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« | Home | »

PRIDE 33

By Zach Arnold | February 24, 2007

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This an open post. Do running commentary, give thoughts on the event, etc. right here. Here’s some running commentary.

  1. Joachim Hansen defeated Jason Ireland in R3 by submission.
  2. Frank Trigg defeated Kazuo Misaki by unanimous decision (30-27 on all three score cards).
  3. James Lee defeated Travis Wiuff via submission in R1.
  4. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou defeated Antonio Rogerio Nogueira in R1 by KO.
  5. Hayato “Mach” Sakurai defeated Maz Danzig in R2 by KO.
  6. Sergey Kharitonov defeated Mike Russow in R1 by submission.
  7. Mauricio Shogun defeated Alistair Overeem in R1 by KO.
  8. Nick Diaz defeated Takanori Gomi in R2 with a gogoplata (called “feet choke” by the Japanese media).
  9. Middleweight Title Match: Dan Henderson defeated Vanderlei Silva in R3 by KO to win the title.

Topics: All Topics, Media, MMA, PRIDE, Zach Arnold | 117 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

117 Responses to “PRIDE 33”

  1. mose says:

    btw, did Silva appear to be carrying more bodyfat/less muscle than usual?

  2. Zach Arnold says:

    Dan Henderson, who as the 185-pound champion had no reason to be fighting the 205-pound champion Vanderlei Silva (and instead should have fought the rightful challenger to the 185-pound belt, Kazuo Misaki), just KO’d Vanderlei Silva (the guy who PRIDE made sure to market as the man that Chuck Liddell was afraid of to the point that the PRIDE 33 US ad had a voiceover saying Henderson was “the only American brave enough to save Silva.”).

    Harakiri is coming shortly.

  3. 123 Kid says:

    I will say… Despite that fact that Pride lost any credibility with hardcore fans (basically their entire fan base)…. The show was still unbelievable. It was horrible on paper, but turned out to be the best card to watch in the last few years.

  4. Tomer Chen says:

    The Thomas & Mack Center: PRIDE’s equivalent of the Eastern Parkway Arena (the “House of Upsets” that Teddy Brenner ran) in the 1950s, only without as many positive implications in terms of those upsets. None of these wins are really good for PRIDE in the long term.

  5. mose says:

    agreed.

    great show, very enjoyable.

  6. CapnHulk says:

    In what possible way can they spin any of this in Japan without losing face? Really?

    I doubt that, “They couldn’t juice!” will work.

  7. Tomer Chen says:

    So, I wonder if Henderson will be a dual champion in PRIDE or if he was forced to relinquish his 185 lb belt if he won like in Boxing since Henry Armstrong won 3 of the original 8 belts.

  8. PizzaChef says:

    To make fun of the logic of PRIDE’s most biased marks:

    Henderson lost to Rogerio. And Henderson juts beat Silva. Sokoudjou beat Rogerio. Hence he is better than Henderson and Silva 😛 lol

  9. Zach Arnold says:

    All you will hear from people tonight is how great this show was.

    Of course, in the process they completely ruined a lot of things to even run effectively in Japan once again.

  10. Zach Arnold says:

    Pizza – I’ll one up you. Kazuo Misaki beat Dan Henderson, who beat Vanderlei Silva, who beat Quinton Jackson, who beat Chuck Liddell. And Misaki has lost to Frank Trigg, therefore Frank Trigg > Chuck Liddell. Just staying consistent, that’s all.

  11. sprewell rimz says:

    well, at least Shogun can take the belt now.

  12. PizzaChef says:

    Oh well. At least we have Shogun vs. Henderson very soon.

  13. Tomer Chen says:

    Well, on the bright side (if there is any), I guess Shogun now has his chance to become the PRIDE MW (LHW) champion (although they will likely set up Silva-Henderson III instead).

    And Gomi now losing 2x in ‘Non title’ fights is ‘great’. My point on why champions should only be in title fights is further backed up.

