Pride GP Final

Pride Grand Prix 2003 – Final Round

Tokyo Dome

Sunday 9 November 2003

Report by Nikuraba, pictures by Roland Fabre of kakuto.com

This is the big one for mma. One thing a fight fan in Japan can always rely on is a steady increase in quality cards as the year draws to a close. Next month it’ll be K-1 putting out its card of the year, but tonight was all about Pride and it was a blistering effort that will really give the visiting UFC supremo Dana White something to think about.

It was a night of revelation. There were 5 answers provided to 5 compelling questions. To save the lazier readers the effort of scanning the whole report, here’s the answers in the order we learned them:

It was a lively atmosphere and an unusual collection of mma dignitaries in the house, even for a show of Pride’s calibre. I saw BJ Penn wandering around the electronics district with a bunch of other caullie-eared Hawaiians pre-show. Dana White was backstage with a ton of UFC people, including Randy Couture. The Hammerhouse was in force, including Coleman and Wes Simms. Alistair Overeem was here, with a big bandage over his left eye, and Fedor was tramping about in too- tight blue deniums. And so on and so forth. As usual, Vanderlei’s pre-show introduction shook the roof off the dome and Cro Cop’s wasn’t far behind. Chuck was presented as a UFC ‘invader’ so he got a muted heel reception despite the obvious respect the fans hold him in.

Fight One – Dan Bobish vs Gary Goodridge

More than all other sports, fighting is psychological. Hear me out on this one. When you’re on the football pitch, you have your teammates to pull you through a tough spot. You’ve got a manager who can sub you. A physio to kiss you better after that tackle that never hit you anyway. And you’ve usually got just a small role in the grand scheme of the match. There’s no real concept of ‘bottling it’ in a football match. Maybe on a penalty, but not over the 90 minutes. Fighting is a different kettle of fish. You don’t ‘play’ fighting. If you lose, you lose and you get beat up. There’s nobody to carry you through the match, so if you don’t have what it takes you’ll get found out sooner rather than later. That’s why so many of us love mma, boxing, K-1 or whatever other sport involves two guys locking horns and having a good tussle. Fighters have heart.

Dan Bobish, however, does not. I like to analyse fighting more than is probably healthy and here’s Nikuraba Maxim Number 23: ‘Big fighters rarely learn the skills’. And another relevant nugget of wisdom (number 67): ‘All big guys will eventually run into someone who can hit back, and then they are crushed under the weight of adversity’. Such with ‘The Bull’ tonight.

He’s a big, big man. Put him next to Bob Sapp and you’ve got half the All Black’s pack weight. For most of his career that size is all he needed. It sent Brian Johnston running backwards first time he got him, and kayoed a whole string of no-hopers. But first time Kevin Randleman hit him back (UVF 4 in Brazil) he quit. When Jimmy Ambriz hit him back he quit. And surprise surprise when Gary Goodridge hit him it was another ‘no mas’. And I’d picked him to win too…..

He started well, in great shape and coming out behind a stiff jab then tried a head-down rush (takedown is too artistic a term), like he was sacking a quarterback. Goodridge moved off to the side punching and repelled it. As they reset in ring centre, Goodridge throws a jab, scoring high on the Bull’s face. A finger, thumb, knuckle or something catches and Bobish immediately steps back, wincing and putting his right glove up high in protection. As he backs off, in distress, he’s too worried about his eye and not paying attention to the straight right hand that crashes into his jaw. And for all his limitations, nobody ever said Goodridge can’t bang. Things go all south for the big man and he turns his back, lost in a world of self-pity. Goodridge follows up and nails him into the mat with a flurry reminiscent of Lewis-Golota, and there are more parallels between the two fights than I care to draw. Then its over.

Gary Goodridge by rsf 1RD 0:18

SFUK verdict: In Dan’s defense, there’s no doubt his eye got twanged. It was visibly swollen before he left the ring and badly discoloured when I saw him backstage. But most fighters don’t give up after a few whacks from a guy 70lbs lighter. I didn’t think Goodridge was still capable of pulling a shock but he’s given even more mileage to his remarkably long career.

