PRIDE FC 6 – 07.04.99

Pride Fighting Championships
July 4, 1999
Yokohama Arena

Previously In PRIDE FC…

Carl Malenko vs. Egan Inoue

Malenko and his soul patch are making their PRIDE debut. He’s a wrestler who took the surname Malenko after being trained by Boris. I was looking forward to the commentators giving me more detail but Bas admits he doesn’t know anything about him. Superb start.

Malenko (wearing stars and stripes shorts in case he gets KO’d and needs to be reminded where he lives) locks up to prevent Egan from landing strikes and to keep his foe in prime double-leg position. That kills a few minutes until Malenko kinda takes Egan down but Egan has the double overhead so both fighters are neutralised. That kills more time as the commentators are already impatient and want to see something “other than the goatee.” So much for the lightning fast pace of the previous show. Both lads stay in this position trying to land punches with some landing but not making any dents. That’s your first round, hard to say who won that one because Carl controlled the grappling but Egan landed more strikes.

Round Two starts exactly the same. Oh sorry, this time when they end up on the mat they have to be restarted and moved away from the ring ropes. Groovy. Malenko passes the guard but Egan moves around to try to catch Malenko, leading to another stablemate. Malenko enjoyed that so much he attempts it again a minute later before we go back to laying and praying. Commentators aren’t hiding their annoyance at fighters “fighting to survive rather than win.” Even though the ref has the ability to restart during inactivity he doesn’t do it. Malenko passes the guard again to probably squeak a victory even though he doesn’t get anywhere with it. That’s the end of Round Two.

Oh Quadros advises there is the possibility of an overtime round in case of a draw. And rather cruelly, this is indeed a (debatable) draw so off we go.

Overtime starts AGAIN on the mat with Egan on top. Malenko gives up the guard for some reason, allowing Egan to mess with him and stand up. Egan kinda takes him down but Malenko keeps the guard on. We get told it’s a five minute final round meaning the fighters have to work quick. Malenko is suddenly working vigorously to pass Egan’s guard and Quadros is right, Egan furiously blocks and counters to get on top in a North-South position. Malenko tries to stand up but Egan knees him in the head before allowing Malenko to take him down out of exhaustion and the round ends with both lads panting.

Tough one to rate but the last round almost redeemed the rest of the dull fight. Judges pick Malenko and Egan looks pissed. Next.

Daijiro Matsui vs. Carlos Newton

Matsui has had two draws so far, Newton has one loss but it’s to Sakuraba and that fight ruled.

Matsui has been working on his striking and it shows as he immediately lands a shot on Newton as the crowd cheer. Newton jabs him right in the face, sending Matsui to the mat where Newton pounces to attempt an armbar from the back. Matsui reverses and nearly rolls Newton out the ring before stomping his poor face in. Newton takes the back so he can lay more shots to Matsui’s face and knee his ribs. Newton suplexes Matsui which looks impressive but seconds later Newton attempts to wrap an armbar so Matsui stands up and drops Newton on his frigging head multiple times to get him to release it. Christ.

Matsui rains fists onto Newton but nothing these two are doing are slowing them down. Newton attempts an armbar but Matsui removes it with strikes this time. Newton mounts Matsui and has the audacity to spin Matsui around so he’s away from the ropes, leading to more strikes from Matsui. Matsui tries an armbar but misses it so has to take the mount again. Quadros reminds us of that PRIDE is being gracious to allow Matsui back after consecutive losses. No wonder he’s going hell for leather tonight, he doesn’t want to go to the Job Centre on Monday. Matsui catches Newton blinking and tries an armbar but settles for the mount. Newton stands up and kicks Matsui while he’s down, so Matsui jumps up and throws punches that connect! He tries for a takedown but Newton blocks with ease so he can kick him like a dog. That’s the first round AND IT FUCKING RULED. Both guys won it.

Matsui has to be held back by the ref because he’s so excited about Round Two starting. Both lads start off throwing strikes with Newton flooring Matsui again. Matsui tries for the guard with Newton rolling him off him and out of the ring. Matsui’s eye gets checked and he’s fine, but then gets told off for pushing the ref out of the way because he wants to fight so much. Crowd are chanting his name now. Matsui has Newton in the guard until Carlos tries a cheeky ankle lock which Matsui rolls out of before trying a fucking jumping side kick. It doesn’t connect but the crowd don’t care. Matsui then cartwheels right into guard because he can. Matsui has more energy in his eyebrows than the first two fighters had in their entire bodies. Even as he lays in the guard with Carlos he’s landing tiny shots to the body as the fight ends.

