upkick that Kerr responds to by punching Hugo’s foot.

“Duarte did nothing that round” – Quadros.

Round Two starts and we go back to the exact same thing again. Hugo gets cut underneath his eye and it looks brutal. It’s examined and somehow he’s allowed to carry on once they wipe all the blood away and he can see again. Kerr dogs Hugo on the mat so badly you can hear his corners yelling “do something!” because the crowd is so quiet. Hugo yells at the ref some more but nothing happens as no-one knows what he’s yelling about. Bas is dying laughing. Kerr says something about his hand being stuck but fuck knows what was happening. Anyway the ref can’t speak Portuguese so we carry on. Nothing happens and then Kerr maybe eye pokes him? Or it’s a headbutt? Hard to tell. Anyway the ref stops to check Hugo while he lies on the mat and pretends to be dead. What the fuck is going on.

Ref tells Hugo he’s alive so we resume and it’s back to the frigging guard. Kerr is so unconcerned that he gives a passing comment to cornerman Bas with a grin on his face. “Next thing you know, Hugo’s foot will be broken because of the shots to the head.” Bas should have ran into the ring and stopped this match Inoki-Style. Kerr continues in Hugo’s ineffectual guard as Bas the commentator tells us to fast-forward. Kerr stands up and puts his hands on his hips for a bit before going back to the exact same position and inaction. Round Two doesn’t end quick enough.

Round Three sadly starts. Hugo immediately back bumps to the mat and the crowd booos the hell out of him for it. Kerr walks away from him and the crowd cheers him NOT engaging. “Jesus Christ, man” laments Bas. Kerr has had enough and commences punching from half-guard which is enough to make Hugo jump out the ring again. Hugo kind of pretends he’s dead again but the ref makes him get inside and resumes the fight because there was no illegal strike thrown. Hugo stalls and bitches while the ref explains to him to get up. Hugo does then resumes laying down. Ref demands he stand up so Hugo does it again (!) but Kerr is able to beat the guard and lands numerous shots at Hugo’s dumb barking dog face. Hugo is out the ring again so ref resumes it back inside as Quadros compares Hugo’s behaviour to the X-Files. Hugo escapes under the ropes again and by turning his back to Kerr in the process, the ref is given the opportunity to decides he’s surrendered and mercy kills this at 2:32.

Where are they finding these opponents for Kerr? Did they stop at a red light on the way to the Dome and ask if anyone wanted to make $40 the hard way? Kerr is supposedly one of the best in the world but after three appearances in PRIDE FC, you wouldn’t know it after fighting guys who don’t understand basic rules. Right now I can’t decide which of his fights have been the worst.

Currently, Mark Kerr is Paul Varelans with bigger shoulders and less Missy Hyatt stories.

Rickson Gracie vs. Nobuhiko Takada

Why are we getting this rematch? I know the answer is “money” but PRIDE FC must know Takada has as much chance of winning as he has walking to the moon.

Crowd are the loudest they’ve been all night for Takada’s introduction. Commentators think that if this goes to the mat, Gracie has the advantage. Aye, on the mat, stood up, in the air etc. Gracie shoots in so Takada keeps him at bay with a double underhook. Takada amazingly blocks a takedown so he shoves Gracie into the ropes. Gracie can’t trip Takada but Takada also can’t really land any kicks so we stalemate for a bit until Takada throws a punch and knee. Takada goes to the corner in the same position, managing some knees in the process. Takada looks a hundred times better than he did in the first fight but sadly for him Gracie is at least a thousand times better than him. To show how impressive a performance this is, when the announcer informs the crowd that five minutes are remaining, the crowd applaud.

Gracie continues to go for the underhook with Takada blocking it AGAIN. Wow. Gracie is sent to the mat courtesy of a knee to the mid-section (that may have been low) as everyone loses their minds. Gracie stands back up before Takada can capitalise but looks wounded. However, Gracie does manage to take Takada down and into his guard. Takada is gassed from blocking all those holds and luckily for him so is Gracie. Takada does manage to stand up but decides to lean over Gracie and attempt a double ankle lock which leaves the commentators speechless.

