Post by Agent Kev on Feb 28, 2009 0:31:04 GMT -5
Pride “Final Conflict” 2003
The “Total Elimination” show led into this one. At that show we had the Quarterfinals of the Middleweight Tournament in which Chuck Liddell (from UFC), Rampage Jackson, Hidehiko Yoshida and Wanderlei Silva all advanced. Tonight we will see the Semi-Finals and Finals of this tournament. Also, on this show Cro Cop will take on Big Nog. First round match-ups will be Rampage vs. Liddell and Yoshida vs. Silva. Randy Couture shows up during the pre-show and fools around with Bas Rutten. The show is at the Tokyo dome and it looks pretty impressive on camera.
Heavyweight Fight- Dan Bobish vs. Gary Goodridge
R1- Bobish was just totally out classed in this fight. He got hit with a couple of punches and then went down on his knees and continued to get hit until the ref stepped in.
Winner: Gary Goodridge by TKO (Strikes) R1 0:18
Middleweight “Total Elimination” Tournament Fight- Chuck Liddell vs. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson
R1- They go back and forth for the first part of the round. Rampage starts to land some good punches. Chuck hit s a good combo up against the ropes. Rampage lands some wild rights and seems to be distancing himself in the fight at the five minute mark. Rampage hit some shots as he chased Chuck across the ring and Chuck tried to grab onto the ropes and got his arm stuck in the ropes as Rampage took him down. Good first round with Rampage looking like he’s in control. Chuck has held on but needs to mix up his game plan if he is going to win this one.
R2- Jackson has Chuck down and he’s landing some pretty good shots. He’s just sitting on him and hitting him with elbows and punches and the bell rings. Apparently Chuck’s corner threw in the towel.
Winner: Rampage Jackson by TKO (Corner Submit) R2 3:10
Middleweight “Total Elimination” Tournament Fight- Wanderlei Silva vs. Hidehiko Yoshida
R1- Yoshida got a quick take down and the fans went nuts. Wanderlei caught him with a triangle up against the ropes but Yoshida got out of the move. They re-started in the middle of the ring and Wanderlei turned him over and took his guard. They stood up and Yoshida got a headlock take down and took half guard and tried to smother him but Wanderlei survived and the round ended. Pretty close fight so far.
R2- Wanderlei hit a knee and then a high kick and then they have a good active exchange. Wanderlei is starting to take this fight over on his feet but then they kind of come to a stand still as both guys catch their wind. They mixed it up again with Wanderlei getting the better and then Wanderlei taking Yoshida down and taking his guard. Yoshida rolls him over at the end of the fight but doesn’t get in any offense. This fight is going to go to the judges and in my opinion I’ve got Wanderlei taking the fight.
Winner: Wanderlei Silva by Decision (Unanimous)
Middleweight Reserve Fight- Dan Henderson vs. Murilo Bustamante
The winner of this fight will fill in as a replacement in the Middleweight Tournament if Rampage or Wanderlei are not able to fight in the finals.
R1- Henderson hit a knee and then got some good Ground and Pound and the ref stepped in and stopped the fight.
Winner: Dan Henderson by TKO (Strikes) R1 0:53
Kevin Randleman vs. Kazushi Sakuraba
R1- Randleman controlled the first half of the round but Sakuraba controlled the second from his guard. Not a lot of action in the middle of the round as Sakuraba tried to work submissions from the guard.
R2- Randleman starts out the round by being aggressive and then once again the fight slows down on the ground.
R3- Sakuraba was losing the fight but when it went to the ground again in this round he pulled off a good arm bar and got the submission victory. Not a very exciting fight but a good finish by Sakuraba.
Winner: Kazushi Sakuraba by Submission (Arm Bar) R3
Pride Interim Heavyweight Title Fight: Mirko Cro Cop vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
R1- Cro Cop does a good job of sprawling early and after some brief ground work Crop Cop makes a concerted effort to keep the fight on their feet and he’s landing some combos as Big Nog is bleeding from the nose. Cro Cop hit a kick as the bell rang and then got in a shot after the bell. Cro Cop is winning fairly convincingly right now.
R2- Big Nog got a quick take down and the fans went nuts as he’s the underdog in this fight and they really got behind him here. Big Nog gets some Ground and Pound. Big Nog caught him in an arm bar and Cro Cop tapped out. Really good comeback for Big Nog and great move from the Ground and Pound to the Arm Bar submission.
Winner and new Interim Champion: Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira by Submission (Arm Bar) R2 1:45
Middleweight “Total Elimination” Tournament Finals- Quinton “Rampage” Jackson vs. Wanderlei Silva
Rampage wears a wolf mask out to the ring.
R1- Rampage immediately goes for a slam and Wanderlei grabs a guillotine as Rampage holds him up. Jackson goes to the ground and finally gets out and is in Wanderlei’s guard. Wanderlei went for an arm bar but Rampage escaped and landed some good shots and a knee to the head. The ref stands them up and gives a yellow card to Wanderlei. They do some crazy stand up and Wanderlei lands some good knees. Wanderlei with a left kick and follows it with a series of knees. He gets Rampage down and gets him with some kicks. Wanderlei is just all over Rampage and Rampage is out on his feet and the ref stops the fight. Big time offense by Wanderlei.
Winner: Wanderlei Silva by TKO (Strikes) R1 6:28
This was a good show. I didn’t enjoy it quite as much as the last one but who can argue when you’ve got a show with Rampage/Liddell, Rampage/Wanderlei and Big Nog/Cro Cop.
