I don’t normally due full previews of Pride Fighting Championships events, but seeing as how their next event is this Friday Saturday in Las Vegas, I thought I’d give a little preview. Plus, there are some really excellent fights on this card and several well-known fighters to the American crowd.
Wanderlei Silva vs Dan Henderson – This fight is a title fight for the Pride Light Heavyweight championship belt which Wanderlei Silva currently holds. Dan Henderson, who is also the Pride Middleweight title holder, fough Wanderlei Silva once before and lost a close decision in December of 2000. Wanderlei Silva is coming of a loss to Mirko Cro Cop in the Pride Open Weight Grand Prix while Dan Henderson is coming off a decision victory over Vitor Belfort at Pride 32. Both these fighters are extemely confident in their stand up skills and both fighters can be a little wild at times on the feet while throwing bombs. Henderson relies on his strong right hand, while Wanderlei’s sweeping punches some from both sides.
Here is a small sample from their last fight:
A few key factors to watch for in this fight will be Dan Henderson’s wrestling and the rule changes for Pride in Las Vegas. Henderson clearly has the edge on the ground, and it will be interesting to see if he tries to utilize his ground game during this fight. Silva will not be able to use knees on the ground and stomps during this fight due to the NSAC rules, and it will be interesting to see if that plays a factor in his performance. In the end, I think Wanderlei takes this fight. Henderson hasn’t looked that impressive to me lately in his two fights with Misaki and against Belfort. Winner: Wanderlei Silva
Takanori Gomi vs Nick Diaz – This matchup could easily end up being the fight of the night. Nick Diaz has a somewhat “notorious” reputation here in North America; you either love him or hate him (personally I’m on the loving side of the fence). Diaz has a weird on-again, off-again relationship with the UFC and has finally landed in Pride where he has wanted to fight for a while. Takanori Gomi his the Pride lightweight champion, and even though this will not be a title fight, I’m sure Nick Diaz will be preparing as if it were. I don’t really see this fight hitting the ground at all, but in my opinion Diaz should try to take the fight on the ground and work his excellent submission game against Gomi. Gomi has proven his weakness is on the ground, and we saw Marcus Aurelio choke out Gomi last April to everyones suprise. But, if you like standup battles, I think you are in for a treat in this one, so don’t blink or you might miss something. Winner: Nick Diaz
Mauricio Rua vs Alistair Overeem – Winner: Mauricio Rua
Hayato Sakurai vs Mac Danzig – Winner: Hayato Sakurai
Kazuo Misaki vs Frank Trigg – Winner: Frank Trigg
Antonio Nogueira vs Rameau Sokoudjou – Winner: Antonio Nogueira
Joachim Hansen vs Jason Ireland – Winner: Joachim Hansen
Sergei Kharitonov vs Mike Russow – Winner: Sergei Kharitonov
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Caesar Gracie
John
Yael Grauer
Dale
Tyler Johnson
felo
Mike
Tony
Shawn
Ben Cartlidge
oooooooooouuuuuuuuucccccccchhhhhhhh!!!!
Dan is the Man!
I can relate, that is the best thing about TUF. It got my wife enlisted to all the drama and comedy of a reality show, so now I can watch the same fights over and over without retribution….
All I can say is Silva is going down! Dan will mess his face up once again, but this time finish victorious!
I was just watching the pre-fight gathering of Pride Fighters on youtube. Basically everyone is saying that Wand wants to fight Chuck but the problem is Dana White. They are all saying “put up or shut up” to Dana. In my opinion, if this holds any water at all, Dana is trying to protect the legitimacy of the UFC by not allowing Chuck to fight Wand, (maybe he doubts his boy). I say, the UFC needs to conceed on some things and go ahead with the fight of the Millenium, Chuck and Wanderlei need to get it on… this whole tease is getting old..
Don’t you think that Silly should have to fight his was up to Chuck. At least, get through Tito, since Tito beat him last time.
Hey Dr. J! Quick! Is the Pride 33 fight being faught with the “American Rules of MMA”?? I just heard Silva comment on it. Let us know…
Yea Silva was mouthing about Chuck. It ain’t Chuck’s fault. It’s all about money and somewhere down the line someone is wanting MORE money. That all there is to it. MORE MONEY MORE MONEY MORE MONEY….