No, it’s a draw so we get another Overtime Round. Good. Newton ducks a haymaker and blocks Matsui’s punches but it doesn’t deter him. Quadros informs us that even though it’s a hard fight to judge, there are no more draws now because of the OT. Matsui hears him from the future and connects with an overhead. Sadly due to fatigue his strikes are becoming telegraphed so Newton nearly spins him around with two shots to the face…with Matsui saying “OK” and coming back with another overhead. I think those two shots just won the fight for Newton with Matsui finally appearing winded. Matsui does whatever he can with his limited energy but Newton holds on with ease and sure enough, the judges pick him.

Post-match, both fighters bow to the other. Then Carlos throws a Hadouken and does a backflip. Hell of a fight, make room for this one in your life.

Hiroki Kurosawa vs. Nobuaki Kakuda

Contested under full contact Karate rules which means they’re wearing Gis and no gloves. Only thing not allowed is punching to the face.

Kakuda stands perfectly still in front of his foe, waiting for the kicks to come and be deflected with the elbows. These strikes are fast as fuck so I can’t type them all, but they’re so quick that Hiroki takes an accidental shot to the face which requires a pause and a bow from Kakuda. No points deducted. Commentators acknowledge how hard it can be to not punch a dude in the face, seconds later Hiroki “accidentally” punches Kakuda in the mug. Yeah oops. Anyway these two are pounding the hell out of one another while their comrades are hollering at ringside. Plus they’re doing so while being only several inches apart from one another. Intense first round, hard to judge.

Hiroki starts Round Two with combinations of kicks and punches, knocking Kakuda to the mat despite his protests. No mate we all saw it. Kakuda seems tired after that, or he likes being smacked. In which case he must be loving life as Hiroki will not stop hitting him.

Hiroki wins an intense decent bit of variety. Both men trade belts afterwards in a sign of respect.

Sorry for the lack of description but I don’t know how you write “both men mash the pad for two rounds” and make it sound substantial.

Igor Vovchanchyn vs. Carlos Barreto

Igor has won all of his fights so far so best of luck Carlos. Commentators explain this will be a battle of submissions vs. striking but they hope Carlos won’t bore us on the mat.

Long feeling out process to begin with. Zbyszko would think it went on too long. Igor lands a left hook with Carlos attempting to absorb it into something. Carlos keeps circling as the crowd get restless. Igor lands another left hook but it doesn’t do anything. Carlos is a head taller so he’s using his length to keep Igor away. Whenever Igor gets the clinch, Carlos wriggles out and jogs away. Igor does his best to throw jabs but Carlos is not game. Good strategy for him but it does not make for a fun fight. That brief description summed up five minutes and an action-less first round ends to boos. “Shall we say that was tactical?”

Second round sadly starts the same until Igor flattens Carlos with a right hand, before walking away so Carlos can’t get him on the mat. Ref finally cautions Carlos for stalling as the crowd applauds. Carlos starts throwing more kicks but it feels like he’s only doing them because he has to do them, he’s not committed. Then Igor flattens him again with a left hook with him taking the bait and getting close and falling into Carlos’ takedown and guard. And of course it’s the same hold-a-dude-on-the-mat-and-stay-there method that the new time limit was supposed to remove. Igor keeps his head next to Carlos’ head while wrapping his arms around his arms so neither can do much here. What a weak fight this is. Carlos releases as the fight is drawing to a close so punches are exchanged on the mat and back on the feet, presumably so Carlos can win on points with just that flurry. Carlos goes to the mat, gets booed so stands up again. We get a time out so Igor’s gloves can be fixed because this fight hasn’t dragged on enough. Carlos throws some leg kicks which annoy Igor so much he nearly goes for a takedown before realising how bad of an idea that is. Carlos throws some headkicks to show the judges he *can* fight if he wants to. Igor grabs a low kick and throws an overhead to knock Carlos on his arse, just like he did to Shoji. That ends a fight which ideally would be scored as a win for Igor because he was the only one that wanted to be there, but I’m worried the judges will look at Carlos’ last minute flurry and score it a draw.

