6/23 Saitama Super Arena 22,586
Bob Sapp TKO'd Kiyoshi Tamura in 11 seconds. Sapp is practically the size of two Tamura's. He rushed Tamura at the bell so Tamura couldn't stick and move. Pinned against the ropes, Sapp held Tamura's chin with his left hand and leveled him with his right. That was basically all she wrote.

Gary Goodridge beat Labazanov Arhmed via split decision. Bad and boring fight made worse by a lousy decision. Arhmed should have won because he was clearly superior in every standup segment and took Gary down at will. Sure, he didn't do much damage, but he controlled the majority of the fight and at least there's no question that the guy has talent. Through all his experience, Gary is basically the same fighter he's always been. He's got hurculean strength, but no skill or technique to back it up. His side mount was the worst I've ever seen, no control whatsoever just a little dead weight. It's no wonder that Arhmed was able to stand up out of it. Another reason Arhmed won was escapes, and even if they were more because Gary's positioning is so poor that most anyone could have escaped, that doesn't change the fact that Arhmed did regain control. Arhmed's problem is that he stamina is pretty poor. The PRIDE scoring style really hurts fighters like him with no tank because the fight is judged as a whole rather than as three separate rounds (it makes sense to someone to have R1 be longer than the others). This sometimes leads to a more accurate scoring because one blow can be worth more than two rounds, but more often than not will result in the guy that wins R3 getting the decision if the other two rounds were "close enough." Gary did have a segment where he got some good punches in during the final round, but otherwise...

Anderson Silva defeated Alex Stiebling in 1:23 via doctor stop. Silva moved up in weight, but looked sharp as even making short work of his substitute opponent. Silva's strikes are fast, accurate, and powerful. Stiebling actually took him down after he connected on a high kick, but the shin flush across Stiebling's eyebrow cut him and swelled right up, resulting in the stoppage.

Jeremy Horn won a unanimous decision over Gilbert Yvel. This decision may have been the right one, but it made absolutely no sense after the Goodridge decision. Yvel has been training constantly on the mat, and here he proved himself to be a skilled fighter. No more lay and pray, he had countless escapes and reversals to get back into position for his famous strikes. This was very dynamite and the best technical fight of the night. It was explosive Yvel vs. steady Jeremy. Horn controlled most of the fight, taking Yvel down everytime he tried. Yvel did the damage, landing big knees at the start of the rounds. Yvel made more mistakes. He allowed Horn to get his arm under the chin for a chance at the rear naked choke and regularly got taken down because he didn't disengage quick enough and allowed Horn to suck him into the grappling game. The final minutes were the least exciting with no one making a statement that they wanted the fight, but overall it was quite good and diverse.

Shungo Oyama won a unanimous decision over Renzo Gracie. Definitely one of the highlights of the show seeing the supposed best Gracie not only lose, but look terrible against a good and athletic but inexperienced fighter. Oyama, when he was going good, was Sakuraba Jr. imitating the man's attacks and nearly equalling his charisma. He was at his best when he was standing up and Gracie was on his back, and this portion was very exciting and entertaining. There was a lot of standup though, and it wasn't good at all. Renzo didn't want to do anything from any position he could get, but he was pretty much just running here which would be peculiar if you didn't realize the good striker tag was more hype. Oyama might hit hard if he ever connects, but he doesn't because he loads up so not only does he telegraph his blow he basically eliminates the possibility of throwing a second. Oyama dominated the fight because Renzo couldn't take him down and he was smart in not getting suckered into going down on his own. 1st round was skipped.

Fedor Emelianenko beat Semmy Schilt via unanimous decision. Fedor fought a smart fight. He has some standup, but Schilt isn't going to lose in standup because he's a very good striker with a decided reach advantage over literally everyone in the sport. Fedor would take him down, rather impressively, and keep him down. Fedor's transitions were also impressive and he showed both striking and submission skills on the mat. Schilt is so tall that it's easier for him to strike from the bottom because Fedor's head only comes up to his chest when Schilt has the guard. Fedor cuts easily, so to look at the two of them you'd think Schilt was having his way with him even though he was dominated. The match was pretty boring because they'd get to the same position everytime and it would either be repetitive or just stall completely. Have to credit Fedor though for knowing it's better to win ugly than lose in exciting fashion.

