Pride Fighting Championships: FInal Conflict 2005

[Manji]

Alright!!!

One week to go til Pride FC's Final Conflcit.
One of the most anticipated fights in Mixed Martial Arts will finally happen on August 28.
Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic versus Fedor Emelianko; two of the most feared strikers in MMA history. I have been waiting a year to watch this fight happen and hopefully it will be worth the wait and nothing stupid will happen (freak injury or cut will stop the fight early....).
If either fighter wins; this fight could cement their reputation as one of the greatest fighters of all time.

The Middleweight fights should be highly entertaining; pretty much any fight that involves Wanderlai (The Axe-Murderer) Silva will be entertaining.

Anybody got any predictions?
Still mulling over a few fights, will post post my predicitons soon...

Here is the card so far:

The Semi-Finals and Finals of the Middleweight Tournament

Wanderlei Silva (Brazil) vs. Ricardo Arona (Brazil)

Mauricio "Shogun" Rua (Brazil) vs. Alistair Overeem (Holland)

Winner Silva/Arona vs. Winner Rua/Overeem

Heavyweight Championship Match

Fedor Emelianenko (Russia) vs. Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic (Croatia)
(Champion) (Challenger)

Additional Matches
David "Tank" Abbott (USA) vs. Hidehiko Yoshida (Japan)

Igor Vovchanchyn (Ukraine) vs. Kazuhiro Nakamura (Japan)

Fabricio Werdum (Brazil/Spain) vs. Roman Zentsov (Russia)

 

[Manji]

Adding to the Hype:

Here's an interview with Cro-Cop:

VL: In what way will outcome of this fight define your future in ultimate fight?

CroCop: I want to win a belt a that is and was my dream. If I win , I will fight Minotauro,
definitely, do 4 or 5 fights and retire!!!

VL: What are your advantages and what are Fedors ?

CroCop: Fight can end in many number of ways. We both are extremely motivated and physicaly
prept! Styles of fighting are very different! He will try a takedown and finish me
off, and i will try a high-kick in the head, middle-kick in the liver and my boxing
technics! A smallest error could mean end of the fight!!

VL: Can we expect very careful entry of the fight or Fedor uragan style in the begining?

CroCop: It doesnt have to be that way! Maybe I will get in strong if I see the opportunity!

VL: Why do ground fighters are majority in this sport?

CroCop: If somebody can take 2 or 3 punches, get a strong entry and catch a leg or waist he will
get his opponent on the ground and then masters of wrestling, JJ, judo dominate! Even
though fight starts in standup, few of the standup fighters made a succesfull transition
to ultimate fight! Ground fighters train their style for 10 or 20 years and they are
much better!

VL: Fedor trained in Holland with the best standup fighters?

CroCop: He cant improve much in this timespan! It takes years to change a fight style, and I
dont think this was the best idea for him in my opinion! I would never change my
enviroment for a fight of this importants!

VL: You train in your house where you built your own gym!

CroCop: It is a great advantage, i dont depend on weather or similar problems...i choose when
to train and that is a dream of every athlete!

VL: Fedor had a great deal of problems to find a sparring partner that can imitate your
fighting style?

CroCop: It is not because I am so great rather then it is hard to find a good leftguard standup
fighter in K-1 in my weightclass.... i can name only LeBanner but his style is a
way much defferent!

VL: Could you find a fighter that can immitate Fedor?

CroCop: He is a very specific fighter, so i couldnt do that, but I found fighters who posses
some of his skills and them combined i think i got a picture!
Closest to his style of fighting is Rodrigo Artilheiro, master of BJJ and Judo,
Brasilian wrestling champion. Had a sparring with Croatian boxing champ
Damir Tovarović, same built as Fjodor.
Igor Pokrajac height and weight identical to Fjodors,
and also American Mike Kyle.
I worked a lot on takedown defence and also ground defence,
I worked with Damirom Siserom and raised my stregth about 20%!

VL: How much physical condition will contribute to the outcome of this fight?