AND THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENS which means another round as the crowd explodes in disbelieving boos because no-one wants to see more of this.

Overtime sees more circling and the occasional kick from Carlos. What is it about BJJ that makes you want to bore people? Igor frantically throws strikes at the constantly-dodging Carlos while the commentators stay silent because they have nothing to say. Carlos takes down Igor for more exciting nothings as the crowd boo.

Bell rings, Carlos stands up and poses as he thinks he won. He does not look impressed when the crowd boo him. OK that boring fight was almost worth it for that one moment. Are you not entertained? “NOOOOOOO.”

Anyway split decision for Igor thankfully. Quadros somehow thinks Carlos won the Overtime round, a round Carlos spent the majority of which circling away from his foe. Whatever, don’t watch this fight.

Akira Shoji vs. Guy Mezger

Guy’s debut and Bas is confused as to why he’s wearing shin-pads to take away from his kicks. Akira is becoming known as Mr. PRIDE because of his willingness to fight anyone so probably doesn’t mind the pads.

Guy keeps Akira clinched in the ropes so it’s like the ring is hugging him. That kills a few minutes. Once un-clinched, Akira connects with a low kick and then it’s back to clinching. That was three minutes. Guy takes Akira’s back and takes him down but Akira almost bounces back to his feet. Both fighters trade extended clinches as the commentators wonder why Guy would fight Akira’s style of fight. They decide on “bragging rights.” Akira accidentally strikes low but Guy’s OK so there’s no time out which I would take as an insult if I was Akira. Guy bounces Akira’s head around to end the first round that had to be a win for Guy. Not the most interesting fight ever but still better than Carlos fight.

Round Two starts with Akira converting a trip into a takedown. Quadros wonders if Akira is even aware of how dangerous Guy can be. Guy escapes and launches a left kick to Akira’s puss, but it doesn’t faze him. Guy clinches in the corner to absorb more energy as his team-mates yell “give him no respect!! WOOOOO!!!” for motivation. Ref stops the clinch because it was boring so Guy clinches Akira in the opposite corner for variety. Akira lands body strikes and wonders why he hasn’t been doing this the whole fight before a large headkick from Guy reminds him. Akira manages a takedown out of Guy’s double underhook. It looks like both guys are content to ride this out as there’s not much left of the fight. But then despite Guy extending his legs around Akira, Akira somehow gets the side mount into the mount and starts throwing haymakers on the ground and then on the feet and the ref has to grab him away to let him know the round is over. Well shit I had Guy winning both rounds until that last second flurry so let’s see what the judges say.

It’s a draw! So Akira has a chance to win a fight he was losing until ten seconds ago. Akira’s kicks are telegraphed so Guy is able to dodge but he immediately clinches and looks spent so the question is if he’s able to get any offence in. Ref stops the clinch so Guy releases and clinches again as the crowd boos. Guy forces his strikes forward and starts landing combinations before blocking a takedown so he’s working. Akira lands a takedown out of nowhere to keep the mount with Guy managing to power out to land a killer clinch. A quick sidekick from Guy ends the Overtime in what has to be an easy victory for Guy because of the amount of control and aggression he had there.

And it’s a split decision for Akira??? Wait, how? Guy immediately storms out the ring and even Akira doesn’t seem thrilled with the victory. The judges must really value takedowns over everything else as Guy was landing combinations and powering out of guards vs. Akira’s one sole takedown. Fight got really fun near the end. Get used to seeing Guy getting screwed by PRIDE judges.

Gary Goodridge vs. Naoya Ogawa

It’s the PRIDE debut of Ogawa who would become (in)famous in terms of wrestling and fighting thanks to some suspiciously good booking and match-making. He is very, very over.

Goodridge charges and unleashes his punches to Ogawa’s kisser to stumble and fumble him seconds into the fight. Ogawa is able to stand up and use his long legs to keep Gary away for two seconds which allows him to rock Gary with a punch of his own. Ogawa takes Gary down as he’s expecting a clinch with Ogawa going for a keylock and getting very close to cinching it in. Gary rolls him off and takes the guard with Ogawa then trying a triangle hold. Commentators wonder why Gary would stay on the mat with this guy. Yeah Gary, what are you thinking? Gary stands up and attempts a frigging kneebar on a much lengthier foe as Quadros loses his mind, with Ogawa easily shoving him off to take the side mount and try the keylock again. This fight is crazy. Ogawa sticks with the side mount and realises how tired Gary is so he decides to continue riding him so he uses more energy. Gary rolls away but Ogawa is treating him like Seabiscuit. Ogawa gets full mount as everything Gary does is resulting in pain. Gary somehow blocks another keylock attempt so Ogawa decides to punch his fucking head in. Gary tries to remember the safe word as Ogawa smothers him with with weight and fists. Unbelievably, Gary survives the round. Replays show Gary’s flurry at the start only had a 50% success rate of landing but he threw so many it’s no wonder he was tired.