  14. PizzaChef says:

    Zach wins by default. I’m out, lol.

  15. 123 Kid says:

    Shogun has been the uncrowned champion since August 2005.

    I completely disagree with world rankings, but if you have to:

    1. Chuck Liddell
    2. Mauricio Rua
    3. Dan Henderson
    4. Wanderlei Silva
    5. Quinton Jackson
    6. Ricardo Arona
    7. Tito Ortiz
    8. Renato Babalu
    9. Rashad Evans
    10. Keith Jardine

    I think we all know that Overeem and Nakamura don’t belong in there. They keep on losing.

  16. Rollo the Cat says:

    I don’t have the insight into the business some people here have but, I am not sure I get how the Silva loss is bad for Pride. Hendo is a Pride fighter and they can just claim that both Silva and Hendo can beat Chuck. Now if Dana snatches Hendo, that would be something.

    Anyway, I expect a Lil Nog rematch with Sokoudjuo. That is the only way for Nog to save his career right now.

    Shogun is a very hot property right now. He is young and on a roll and should be Dana’s first priority, even above the heavyweights.

  17. It was an exciting night of fights, that’s for sure! A complete train wreck for Pride matchmakers and their war against UFC but damn if it wasn’t an unpredictable and fun card to watch.

    Wanderlei looked very tentative tonight, I wonder if psychologically, the Crocop KO took something out of him? IMO, he’s been off since his loss to Mark Hunt. More and more, it looks like we’re seeing the downturn of one of the greatest fighters ever.

    Gomi…

    Misaki…

    Lil’ Nog

    Wow.

  18. 123 Kid says:

    Imagine Liddell losing to Anderson Silva, Nathan Marquardt, or Rich Franklin. There is a 20 lbs weight difference between weight classes. To lose with that big of a gap is an embarrassment. Especially when fans have been saying you are the #1 Light Heavyweight in the world.

    Little Nogueira still doesn’t have one big win besides Overeem. And I have always said Overeem is over rated. I am always surprise when people say how much he has done in the sport. He really hasn’t.

  19. Rollo the Cat says:

    You are correct about Overeem not belonging in the top ten, He hasn’t belonged there for many years. I have no idea where all the support for this guy was coming from. He is a gatekeeper at best.

  20. 123 Kid says:

    If you are the UFC, you go after Josh Barnett, Mauricio Rua, & Dan Henderson. That is all you need right now.

    It would give Pride only Fedor & Nogueira at Heavyweight. Not enough to build a division.

    Silva might be washed up. Little Nogueira’s stock is gone. Arona is not a necessary addition.

    Filho would be a bonus. Kang would be too. Misaki was a flash in the pan.

    With Sherk having a win over Diaz and Penn having a win over Gomi, the UFC doesn’t need any Pride Lightweights to show who is best.

  21. Kaiju says:

    Holy balls that entire show totally ruled. It’s too bad nobody in the US really cared about it and that Pride’s going to die. HO HUM.

  22. Tomer Chen says:

    If you are the UFC, you go after Josh Barnett, Mauricio Rua, & Dan Henderson. That is all you need right now.

    I’m not sure if the UFC is on good terms with Barnett, however, given the whole Randy Couture fight aftermath with the failed drug test (that he refused to acknowledge unlike Sylvia) and his past negative comments on the company. Then again, money does talk, but I think UFC may be pushing to get Big Nog and/or Fedor before Barnett.

  23. Rollo the Cat says:

    “Josh Barnett, Mauricio Rua, & Dan Henderson”

    100% agreement. Barnett is both exciting and marketable. Hendo is Captain America jr. ( I mean that positively, not in a diminutive sense), and of course Shogun is the present and future.

    I might add Zentsov as well. He has some all around skill and comes to fight.

  24. Zach Arnold says:

    I don’t have the insight into the business some people here have but, I am not sure I get how the Silva loss is bad for Pride. Hendo is a Pride fighter and they can just claim that both Silva and Hendo can beat Chuck. Now if Dana snatches Hendo, that would be something.