CroCop: There is an old saying in martial arts, condition is the best weapon in every fight!
But I think that mental stabillity will determine who will win!

VL: A lot of people are saying that ultimate fighting is not a sport?

CroCop: I dont have any desire to react to this nonsense. UF is a global buisiness and can
stand by popularity just a step behind basketball, soccer and similar! Difference
is that this is and exclusive sport...soccer is played by millions and UF only hundreds!
Only the chosen ones! It is unfair undermining by some reporters!!!

VL: Some say you set a bad example to the youth?

CroCop: That is bullshit. My example is that if you set your mind to it,you can do anything!
I can say that my sport has more honour and respect that in any other sport or other
aspects of life! There are things that I dont like to watch such as piano concerts
or opera, and still I dont undermine the effort that these people invest! Probably
they dont like to see a blood and fighting in the ring and thats their choice!

 

[Manji]

Pride Bushido....

Also wanted to add that I saw Pride Bushido for the first time a couple of weeks ago....

It was the one before the last one; I think it might have been Bushido 7.

I was very impressed. Intially, I thought Bushido was going to be more a grappling oriented tournament (the first few had a shit load of Gracies and grapplers participating in them) but Bushido 7 was very even and there were a huge amount of knockouts.
Also; there were a lot of fights in the tournament and I think Pride packed it with fights to draw viewers in....

It seems that Bushido may Pride's new platform for showcasing the lighter weights such as the lightweight division and the light middleweight (might be called welterweight) division.

Highly recommend Pride Busido to anybody who likes (or loves) watching Mixed Martial Arts (or fight sports in general).

The next Pride Bushido may be in the Grand Prix format for the two lighter divisions....

 

[Manji]

What happened to all the Mixed Martial Arts fans on TERB?

Only 38 viewings and no posts (mine don't count) while WWE Summerslam has 326 viewing and 17 posts.

That's not right!!!!

 

[Choron]

the UFC last weekend was pretty good... Chuck embarassed Jeremy Horn...

For 3 rounds, Horn took beatings... was near KO'ed twice...

Pride is going to be awesome

WAtch out for Cro Cop and Wanderlei Sylva

Peace,
G

 

[Manji]

Missed UFC last Saturday night....

Heard about Horn and the Iceman....
Chuck fought and intelligent fight and made sure that he kept it standing up and didn't play the ground game with Horn (who is the superior ground fighter)....

Wasn't too surprised...
Checked out Horn's stats before the fight and saw that the only major fighter that Horn has beat has been Chuck (and that was early in Lidell's career)... Anybody else who was considered/ranked a high level fighter has defeated Horn...

 

[Manji]

Three more days.....

(Trying to keep this thread alive)

When the greatest fight in Mixed Martial Arts happens... don't say I didn't warn you....

(And if it doesn't happen, "Sorry bout that!"

 

[dunkula]

I think Cro-Cop will beat Fedor. Ajde Mirko !

 

[Manji]

What the....?
Somebody actually replied!?!?!?


Took you long enough, Kat....


Where the hell is everybody else?

My picks....

Starting off with the fight of the millenium....
Crocop versus Fedor.....
Like them both but will go with Crocop... I think his speed and reach (and his sprawl) will give him the edge.
Though if Fedor should take him down then it could be the whole Crocop vs Nog scenario all over again.
Crocop by Knockout (though on the ground it will be Fedor by "armbar")

The middleweight final....
It will be Silva that takes it... And I think it will be a Shogun and Silva Chutebox Showdown.... To quote Silva, "There will be violence!"

Yoshida over Tank by submission of course....

Nakamura over Vovachanchyn... by submission

Less than 24 hours to go.... I cannot wait!!!!

 

[Rounder]

Well, I lost my PPV events on my FTA satellite on Friday, so all I can do is hope to watch it on tape. Crocop is my favourite fighter, but I think Fedor will beat him.

On another note. What a clinic put on by George St Pierre last weekend. He made Trigg look like a second class fighter, which is ironically what Trigg called St Pierre.

