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[Boogie]

So, I forgot that the Pride event was on a week-delay for airing in North America and forgot to make a discussion thread for it last week.

But better late than never, right?

I'm going to forgo my usual thorough preview format because A) the event has already happened and B) I don't dare risk visiting MMA websites to get the full fight card information and fighter records and end up seeing spoilers of the fights.

So instead, I'm simply going to give my short expectations on a few of the key fights.

First of all, if you want to discuss the results, please spoiler-tag them until the event airs tonight.


So it seems Pride has continued the tradition of cheesy titles for MMA events. Fortunately, the trend may be breaking, as the next UFC event is simply using the main event as the title, UFC 52: Couture vs. Liddell 2.

Anyway, on to the fights.

Fabricio Werdum vs. Tom Erikson

Hmm, heavyweight Brazilian jiu-jitsu champion who trains with Cro Cop, yet still fairly new to MMA against a massive world-class wrestler and experienced MMA fighter. This fight should be very interesting, and I'm definitely excited for it. Although Erikson has the size and experience, I'm leaning towards picking Werdum. If he's been able to improve his striking by working with Cro Cop, he could prove to be a very dangerous fighter.

Werdum by sub.

Quinton "Rampage" Jackson vs. Murilo "Ninja" Rua

In my opinion, the only light-heavyweight in Pride that Rampage can't beat is Silva, and I've never really been that impressed with Ninja. He's a good fighter, but I'm just not sure if he has the potential to get to the top.

Jackson by TKO.

Nakamura vs. Ryan Gracie: Oh wait, this fight was cancelled, probably because Ryan was too scared to fight someone who could beat him.

Stefan Leko (0-2) vs. I forget (were they putting him against Nakamura?).

Anyway, there are two possibilities. It is either that Leko sucks, or that he has worked his fights in Pride, or both. Leko has single-handedly dispelled the myth that K-1 fighters can easily make the transition to Pride by training their ground game for a few months and become as successful as Cro Cop.

Nakamura (or whoever) by sub.


Mark Coleman vs. Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic

Well, you all know that I'm a huge Mirko fan, and naturally I am picking him in this fight. Although Coleman is a skilled fighter, his best days are behind him, and I'm not sure he has the skills to beat Mirko. We all know Mirko's attributes. Eventually, I'm going to get tired of mentioning his insane takedown defence. But not yet . He completely stuffed Randleman's shots in his last fight.

Coleman might get him down, but I believe Mirko's defence is now tight enough that Coleman won't be able to do much damage, and Coleman will eventually gas.

Although anything can happen in MMA, I really can't see Coleman winning this. He doesn't even have the explosive power in his hands that Randleman does, so I can't see him getting a fluke KO like Randleman (not that I think Mirko is likely to fall prey to that again anyway), and I don't think he can do enough damage even if he gets the takedown.

Mirko by Cemetary Kick.

Again, spoiler tag discussion of results until the event airs tonight please.

 

[dskillzhtown]

Thanks for the preview. I will get the DVD when it comes out, as always.

I wish Mark Kerr would go to rehab and come back. He was such a beast just walking to the ring.

 

[Minotauro]

I wish Mark Kerr would go to rehab and come back. He was such a beast just walking to the ring.

Did you see his last "fight"? Man, it was depressing. Aside from the fact that he essentially did a DDT on himself, he was incredibly small. I would imagine it's due to a lack of Vitamin S but he just looked sickly. As sad as it was to see that fight, I kinda hope he doesn't come back and sully his legacy any further.

Regarding tonight's show, I've already read the spoilers so I'm unlikely to be surprised about anything.

Spoiler

Either way, it seems like a pretty decent collection of fights despite a lot of them being severe mismatches.

 

[Boogie]

Wow. Pretty exciting event overall, but as Minotauro said, quite a few mismatches.

First of all: Cro Cop.

I want to temper my forthcoming praise of Mirko by saying that doubtlessly Coleman is feeling the effects of his age, and he isn't in his prime anymore. Nonetheless, I feel that the Mirko of today would beat Coleman of any era.

Biff put it best when he gave his hint in the other thread. It was a truly excellent performance. This was another example of the Mirko who has the potential to be the best, even possibly to beat Fedor, imo.