Semi-final 1 – Quinton Jackson vs Chuck Liddell

When this pair of top-5 fighters squared off there was another larger battle going on in the background. This was Pride vs UFC and everyone in the arena knew it. Dana White had taken the unprecedented step of assembling a dream team coaching environment for the Iceman and brought a bunch of UFC guys to Tokyo in support. Chuck was decked out in a UFC shirt and had the UFC music for his ring walk. Real good for business on both sides. UFC get the exposure in Japan and Pride get a legitimate ‘invasion’ angle. A win-win situation then. Rampage was my pick for the GP, once Arona pulled out. I figured that for all of Chuck’s great chin, punch and takedown defence, Rampage has the same and better. And so it proved.

Chuck got off to a flyer., pumping out a steady stiff jab then moving off to the side. Rampage couldn’t get past it at all and looked confused on the outside. Liddell kept moving, then started dropping in occasional right hands and kicks to add variety. But the more he did it, the more he started dropping the left on its way back to base. To quote Max Schmelling, Rampage ‘see’d something’ and instead of continuing to cover up and eat the jab, he started launching wild rights over the top of the retreating jab. That works a treat and rocks Liddell several times, sending him scurrying backwards, but for the most part his chin is equal to the test and its back to tap-tap-tap with that jab. Rampage is being worn down by the sheer volume of leather he stops with his nose so it’s a close, intriguing fight. In fact its exactly the type of fight I like to watch: two well-matched, good quality fighters, dukeing it out in a tactical battle.

Every now and then Rampage wants to lock up and take it to the mat but Liddel easily shrugs him off every time. Eventually the accumulation of right hands, and maybe even the psychological pressure of having a guy incessantly walking you down, wears down Liddell and Rampage can impose his will. He’s getting better and better at receiving the shots on his forearms and countering.

Eventually they are clinched in the corner and, back to the ropes, Rampage lands a sweet combo to send Liddell across the ring. He tries to slam and would’ve got it if Chuck hadn’t grabbed the ropes. But he gets a takedown anyway and forces Liddell to turtle. After absorbing a hard knee to the ribs the Iceman regains his feet and they are boxing again. Liddell looks all done and is dropped by a jab that lands just as he’s winding up his own right hand. Again he shows remarkable recuperative powers but the Force is not with him tonight. 10-9 Rampage.

Liddell is glassy-eyed and slack-jawed coming out for round two, looking like a redneck after an afternoon on the moonshine and technically he’s coming apart. Not only are his punches dropping on their way home, but he’s starting to leave his left out there until the right is ready to go. Bad, bad technique but considering how tough the first round was, its quite understandable. Rampage takes over and slams him down. Then a long, savage g’n’p is laid upon the UFC representative and he’s just too tired to resist it. Eventually the ref figures enough is enough, though Chuck looks like he could keep sponging it for a good while longer.

Quinton Jackson by rsf 2RD 3:10

SFUK verdict: This fight was everything we thought it would be and while Rampage showed he was just that little bit better in every department, Liddell showed plenty to suggest he’s still in that quintet of hot middleweight fighters. Most of us wondered what would happen to Rampage when the adrenalin wore off and the injuries make themselves known. After this tough fight, I started to think Dan Henderson was gonna win another tourney.

Semi-final two – Vanderlei Silva vs Hidehiko Yoshida

I wasn’t the only one believing there would be truth of a Smirnoff bottle clarity after this fight was over. I’ll happily admit that I’m in the ‘Yoshida is a fraud’ camp. He didn’t beat Royce, and the other 3 guys fell over for him, as far as I’m concerned. So *takes on a Viz letterbocks voice* imagine my surprise when Yoshida proved himself to be the real deal. Not the second coming of Jigoro Kano, and not the guy who rescues judo from its ‘dance of the foot fairies’ rep, but he is a real fighter with real skills and real heart. Vanderlei still kicked the shit out of him though.

All the Japanese fans knew this fight wasn’t the same as what went before, if only because Silva was a far bigger threat than the likes of Tamura and Satake. All through the build up and all through his previous *cough* matches, Yoshida has projected an air of confident, relaxed calm. We probably disagree on whether that calm was due to contract stipulations. He was certainly shitting bricks this time as he walked to the ring but he made a passable attempt at holding Vanderlei’s stare. Vanderlei was confident, having already bitched a judo silver medallist and now looking to go one better.

