U-SPIRITS - MINORU SUZUKI vs HANS NIJMAN - 2013
final post of the Suzuki Week series. this match actually had an angle going into it: Pancrase (the organization founded by Suzuki) vs RINGS, a promotion Hans was associated with for a very long time. they even worked a little scuffle pre-match. Hans is over 50 now (55 i think) so this match won't be too long. but make no mistake, Hans still go it.
i heard Hans is considered "beautiful" in Netherlands. ouch, how bad do the others look? bell rings. Hans shows his skills by keeping Suzuki at bay with a variety of kicks. let's see, the gif contains a spinning heel kick, Brazilian kick, axe kick and side kick to the head. this man is 10 years older than Batista.
Hans doing a good job so far. jumps on Suzuki and clinches with him. ref breaks the action. now it's Suzuki woking on a clinch. they go against the ropes and the ref breaks the action again. Hans gets the takedown and does the slowest armbar attempt i've ever seen. Suzuki easily escapes. Hanjs reaches under the ropes and breaks the action. both guys standing again. Hans with hard kicks on the clinch. now corner Suzuki. more striking till Suzuki decides to attempt a takedown. Hans locks in a front headlock, now works on an americana submission. Suzuki tries to escape but is saved by the bell. the 1st of 2 rounds is over as Hans shoves Suzuki and screams at the audience.
round 2 begins. starts much like the first, Hans using his kicks to keep Suzuki out. Suzuki clinches up and locks a kimura. Hans is on the ropes but Suzuki refuses to break the hold. Hans escapes, gets pissed and sends Suzuki down for the count. he's up by 9. Hans jumps back in and sends him down again with a high kick.
Suzuki is up by 8. Hans is back on the attack but Suzuki grabs his leg and takes him down. kneebar by Suzuki but Hans is getting to the ropes. Suzuki stands up, drags him away from the ropes and locks in the kneebar again, forcing Hans to tap. winner via submission, Minoru Suzuki.
after the match they scream and embrace each in a great show of mutual respect. that's it. i'll do more Suzuki matches in the future, obviously, but i hope you enjoyed this little retrospective on one of the most influental and entertaining guys in the japanese scene.
https://legitshook.squarespace.com/straight-shooters-with-lambda-piscium
i'll do another invidual fight and then move to that big NJPW vs UWFi full card review.
also, it really puts on perspective how out of shape Batista is when you see guys his age and even older performing at a much higher speed and agility.