Don Frye TKO'd Yoshihiro Takayama in 6:10. Not much technique here, but it was almost unreal how they were pounding each other. The start looked like something out of pro wrestling because you just don't see two guys stand chest to chest and pound each other repeatedly. They literally held each other's heads with one hand and punched them in the face over and over as fast as they could with the other. Takayama, who took the fight on a week's notice, fough as if he knew nothing of his opponent. Instead of trying to utilize his reach advantage, he duked it out with Frye on the inside. Needless to say, Takayama quickly got a wicked mouse under his left eye. Takayama did have a nice belly to belly, but his ground "skills" and especially "defense" are so bad that he wouldn't even take Frye on there. Frye was cut mid forehead, while Takayama was cut on the nose. Takayama's face was quickly closing and swelling together though. The pace was too quick for Takayama and he was getting the worst of the exchanges. His second belly to belly seemed like a last ditch attempt because he needed a breather, but it backfired and Frye fell on top in the mount. Excellent absolutely brutal slugfest.

PRIDE 19 2/24 Saitama Super Arena has 22.380
Silva KO'd Kiyoshi Tamura at 2:28 of R2.
Nogueira made Enson Inoue submit to a sankakujime at 6:17 of R1.
Frye beat Shamrock via decision 2-1.
Herring beat Vovchanchyn via unanimous decision.
Newton made Pele (Landi) submit to an udehishigigyakujujigatame at 7:16 of R1.
Rodrigo Gracie made Mitsui submit to a futon (?) choke sleeper at 0:28 of R3.
Alex Steibling beat Wallid Ismail via unanimous decision.
Tom Erickson made Tim Catalfo submit to a hadakajime at 2:35 of R1.

So far PRIDE 19 on 2/24 at Saitama Super Arena has:
Shamrock vs. Frye (would have rather seen it in the mid 90's, but these days we have to take what we can get)
Nogueira vs. Enson Inoue (will send Enson back to retirement)
Silva vs. Tamura (great except I can't even imagine a Tamura win when, like Sakuraba, he'll have major problems getting Silva down and obviously can't stand with him)
Vovchanchyn vs. Herring
Pele Landi vs. Newton
Matsui vs. Rodrigo Gracie
Pancrase will probably send fighters to the subsequent PRIDE

INOKI BOM-BA-YE 12/31 Saitama Super Arena 35,492
Yasuda made Jerome Le Banner submit to a guillotine choke at 2:10 of R2.
Cro Cop TKO'd Nagata in all of 21 seconds. Cro Cop crushed Nagata with a left high kick.
Frye made Cyril Abidi submit to a hadakajime at 0:34 of R2.
Inoki & Sasuke beat Silva & Akashiro Kamen (red-white mask) when Inoki made Kamen submit to his manjigatame at 4:02. Since it was a special match that wasn't announced, this doesn't count as Inoki coming out of retirement.
Tokimitsu Ishikawa drew Shingo Koyasu 15:00.
Gary Goodridge drew Ebenezer Fontes Braga 15:00.
Masaaki Satake drew Sam Greco 15:00.
Nobuhiko Takada drew Mike Bernardo 9:00. Takada took a nap again.

PRIDE.18 12/23 Marine Messe Fukuoka 9,391
Semmy Schilt KO'd Yoshihiro Takayama at 3:09 of R1.
Vanderlei Silva defeated Alexander Otsuka via TKO at 2:22 of R2.
Jeremy Horn defeated Akira Shoji by unanimous decision.
Igor Vovchanchyn made Valentijn Overeem submit to a kakatogatame (heel hold) at 4:35 of R1.
Norihisa (Yoshihisa) Yamamoto made K-1 fighter Jan "The Giant" Nortje submit to an udehishigigyakujujigatame at 1:35 of R1.
Murilo Ninja beat Alex Andreade via unanimous decision.
Alex Steibling TKO'd Allan Goes at 0:47 of R3.Steibling had apparently tapped out earlier in the fight, but the ref didn't see it (it's sad when shooting sounds like WWF). The result is that Goes not only wound up losing, but got knocked around so badly from Steiblings series of knees to the head that he was hospitalized for cerebral hemorrhaging.
Daijiro Matsui beat Quinton Jackson via DQ in 0:14 of R1. Jackson apparently gave Matsui one of the nastiest low blows in history. The plan was to finish the match later in the show, but Matsui was too hurt to come back out.