The “Total Elimination” show led into this one. At that show we had the Quarterfinals of the Middleweight Tournament in which Chuck Liddell (from UFC), Rampage Jackson, Hidehiko Yoshida and Wanderlei Silva all advanced. Tonight we will see the Semi-Finals and Finals of this tournament. Also, on this show Cro Cop will take on Big Nog. First round match-ups will be Rampage vs. Liddell and Yoshida vs. Silva. Randy Couture shows up during the pre-show and fools around with Bas Rutten. The show is at the Tokyo dome and it looks pretty impressive on camera.
Heavyweight Fight- Dan Bobish vs. Gary Goodridge
R1- Bobish was just totally out classed in this fight. He got hit with a couple of punches and then went down on his knees and continued to get hit until the ref stepped in.
Winner: Gary Goodridge by TKO (Strikes) R1 0:18
Middleweight “Total Elimination” Tournament Fight- Chuck Liddell vs. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson
R1- They go back and forth for the first part of the round. Rampage starts to land some good punches. Chuck hit s a good combo up against the ropes. Rampage lands some wild rights and seems to be distancing himself in the fight at the five minute mark. Rampage hit some shots as he chased Chuck across the ring and Chuck tried to grab onto the ropes and got his arm stuck in the ropes as Rampage took him down. Good first round with Rampage looking like he’s in control. Chuck has held on but needs to mix up his game plan if he is going to win this one.
R2- Jackson has Chuck down and he’s landing some pretty good shots. He’s just sitting on him and hitting him with elbows and punches and the bell rings. Apparently Chuck’s corner threw in the towel.
Winner: Rampage Jackson by TKO (Corner Submit) R2 3:10
Middleweight “Total Elimination” Tournament Fight- Wanderlei Silva vs. Hidehiko Yoshida
R1- Yoshida got a quick take down and the fans went nuts. Wanderlei caught him with a triangle up against the ropes but Yoshida got out of the move. They re-started in the middle of the ring and Wanderlei turned him over and took his guard. They stood up and Yoshida got a headlock take down and took half guard and tried to smother him but Wanderlei survived and the round ended. Pretty close fight so far.
R2- Wanderlei hit a knee and then a high kick and then they have a good active exchange. Wanderlei is starting to take this fight over on his feet but then they kind of come to a stand still as both guys catch their wind. They mixed it up again with Wanderlei getting the better and then Wanderlei taking Yoshida down and taking his guard. Yoshida rolls him over at the end of the fight but doesn’t get in any offense. This fight is going to go to the judges and in my opinion I’ve got Wanderlei taking the fight.
Winner: Wanderlei Silva by Decision (Unanimous)
Middleweight Reserve Fight- Dan Henderson vs. Murilo Bustamante
The winner of this fight will fill in as a replacement in the Middleweight Tournament if Rampage or Wanderlei are not able to fight in the finals.
R1- Henderson hit a knee and then got some good Ground and Pound and the ref stepped in and stopped the fight.
Winner: Dan Henderson by TKO (Strikes) R1 0:53
Kevin Randleman vs. Kazushi Sakuraba
R1- Randleman controlled the first half of the round but Sakuraba controlled the second from his guard. Not a lot of action in the middle of the round as Sakuraba tried to work submissions from the guard.
R2- Randleman starts out the round by being aggressive and then once again the fight slows down on the ground.
R3- Sakuraba was losing the fight but when it went to the ground again in this round he pulled off a good arm bar and got the submission victory. Not a very exciting fight but a good finish by Sakuraba.
Winner: Kazushi Sakuraba by Submission (Arm Bar) R3
Pride Interim Heavyweight Title Fight: Mirko Cro Cop vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
R1- Cro Cop does a good job of sprawling early and after some brief ground work Crop Cop makes a concerted effort to keep the fight on their feet and he’s landing some combos as Big Nog is bleeding from the nose. Cro Cop hit a kick as the bell rang and then got in a shot after the bell. Cro Cop is winning fairly convincingly right now.
R2- Big Nog got a quick take down and the fans went nuts as he’s the underdog in this fight and they really got behind him here. Big Nog gets some Ground and Pound. Big Nog caught him in an arm bar and Cro Cop tapped out. Really good comeback for Big Nog and great move from the Ground and Pound to the Arm Bar submission.
Winner and new Interim Champion: Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira by Submission (Arm Bar) R2 1:45
Middleweight “Total Elimination” Tournament Finals- Quinton “Rampage” Jackson vs. Wanderlei Silva
Rampage wears a wolf mask out to the ring.
R1- Rampage immediately goes for a slam and Wanderlei grabs a guillotine as Rampage holds him up. Jackson goes to the ground and finally gets out and is in Wanderlei’s guard. Wanderlei went for an arm bar but Rampage escaped and landed some good shots and a knee to the head. The ref stands them up and gives a yellow card to Wanderlei. They do some crazy stand up and Wanderlei lands some good knees. Wanderlei with a left kick and follows it with a series of knees. He gets Rampage down and gets him with some kicks. Wanderlei is just all over Rampage and Rampage is out on his feet and the ref stops the fight. Big time offense by Wanderlei.
Winner: Wanderlei Silva by TKO (Strikes) R1 6:28
This was a good show. I didn’t enjoy it quite as much as the last one but who can argue when you’ve got a show with Rampage/Liddell, Rampage/Wanderlei and Big Nog/Cro Cop.