There can’t be ONE SINGLE PERSON who thinks that the UFC pre-fight is better than PRIDE. Pride Kicks UFC in the balls when it comes to excitement for a night of fights. I can’t even stay in my seat right now watching!
Nick Diaz got one heck of an apploze. I could here it over the announcers. I hope he wins, but I don’t think he will. And I’m always right! LOL
Here’s my projected winners of Pride 33:
Wanderiel Silva
Takanori Gomi
Kazuhiro Nakamura
Mac Danzig
Kazuo Misaki
Mauricio Shogun
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
Jason Ireland
Let’s see how many I get. I bet I only miss 1 or 2. Ireland could be one of them…
James Lee took over for Nakamora. I just saw James Lee know the other guy out. But I’m giving myself a win because Nakamora would’ve knocked his butt out too. So far I’m 1 and 2. Dr. J’s kickin my butt!
Ok! I didn’t know about this fight. It’s the 6th fight of the evening. I’m picking Sergei Kharitonou. That guys a bad moe foe. I’m currently 2-2. This fight will get me in the plus…
Can’t remember if I picked this fight either. They’re coming out with some fights I didn’t know about. I’m picking Shogun to beat “The Hammer”. I’ve got a couple of looses. I’m 4-2, but we’re at like the 7th fight. So I’m missing one fight. Come On SHOGUN Rua!
What an absolute incredible night of fighting…every fight keeps getting better and better, I can’t believe I never ordered a Pride event before…maybe cause of the crazy screaming banchee woman..anyways, Gomi just called out Matt Hughes, GSP, and BJ Penn in one shot. I’m so hyped right now. For those who are not familiar with Pride…this would be the equivalent of having a UFC with Liddell, Sylvia, Hughes, Silva, etc…all fighting on one unbelievable card…and it seems like the people in Vegas know who all the fighters are…I think Pride could be very successful here.
Hate to say I told you so but…
WAR DIAZ.
My boy!!!
Damn, Dr. J
A lot of people on here put their foot in their mouth. Your the only one that picked Diaz over Gomi. Diaz looked lethargic in the beginining but his reach and awkward style was obviously too much for Gomi to handle.
Wow…what a night…celebrities gallore (Harrison Ford, Nick Cage, Chuck Norris)…action-packed fights with no boring pauses or clinches…plenty of KO power, great match-ups…overall a successful show.
Trigg looked like an absolute monster at this weight, even though he looked more prone to gassing out. I think he should keep fighting at that weight, cause he seemed twice the size of Misaki. The overall performance value of the show was really good…good music…good special effects.
To EVERYONE who use to give me **** when I would say that Pride fighters are over rated, especially Wandy, can all collectively suck my balls.
I paid for a Pride PPV for only the second time in my life tonight and I got to witness the demise of that organization.
Trigg had no business winning if you believe the Pride hype
Diaz had no business winning if you believe the Pride Hype
Nog had no business losing if you believe the Pride Hype
Wandy had no business losing if you believe the Pride Hype
When Cro Cop beat Wandy, I said it proved Wandy was over rated. I got **** because “Derr, Cro Cop is a Heavyweight”. Well Henderson is a middleweight.
*Pours a 40 To Pride’s Memory*
Yea I’m one of those people tucking tail and running after Diaz brought down the house of American MMA. Good job Nick. Should’ve believed in ya.
As for Pride’s fighter’s being overrated?? Or at least their champs. Well that’s a good argument. But it is MMA. I think Gomi could take Diaz 2 outta 3 times. I know, I know. You disagree. Silva WILL win 2 outta 3 against Henderson.
Pride puts on one helloffa show. UFC champs are the best in the buisness, but Pride has the better “others”. Sorry, but it’s true…
Goodnight to ALL!!!!!!!
I have two words for Silva, KNOCK OUT!!! Get ready Shogun because you are Pride’s future champion.
Did you guys ever hear about Quinton “Rampage” Jackson’s first fight in Pride? He LOST! There is a difference in fighting in Japan and fighting in America. New food. New time change. New people. And New RULES!
Point is, I wonder how many of these fights would have went differently. I still can’t beleive Gomi lost. He looked like crap! I wanna see them fight again. If that fight would have went 3 rounds, Gomi would’ve probably sqeaked out a victory.