PRIDE.17 11/3 Tokyo Dome 53,246
Vanderlei Silva won a decision match to crown the PRIDE Middleweight champion, defeating Kazushi Sakuraba via TKO after 1 round. After being the 2000 MVP, Sakuraba has been totally shut down this year, losing twice to Silva and once again getting injured in the process.
Antonio Rodrigo Noguiera defeated Heath Herring via 3-0 decision after 3 rounds.
Nobuhiko Takada bored everyone to death by laying on his back for most of 5 rounds so he could draw Mirko Cro Cop.
Tom Erickson made Matt Skelton submit to a guillotine choke at 1:11 of R1.
Mario Sperry made Igor Vovchanchyn submit to a katagatame at 2:52 of R1. Sperry totally dominated the fight, busting Vovchanchyn open before getting the quick submission.
Semmy Schilt KO'd Masaaki Satake at 2:18 of R1.
Dan Henderson beat Murilo Ninja via split decision after 3R.
Quinton Jackson KO'd Yuki Ishikawa at 1:52 of R1.
Renzo Gracie beat Michiyoshi Ohara via unanimous decision after 3R.

PRIDE.16 9/24 Osaka Jo Hall 14,907
Antonio Rodrigo Nogieura made Mark Coleman submit to an udehishigigyakujujigatame at 6:10 of R1. Coleman was suffering from the flu, but that's not to take anything away from KING of KINGS 2001 champion Nogieura who became the unofficial tournament champion by beating the PRIDE GRAND PRIX champion. Nogieura became the first to make Coleman submit in a legitimate match. The key to this match seems to be that Noguiera dominated standup. This forced Coleman to take him down, which is where the submission expert wants to fight.
In his first MMA fight in 5 years, Don Frye beat Gilbert Yvel via DQ at 7:27 of R1. Yvel recieved two yellow cards for grabbing the ropes to avoid the takedown and one for gouging Frye's eyes. In addition to the eye problem, Frye was hampered by reaggravating his torn quad. Yvel was said to be winning the fight when he was DQ'd, although it's hard to say if that means much since Frye was having a hard time seeing due to the damage Yvel illegally inflicted. Kensuke Sasaki was in Frye's corner.
Semmy Schilt KO'd Akira Shoji (Igor Vovchanchyn cancelled due to an elbow injury) at 8:19 of R1. Like most fighters, Shoji couldn't handle the size difference.
Ricardo Arona beat Guy Mezger via split decision after 3 rounds.
Murilo Ninja KO'd Daijiro Matsui at 0:51 of R3. Matsui always loses, but Ninja was the first that didn't have to go the distance to beat him. The significance of this match is Ninja trains with Silva and Matsui trains with Sakuraba, so this match was used to build up that rematch with both men in the corner as seconds and Silva rubbing Ninja's success in.
Assuerio Silva TKO's Norihisa Yamamoto with a series of punches in just 11 seconds.
Gary Goodridge once again defeated Yoshiaki Yatsu, TKO'ing him at 3:05 of R3. Yatsu's corner threw in the towel when Goodridge had him in the guillotine, with Yatsu tapping the air at the same time. Yatsu lasted twice as long this time, but it doesn't sound like progress because it was more that he was in survival mode.

The following matches have been announced for PRIDE.16 on 9/24 at the Osaka Jo Hall
Mark Coleman vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogieura
Don Frye vs. Gilbert Yvel
Semmy Schilt vs. Igor Vovchanchyn
Ricardo Arona vs. Guy Mezger
Gary Goodridge vs. Yoshiaki Yatsu

7/29 Saitama Super Arena 27,323
Tokimitsu Ishizawa KO'd Ryan Gracie at 4:51 of R1. Gracie wasn't anywhere near 100%, and didn't do much. I'm not sure what the right word to describe the finish was, perhaps odd. Whatever it was, the heat was great.
Kazushi Sakuraba made Quinton Jackson submit to a hadakajime at 5:41 of R!. Jackson slammed Sakuraba several times, but didn't have the tank.
Antonio Rodrigo Noguiera forced Gary Goodridge to submit to a sankakujime at 2:37 of R1. It looks like Noguiera will be Coleman's next opponent.
Heath Herring defeated Mark Kerr via ref stop at 4;45 of R2. Kerr was winning until he got to tired.
Igor Vovchanchyn won a 3-0 decision over Masaaki Satake after 3R. Underdog Satake took huge punishment and bled, but wouldn't give up. Obviously, this match got over big.
Ebenezer Fontes Braga won a 3-0 decision from Daijiro Matsui after 3R.
Wallid Ismael made Shungo Oyama submit to a katagatame at 4:44 of R2.
Ausserio Silva made Valentijn Overeem submit to a heel hold at 2:47 of R1.