Somebody please post the Pride results ASAP.

 

[Manji]

Warning: Spoiler......

Since you asked nicely, Rounder.....Here are the results....

In the order of the fights....

Nakamura Unanimous Decision over Vovchanchyn

Arona Unanimous Decision over Silva

Shogun TKO (Finished with the Ground and Pound) over Overeem

Yoshida TKO (Rear choke with the Gi) over Tank Abbot

Werdum TKO (Armbar) over Zetsov

Fedor (Unanimous Decision) over Cro-cop

Shogun TKO (Hammer Fists) over Arona

Definitly another satisfying Pride.....

Fedor has proved that he is the man....This fight has perhaps has underlined the fact that Fedor may be the best Mixed Martial Artitist in the Heavyweight class in MMA history.

A man who proved in this fight that he is a versatile fighter; a technical fighter, an extremly tough fighter, a superbly physical fit figher and a tactical and thinking fighter.

This man had a game plan and used it effectivly against Crocop. Emelianko always pressed the action and gave Crocop no room to mount an effective attack. I have never seen Crocop give so much ground to anyone. Any strikes that Crocop threw were either instantly returned by Fedor or checked/dodged.

Crocop was gassed by the end of second so I was a bit disappointed that there wasn't as much stand up striking in the last half of the fight. But I guess you can't have everything.....

 

[Manji]

Will post more tomorrow.....

Anybody else want to post their post-fight reviews and comments?

 

[Dr F]

Fedor is SCARY!!

Silva disappointed me.

Shogun is the future of 205lb fighting in the world.

I would love to see UFC feed Arlovsky to Fedor (UFC heavyweights are boring anyways) and have pride send Silva or Rua to fight Liddel.

After buying my first Pride FC PPV I am surprised to say I prefer Goldberg/Rogan over Mauro/Bas in commentary.

-F out

 

[2 Swift]

Pride may be coming to America! I heard that they are scoping out California. As much as I love the UFC I believe Pride is the #1 organization in the world. The talent pool is not only more international in it's nature but is also much deeper. The reason may be they offer more money to their fighters. Another thing I like about PRIDE are the crowds are much larger, seem more appreciative and seem to be more respectful of the action. In Japan if you are a fighter you are treated like a star. If you walk through the streets in Japan you are like a movie idol. Here in North America you might not even be recognized.(things are changing though with the reality show TUF)

I could be wrong but sometimes when I scan the crowd at a UFC match there seems to be a lot of yahoos in the crowd. I'm all for excitement and showing your support. However I would bet that some of those people have no idea of the skills and techniques reguired in MMA.

Much respect to PRIDE and the UFC! Hope the sport becomes huge here!

#1 fan of the purest and best sport in the world!

 

[Manji]

Its true....

Pride is coming to America....
The California Athletic Commision has allowed Pride to bring it fights to its state (meaning that all the rules and regulations of Pride will be allowed in Pride Fights in California).

Also, at the end of yesterday's event; a rep from FoxSports announced that FoxSports will be showing Pride Events on its channel.

You got to love the Japanese fans for their respect and knowledge of the game. In the States, when the fighters start to grapple, most of the fans start booing and yelling dumbass comments.

In Japan, the fans clap (politely) when they see a takedowns, reversals or an attempted submissions.

The Ultimate Fighter has sort of screwed up public perception of UFC's fighters in that the participants of the reality show are more widely recognized than some of the more legit and proven UFC fighters.

The avergae Joe probably knows who Chris Leban is (the crying dumbass who pissed on another contestant's bed) then Andrei Arlovski (current UFC heavyweight champ - I think) or George St Pierre (Welterweight contender).

 

[Manji]

Fedor is SCARY!!

Silva disappointed me.

Shogun is the future of 205lb fighting in the world.

I would love to see UFC feed Arlovsky to Fedor (UFC heavyweights are boring anyways) and have pride send Silva or Rua to fight Liddel.