Yoshida is hurt early by the first time Silva throws and then all hell breaks out as Yoshida tries to grab. He can push the champ into his own corner, lock up behind his knees and put the ape-like one on the mat just thirty seconds in. Suddenly it looks like he might not be carried from the ring afterall and the crowd are sensing upset. Silva shows a good guard and even rolls into an armbar. He’s immobilised the arm pretty well but Yoshida sees it in time and isn’t in too much trouble, using Silva’s shoulders to sweep the mat as he drives him to the ropes. His hands keep reaching forwards for the Ezekiel choke and Silva is fearful of it, keeping his head rooted to the mat and both hands inside Yoshida’s at all times. There’s a proper little battle going on over Silva’s chest for those smart enough to see it (i.e. me). As Yoshida is looking to pass, Silva is handed a pretty easy triangle, so much so I think it might’ve been given to bait Silva into opening guard. Certainly Yoshida doesn’t let Silva hook his leg in tight and he’s pretty patient in there. He passes and draws a roar of approval from the crowd. Silva doesn’t hand around and turtles, rises holding a single leg and then wins top position. The expected onslaught is nullified by expert arm control from the Olympian and the friction of his gi. He also offers enough threat of chokes and arm bars to keep Silva honest. The axe murderer soon has enough of that and stands up, electing to kick the downed man’s legs till the ref restarts it.

Once more Yoshida is able to make judo work in real life, executing a sweet hip throw to kesagatame and then a weak neck crank that is so unlikely to work you’d think he’d been training with Tim Catalfo. Silva recovers guard before the bell, after briefly trying to slip around the back, and so ends a good close round. And those last three words are ones I never expected to use together in describing this. 10-10

Round two is a different fight. Silva is no longer accepting the clinch in order to land knees. Now he’s pushing off or sprawling, which plays to his strengths far better. He lands a couple good punches then blocks a takedown with a front headlock. He digs a knee into the top of Yoshida’s head and another one as he rises. Yoshida is smart enough not to do stay in a judo turtle under these rules. He shrugs it off, and as he stands up with lumps all over his face and blood dripping from an open mouth he suddenly looks like a real fighter and I find my opinion of him changing for the better. Silva continues to throw down and Yoshida slugs with him. Not because he wants to, but because direct tackles aren’t working anymore so he has to set them up with punches. We have been waiting all match for the inevitable ‘Vanderlei gets caught and dropped’ spot that is as predictably part of his matches as his staredown. It nearly happens now, as cuffs him about the ears twice in succession and forces him into the corner. He manuoevres into a good throw position but the ropes are between Silva and is path to the mat so he can stay upright and slip to Yoshida’s back. He doesn’t hang around and moves off into striking range, giving Yoshida a kick up the arse on the way.

Now the ring psychology hurts the match. Yoshida is running low on confidence and blood, so he wants to stay back for a while. Silva nearly learned the hard way about Yoshida’s grappling, so he’s not about to steam in. So they look at each other for a while. Yoshida knows the match is slipping away from him and takes the plunge. A solid knee to the face stops his momentum and Silva then grabs his gi sleeve with the right and whacks him with the left kick and left punch. Yoshida rolls to a desperation kneebar, surrendering half mount but getting out of the danger zone nonetheless. He even reverses to top position before the bell, as Vanderlei didn’t quite beat all the fight out of him. 10-8 Silva.

Vanderlei Silva by unanimous decision after two rounds

SFUK verdict: Absolutely no doubt about the decision. Don’t let the shock of Yoshida making it competitive blind you to Silva being more effective on all counts. Yoshida did get the takedown, a pass, and a throw in round one, but at no point did he dominate or come anywhere near a submission. He also got in very little attrition. Silva was breathing hard but unmarked. In contrast, when Silva was on the bottom he was mostly in neutral position and the two times he was sidemounted / kesagatemed he didn’t stay there long and reversed. He also came closest to a sub with the arm bar (not that it was that close) and won the standup by a huge margin. His dominant second round put it beyond doubt. But for all that, Yoshida left the ring with far more credibility as a warrior than all his previous *cough* wins combined. He’s the real deal and a definite danger to anyone he fights.