DSE is getting a license so they can run shows in America. There should be at least one show held in the US next yet.
There are discussions going on to have the December show be a (the?) big Inoki vs. K-1 showdown.

Ishizawa vs. Ryan Gracie will be the main event of PRIDE.15 on 7/29 because Coleman is missing the show..This show is going to have to draw on brand name because Takayama vs. Ismael and Sakuraba vs. Quinton Jackson isn't exactly outstanding support.

The proposed K-1 vs. puroresu might take place on a PRIDE show because it's a "neutral ground."

Sakuraba's oppoent for PRIDE.15 is a 23-year-old American street fighter named Quinton Jackson.

After headlining the 5 consecutive non-tournament PRIDE's he fought on, Kazushi Sakuraba will probably be in the opening match on the next PRIDE. This is probably to give him an easier win since he's not totally healthy and losing two big matches in a row would damage him.

Yoshihiro Takayama might get a shot at Kazuyuki Fujita's IWGP Heavykyu Senshuken at PRIDE.14.

Kazuyuki Fujita will headline PRIDE.14 on 5/27 at Kanagawa Yokohama Arena, making him the 3rd native to headline (Takada, Sakuraba). What makes this interesting is he may put the IWGP Heavykyu Senshuken, arguably the most prestigious wrestling title and one that has only been defended in works, on the line. Yuji Nagata already won the right to be the next challenger, but Fujita is refusing to appear on NJ's 5/5 Fukuoka Dome show.

Added DSE SKY PerfecTV! LIVE SPECIAL PRIDE.13 3/25 PPV Rundown

Kazushi Sakuraba has been hospitilized since his loss to Silva and isn't getting out until the 10th. Part of the problem is that he has the flu, which might help further explain his lackluster performance if he had it all the time. He's all bruised up, but apparently he didn't sustain any serious injuries.

In light of Vanderlei Silva's success, DSE is considering holding a show in his home country of Brazil toward the end of this year or the beginning of the next. PRIDE shows have been broadcast on PPV in Brazil since the 1/30/00 Grand Prix opening round.

DSE SKY PerfecTV! LIVE SPECIAL PRIDE.13 3/25 Saitama Super Arena 20,600
It was a night of quick undercard victories and fairly big main event upsets...
Vanderlei Silva defeated Kazushi Sakuraba via ref stop at 1:38 of round 1. Sakuraba took a lot of strikes, particularly punches, which bloodied him. Faced with Silva's barrage, Sakuraba didn't have his typical composure today. The new rules that liberated some forms of striking worked in Silva's advantage, as he blasted Sakuraba's head when he was on all fours like it was a soccer ball. Sakuraba put the "SAKU belt" around Silva's waist after the match. Sakuraba, who is known for not wanting to fight the same fighter more than once, was not at all happy with his performance and would like a chance to redeem himself. Sakuraba took enough of a beating that he probably won't fight on the 5/27 show, especially against an opponent of Silva's calibre, but President Morishima has already met with both parties about scheduling the rematch.
Tra Telligman scored a major upset when he beat Igor Vovchanchyn by unanimous decision.
Yet another upset saw Tadao Yasuda won a split decision over Masaaki Satake. Yasuda would like to fight Takada next. Tokimitsu Ishizawa, who is in Inoki's group now, challenged Ryan Gracie to a rematch.
Mark Coleman beat Allan Goes via ref stop at 1:19 of round 1.
Dan Henderson KO'd Renzo Gracie at 1:40 of round 1.
Heath Herring made Sobolev Denis submit to an udegatame at 1:22 of round 1.
Guy Mezger KO'd Egan Inoue at 2:25 of round 1.
Victor Belofort made Bobby Southworth submit to a hadakajime at 4:09 of round 1.

Nobuhiko Takada has joined the Fuji TV announcing team. He will do commentary on amaresu (amateur wrestling) and PRIDE shows. Takada has been training in amateur wrestling, and supposedly has cut weight while at the same time bulking up his upper body through weight training.
Renzo Gracie wants a rematch with Kazushi Sakuraba on PRIDE.14 in May.