Frank Trigg took his guy down by will. I don’t think he belongs in the top 10 like that stupid announcer said. What did everyone think??
Heres my take on last nights card..
one word… WOW!!!!
night of the underdogs, thats real talk man!
First let me say, the most impressive performance came from sakurai, he picked that guy apart! I wanna see sakurai back in the UFC!! great all around fighter, very cerebral.
Dam.. too bad for Nogueira.. but thats how it goes down sometimes..
Trigg.. blah.. hes his usual bland self, he will always be a B level fighter, but he got the win so.. congrats frank.
Overeem was doing GREAT against Shogun.. for a while.. he made ALOT of mistakes in that fight though. He had Shoguns back twice and he didnt try and capitalize on it, no to say you should try to submit Shogun cuz you probably get rolled, but he should have put some ground an pound on him. Then at the end, the commentators were saying he should have had his hands up to block the final punch. You cant block a punch like that from that position man lol, he had his back flat against the mat, he should have raised his upper back so he could have more leverage to shift his hips and dodge that shot. Anyways, Shogun does it again!
about Diaz.. I give pure respect to Diaz, he may have finally matured, he wasnt talking his usual sh*t and you could tell he had alot of respect for Gomi. With his 7″ reach advantage, he had a great game plan, he was working his jab like crazy and he set up some good shots on Gomi, i dont think he was really hurting Gomi with those shots but he was racking up mad points thats for sure. What a disciplined classy performance by Diaz last night! thats the Nick Diaz i want to see in all his future fights! WAY TO GO NICK!!!!!
about Gomi.. I think anyone who has seen Gomi fight before knows that Gomi was in terrible condition for that fight, he clearly did something wrong. If it was lack of training or he was sick or watever it was, he deserved to lose that fight. He did rock Diaz a few times, but thats what i expected to happen, the fact that he couldnt even go 1 round without completely gassing out was really pathetic..
I dont see how they can set up a fight with the champ and the title is not on the line, unless somthing happens like he didnt make weight or watever. Maybe this was a partially a factor for Gomi not training hard enough? i can only speculate.. who knows man.. the point is, at this point i consider Diaz to be the new Pride Lightweight Champ! what you guys think about that?
Henderson vs Silva.. i think Dennis put it best.. “dans the man” hehe. In response to Gatties, personally i think crocop ruined Silva man, thats why i dont like the open weight gp. I think if Silva fought Chuck right now, he would get knocked out. He doesnt look like the same fighter, defense doesnt win fights, he had a few moments there where he had dan in trouble, but Silva wasnt the agressor like he usually is, he just didnt seem hungry enough..
Put all this together and you get 2 words..
GREAT CARD! heh
Wandi certainly did not look like his old self. I also think his brutal loss to Mirko might have done him in for a while. I wonder how Wandi will look in 20-30 years, if he even lives that long… after all the savage beatings and wars hes been in lately. They must have a terrible long-term effect on his body and mind. Regardless, he looked tentative. I disagree with whoever said Pride guys are overrated, that’s just an absurd comment. Before Wandi lost this fight and Mirko’s fight, he was absolutely dominant…and I am saying this as a hardcore UFC devotee for a long time.
So even though I like Chuck Liddell since he always delivers what we want to see in a fight, I wanted to make a point about his UFC fights. The controversy between which company has the better fighters is a constant, on-going debate here. Myself, only recently having started to venture into Pride, I honestly believe they have the tougher and better fighters. The following is his UFC record, and although Chuck has experienced fighting in Pride, I still think one can make an argument that his reign as champion has been somewhat crafted as many of the other UFC champs.
Win Tito Ortiz
Win Renato Sobral
Win Randy Couture
Win Jeremy Horn
Win Randy Couture
Win Vernon White
Win Tito Ortiz
Loss Randy Couture
Win Renato Sobral
Win Vitor Belfort
Win Amar Suloev
Win Murilo Bustamante
Win Kevin Randleman
Win Jeff Monson
Win Paul Jones
Loss Jeremy Horn
Noe Hernandez
Aside from Vitor and maybe Randleman, can anyone honestly tell me that these guys have tested Chuck’s chin in the past 2 years? Is there any legitimate fighter here with real KO power and world class talent?