Fight Four – Murillo Bustamante vs Dan Henderson

I don’t like to see two of my favourite and most respected fighters share a ring, cos one of them has to lose. And when they lose like Busta did tonight, you really wish the fight hadn’t happened. He was a whopping 200lbs for this one, but Dan still looked bigger. They started tentative, Busta looking like an amateur boxer while Hendo had his chin tucked and was looking for the same head-down right hand that wrecked Shungo Oyama.

Busta dived in on a double leg and Dan shrugged him off, just as you’d expect an Olympic-level wrestler to do. But what happened next was very out of character and that same planetary alignment will likely never happen again. Busta overbalanced and wanted to sit back into a spider guard, getting his head out of trouble much like the Brazilian Top Team do on failed tackles. As he did so Dan followed him with a hard one-two. They were fast, accurate and had the look of a guy who’s expecting his opponent to be in precisely that position and has trained to deal with it. Hence it was only a mild shock that they cracked Busta high on the jawline and sent him backwards quicker than he was already trying to move. The next bit was hard luck on the Brazilian’s part. He’d barely gotten 45 degrees down when the ropes checked his movement. Dan was still punching and without those extra couple of feet distance, the already stunned Busta was an easy target. He got drilled with several good venomous shots and they had him listing to his port (or is it starboard) side, the corner of where Buzzed Avenue meets Queer Street. He tries to clinch a double leg and bury his head into Dan’s thighs but the referee is already moving in to stop it, having reacted to Busta going down rather than coming back up.

Dan Henderson by rsf 1RD 0:53

SFUK verdict: I, for one, was shocked at how this ended. I knew Henderson would win (in as much as these things can be known) but this had ‘tough close decision’ written all over it. It’s bad to see a fighter of Busta’s calibre reduced to a punchbag. I’m not questioning the stoppage. It was legit.

Fight Five – Heath Herring vs Norihisa Yamamoto

Some fighters are just plain overrated and Herring is one of them. After racking up a bunch of wins by simply outweighing his opponents, Heath relocated to Holland and sharpening up what were frankly sloppy skills. He came on leaps and bounds, putting together a fantastic win streak against Kerr, Erikson, Inoue and Vovchanchyn. Closer analysis shows the first two guys collapsed under adversity and the last two were well out-sized, but good solid wins nonetheless. Then came Nogueira, Fedor and Crocop. All memorable beatings for the likeable Texas boy, the latter two being shockingly one-sided. So there is now the big Heath Herring question: was he really a top five guy? To be generous, let’s postpone the question till after his next fight cos he was awful tonight.

He charged out and was rolled over nicely by the much-improved Yamamoto, but he rode it and they both ended up standing in the corner. Yamamoto hangs on to a guillotine that’s tight enough to stop Herring getting his arm through for a good two minutes. But once through, he pops out and they swing their arms in the general direction of each others’ faces for a while. Its no aesthetic masterpiece. Yamamoto holds his own and suddenly makes his grappling count, taking Herring down, taking his back, taking full mount, taking the back again, and taking pretty much everybody by surprise. Herring reverses but not before shipping some punishment and looking a bit green. He’s lethargic and looks like the Fedor and Crocop beatings are too recent a memory. He wills himself back into contention but its not something you’ll be watching twice. 10-10

Yamamoto gets a double leg soon after the bell and Herring just lies there like an old whore waiting to be mounted. He stirs a while later and bridges, but narrowly avoids giving the back and does manage to give up side mount. Yamamoto is fighting like its ADCC until Herring can squirm, base and get to his feet. That’s about the time I doze off. I reckon Yamamoto took the round 10-9 but it didn’t do him any good cos Heath choked him the next round, while I was taking a piss (though the two events are unrelated).

Heath Herring by rear naked choke 3^RD

SFUK verdict: Fighters, fans and promoters will all want to forget this ever happened so lets go along with the conspiracy.

Fight Six – Kazushi Sakuraba vs Kevin Randleman

Sak is doing a Super Mario gimmick now. The big screens flashed with mushrooms and beeped with video game noises, then the man himself came out decked in a Saddam tash and red cap. A rousing reception. Like most people, I expected Kevin to punch right through the smaller Japanese legend and expose him as thoroughly shot. I’d go so far as to say this match should never have been made as the weights and styles match up so bad for Sak. Randleman looked as superhuman as ever and they both received flowers from Randy Couture. And no, that’s not his way of saying ‘gee, I love you’. In Japan its very normal for a dignitary to present flowers before a big fight, and fighters (indeed men in general) don’t come any more dignified than ‘the natural’.