Ken Shamrock has pulled out of his 3/25 match against Igor Vovchanchyn due to a neck injury. He may be replaced by stablemate Tra Telligman, which would quickly turn a main event into an undercard squash.

Added to PRIDE.13
Coleman vs. Goes. With his power and size advantage, Coleman should manhandle Goes.
Mezger vs. Egan Inoue

Masaaki Satake vs. Tadao Yasuda was added. *Yawn* With this opposition, Satake should actually look good whether it's a work or a shoot.

Similar to Pancrase, PRIDE has made a few rule changes that make the fights more dangerous. It's now legal to kick or knee the opponent in the head when they are on all fours and you are now allowed to kick if you wear boots provided they are approved before the match. These things were legal in the earlier days of shooting and the former definitely makes standing over your opponent the dominant position it is in a real fight. To somewhat counteract this added danger, a rule was added against doing unnecessary damage to opponents. I'm not sure of the specifics of this rule, but it's the refs job to stop it before the damage becomes excessive, the fighters just need to get off/back once he steps in (which occassionally has been a problem in UFC, but really not in PRIDE).
Supposedly they are going to give yellow cards for doing nothing or pretending to do something to get around the stalling rule. Enforcement will probably be selective at best, but we'll see.
They did away with overtime and draws, so at the end of round 3 the judges must rule for one man or the other.

Kazushi Sakuraba's opponent for PRIDE.13 on 3/25 will be Vanderlei Silva. This could be a great fight and should be much better than Sakuraba vs. Rickson would be, but obviously won't sell nearly as many tickets. Silva will be a tough opponent for Sakuraba because Sakuraba isn't particularly good at takedowns and no one in the division can match Vanderlei in standup.
The other two matches announced so far are Igor Vovchanchyn vs. Ken Shamrock & Renzo Gracie vs. Dan Henderson. I think Shamrock in his prime would beat Igor, but right now he's probably too small and doesn't seem to have enough stamina. With this opponent, he'll have to get away from striking, which is probably a good thing since I think he's more effective on the mat and at the same time he burns a lot less energy there. Renzo & Henderson have been incredibly successful outside of one fight (Sakuraba and Silva respectively) so this is an interesting one. This is a pretty good matchup for Henderson since his strength is taking guys down, and Gracie's all can be taken down without a lot of problem (partially because they like fighting from their back). I don't see him getting a KO or submission, but if he's on top most of the time he'll get the decision.
Tadao Yasuda will make his PRIDE debut. Yasuda was a sumo star, but that doesn't help much in MMA and 37 is kind of old to be doing your first shoot. He'll most likely be a better known version of Tachihikari.
Starting this show, DSE fights will be one 10 minute round then two 5 minute rounds rather than two 10 mintue rounds. This makes it a little harder for guys like Fujita to lie on top of their opponent all night. The thing is, it doesn't solve the actual problem, which is certain guys getting away with stalling because the refs are really inconsistent with calling for standups. If anything, it makes things worse because the ref would usually stand them up 5 minutes into round 2 if there was no activity anyway, but now if someone is close to winning they won't have that chance. Also, how to you compare a 10 minute round to a 5 minute round scoring wise? With all things being equal, I can't say in good conscious that a fight is tie after two rounds if one guy won 10 minutes and another won 5. On the other hand, you can't really make the first round count double because then the guy who lost the first round needs to win the next two just to tie. Their scoring system isn't so rigid as some of the other leagues where you have a 10 point must system, but a round is still going to be a reset for the judges. By the crowd reactions, it's clear that most of the fans prefer standup fighting, and this means we'll definitely see a little more of it. I'd rather see three 7 minute rounds if they want the fight to be around 20 minutes because all regulation periods should be the same length.

Kazushi Sakuraba is going a commercial for the new Tokuhon pain killer Tokuhon V Dash where he "dances" with an iguana. The commercial will start airing in about 2 months.

In spite of Nobuhiko Takada's petition, DSE quickly welcomed Yuki Kondo's participation in the PRIDE series and said he'd definitely be appearing on the 3/25 show. This does not mean that Kondo will fight Sakuraba or a Gracie, but these are basically the matches/programs that make sense for everyone involved. They should introduce him to their audience first so those fights mean more when they take place.