    I’ll elaborate on this more later on the site, but here’s the problem for PRIDE with this main event fight. Henderson had no real reason to fight Silva in the first place. This wasn’t a re-match that anyone was clamoring to see. And Henderson had come off an ugly decision loss to Kazuo Misaki last August. Now, there was your re-match that needed to happened. And it didn’t.

    Henderson is Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde. He’s “Dangerous Dan” in some fights and “Decision Dan” in others. He can be painfully inconsistent at times to watch. He doesn’t make a great 205-pound champion at all.

    As for Vanderlei Silva, he basically was the one high-priced fighter they paid for on this card. Their plan was for him to beat Henderson (an “American hero” in their eyes) and then set-up a challenge to Chuck Liddell. In fact, on Friday in the Japanese media they were playing up Silva at the weigh-ins calling out Liddell. So this entirely blows back in the face of PRIDE at home.

    For the people who sarcastically remark about PRIDE dying, the reality is that they are trying to run two home countries at once and hope something sticks. Japan has become completely hostile for them to run and this show did not help matters at all at home for them. They are stuck in a corner on a lot of facets.

  25. 123 Kid says:

    My point is that the # of fighters the UFC really needs to get from Pride is shrinking by the day. I see absolutely no point in trying to sign Silva anymore. Gomi either.

  26. Royal B. says:

    Rollo:

    I believe the correct name you’re looking for is US Agent.

  27. 123 Kid says:

    Wanderlei Silva is now 2-3 in his last 5 fights. And I thought he lost his second fight against Arona, which would make him 1-4.

  28. Royal B. says:

    I think Darth Molen can back me up on this.

  29. ajz123 says:

    Is anyone posting here knowledgeable about MMA? Seriously, you sound ridiculous. Can you not look at any of these fights simply as fights, and not what they mean for Pride’s standing in Japan and the USA? These were good fights, and it was a great show. If you can’t recognize this, what the heck are you watching it for?

  30. Royal B. says:

    The girls.

    MMA fans get the girls.

  31. 123 Kid says:

    The point made by the majority of these posts are very simple…..

    Many fans and rankings show that Pride is superior to the UFC. Just look at MMA Weekly’s Top 10 as an example. There are many more Pride fighters in the Top 10. Fighters like Nogueira neverhad a big win, but are ranked without question, yet UNDEFEATED fighters like Rashad Evans are not in there. Then they have Overeem & Nakamura, who constantly lose, but because they are in Pride, they are in there instead.

    This event was more then just fights. It was a breath of fresh air for the LEGIT FANS of the sport. It showed that Sean Sherk should NOT be ranked #10 in the world at Lightweight. That Wanderlei Silva has been over rated for a few years, now being 2-3 in his last 5 fights.

    I think we all enjoyed the great fights. I sure as heck did. The event was great. It also spawned the tale of the Pride truth. That they are losing fighters like Cro Cop & Werdum. And their top stars are getting beaten by fighters that are UFC mid level talent.

  32. ajz123 says:

    Please try harder to hide your UFC love. Overeem constantly fights upper level guys, and has a winning record overall. He won’t be in the top ten anymore though. Nakamura constantly loses? Really? Are you sure you are thinking about the right Nakamura? There are like 12 on the sherdog.com fight finder. Kazuhiro Nakamura is 11-6, and ALL his fights have been in Pride. Look at who he has fought, then compare that to Rashad. If you don’t think Nakamura is top ten, stop watching MMA. He is a stud and will be for a long time, wherever he fights.

    You make it seem like Silva is fighting cans. He just lost to Dan Henderson and Cro Cop. Jeez. Do these guys suck or something? His last “easy” fight was 3 years ago when he fought Minowa. And Silva fights a lot.

    Nick Diaz never was a mid level talent. He has always been a good fighter and his losses are against top guys. His win tonight now sets up a great rematch with Gomi for the belt. That will be huge in Japan.