I say all this mainly in that I am a very annoyed that neither of the 2 organizations have been able to come to the table and make a deal to bring the top guys together for us to see.
@Dr. J.
Well, looks like you got me on Diaz, but I got you on Hollywood……
@Amir
I completely agree with you and when I look at that list the only recent stars that Chuck has fought are Randy Couture at 400 years old and Tito sucks cause he almost lost to forrest who also sucks cause he lost to Keith Jardine who sucks. And the only fighters who Tito has beat lately are Shamrock and Forrest Griffin. And Babalu is a submission specialist who cant strike. And Jeremy Horn is out of the UFC because he sucks. Chuck Liddell is overhyped and there are a hadful of Brazilians in Pride who could beat him.
…………..rrrrrrrrrrriiiiiiiiiiiiiight………
@alen
you must be crazy man lol, you think everyone “sucks” just because your not the best in the world, that doesnt mean you suck. Tito doesnt suck, babalu doesnt suck, jeremy horn doesnt suck..
feel like im talking to patrick here lol by the way patrick, Tim sylvia doesnt suck either hehe..
Look at the other guys Chuck fought in the UFC, i guess you think Randy sucks, Vernon White sucks, Vitor sucks, bustamante sucks, randleman sucks, monson sucks..
Let me give you some advice bro, NONE of these guys suck, theyre all experienced, tough, world class fighters. To the point if you trained your whole life you probably would never be as good as them.
Show some respect atleast..
MAN CHUCK HAS A NICE RESUME
@BV
here here…………..
I especially like the part where Chuck KO’d Randleman, who KO’d Cro Cop…LOL……Amir.
lol dennis knows wats up man..
I can see how you guys are saying you would like to see chuck fight some chute box guys. So would I man!! theres alot of guys id like to see chuck fight, including Silva, Shogun, Arona, Henderson, etc..
The thing is, its not up to him who he fights, dana is his manager, but its not even about what dana says. With marquee fights like that, everyone sticks their hand out, including dana, hes not gonna take the short end of the stick just to make the fight happen.
I remember when everyone just saw chuck as a brawler, like a mini tank abbott, everytime he knocked someone out, it was considered a “lucky” punch. Though he hasnt stopped landing “lucky” punchs his whole career.. hmm.. when does it stop being luck and start being skill.
Chuck has spent his whole carreer proving himself to non-believers, hes a legend man. I dont think hes overrated at all, hes not superman or anything, but hes one of the best pound for pound fighters in the world.
Not taking anything away from crocop either! hes a legend too, thats why it would be a great fight! heh
LMFAO..Dana White is NOT Chuck’s manager by any means. I’m not sure if you actually believe that or just made the mistake of stating that. I think Chuck actually has an enormous amount of clout in the UFC and can basically fight whoever and whenever he wants. Diego WANTED Kos and Dana got it for him. I’m sure Chuck can do the same. And as far as “getting the short end of the stick”, no one will ever really know why so many Chuck vs. Pride fights have fallen through. Why do you never consider that maybe Dana White is the one playing hardball and is avoiding bringing in Shogun, Silva, Henderson etc. to face his golden boy Chuck?
Come on now, Dana is doing exactly what he needs to do to be #1…..grabbing the talent as it becomes available.
If he enlisted all the best at one time, he’d lose HYPE_POWER!
His job is to have a steady growth of continuous, larger attendance, which is exactly what he’s doing. Dana is a fricking genius!
Dana was both chuck and titos manager man.. what are you talking about?? look it up.. As far as the fights are concerned, in the UFC dana makes the decisions. I dont care how much “clout” you have, Dana is the president man, he runs the show, you better believe that!
You cant say chuck can fight whoever and whenever he wants, are you serious man? you know how many people and contracts and millions of dollars are on the table? you think its easy for these organizations from opposite sides of the world to just come together and collaborate like that? theyre competitors man!
DONT BLAME MATCH-UPS ON THE FIGHTERS, its not their decision man. Blame it on the big guys, most people blame dana white for everything man lol. I think your just hating on dana, the amount hes done for MMA, bringing us fights on TV for free! dont criticize man, hes a god as far as im concerned, why shouldnt he get paid for all hes done?
TRUE TRUE BVRASP
hey guys im back damn fu*cking moving is horrible and finally i got my internet back its been a long time so i got a lot of comments to catch up on