So while I was hoping my all-time favourite Japanese fighter was gonna get lucky (which in this context had nothing to do with winning, of which he had no chance, and everything to do with not getting bashed into a coma) I should have been recalling some fight memories. Memories like when Kevin fought Rizzo for the title and they both sleepwalked through 5 rounds of nothing. Or when a similar non-fight happened with Pete Williams. On an off night, Randleman can be a very inactive fighter but I’d forgotten that in light of his win over Ninja and war with Rampage. Memories like when Sak beat the *cough* phenom Vitor Belfort when he should’ve been destroyed. Or Conan, or going those 15 minutes with a prime Vovchanchyn. Or tapping Rampage. Much to the delirious, unrestrained joy of his 65,000 compatriots, Sakuraba was about to give up a history lesson. And that lesson is that even a broken down Sakuraba can beat Randleman when Sak is on form and Kevin isn’t.

It started odd and for three rounds the crowd were hushed quieter than the patrons of that pub in American Werewolf in London. It was a compelling match despite nothing happening for large periods. Like how it felt watching Frank Bruno whip Oliver McCall in another inactive match – not quite believing your eyes and all the time thinking that one punch is gonna ruin it for you hero. And when that punch never comes, the final bell rings and there’s that huge release of pent up tension into a roar of joy. I remember being in a pub with 200 others for Bruno’s best night. Now imagine exactly the same atmosphere but with 65,000 people. Words don’t do justice to what it was like to be in Tokyo Dome this Sunday night.

So they start cautious and not throwing a thing. Randleman switches stance and Sak is a whisker away from nailing him with a lead left inbetween. Randleman rushes in and Sak gives his back, obviously looking for the double wristlock and neatly protecting that fragile jaw. Randleman breaks off and flurries into a single leg, tripping his opponent neatly and taking an inside cradle. Its still inactive and neither guy is really punching. Very, very tactical, which in my book is the wrong fight for a guy with Randleman’s advantages. They battle for hand control and Sak still wants that wristlock but he’s not getting anywhere near it. Kevin is respectful of the submission threat and if there’s one thing that loses him the fight its that. He’s been spooked by something and just won’t let his hands go.

Sak has abandoned his old take-a-shot-to-get-the-hold approach of old and is carefully protecting his chin. Randleman is keeping his own right hand glued to his eyebrow, anticipating the high left kick. When Sak finally pushes the action, he gets pushed over and uncharacteristically pulls guard. We know Sak and we know he’s not gonna just sit there and sure enough his legs are soon climbing to triangles and armbars. Randleman goes into a shell, partly because Sak is doing a great job of breaking his posture and partly cos he’s just plain spooked. The referee is fairly lenient on the Japanese legend, not doing any of the hussling that foreign fighters suffer. 10-10 (or 0-0 really)

Sak gets caught rushing in chin-up and dropped on his arse. Lucky for him the punch was more like a push and less like the heavy hooks Randleman normally throws. Still, for a fleeting second 65,000 people gasp. Randleman stays off him and is even faked out by a takedown, taking the feint and sprawling over fresh air. The split second he drops his right hand he gets nailed by the left kick. Its clean but Crocop isn’t fighting till later so he takes it fine and pushes Sak over again. Again Sak rides his legs high into a loose triangle and again Randleman declines the offer to pass. 10-10

On my card Randleman needs a big round cos the judges will be leaning towards Sak. He gets a good grip round the waist and hoists Sak up high. The little guy rolls with it, very smoothly I might add, and is on his feet chasing the double wristlock. His grip is good enough to force Randleman to headspring over ahead of the pressure. Sak keeps the arm (showing real class) and immediately tries an armbar over the top. Randleman has absolutely no idea how to defend it and is rolled over and finished.

Kazushi Sakuraba by submission 3RD 2:36

SFUK verdict: The crowd reaction reflects not just joy that their boy won, but jubilation that the losing streak is behind him and sheer disbelief he could do it. But it was Sak’s fight all the way through. Randleman has to be kicking himself. He was a shadow of his usual self.