  33. Why rankings mean anything to anyone is beyond me. It’s not ‘unfair’ to rank one fighter higher than one another, because truly, it doesn’t matter. At all. When fighters fight, that matters. A lot. If you’re talking about rankings after a night of fights like this, you are dumb. MMAWeekly? Who honestly gives a shit?

  34. Zach Arnold says:

    Please try harder to hide your UFC love. Overeem constantly fights upper level guys, and has a winning record overall.

    Overeem has not looked good in recent fights. We were all fortunate that Shogun took care of him in a short amount of time, otherwise Overeem had the potential to drag this to another decision.

    You make it seem like Silva is fighting cans. He just lost to Dan Henderson and Cro Cop.

    He lost to Dan Henderson, who lost to Kazuo Misaki and didn’t give the guy his re-match after the 8/26 Nagoya affair. Henderson had a lot to gain from this fight, while Silva didn’t have a ton to gain.

    Nick Diaz never was a mid level talent. He has always been a good fighter and his losses are against top guys. His win tonight now sets up a great rematch with Gomi for the belt. That will be huge in Japan.

    How will this be a ‘huge’ fight in Japan? PRIDE will be fortunate if 50,000-70,000 eyeballs in Japan saw this event. It’s on satellite PPV, not free TV. Only the hardest of the hardcore fans will have seen this event in Japan, and the reality is that Nick Diaz does not fly onto their immediate radar screen as a “UFC top class fighter.”

  35. Jordan Breen says:

    I hear somebody in here owes me royalties over a Turkey on a Pole reference.

  36. ajz123 says:

    Stop using MMA/sports math. It doesn’t always make sense and you can spin it anyway you want.

    If Gomi and Diaz fight again it will be in Japan. Gomi is still the champ. If he is still the champ when they rematch, Pride will play up the whole revenge angle and more will be on the line for Gomi. Even if the Japanese didn’t see this fight, don’t you think they will find out about it tomorrow morning? Diaz now will certainly be on their radar.

    The fact of the matter is, instead of seeing an absolutely great fight card, you saw business angles and controversy. Diaz and Henderson winning can be a great thing for Pride in America. Now they have two Americans who just beat 2 superstars in Japan. IF they play this right, it can be very beneficial to them.

  37. David says:

    Jerry Millen should be shot at close range.

    I saw several videos on sherdog in which he was saying how Dana White was scared to have Chuck fight Wanderlei (LOL), telling him to put up or shut up, etc etc, being all cocky for no reason. I have always thought Chuck would beat Silva because he hits harder, has a much better chin, and is better technically striking-wise. Now all of Pride’s talk about Liddell being scared looks all the more ridiculous, as Silva was KTFO by a guy who recently lost to a guy who just lost to a blown up 170 pounder who got stopped by the best guys at that weight! (I had to put in some mmath as a response to the video of Silva ko’ing Rampage followed by video of Rampage stopping Chuck)

    There is literally no sense to be made of the booking. Pride ruined their great Japanese hope at 183, Gomi got absolutely crushed by a guy who lost something like 4 UFC fights in a row, and lil Nog got sacrificed for no purpose at all to a guy coming off a loss in WEC.

    What happens with the belts now? Misaki surely doesn’t deserve a title shot after getting thoroughly dominated by a blown up 170 pounder, nobody in Japan cares about Trigg, and Henderson will probably defend the 205 pound belt before the 183 pound (to follow up on the momentum that he built tonight at 205), though in Pride fashion, he probably won’t have an actual defense for like a year. Meanwhile, Filho is the best fighter at 183 but he won’t get a title shot for a while, and may jump ship.

    I have no idea how they can build up divisions if the titles are being defended so infrequently. Is Henderson going to fight on every card? If he fights 3 times a year, how does the title picture possibly get sorted out considering he will be making probably 1 defense per year in each division…

    Great fights tonight, but like many of you I am skeptical of the long term rationale that went into the booking…

  38. Royal B. says:

    You’re gonna have to take my head first, Copper!

