PRIDE FC 5 – 04.29.99

April 29, 1999
Nippon Gaishi Hall
Nagoya

It’s the fifth PRIDE FC event and to celebrate, we now have judges decisions so no more automatic draws after two ten minute rounds. That’s a relief.

Minoru Toyonaga vs. Egan Inoue

“I like Egan’s hair” comments Bas on the bald Egan. Egan has far more experience than Minoru and is jacked. Egan blocks a takedown and nearly manages to pick up Minoru’s entire body off the mat. Egan takes him down and alternates between punching and/or choking his foe but Minoru somehow stands up when it appears to be over. That gets a big “woah” from Quadros. Egan lands a high kick so Minoru figures it’d be better for him to take Egan down but everyone’s like “no, that’s what he wants!” Minoru tries a wild kick to the mid-section while he’s retreating but it has no impact as he’s throwing things willie-nillie. There’s been way too many fighters on these early shows who appear to have zero plan from the get-go, I wonder if the pay was that good that it caused people to take fights they knew they were out of their depth for. To illustrate my point, Bas reminds us Minoru is 0-3 in Pancrase while Minoru is trying to run away from Egan. Egan has him down on the mat and lands a left punch which causes Minoru to turn to the ropes which is enough for the ref to stop it at 5:53.

Not a devastating KO finish but it was clear to everyone that Egan was a class above his foe so it was for the best it was ended. Not much else to add.

Satoshi Honma vs. Francisco Bueno

Honma devastated pro wrestler Naoki Sano at PRIDE 4 so now they’re throwing a mega tough debuting Brazilian at him. Quadros is upset at Honma shaving his cool hair.

Long feeling out process to start. I’d love to see Zbyszko do PRIDE. Oh wait we’ve already got The Gracies. Honma lands a few low kicks for glancing blows with Bueno nodding politely. Bueno tries to surge forward but Honma retaliates so he retreats. Oh now Bueno surges forward with a hundred punches like he’s Star Platinum until one connects on the chin to send Honma out of PRIDE FC at 4:59.

Wild finish to a quick fight. Honma would fight one more time, losing to Ron Waterman which says it all.

Igor Vovchanchyn vs. Akira Shoji

Both lads are coming off TKO victories via punches, which is a running theme tonight.

Akira is getting more popular the more he fights but he knows he needs to avoid avoid avoid here. Both lads frantically fidget around in arm’s reach until Igor catches a low kick from Akira and lands a right hand to knock him on his arse. Oh that was smooth. Igor allows his foe to stand up so Akira tries to double arm takedown Igor. It doesn’t work. Well, he wasn’t punched so maybe it was successful. Akira dodges more strikes and decides he wants to stay on the mat and attempt “the butt-scoot”. Igor can’t do anything but neither can Akira so the ref makes him stand up. Bas echoes the thoughts of everyone who saw the early shows and is thankful for the referees now having the power to do that.

Igor lands a lovely combo but Akira blocks most of the shots. Igor’s offence is wonderful as he’s landing kicks and punches due to his kickboxing background. Akira lands a tiny left hook that didn’t even make Igor blink but follows with a few strikes that buckles Igor who is still able to block a takedown. Akira lands a low kick that Igor wasn’t able to block but before Igor can get mad, the round ends. Akira doing his best so far.

Quadros asks Bas if Igor isn’t taking Akira seriously. “No that would be a dumb thing.” Tell ’em Bas. Akira lands another low kick and the crowd are actively cheering whenever he connects. Akira stalls on the mat, clearly learning from his match with Renzo Gracie. Ref stands him up again, with Akira blocking a shot to the head. Igor gets impatient and takes Akira down which should favour his opponent but it doesn’t matter as Akira wriggles out and stands up to get away from him. Igor lands more strikes but Akira surprisingly isn’t fazed. More stalling on the mat from Akira as he’s spending more time on his back than Dr. B from Tekken 3. Igor ups the tempo to land more strikes but in the process lands a low blow which gives Akira some recovery time.

Last three minutes sees Igor punch Akira to the mat which allows for more stalling. Igor goes to the ground but again Akira stands up. Igor tries to land something but Akira hugs him into the ropes. Nice we’re only seeing that forty minutes into a show rather than the usual forty seconds. Ref breaks it up again cos he’s working as hard as the workers. Igor can’t land a strike cleanly on the forever-dodging Akira, so even when they start slugging it out to end the round and gets sent to the mat it still wasn’t on the button. Akira ends the fight on the mat to noticeable boos. Aw.

Igor wins easily via decision. Akira was all defence here because it was Igor’s fight to win, so I at least enjoyed his stalling tactics because they’ve become a rarity on this show due to the rule changes.

Enson Inoue vs. Soichi Nishida

Enson’s debut. Nishida is wearing giant black flares, similar to Meng. Let’s hope he fights like him.

Enson charges out, knocks Nishida to the mat, takes some more punches with no clue how to defend himself and gets tapped out at 0:24 for the quickest victory in PRIDE history thus far. “Yeah he shouldn’t have been here.” Nishida would somehow return three years later. Great debut from Enson who brought his dog with him!

Oh we get an exhibition match between Rickson and Royler Gracie. I’d rather shit in my hand and clap so I’m skipping ahead. I can only assume they included this on the DVD to help pad the length as thanks to the rule changes and KO finishes, this sucker is under two hours.

Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Vitor Belfort

OH HELLO. Belfort has been tearing it up in UFC with his only loss so far to Randy Couture which is no shame. Sakuraba hasn’t lost yet, even though he went to a draw with Allan Goes (which he probably would have lost if it had went to judges).