He dismantled Coleman. And I think part of it was mental. Half of the time when Cro Cop wins, he already has you beat when the opponent steps into the ring, if they're scared of his striking. Heath Herring was when he fought Mirko, and Coleman was as well.

He shut down Coleman's takedowns with little effort not just through skill, but because Coleman was so worried about his striking that he was telegraphing his shots from a mile away.

Mirko ended up just stalking Coleman, and in a way it was kind of sad, because after his first few takedown attempts failed, you could see that Coleman realized that he had nothing for Mirko. There was just nothing he could do.

I am half-disappointed that there was no cemetary kick though. This has been 2 fights that we haven't seen him throw it. Come on, Mirko, do it for me. I crave the cemetary kick

Anyway, what is needed to take Mirko down is to be willing to trade strikes with him. To put him off balance with strikes in order to get the clinch and the takedown. And Fedor can do that. But when that fight happens, I won't be making a pick, because I have no idea who will take it.

Other random thoughts:

The Rampage decision was BS, and Jackson knew it as well and was really classy after the fight. It wasn't a good performance on his part, but I think he may have a point about the short notice "excuse". Pride has to stop giving its fighters less than a month's notice for a fight. If you have the best fighters in the world fighting for you, you should give them the opportunity to perform at their best.

Stefan Leko sucks at MMA. Sorry, that's the bottom line. Mirko thinks so too, since in the post fight interview, he said his advice to Leko has been to "change sports" :lol

Werdum looked pretty good in beating Erikson. He could be a contender soon.

 

[Biff Hardbody]

I agree with your thoughts on Crocop/Coleman, Boogie. Man, I know he realized halfway through he was fucked. I too think any version of Coleman would have lost this fight against Mirko though. When Crocop is "on", he really impresses me. Not just striking either, his body mechanics when dealing with wrestlers and in the clinch really has left an impression on me.

Werdum looked very impressive with a surprising punch rush. I thought Erickson had it in the bag until that upkick from Werdum, after that he was like a different fighter. It must have really rocked him. First time I saw it I thought Erickson was playing around, but he really must have been wobbled. Then Werdum came on with those punches...really nice.

My favorite moment was Igor KOing Takahashi Bueno style. IFC style baby! Seriously, Vov is my favorite fighter win or lose, and of course I'm happy to see him win. He looks like he did in the old Russian tourneys, just with more muscle and just as much speed. He's yet to go against a really tough guy at his own weight, and I will be nervous when he does because of his two big losses in the back of my mind (Mirko and Rampage). That being said, Igor looks DAMN good. I think he's back in a big way.

Igor for president!

 

[Boogie]

Yeah, Igor looked great, but I want to see him fight the top tier again. Hopefully he'll be in the Middleweight Grand Prix and we'll get to see him against some higher calibre fighters. He's trouble for anyone, and could make it far in the tourney.

And at this point, I'm craving Fedor vs. Mirko. It neeeeeds to happen. Please Fedor, re-sign with Pride.

 

[NLB2]

And at this point, I'm craving Fedor vs. Mirko. It neeeeeds to happen. Please Fedor, re-sign with Pride.

I think I'm the only one, but I'd rather see Nog vs. Werdum than Fedor vs. Mirko, as much as Fedor vs. Mirko would be awesome. Werdum, imo, was the most impressive fighter in the show. He had solid standup (good enough to trade and win against the Big Cat). His strikes from his back were very good (he woozied Erikson with an upkick) and his submission was just really slick. His takedowns were rather good considering the weight difference/Erikson's wrestling ability.

 

[Minotauro]

In honor of Mirko's dash for the title (until he runs into a brick wall known only as "Fedor"), I debut my brand new avatar.

Also, NLB, I agree. Werdum looked really, really sharp. I think he's going to be a real force in the heavyweight division. Plus, there's a ready-made story for a possible fight between him and Cro-Cop.

 

[NLB2]

In honor of Mirko's dash for the title (until he runs into a brick wall known only as "Fedor"), I debut my brand new avatar.

Also, NLB, I agree. Werdum looked really, really sharp. I think he's going to be a real force in the heavyweight division. Plus, there's a ready-made story for a possible fight between him and Cro-Cop.

Great avatar. Would Werdum and CroCop ever fight eachother?