Minty
05-Jan-2005, 20:09
Wow..... what an event! Some fantastic fights on show here, and unfortunately some disappointing ones, but they were mostly brilliant :)
Stefan Leko vs Ikuhisa Minowa
Minowa is a fucking nutter! His first move of the fight, was to run across the ring and throw a double leg dropkick at Leko! Unfortunately it missed, but Leko failed to capitalise on that and Minowa rose to his feet again. Minowa went for an absolutely insane takedown again, which he missed, but Leko went in for the kill with "soccer kicks" and a stomp. But Minowa caught the leg, brought Leko down, and heel hooked him. Very quick and impressive victory for Minowa
Giant Silva vs Choi Mu Bae
Giant has his name for a reason. At 7 ft 2, and 400 lbs, hes the biggest fighter Ive ever seen in MMA...... but that comes at the expense of speed. His punches and movements were so telegraphed that anyone could move out of the way without too much difficulty. GFrappling with Mu Bae he still didnt have the skill required, but his size wore Mu Bae down. Mu Bae never stopped though, and executed a nice side triangle choke, submitting Silva.
Yoji Anjo vs Ryan Gracie
Ryan Gracie has a bit of a reputation for being a hot head. He lived up to his reputation when the fight was moved to the centre of the ring to continue, and Gracie would not agree with the referee about arm placements etc. He basically swung for the ref and should have been disqualified, but was only given the yellow card. Gracie never looked out of control grappling with Anjo, and eventually submitted him with one of the most painful looking armbars Ive seen. Good fight.
Ryo Chonan vs Anderson Silva
Probably the second best fight of the night for me. Both fighters laid into each other standing up and neither seemed to have an advantage. However on the ground, it was Silva who had the advantage, due to his height. Silva never looked out of control on the ground, and Chonan recognised this and fought to regain a standing position, which he eventually managed. Both fighters were facing off against each other, when Chonan suddenly dropped to his back, brought Silva down only with the use of his legs, and heel hooked Silva into submission. An amazing end to a fantastic fight.
Rulon Gardner vs Hidehiko Yoshida
This is the match I was looking forward to the most..... and so probably why I found it the most disappointing. Gardner won an Olympic Gold medal in 2000 at Greco Roman Wrestling, and Yoshida won a Gold medal in 1992 in Judo. Gold medalist vs Gold medalist. With the exception of the first five minutes, both seemed to content to work out a slow boxing match. The first five minutes was all about the ground game, Yoshida was the man going for takedowns, but Gardner, after training heavily with Team Quest (Randy Couture, Dan Henderson, Evan Tanner, Matt Lindland etc) showed some ground skills that they DONT teach you for the Olympics. Mainly punches to the face! After this the fight was all stand up, and pretty dull in my eyes. Gardner went on to win a unanimous decision, but Yoshida at least earned a split decision
Kevin Randleman vs Mirko Cro Cop
This match was a big rematch from early on in 2004, when Randleman unbelievably managed to knockout Cro Cop. That didnt happen this time. Randleman shot in.... Cro Cop went for the guillotine choke and got it. Randleman didnt last long. Very very short fight
Yuki Kondo vs Dan Henderson
This is another fight I was looking forward to, and really enjoyed it. Both fighters were very evenly matched, both on the ground and striking. If I were to give an edge, Id have said Henderson won the stand up, and Kondo won on the ground. Most of this fight stayed on the ground, with both fighters working their arses off to win. It went through 20 gruelling minutes, all the way to a judges decision, where Henderson won a split decision. To be perfectly honest, I thought Kondo had won the fight, and was suprised to see Henderson win. The look of relief on Hendersons face said it all!
Jens Pulver vs Takanori Gomi
Another fight I was really looking forward to. It did disappoint. This was basically a boxing match for 6 minutes. Both fighters threw only punches for about 4 1/2 minutes, before Gomi started throwing leg kicks (Thats kicks to Pulvers legs) and knees. The commentary team even joked that he'd just remembered he was allowed to do that! The use of legs and knees put Pulver at a massive disadvantage, and Gomi knocked him out with a decent punch after putting him on the backfoot.
Mark Hunt vs Wanderlei Silva
Not telling! Lets just say, this was THE fight of the night by a long shot, and will be the next "Mintys MMA Fight Of The Fortnight". Even if I were to review it, I wouldnt know what to say. One of the most incredible fights Ive ever seen. Look forward to it :)
Emelianenko Fedor vs Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
Im not sure of the history, but apparently there was a dispute over who was the TRUE Pride heavyweight champion. This match would decide both that, and the winner of the 2004 Pride Heavyweight tournament, so a lot at stake. Fedor never looked out of control. Both standing up, and on the ground Nogueira could only hope for the end to come quickly. I think in the entire 20 minute match, Nogueira landed one decent punch, and it didnt even faze Fedor. Not taking anything away from Nogueira, he is an incredible fighter, but he just isnt Emelianenko Fedor. Went to the judges for a unanimous decision for Fedor.
All in all, a good nights worth of fights. A record 48,000 were in attendance, and not a single one of them could have been unhappy with the events of the night. Look out for mark Hunt vs Wanderlei Silva in the next "Mintys MMA Fight Of The Fortnight", with a possibility of seeing Chonan vs Silva, and Henderson vs Kondo in the future as well.