Sakuraba doesn’t care about Belfort’s TKO victories and starts straight away with the low kicks. High kick is blocked so Belfort tries to turn it into a takedown, settling on holding him with one arm while punching him in the head. Sakuraba absorbs a lot of shots, many of them not landing clean but still. Sakuraba is able to take Belfort down by grabbing his leg and pounds him with punches to the head and gut. Sakuraba looms over his foe while landing kicks to Belfort’s thighs. Sakuraba’s cartwheel is blocked by Belfort, the meanie. Quadros comments on what Sakuraba has learned from the bout with Goes, noting that he’s staying on offence so he doesn’t have to take defence. Belfort’s thighs are visibly welting from the kicks but he doesn’t attempt to stand up. “What is he thinking here?” Crowd cheer every time one of Sakuraba’s shots connects so they’re not complaining. Sakuraba jumps to mount Belfort and NOW the dummy stands up as the round ends. All Sakuraba here.

In between rounds, Sakuraba is seen smiling and laughing. Sakuraba fakes a kick to punch Belfort, before landing a spinning back kick to the midsection. Belfort falls to the mat but the ref makes him get up. Sakuraba tells him it’s fine and continues holding and wailing away on Belfort’s leg. Sakuraba is in so much control he takes the time to gesture to the crowd how amusing he finds this all. Belfort’s thigh is purple so the ref makes him stand up. Sakuraba AGAIN landing back kicks to the midsection with ease with Belfort offering nothing. Sakuraba mocks his foe by spinning around and faking kicks because he can. Belfort finally tries a punch that only grazes Sakuraba. “Belfort has done nothing” says Bas. “What are you waiting for, Vitor??” loudly yell his corner.

Belfort’s punches are easily dodged so he lays on the mat again. Belfort attempts a single leg takedown but Sakuraba blocks it and they just stand there like the wi-fi crashed. Ref thankfully stops it so Belfort lays on the mat again. “This is unreal!” bemoans Bas as Sakuraba starts throwing fucking axe kicks for the hell of it. Sakuraba starts swinging his arms like a capoeira fighter before punching Belfort’s thigh as he’s running out of ways to embarrass Belfort. Ref restarts Belfort on his feet so Sakuraba can punch him to the mat AND TRY A FUCKING RUNNING STOMP to Belfort. And then tries another one to end the round!

Fucking hell what an entertaining one-sided fight. Looked like it was going to be competitive at the start but a mix of Sakuraba needing to prove himself after the Goes fight and Belfort shitting the bed, it wasn’t. A must watch if you’re a Sakuraba fan and if you’re not one of them who gives a shit.

Mark Coleman vs. Nobuhiko Takada

Hey your biggest star and main attraction just lost twice to Rickson Gracie, it would be very beneficial for everyone involved in PRIDE FC if he got a win over someone credible. Perhaps someone who really needs the money right now? Maybe an American who is sick of tiny UFC paydays?

Crowd are very into Takada as always, the Gracie fight has done nothing to diminish his support. Coleman attempts to take down Takada who blatantly cheats by grabbing the ropes and is immediately given a yellow card. Coleman waits a bit and then CHARGES Takada with a running takedown. Takada gets his arms in the right place to block strikes to the face so Coleman works the ribs. Quadros wonders why Coleman isn’t going for a neck crank despite being in the perfect position for it. Yeah I wonder. Coleman headbutts Takada’s chest which gets a warning. Coleman moves to side guard so he can knee Takada’s kidneys. Apparently shots to the spine are illegal, as Coleman gets warned for an elbow to the back. Huh, I didn’t know that. Coleman goes back to full mount but only gets a single punch before Takada spun out and a miracle occurs as Takada is able to stand up. Commentators are momentarily speechless. Coleman easily takes him down seconds later and manages some shots to the face with some glancing the arm despite Takada not moving his head. Takada moves around on the mat as Quadros justifies this by saying Takada has improved greatly since the first Gracie fight. Coleman applies a hold around Takada’s head that seems completely locked in with Bas pointing out this is his favourite hold. Takada escapes. Coleman charges and takes him down and gets 90% of a keylock before the Round ends. Hmm.

Round Two starts with Coleman standing there taking Takada low kicks before remembering he can do takedowns really well. Coleman then does everything but give up his guard to give Takada the advantage while holding his arm out like bait on a fishing line. “What is he doing? Jesus!! Why did he go for this?” Takada with his back on the mat gets his legs around Coleman’s ankle to take him down into the ankle lock with Mark making sure to wait before tapping like it’s WWE.

“I don’t believe this, how did that happen? This defies reality!” begs Quadros as Bas does his best to sound shocked while saying little.

This one’s pretty infamous but in case you weren’t aware, Coleman has admitted-while-not-admitting this was a dive. Given the state of UFC at the time, no-one seems to hold it against him and he still got inducted into the UFC Hall Of Fame. A fascinating thing to watch though, because the first round honestly wasn’t *that* suspicious but the second round might as well have ended with the ref being distracted while Sakuraba ran in to hit Coleman with a chair.

But wait, if everyone still loves Coleman, he got paid good money, and Takada got to look mighty then this was…a good bit of business?

WON 1999 BOOKER OF THE YEAR: YAKUZA.

Overall: This show flew by thanks to rules and TKO galore making this a much easier watch then the previous slogs, as well as being a lot more action packed because the fighters only have twenty minutes to play with. Plus there was Sakuraba and one of the biggest fixed fights in the history of MMA so PRIDE continues to improve.

I’ve been Maffew