Fight Seven – Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs Mirko Filopevic

I’ll admit it, my faith in Nogueira has been shaken since Fedor owned him and Crocop started showing he’s got what it takes in mma. Not shaken so much that he drops out my top two, but enough that I couldn’t say the words ‘Oh, Nog will sub him’ with any confidence. But I figured he’d flurry into a clinch, hug tight, and buttflop to guard. Once there he’d find a way to sub Crocop. Really, I did. But I didn’t expect him to take a hellacious beating to do so. Here’s how it went down.

First off, let me remind you what six months of Crocop nuthugging on the internet might have obscured – Nogueira is the most respected fighter in Japan. Not ifs, no buts. Not the most popular, that’s reserved for Sapp, Sak, Yoshida and Vanderlei in that order. But everyone who follows Pride exudes respect for the quite-talking Brazilian who always looks like he’s physically outmatched. His first appearance on the big screen drew applause of genuine affection so it was easy to figure out who was heel and who was babyface in this drama. He looked every inch the superstar on his ringwalk. For his part, Crocop has the post picturesque highlight reel in mma and he looked every inch the destroyer as he padded down the ramp. Fedor give flowers and a speech. Then Takada wanted a go. Then the national anthems (they’d sneakily stripped the champ, as if this fight needed a belt to make it important). And then finally the tension turned up a notch higher than Sakuraba had managed. To me, this was all about the takedown. If they stand, Crocop by kayo, no question. If they roll, Nogueira by sub, no question.

Straight away Nogueira shows the ringcraft that will win him the match. He circles to his left, away from the vaunted Crocop high kick. That one thing there makes all the difference. Its something of a paradox, but at the highest level (and you can’t get higher than these two) fighting can be a very simple activity. And this fight was all about one thing: Crocop is unwilling to throw anything from his right hand side, and therefore everything that comes from the left is over-extended and loses half its power before it lands.

Crocop stalks cautiously, as is his normal demeanour. Nog toys with a few lead rights then pounces, hugging and buttflopping like Mystic Meg here predicted. Crocop tries to pound his way back to his feet but Nog has locked up and grabbed the wrists with that insane grip of his. Crocop shows excellent posture and hand positioning to totally nullify Nogueira’s submission threat. He’s not as natural as Fedor was, but he’s doing the same things and staying safe the same way, only without the incessant punching. Crocop looks like he’ll ride it out till the ref stands him up but is able to take it into his own hands anyway and gestures Nog to get up and follow him. He fires two left kicks, blocked, to let him know they are there and then a few more but Nog’s lateral motion takes the sting off them. Then Nogueira loses his mojo and the title starts its plane journey towards Croatia.

Three bad tackles from Nog, all badly set-up, and he’s eaten a bunch of kicks. Each time he rolled to his back and unlike Bustamante, he’s in ring centre and gets away with it. Crocop shows no inclination to meet him on the mat so Nogueira is forced to stand. A straight left breaks the ex-champs nose and Crocop is imposing his takedown defense. But he’s really selling himself short on the ringcraft. Rather than cut off the ring, he’s following Nog around ring-a-ring-a-rosie. And absolutely everything he throws is a homerun from his left side. There’s no variety, no combos, no jabs, no low kicks and none of the right hooks and right kicks that would discourage Noguiera from that successful anti-clockwise motion. Very, very bad strategy from such a top class fighter. I can only assume he’s been bitten by that kickboxing bug and fallen in love with his round kick. After winning almost every mma fight with one technique he’s become a depressingly one-dimensional fighter.

But he’s astonishingly good with that one dimension that he does have and finally, after 15 minutes of frustration he lands the homerun kick he’s been looking for all night. It crashes into Nogueira’s chin and a sharp follow-up right puts him down hard. Not out, but down hard. And just at that moment the bell ends the round and a radio call is patched to the pilot to change course for Brazil. 10-10

Roiund two is like an entirely different fight. Busta and Sperry have found Nog’s mojo and he’s suddenly a force to be reckoned with. He immediately shoots a quality double leg and Crocop just reacts too late, landing on his arse. In a flow of beautiful grappling, Nog is out to sidemount, straight over to full and then pounding away. Crocop doesn’t take it lying down, so to speak, and grabs tight and thrashes around. Nogueira patiently beats him down, careful not to overcommit and not risking a sub. He thinks about an arm triangle, the safest sub in the book, but Crocop is wise to it. Finally, Crocop has had enough down there and takes a risk. He bridges off and pushes his arms into Nog’s chest. Nog can’t help but get rolled over but he happily takes the arm on the way and secures a quick tap.