Nobuhiko Takada criticized Yuki Kondo for announcing his intention to fight Kazushi Sakuraba without seeing if Sakuraba was interested in such a fight. Apparently Takada Dojo isn't interested because Takada is supposedly petitioning DSE not to let Kondo participate in their shows.

President Naoto Morishita left for Los Angeles to meet with Rickson Gracie about the much anticipated match against Kazushi Sakuraba that Rickson seemingly will never take.

DSE Pride Fighting Championships Cold Fury PPV 1/6/01 taped 12/23 Saitama Super Arena
This was one of the better PRIDE's because, while there was one terrible fight, the other six all at least had their moments. There were no great fights, but the first four were at least good and the last two were at least decent (round 1 of Kerr vs. Igor sounded like it may have been sleep enducing, but the 15 minutes they showed were decent).

Guy Mezger vs. Alexander Otsuka. This is probably Guy's most impressive performance on a major league show. Otsuka is not a great fighter or even close, but he's always been a pain because he keeps coming back for more. Today, he had no offense and Guy took him out within two minutes. That says more when you consider Otsuka went the distance with both Vovchanchyn and Renzo, and it was an accomplishment when Ken Shamrock put him out after hammering him for almost a whole round. Announcer Steven Quadros claimed that both guys have been in front of huge crowds their whole careers, which is hilarious when you consider New Japan drew like 10,000 more fans for the 4/10/99 show that Otsuka had a nondrawing match on than Battlarts drew during that entire year.. Anyway, Otsuka didn't want to strike with Guy, but he had little choice because he couldn't take Guy down. Guy's strikes were crisp, and he put together some nice combinations. He knocked Otsuka down with a right hook at 1:45 then got right into the side mount and flurried until the ref stopped it. Although it was one-sided, it was a very exciting short fight.

Ricardo Almeida vs. Akira Shoji. Like Otsuka, Shoji has great heart and a deep tank, but he's undersized and doesn't have the skill to make up for it against PRIDE level of fighters. This match had explosive flurries of wild striking, hardly any of which connected but the few that did left a mark. In spite of the hay makers, the wildest thing in the match was actually at the opening bell when Shoji ran at Almeida and tried a jumping knee. I'll raise my hand in the air and "ooh" if that obvious attack ever works for anyone in a shoot, but until then I just have to wonder what this guy is thinking, especially someone of Shoji's speed. The ground portion was rather dull because Almeida didn't do much beyond try to get full mount. Shoji did a lot more to force action, but that was only in standup since he doesn't have an active guard. For the most part, that just resulted in him taking more punishment than his opponent, but at least it made the fight interesting. Actually, the first round was pretty even. Almeida was in control most of the time, but otherwise it was one good Almeida low kick against 1 good Shoji punch. Round 2 was much more exciting because Almeida got his striking going. He kneed Shoji low, which drew a yellow card. He bloodied if not broke Shoji's nose with a left straight, and it was one of those nasty bleeds that just keeps coming out and staining everything. Near the end of the fight, Shoji came in with a knee, but Almeida punched him in the face. Shoji went down, but only because he lost his balance when Almeida avoided the knee. It looked like Almeida was going to ride out the last few minutes in Shoji's guard, but he got side mount and tried to turn Shoji over. Shoji took a few punches, but got to his feet, so Almeida decided to pressure him and soon caught Shoji with a knee to the head. Shoji tried another knee, but Almeida caught it and took him down with an impressive single leg. As was the case the whole fight, Almeida didn't try any submissions and never really got his striking going on the ground. He'd controlled the whole fight and looked impressive in standup during the second round, so by this point it was just a matter of not making a mistake before he won the decision. Shoji lost standup and had no offense on the mat, so it was an easy decision victory for the Renzo Gracie protégé Almeida.