Takada manages to get Gracie off him the first time but he’s in such control he’s able to check with his corner what move he should use to finish. Takada does his best to flail around but Gracie toys with him and applies an armbar as easily as you’d shut a door at 9:30.

I take it back, Takada looked amazingly credible out there when he was stood up and this was a far more entertaining fight than their first one. Easily Takada’s best fight to date even if everyone knew what was going to happen.

Possibly Interesting Observer Notes

Marco Ruas, who is training Nobuhiko Takada in Los Angeles for his match with Rickson Gracie at the Tokyo Dome, had this to say in an interview on Brazil’s SporTV this past week about Takada. “Pride’s owner asked me so I’m training him, but he won’t stand a chance against Rickson. He is not a true fighter. I could train him for ten years and it wouldn’t help. As Master Carlson Gracie said, the guy is a wimp.” If that quote ever makes it to Japan, boy is that going to break a lot of people’s hearts. (Ha ha ha ha HA HA HA).

Gracie beat Takada again before an estimated crowd of 30,000 (announced attendance was 36,354 but that was an inflated figure) pro-Takada fans and a live gate estimated in the $3 million range, which with the exception of New Japan and All Japans shows in the same building would be the largest live gate of the year anywhere in the world for a house drawn by a pro wrestler since he was the draw on the show. (It’s funny thinking that PRIDE FC would become much more profitable post-Takada).

Takada issued a challenge after the match for a third meeting, but Gracie turned it down saying there was nothing left to prove. (Mate you don’t walk away from the ATM when it’s still spitting out fivers.)

Hashimoto, who was in Tokyo for the New Japan Korakuen Hall show that was taking place at the same time at the building next door, left Korakuen Hall after his match for the Tokyo Dome and watched the final two matches on the show. The plan was for Hashimoto to challenge Takada should he win the match. As things turned out, Hashimoto offered a challenge to both Gracie and Takada to reporters after the show. (They actually had a plan in case Takada won? I respect their optimism.)

Otsuka was still not only working regularly as a pro wrestler but as recently as six days before the fight worked the Battlarts Korakuen Hall show in the third match of a seven match show, where he hardly took it easy despite having a real fight a few days away doing moves like topes and a lot of dangerous brawling spots. In addition, that morning before the show, Otsuka was part of the ring crew so he was doing physical work the very morning of his big fight. Otsuka wasn’t even considered as one of the top stars in the Battlarts promotion as the main pushed guys have been Yuki Ishikawa, Minoru Tanaka and Daisuke Ikeda. In 1997, he was put over as the winner of the Battlarts Young Generation Battle tournament. (Bloody hell.)

In the days following the event, the Battlarts promotion received tons of phone calls from fans all over the country to congratulate Otsuka for the win. In a press interview on 10/13, Otsuka, apparently recognizing his own limitations, said that he would never fight UFC style again. He said that he was a pro wrestler and felt he was representing the pro wrestling community and he just wanted to show that pro wrestlers could do it. (Spoiler: he’d be back).

There are a lot of reasons being given for Marco Ruas loss to Alexander Otsuka, apparently the one getting the most play is that Ruas suffered a knee injury in training and the drugs he was taking destroyed him in the fight. By the way, the reason Otsuka is so popular among the gay community in Japan is because as a pro wrestler, he does a gay act, although he isn’t in real life. (Well, it is called PRIDE).

Overall: Igor’s debut, Sakuraba doing his thing, Takada’s best fight, some brutal KOs, an enormous upset as well as Kitao retiring? Even Kerr’s fight with dog man was fun for comedy reasons so yeah, easily the most entertaining PRIDE show to date. Get this in you.

I’ve been maffew