Bushido 7: Americans and Japanese Shine on Stellar Card
Akira Fujimoto May 22, 2005
TOKYO, May 22 — PRIDE held Bushido 7 at the Ariake Coliseum Sunday
afternoon, featuring 10 great match-ups on the card. Knockouts
seemed to be the theme of the evening, with five of the 10 fights
decided this way.
There were a lot of empty seats when the show started, which I thought bizarre given the deadly line-up on the card. PRIDE must employ some really good set designers, because the stage was just awesome. However it seemed like they recycled some pieces from Bushido 6.
The main event of the evening pitted the red-hot Takanori Gomi against Chute Boxe’s
Luis Azeredo. I remembered the great fight Azeredo had with Buscape
at Bushido 6 and I thought Gomi would have his hands full on this
night.
The fight started fast and furious, with both fighters throwing some big punches. Azeredo was throwing some unorthodox jumping kicks, and fairly early on he landed a big punch to Gomi’s head, staggering for former SHOOTO welterweight champion.
This lead to a bit of an in-ring scene between the Chute Boxe camp and the people in Gomi’s corner, which was certainly not helped by the presence of Charles “Krazy Horse” Bennett, who took it upon himself to jump into the melee and stir up an already tense situation. During his in-ring address, Gomi apologized to his opponent, basically stating that his emotions got the better of him.
The second to last fight saw Phil Baroni take on popular Japanese fighter Ikuhisa Minowa. This fight had a good balance of stand-up and groundwork. Both fighters threw some hard bombs on their feet. I was a little surprised to see how easily Baroni was able to take side control on his opponent. Baroni was also able to take Minowa’s back twice and even mounted him briefly. Minowa was able to escape these and attempted some leg submissions.
The second round was an absolute slugfest with both fighters taking a lot of shots. Baroni eventually got the upper hand in this punching battle. Despite being gassed-out and stunned, Minowa continued to throw at Baroni. Eventually Minowa’s legs give out and he fell to the mat, where Baroni finished him off with soccer kicks and stomps.
This was probably the most entertaining fight of the night, a real battle of attrition. In the interview area, Baroni stated that Minowa was tough and that he brought out the best in him. He further stated that it was an honor to fight him.
In what turned out to be a bit of a disappointing match-up, Nino “Elvis” Schembri took on “The Piranha” Ryo Chonan. Schembri wore a gi top and belt for this bout. Much of this fight was spent in the guard, with the fighters seemingly taking turns being on the bottom. Schembri tried for some shots, but it seemed like he would always end up on his back.
The referee handed out several warnings for inactivity. Chonan looked good on his feet but unfortunately didn’t spend much time there. Chonan finished out the second round with some big stomps to the head and eventually took the decision.
Japanese SHOOTO champ Tatsuya Kawajiri was pitted against Korean fighter Kim In Seok. To say that this fight was a beat-down would be a bit of an understatement. Kawajiri dominated from start to finish, throwing punches and stomps on his downed opponent, along with taking good positions. Seok’s corner could see that his ship was sinking fast and they eventually threw in the towel once Kawajiri took the mount. Seok’s face was a bloody mess by the end of this mauling.
Grabaka fighter Akihiro Gono took on Crosley Gracie in an entertaining match-up. The fighters often ended up in a standing clinch after throwing hand combinations. It was clear that Gono wanted to keep this contest standing up. He landed a perfectly timed right hand in the first, which knocked Gracie to the canvas.
Gracie had several nice shots and scored many takedowns. Once on the ground, Gono played a lot of defense, shrimping out and trying to get back to his feet. In the second Gono got a big stomp on his downed opponent and continue to inflict damage from the top. In the end Gono got the unanimous decision.
In the interview area Gracie stated that he was not happy with the decision and felt that he should have been awarded the decision of at least one of the judges. He also stated that he broke his hand on the very first punch of the fight, a testament to how tough the guy is if he can go through an entire fight with a broken hand.
A slimed-down Hayato “Mach” Sakurai faced Brazilian Top Team member Milton Vieira. I could only really catch this one out of the corner of my eye while an interview was going on, but it seemed like a really fast-paced contest. I was impressed by how smoothly Vieira linked his punches and takedown attempts.
Both fighters made some nice transitions on the ground, and Vieira had some good armbar attempts. Sakurai was able to rain down some knees in the second round and briefly got mount en route to taking the unanimous decision.
Another great knockout occurred when Aaron Riley took on Yoshida dojo member Michihiro Omigawa in his debut fight. Both guys came out flying in the first round of this slobber knocker.
Riley landed some big right hands on his opponent, which started to turn the tide his way. To his credit Omigawa was able to hang in there even when he was getting pelted. Riley eventually finished off his opponent in dramatic fashion with a textbook right-left-push off-right-kick-to-the-head combo. This was another vicious knockout.
In the interview area, Riley said he was impressed by Omigawa’s heart and was also surprised that the Judo specialist was willing to stand and trade punches.
Submission of the night award goes to Yves Edwards. On the receiving end of this was Japanese fighter Dokonjonosuke Mishima. While circling around the top of Edwards on the ground, Mishima fell into a perfectly executed armbar. Great submission. Mishima was visibly upset with this result. Backstage Edwards stated that he’s still getting use to PRIDE rules, such as not being able to throw elbows from the top.
Jens Pulver took on Taisho in what turned out to be a fairly quick match-up. The fight began with the two combatants trading punches. Pulver then caught Taisho with a left, sending him to the canvas with a flash knockout. The referee rushed in and stopped the fight. Taisho was up in a second, looking like he was expecting the fight to continue, but this one is done.
Backstage Pulver said that he liked fighting at 143 pounds but he knew that he would have to come up to 73 kilograms to get into the Bushido Grand Prix.
