PRIDE Middleweight Grand Prix

[Riley G]

Tournament Participants:

Wanderlei Silva
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
Quinton "Rampage" Jackson
Igor Vovchanchyn
Kazushi Sakuraba
Dan Henderson
Mauricio “Shogun” Rua
Yuki Kondo
Hidehiko Yoshida
Kazuhiro Nakamura

Holy sh*t! Silva, Jackson, Vovchanchyn, Sakuraba, Henderson, Kondo. They stacked this tournament with awesome talent

[TheRick]

Shows like that make me wish I had enough money to keep track of PRIDE. Should be awesome.

[NewFnShow]

Here's the card for the 4/23 show. I'm gonna try to order if I can get some of my friends to split the cost with me.

Wanderlei Silva (Brazil) vs. Hidehiko Yoshida (Japan)

Dan Henderson (USA) vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (Brazil)

Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (USA) vs. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua (Brazil)

Igor Vovchanchyn (Ukraine) vs. Yuki Kondo (Japan)

Kevin Randleman (USA) vs. Kazuhiro Nakamura (Japan)

Kazushi Sakuraba (Japan) vs. Yoon Dong Sik (Korea)

Vitor Belfort (Brazil) vs. Alistair Overeem (Holland)

Dean Lister (USA) vs. Ricardo Arona (Brazil)

[TheRick]

I hope Belfort gets a win. Granted he's not the greatest fighter anymore, but I've been a fan of his for a long time. Speaking of Belfort, anybody know if he ever got his sister back? I know she was kidnapped a while back, but haven't heard any updates.

[NewFnShow]

I'd like to see Belfort get a win as well. Not only for him, but also for the UFC.

[Riley G]

Belfort's opening round fight should be a good one Overeem ain't no push over.

Shows like that make me wish I had enough money to keep track of PRIDE. Should be awesome.

In general if I could only follow one of the MMA companys it would be PRIDE.

Who's up for some pick-ems. I sure am let's see how I do this time:

Wanderlei Silva def. Hidehiko Yoshida by KO

Antonio Rogerio Nogueira def. Dan Henderson by Submission

Quinton “Rampage” Jackson def. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua by KO (I would not be surprised if Rua pulled the upset though)

Igor Vovchanchyn (Ukraine) vs. Yuki Kondo (Japan)
^Too tough to call^

Kevin Randleman def. Kazuhiro Nakamura by KO

Kazushi Sakuraba def. Yoon Dong Sik by Gound & Pound

Vitor Belfort def. Alistair Overeem by Gound & Pound (Another I wouldn't be surprised if the upset)

Ricardo Arona def. Dean Lister by Submission

[NewFnShow]

My picks are pretty much identicle to your picks.

I'd say that three hardest matches to pick are Rampage vs. Shogun, Belfort vs. Overeem, and Randleman vs. Nakamura. I think those 3 could easily go either way.

[TheRick]

The reason I follow UFC over PRIDE is simply because I "grew up" with it and I'm much more familiar with the fighters and rules. As for pick 'ems I pretty much agree with what you said, but last I saw of Randleman he was pretty disapointing so I'll say he loses to Nakamura.

[NewFnShow]

Courtesy of mmanews.com:

-Kazuhiro Nakamura def. Kevin Randleman via Unanimous Decision.
-Ricardo Arona def. Dean Lister via Unanimous Decision.
-Igor Vovchanchyn def. Yuki Kondo via Unanimous Decision.
-Alistair Overeem def. Vitor Belfort via Submission (guillotine choke) in Round 1.
-Antonio Rogerio Nogueira def. Dan Henderson via Submission (armbar) in Round 1.
-Kazushi Sakuraba def. Yoon Dong Sik via KO (punches) in Round 1.
-Mauricio "Shogun" Rua def. Quinton "Rampage" Jackson via KO (knees) in Round 1.
-Vanderlei Silva def. Hidehiko Yoshida via Split Decision.

I ended up not ordering last night, after reading mediocre reviews. After seeing more reviews, I'm glad I didn't order.

Not ONE American advanced, and Belfort lost as well. That sucks.

Oh well, hopefully the next round is better(I'll probably order it.)

EDIT: BTW, Sherdog has some great interviews up from the Middleweight GP. They also have a cool preview video.

[Riley G]

Who cares that not one American advanced they weren't up to apr with the people that did advance. The reviews where wrong the show kicked ass. So many great fights. However there was not a lot of slugfests so that might drive away your average North American fan but I absoulutly loved the show.

[NewFnShow]

The not one American advanced wasn't meant to mean the show was bad. Just that I'm bummed, cause I would have liked to see some more Americans advance(gotta root for your home country.)

Glad you liked it. I just happened to read a lot of bad reviews before the show, which happened to turn me off(many of them coming from Pride addicts over at Sherdog.)

[TheRick]

At least I was right about Randleman losing ;D

[Riley G]

I do have a bone to pick with the judges in the Silva/Yoshida fight. I really don't believe Silva won that fight.

[mercutio80]

I know absolutely nothing about PRIDE. Is it more or less like the UFC?

[NewFnShow]

Well, more or less yeah, in that they are both MMA. Differences are that fights take place in a ring, instead of a cage. There are somewhat different rules, such as stomps being legal. Rounds are also different with 1 ten minute round, and then 2 five minute rounds.