Cheers
Stefan Leko vs Ikuhisa Minowa
Minowa is a fucking nutter! His first move of the fight, was to run across the ring and throw a double leg dropkick at Leko! Unfortunately it missed, but Leko failed to capitalise on that and Minowa rose to his feet again. Minowa went for an absolutely insane takedown again, which he missed, but Leko went in for the kill with "soccer kicks" and a stomp. But Minowa caught the leg, brought Leko down, and heel hooked him. Very quick and impressive victory for Minowa
Giant Silva vs Choi Mu Bae
Giant has his name for a reason. At 7 ft 2, and 400 lbs, hes the biggest fighter Ive ever seen in MMA...... but that comes at the expense of speed. His punches and movements were so telegraphed that anyone could move out of the way without too much difficulty. GFrappling with Mu Bae he still didnt have the skill required, but his size wore Mu Bae down. Mu Bae never stopped though, and executed a nice side triangle choke, submitting Silva.
Yoji Anjo vs Ryan Gracie
Ryan Gracie has a bit of a reputation for being a hot head. He lived up to his reputation when the fight was moved to the centre of the ring to continue, and Gracie would not agree with the referee about arm placements etc. He basically swung for the ref and should have been disqualified, but was only given the yellow card. Gracie never looked out of control grappling with Anjo, and eventually submitted him with one of the most painful looking armbars Ive seen. Good fight.
Ryo Chonan vs Anderson Silva
Probably the second best fight of the night for me. Both fighters laid into each other standing up and neither seemed to have an advantage. However on the ground, it was Silva who had the advantage, due to his height. Silva never looked out of control on the ground, and Chonan recognised this and fought to regain a standing position, which he eventually managed. Both fighters were facing off against each other, when Chonan suddenly dropped to his back, brought Silva down only with the use of his legs, and heel hooked Silva into submission. An amazing end to a fantastic fight.
Rulon Gardner vs Hidehiko Yoshida
This is the match I was looking forward to the most..... and so probably why I found it the most disappointing. Gardner won an Olympic Gold medal in 2000 at Greco Roman Wrestling, and Yoshida won a Gold medal in 1992 in Judo. Gold medalist vs Gold medalist. With the exception of the first five minutes, both seemed to content to work out a slow boxing match. The first five minutes was all about the ground game, Yoshida was the man going for takedowns, but Gardner, after training heavily with Team Quest (Randy Couture, Dan Henderson, Evan Tanner, Matt Lindland etc) showed some ground skills that they DONT teach you for the Olympics. Mainly punches to the face! After this the fight was all stand up, and pretty dull in my eyes. Gardner went on to win a unanimous decision, but Yoshida at least earned a split decision
Kevin Randleman vs Mirko Cro Cop
This match was a big rematch from early on in 2004, when Randleman unbelievably managed to knockout Cro Cop. That didnt happen this time. Randleman shot in.... Cro Cop went for the guillotine choke and got it. Randleman didnt last long. Very very short fight
Yuki Kondo vs Dan Henderson
This is another fight I was looking forward to, and really enjoyed it. Both fighters were very evenly matched, both on the ground and striking. If I were to give an edge, Id have said Henderson won the stand up, and Kondo won on the ground. Most of this fight stayed on the ground, with both fighters working their arses off to win. It went through 20 gruelling minutes, all the way to a judges decision, where Henderson won a split decision. To be perfectly honest, I thought Kondo had won the fight, and was suprised to see Henderson win. The look of relief on Hendersons face said it all!
Jens Pulver vs Takanori Gomi
Another fight I was really looking forward to. It did disappoint. This was basically a boxing match for 6 minutes. Both fighters threw only punches for about 4 1/2 minutes, before Gomi started throwing leg kicks (Thats kicks to Pulvers legs) and knees. The commentary team even joked that he'd just remembered he was allowed to do that! The use of legs and knees put Pulver at a massive disadvantage, and Gomi knocked him out with a decent punch after putting him on the backfoot.
Mark Hunt vs Wanderlei Silva
Not telling! Lets just say, this was THE fight of the night by a long shot, and will be the next "Mintys MMA Fight Of The Fortnight". Even if I were to review it, I wouldnt know what to say. One of the most incredible fights Ive ever seen. Look forward to it :)
Emelianenko Fedor vs Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
Im not sure of the history, but apparently there was a dispute over who was the TRUE Pride heavyweight champion. This match would decide both that, and the winner of the 2004 Pride Heavyweight tournament, so a lot at stake. Fedor never looked out of control. Both standing up, and on the ground Nogueira could only hope for the end to come quickly. I think in the entire 20 minute match, Nogueira landed one decent punch, and it didnt even faze Fedor. Not taking anything away from Nogueira, he is an incredible fighter, but he just isnt Emelianenko Fedor. Went to the judges for a unanimous decision for Fedor.
All in all, a good nights worth of fights. A record 48,000 were in attendance, and not a single one of them could have been unhappy with the events of the night. Look out for mark Hunt vs Wanderlei Silva in the next "Mintys MMA Fight Of The Fortnight", with a possibility of seeing Chonan vs Silva, and Henderson vs Kondo in the future as well.
Cheers