Heath Herring vs. Enson Inoue. Enson always has an entertaining fight and does some good things, but these days he no longer seems to be able to do enough of them or the one great thing to get the victory. He came out swinging and knocked Herring down with a left hook (really a slip, but since you generally get over/on top of your opponent once he's down and keep punching him, there's little difference) then leaned over him and threw punches down. Herring was able to take Enson down though and apply an udegatame/keylock. Enson isn't going to submit to something like that, but Herring had much more success the next time he took Enson down because Enson's open guard gives you a lot of room to strike. Enson, of course, went for a submission from the bottom because that opportunity is the whole point of him allowing enough space and leverage for his opponent to beat away on his stomach and ribs. The thing is, by now everyone knows exactly what Enson is going to do and has trained against getting suckered into a loss. When Enson went for his triangle hold, Herring took the side mount and started kneeing him in the head. Enson's arm (the one on the side Herring was on) was trapped under Herring, so he couldn't bring that up to protect his head. He also wasn't doing anything to improve his position, so the ref stopped it after the 5th unprotected knee. Enson wasn't happy, but it was a good stoppage. Enson's fights have the most exciting ground and pound (of him) from a spectator standpoint, but it just seems like everyone he fights is too prepared and advanced for his submissions. They know to take what he's going to give them, and that alone is enough to win a decision, so there's no need to give him a chance by getting too overzealous.

Vanderlei Silva vs. Dan Henderson. Silva's has not been the most consistent fighter, but he may have improved to the point that he can become one of them. With his wrestling background and previous MMA success, I expected Henderson to be able to take him down without much problem. It didn't happen because Silva timed his strikes, overhooks plus drop downs, and sprawls better than he had previously. To make things even more bizarre, in spite of Silva being the best striker in the middleweight division, the fight was most competitive when Henderson was striking with him. Henderson certainly lost more battles than he won, but he did hit Silva with some good punches, including one that gave Silva a mouse and cut around his eye brow, and forced Silva to respect his standup. Although Silva made some questionable decisions like allowing the fight to take place from Henderson's guard on more than one occasion, Silva was almost always in control. His biggest advantage was when he was standing up and Henderson was lying on his back because Henderson didn't have the skills to prevent Silva from taking virtually free kicks at his thighs. There was some real hypocrisy here because Silva wouldn't let Henderson up, but a couple times the ref got sick of this position where the same thing happened over and over so he ordered a restart. I can see calling it a stalemate when one guy is on top throwing pawing Severn punches, but I'm sure Henderson was welting up. Henderson's stamina didn't seem as good here. He seemed to punch himself out trying to flurry the one time when he was able to take Silva down. The damage Silva was doing with his strikes certainly had an effect on Henderson as well, taking some of the zip off his takedown attempts. Near the end of the first round, Silva tried to stomp on Henderson's head, which didn't work, but he was so high up that he was able to mount Henderson instead of going down and winding up in his guard like the other times. I don't know why he didn't try to flurry here, especially since the first round was nearly over. Instead, he gave up the mount to get up and stomp on Henderson's face twice. This was very effective, but a much lower percentage move and not something that's going to win you the match right there (it would if you could do it repeatedly, but when has that ever happened?). Due mainly to these stomps, Henderson did look pretty out of it in his corner between rounds though. The thing with this match is that, aside from standup, the same positions kept bringing the same results. If they fought all night, Silva would have eventually at least TKO'd Henderson. However, since he could never get his famous knees going, it didn't seem like there was going to be a KO and it did seem like we were seeing the same thing we'd seen before. That said, it was good up until the last few minutes when both men were tired and Silva pretty much shut down, just taking the free paws to the ribs until time ran out even though he had the mount. Henderson can take solace in hanging with Silva in standup, but it had to be frustrating for him that he was almost never in a position where he could be successful offensively without the threat of Silva being more successful.

Kazuyuki Fujita vs. Gilbert Yvel. Fujita has to be the luckiest fighter on the planet. He beat Kerr and Shamrock when their bodies had a major malfunction and now he beat Yvel by lying on him for 20 minutes. This was Randy Couture vs. Maurice Smith 12/21/97 except 10 times more ridiculous and boring. In the previous match, even though there was at least 20 times the action, there was seemingly a half dozen standups and even a double yellow card for stalling. Here Fujita barely did anything more than lay on top of Yvel, yet he was never warned and there was only one standup. It was such shady home town officiating. Yvel's defense against the takedowns was actually better, as Fujita only had one nice takedown and that was basically because he's a specimen since Yvel was sprawling and Fujita just used his strength to stop him cold and bodyslam him. The couple other takedowns weren't quick or clean, but since Yvel gives up so much weight and power, he eventually wound up on his back. Yvel's mistake was not trying to strike from his back because that made it seem like he was getting dominated when in truth he walked out of the ring almost totally unscathed and made Fujita burn so much more energy by fighting the takedowns and those "deadly" arm bars. Fujita went for these arm bar three or possibly four times, but anyone but the announcers and judges could see that Yvel was totally calm and not really in trouble. Fujita also occasionally threw a useless punch. Quadros "coined the phrase lay and pray" to describe Fujita's "offense." The one time they did stand them up, about 5 1/2 minutes into round 2, Yvel exploded with two powerful knees, but Fujita caught the 2nd one against his face, took Yvel down, and laid on him for the rest of regulation. The match was 1 good takedown and a few "near" submissions against two good knees, yet all three judges thought Fujita did enough to win both rounds. Thus, there was no extension. Yvel was totally fresh, but since the ref readily allowed 20 minutes of non-action, he never had the chance to make the "comeback." One of the worst and most annoying matches in PRIDE history.