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira by submission 3RD

SFUK verdict: Just incase anybody missed the hints in the opening paragraph, here it is in plain English: Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira is the best fighter in the world. Skill is what won this fight, but it took tremendous heart, persistence and a well-formulated gameplan to get past that first round. And yes, the crowd went mental. There was more air-punching than at Monsters of Rock.

Final – Vanderlei Silva vs Quinton Jackson

Rampage is looking like he’s wanted this fight for a long long time but he’s pretty beat up from the stiff resistance Chuck Liddell put up. Silva is very fresh. They draw even on the staredown. In fact Rampage probably edges it in sheer novelty with his evil muthafucker snarl. On the bell he closes immediately underneath Silva’s defensive one-two and hoists him up. Silva is pretty smart and sinks a guillotine on the way up. Rampage is suddenly at a loss over what to do and just stands there, upright, with Silva half sitting on the top rope. So is it in? He sinks to his knees, briefly looking like he’s sleepy but then pops his head out so maybe he was okay all along. A g’n’p ensues but Silva is adept at hand control so the ref is calling action and then unfairly cards both guys. By then Silva had curled up to a close arm bar and eaten knees as Rampage passed to side mount, so its not like they were just laying there.

Ever since Igor drilled him and he kept coming, I’ve been a big believer in Rampage’s chin. That more than anything was what made me pick him for the tournament, and it got sorely tested in the next minute. He ducks low for a takedown and eats a well-timed knee. As he’s pulling his head back, Silva throws a wild one-two. Exactly the situation you see at every fight show and 95% of the time those punches swipe at fresh air. But this was Silva’s night and he had a lock-on system in his gloves (now you know why he always wins). Both shots crashed hard into Rampage’s chin and put him deeply on the defensive. Silva lept onto him and kneed brilliantly from a thai clinch. Yoshida must feel he dodged a bullet cos that was exactly what Silva had tried on him but failed. Knee after knee crunch up Rampage’s features. Quinton is doing everything right in that position. He’s getting his forearms in the way, moving around and hitting back when he can. But Silva is having the best 30 seconds of his career, comparable to that bizarre accuracy that Belfort laid on him years ago, and nearly everything lands clean and hard. Rampage is all at sea, but didn’t I mention he has a chin of granite? He keeps standing, keeps defending and even when he’s knocked on his arse and eats a football kick, he has the presence of mind to pick and ankle, rise and close the distance. Silva is punching now and its such a prolonged outburst by the Brazilian that there’s a serious risk of him punching himself out. I’m thinking ‘if he doesn’t put him away now, this fight is gonna turn’. But he does put him away, or at least the referee decides that giving Rampage the chance to comeback is outweighed by the tremendous punishment he’s absorbing. Quinton is stopped on his feet, stunned but fighting, and the ref’s momentum bowls him over and he realises he’s got no more reason to stand.

Vanderlei Silva by rsf 1RD 6:20

SFUK verdict: Vanderlei’s biggest win and no wonder he was in a blindingly good mood backstage. After a shaky start he showed a devastating offensive repertoire that was too much even for a guy of Rampage’s sturdiness. I’m not gonna dispute the stoppage. Fighter safety comes first, and Vanderlei was owning him at the end, but to me there’s still a ‘what if?’. Rampage’s comments will be instructive.

Overall it was a fantastic show from top to bottom with only the Herring-Yamamoto fight dirtying the bedsheets.

Match / Significance / Matchup / Entertainment / Workrate

Goodridge KO Bobish / D / B / C / C

Jackson KO Liddell / A / A / A / A

Silva UD Yoshida / A / C / C / A

Henderson KO Bustamante / A / A / C / C

Herring SUB Yamamoto / C / E / E / B

Sakuraba SUB Randleman / B / C / B / D

Nogueira SUB Filopevic / A+ / A+ / B / C

Silva KO Jackson / A+ / A+ / A / A

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