    And don’t be comin to my neck of the woods either. I can get my peeps to take lead on you for beer money!

  39. Royal B. says:

    WTF knows Hendo, ajz?

    Everybody knows him as a gloified loser on FSN (if they even saw Bushido).

  40. PizzaChef says:

    Here’s something else to piss off the PRIDE fans.

    Diego Sanchez beat Nick Diaz. Diaz beat Gomi. Therefore, Diego Sanchez is better than Takanori Gomi.

    HA

  41. soho says:

    Good old Zach Arnold and his PRIDE hatin’. He talks like he has all the answers for PRIDE.

    We all should start an “internetz petition” for him to be PRIDE’s new match maker. Instead he runs an insignificant web site that has links to blogs trying to pass it off as news.

  42. Royal B. says:

    soho’s just jelious that we got the lleves to speak our minds.

  43. Rollo the Cat says:

    Does anyone REALLY have knowledge on the Pride fighter’s contracts? Who is signed long term and who is a free agent?

  44. David says:

    For pure humor, I wish the Fedor-Lindland fight were to be held on a Pride show instead of Bodog, with Lindland winning via headkick KO.

    On a side question, how do your p4p lists look now?

    I gotta say:

    1. Fedor
    2. Henderson
    3. Liddell
    4. BJ Penn
    5. Mirko
    6. St Pierre
    7. Kid Yamamoto
    8. Big Nog
    9. Sherk
    10. Anderson Silva

  45. Ivan Trembow says:

    In response to the post directed towards me by 123 Kid— Thank you for the questions. I’m just speaking in generalities here because I don’t want to speak for the entire voting panel, but regarding the fighters from different organizations being ranked, are we supposed to only include UFC fighters? Or only Pride fighters? Or only fighters from any other single promotion? The main point of the rankings is that the top fighters from all around the world are ranked, regardless of which organization(s) they’re in.

    Also, the UFC vs. Pride issues that you bring up are not part of the deliberations in the rankings process, as we do not approach any rankings-related issue as, “Pride is better than the UFC because Fighter A beat Fighter B” or “The UFC is better than Pride because Fighter B beat Fighter A.” Every fighter is treated individually based in whatever weight class they’re currently in based on recent accomlishments (as in the past couple of months), career accomplishments (as in the past couple of years), and many other factors. “The UFC is better than Pride” or vice-versa is not one of those factors.

    Regarding Sean Sherk in particular, again I don’t want to speak for the entire voting panel, but the Sherk-Diaz fight was not a blow-out, and even if it had been a blow-out, it was a fight that took place at 170 pounds. As far as what they’ve accomplished at lightweight, Sherk has fought once and beaten Kenny Florian. Nick Diaz has fought once and beaten Takanori Gomi.

    As many of the subsequent posts in this comments section have pointed out, Fighter A having beaten Fighter B does not always necessarily mean that Fighter A deserves to be higher ranked. It often does, but that’s not the case 100% of the time.

  46. Jordan Breen says:

    “Now they have two Americans who just beat 2 superstars in Japan.”

    Takanori Gomi is a superstar in Japan? There’s a joke if I ever heard one.

  47. 123 Kid says:

    Some Pride fanboys just can’t let it go.

  48. ajz123 says:

    I meant it within the terms of MMA fans in Japan.

  49. ajz123 says:

    Are you an MMA fan or a UFC fan? Pathetically, there is a difference. If you are a UFC fan, all this makes sense. If you are a MMA fan, stop with all this UFC vs. Pride crap.

  50. Jordan Breen says:

    Also, while I don’t want to get into a tedious P4P debate, if your P4P list doesn’t include Gilbert Melendez (Top 3 at 141-145 and Top 3 at 154-161 is serious cred), your list needs a swift kick in the nuts.

    Also, Mach Sakurai taking apart another human being is still one of the best things in the entire sport.

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