Igor Vovchanchyn vs. Mark Kerr. Even though this was the semifinal and could not have been more boring than Fujita napping on Yvel, they skipped the first round. This fight was somewhat similar to the previous fight, but both men were striking while Igor had Kerr in his guard and they weren't stuck in this position for the entire fight. It got interesting after a standup 5 minutes into the round, as Igor backed Kerr into the corner with strikes, landing a nice kick to Kerr's head as Kerr was getting into position to shoot. Igor sprawled away from Kerr's subsequent takedown, leaving Kerr prone on all fours. Since kneeing from that position is illegal, Igor quickly took Kerr's back and started punching him. Kerr, who over the last year has seemingly switched roles with Coleman as the great wrestler with no tank, used a lot of his remaining energy trying for an arm bar Igor let Kerr up, which wasn't a bad move since he wasn't having much success holding Kerr from behind and punching him. However, it didn't work out because Kerr ducked his punch and took him down. Again, Igor was more active striking from his back, but suddenly Kerr passed the guard and got side mount. Kerr was too tired to get his knees or anything else going, so this basically just stopped Igor's activity. Extending this match seemed like the right thing to do because Kerr got the takedowns, but Igor did more damage even though he was on his back most of the time. In overtime, Kerr tried to come out with a punch, but Igor avoided it and hurt Kerr with two rights, cutting Kerr in the process. With Kerr on his knees, Igor once again got behind him and started punching. This time he got some decent shots in because Kerr was a little stunned and a lot tired. Although this isn't a great position for leverage, Igor's got those "heavy fists" so he can hurt you from positions that other guys can't. It didn't take that long for Kerr to recover enough to start wrestling, but he was too tired to get out of the bottom position. Kerr saved himself by taking Igor down at 2:10 then lied there trying to recover. He never got his wind back, so the final 2:50 was just Kerr on top doing nothing. Although Kerr had more time "on offense," it was obvious that Igor was going to get the decision because he did something with his time on offense while Kerr didn't even try. This was the second worst fight shown because it only had four or five good minutes.

Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Ryan Gracie. Sakuraba's right leg was bandaged from thigh to shin, while Ryan had a strip of blue tape on his injured right shoulder This was not a superior performance by Sakuraba. He didn't really take Ryan seriously, which you can see from the sense that the other three Gracie's he's defeated are far better, but it was a detriment because Sakuraba was content to take what Ryan gave him, do a few "entertainment" spots, and win a decision. Ryan was the one that made the fight. He's got some skill, but he's so energetic and aggressive that uncaged and untamed seem like good ways to describe him. I couldn't tell that his shoulder was hampering him at all. Sakuraba never really tested it aside from trying to bar the other arm, which forced Ryan to defend by clasping his hands. Sakuraba used a Misawa facelock, which the crowd really reacted to. What was funny is the announcers acted like Ryan was in real danger. Later on, Ryan attempted a heel hold, only to have Sakuraba start spanking his butt after spinning out of danger. The fans chuckled. Sakuraba controlled most of the fight, and there's no question that he won, but I can't say he did much damage or came close to winning. Ryan started putting his shoulder over like crazy once the match ended, probably because he knew he'd lost and was looking for an excuse to get a rematch.

The Newton vs. Johil and Rodriguez vs. Marsh decisions were only shown in highlight form, so there's not much you can say about them.

Kazushi Sakuraba recieved his puroresu MVP today. He said he would have more puroresu matches from now on (hard to have fewer than one) and he "would like to show a good match, to get good."