After buying my first Pride FC PPV I am surprised to say I prefer Goldberg/Rogan over Mauro/Bas in commentary.

-F out

Silva was disappointing but it could have been that Arona had studied Silva and devised and proceeded with a game plan that stymied Silva's power and aggressiveness. Arona really demonstrated how strong he was by standing up with Silva in his guard and still raining some punishing blows to Silva....

Anybody catch Arona trash talking to Silva right at then end of the second round? Silva wasn't too happy with that....Sort of looked like he was trying to tell Arona that he had won and didn't have to be prick about it....

Also Arona was arguing with Pride Officials after his loss to Shougn? Anybody know what that's about?

SHougn is definitly the man to beat but he will still have to fight Silva for the Middleweight Tiltle...

Have not seen enough of Arlovsky but chances are Fedor "The Russian Experiment" will smoke him....

Can't stand Rogan...
They got to find someone better....Rogan and his comments just makes the sport of MMA appear so lowbrow....

Mauro is kind of a dink but he does keep the conversation going with Bas and he also has put some effot to try to study the sport....
Bas is the man.... Good to hear commentary from a guy who has fought and won in MMA.....and he's kind of funny too for a Dutchman...

 

[Manji]

Correction (or Update)

It turns out that the California Athletic State Commision has voted against allowing Pride to hold its fights in its state.
The rules and regs of Pride such as the 10-5-5 round system, allowing Gis and Wrestling shoes in the rings and probably allowing kicks and knees while the opponent on the ground were aspects of Pride that the Commision did not agree with....

Kind of shitty.....
Looks like Dana White (President of the UFC) will be breathing a little easier.....

 

[Rounder]

Thanks for posting the results. I just saw it on tape tonight.

First of all, there is no doubt in my mind that Pride is superior to UFC. I like Arlovsky, but Fedor would eat him alive. In my opinion, Fedor is the greatest heavyweight that I've seen and I've watched MMA since the second UFC PPV.

He controlled the ring with Crocop and always had him on the retreat. Usually Crocop is the one doing the stalking. It was a brilliant strategy. To bad we didn't see more stand up. Both fighters are so explosive that you just knew the fight could end in the blink of an eye.

Personally, I wasn't that surprised to see Silva lose. He hadn't been his dominating self in the previous few fights. The last fight he had, the Japanese fighter was standing toe to toe with him and doing quite well, until he took off his gee in the middle of the fight and got caught by a right hand.

The results of the tournament provide us with some interesting matchups in the middleweight division between Arona, Silva and Shogan.

What the hell is Tank Abbott doing fighting in pride. You just knew it wouldn't take long for Yoshida to end it.

Also, count me in as a member of the Bas Rutten fan club. It's nice to have such a knowledgable former fighter give us his views.

Another outstanding Pride event and with the Bushido tournaments coming up, there will be more to come.

 

[I*heart*BBBJJs]

I can't believe I missed Pride on Sunday. I didn't even get punch drunk from my fight the night before to forget about it. At least my friend and my coach taped it, so I can catch it later this week.

Part of the reason why I prefer Pride over UFC is that the Japanese fans create a better atmosphere than the Americans. No matter who wins or loses, the Japanese fans will always show respect for someone who shows heart in the ring. Even if that fighter is beaten to a bloody pulp in the opening round, if he refuses to submit and forces the ref to stop or takes a KO, the Japanese fans respects the fighter for showing up in the first place.

I never liked the know-it-all attitude, thus has a right to critique and boo that's all too common with American fans in the UFC.

 

[Manji]

I never liked the know-it-all attitude, thus has a right to critique and boo that's all too common with American fans in the UFC.

I think the problem with the UFC fans is that they are a bunch of drunk middle class yahoos who probably got free tickets to see the show from the Casino that hosts the event.


These fans (or spectators is probably a better word to use) have no understanding of the game and the fighters... On top of it all they are drunk out of their minds and just lusting for blood....these kind of people are the type of fans that Mixed Martial Arts does not need....