Gary throws the fists like last time but despite connecting, Ogawa takes him down and keylocks him quickly for the submission to start Round Two as the crowd go wild.

Ogawa has a lot of haters and lots of rumours about certain fights being works but this one can’t be one of them. Very exciting one-sided slobberknocker.

Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Ebenezer Fontes Braga

Braga’s good, Braga’s good (aaaaaaah) it’s Ebenezer Braga. Sakuraba is currently the best thing about this company so PRIDE is throwing all the Brazilians they can find at him. This time he’s got a luta livre guy rather than the usual BJJ type.

Canvas is stained with Gary’s mouth blood. Braga tries to take Sakuraba down from the back but releases to attempt a high kick to the back which mercifully only brushes him. Braga again brushes a roundhouse kick across Sakuraba’s chin with the man himself not looking too concerned he was almost decapitated. Braga blocks a takedown attempt to land a knee as so far this fight has been Braga’s. Sakuraba throws some customary kicks to set up the single leg takedown. So we get the familiar sight of Sakuraba landing kicks at a downed foe, but this time Sakuraba jumps in the air to trick Braga who takes the bait and walks right into a punch. Oh that ruled.

“You magnificent bastard I read your bo-NO WAIT FUCK.”

Braga comes forward with punches which keep Sakuraba away. Not for long as a single leg takedown scores for Sakuraba. Braga attempts a guillotine I think but Sakuraba passes the guard to lock in an armbar but they’re both in the ropes so it’s halted as the refs rearrange. We get a stalemate for the first time in the fight as this has been all-action so far. Sakuraba grapples Braga until he has his back and attempts a rear naked choke. Braga wriggles free but that was close. Jabs are traded until Sakuraba’s takedown is blocked by Braga. Like that’s going to stop Sakuraba who is more persistent that a debt collector. Sakuraba busts open Braga’s eye as he won’t stop moving position on the mat with Braga struggling to keep up. Sakuraba gets the side mount while peppering Braga with punches until Braga puts his arms up to defend which is what Sakuraba was waiting for so he can lock in an armbar to get the very popular submission win.

The difference between Sakuraba and so many others is like night and day. The man does not stop moving around and has a response to everything his foes throw at him and it makes it look so easy too. Even a guy like Braga who had a similar strike set and ability on the mat couldn’t match his pace when it came down to the important bits. Another great fight and recommendation for Sakuraba.

Oh then Frank Shamrock challenges Sakuraba.

Frank would never fight for PRIDE.

Mark Kerr vs. Nobuhiko Takada

Someone call Led Zeppelin because it’s time for Achille’s Last Stand. Will Kerr finally have a good fight as they feed their biggest draw to the next big thing?

Bas’ thoughts are “I would wear shoes if I was Kerr.” Cheers mate.

Takada charges Kerr so he can take the clinch and presumably impend the inevitable. Kerr takes Takada down but Takada somehow gets up before anything can happen. Takada throws multiple low kicks which even slow Kerr is able to grab and use to take him down. Strikes are thrown but Takada again somehow gets up which raises alarm bells. Kerr charges Takada into a takedown as the commentators are praising Takada’s improvement before Kerr puts him in a hammerlock and they immediately change their view. “Oh what is he doing???” they yell as Takada taps quickly.

Hooray, Kerr managed to finish a fight with no bullshit. Against a guy who can’t fight. Well done mate, enjoy your roids.

Overall: Three blinders here (Newton, Ogawa, Sakuraba) as well as Takada getting fully removed from the main event scene make this an easy recommend, as long as you skip some of the other fights. It’s a shame the new time restrictions designed to prevent boring fights resulted in two fights decided by a fighter doing something at the very end but them’s the breaks.

I’ve been Maffew.