The first match of the night saw Charles “Krazy Horse” Bennett face undefeated Pancrase fighter Yoshiro Maeda. Bennett scored a knockout with a huge right hook at 1:55 of the first round. This was another nasty KO. Bennett timed the punch perfectly while Maeda’s hands were down after throwing for the body.
Bennett went jumping out of the ring and running around on the ramp much to the amusement of the audience. The American said that he knew Maeda was a striker. Bennett further stated that it was a lucky punch and that he wants to fight Gomi again. When asked if his gold teeth had any significance, he told the reporters that before he started fighting for a living he was a “street pharmacist” and gold teeth just kind of came with the job.
There were a lot of empty seats when the show started, which I thought bizarre given the deadly line-up on the card. PRIDE must employ some really good set designers, because the stage was just awesome. However it seemed like they recycled some pieces from Bushido 6.
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The fight started fast and furious, with both fighters throwing some big punches. Azeredo was throwing some unorthodox jumping kicks, and fairly early on he landed a big punch to Gomi’s head, staggering for former SHOOTO welterweight champion.
The two fighters continued to trade when Gomi wound up and landed a
huge left-right combo to the chin that put the lights out on
Azeredo. This was a deadly knockout. Azeredo was unconscious before
he hit the ground. Gomi continued to rain down punches — he was
like a man possessed with the ring officials having to pull him off
his downed opponent.
This lead to a bit of an in-ring scene between the Chute Boxe camp and the people in Gomi’s corner, which was certainly not helped by the presence of Charles “Krazy Horse” Bennett, who took it upon himself to jump into the melee and stir up an already tense situation. During his in-ring address, Gomi apologized to his opponent, basically stating that his emotions got the better of him.
The second to last fight saw Phil Baroni take on popular Japanese fighter Ikuhisa Minowa. This fight had a good balance of stand-up and groundwork. Both fighters threw some hard bombs on their feet. I was a little surprised to see how easily Baroni was able to take side control on his opponent. Baroni was also able to take Minowa’s back twice and even mounted him briefly. Minowa was able to escape these and attempted some leg submissions.
The second round was an absolute slugfest with both fighters taking a lot of shots. Baroni eventually got the upper hand in this punching battle. Despite being gassed-out and stunned, Minowa continued to throw at Baroni. Eventually Minowa’s legs give out and he fell to the mat, where Baroni finished him off with soccer kicks and stomps.
This was probably the most entertaining fight of the night, a real battle of attrition. In the interview area, Baroni stated that Minowa was tough and that he brought out the best in him. He further stated that it was an honor to fight him.
In what turned out to be a bit of a disappointing match-up, Nino “Elvis” Schembri took on “The Piranha” Ryo Chonan. Schembri wore a gi top and belt for this bout. Much of this fight was spent in the guard, with the fighters seemingly taking turns being on the bottom. Schembri tried for some shots, but it seemed like he would always end up on his back.
The referee handed out several warnings for inactivity. Chonan looked good on his feet but unfortunately didn’t spend much time there. Chonan finished out the second round with some big stomps to the head and eventually took the decision.
Japanese SHOOTO champ Tatsuya Kawajiri was pitted against Korean fighter Kim In Seok. To say that this fight was a beat-down would be a bit of an understatement. Kawajiri dominated from start to finish, throwing punches and stomps on his downed opponent, along with taking good positions. Seok’s corner could see that his ship was sinking fast and they eventually threw in the towel once Kawajiri took the mount. Seok’s face was a bloody mess by the end of this mauling.
Grabaka fighter Akihiro Gono took on Crosley Gracie in an entertaining match-up. The fighters often ended up in a standing clinch after throwing hand combinations. It was clear that Gono wanted to keep this contest standing up. He landed a perfectly timed right hand in the first, which knocked Gracie to the canvas.
Gracie had several nice shots and scored many takedowns. Once on the ground, Gono played a lot of defense, shrimping out and trying to get back to his feet. In the second Gono got a big stomp on his downed opponent and continue to inflict damage from the top. In the end Gono got the unanimous decision.
In the interview area Gracie stated that he was not happy with the decision and felt that he should have been awarded the decision of at least one of the judges. He also stated that he broke his hand on the very first punch of the fight, a testament to how tough the guy is if he can go through an entire fight with a broken hand.
A slimed-down Hayato “Mach” Sakurai faced Brazilian Top Team member Milton Vieira. I could only really catch this one out of the corner of my eye while an interview was going on, but it seemed like a really fast-paced contest. I was impressed by how smoothly Vieira linked his punches and takedown attempts.
Both fighters made some nice transitions on the ground, and Vieira had some good armbar attempts. Sakurai was able to rain down some knees in the second round and briefly got mount en route to taking the unanimous decision.
Another great knockout occurred when Aaron Riley took on Yoshida dojo member Michihiro Omigawa in his debut fight. Both guys came out flying in the first round of this slobber knocker.
Riley landed some big right hands on his opponent, which started to turn the tide his way. To his credit Omigawa was able to hang in there even when he was getting pelted. Riley eventually finished off his opponent in dramatic fashion with a textbook right-left-push off-right-kick-to-the-head combo. This was another vicious knockout.
In the interview area, Riley said he was impressed by Omigawa’s heart and was also surprised that the Judo specialist was willing to stand and trade punches.
Submission of the night award goes to Yves Edwards. On the receiving end of this was Japanese fighter Dokonjonosuke Mishima. While circling around the top of Edwards on the ground, Mishima fell into a perfectly executed armbar. Great submission. Mishima was visibly upset with this result. Backstage Edwards stated that he’s still getting use to PRIDE rules, such as not being able to throw elbows from the top.
Jens Pulver took on Taisho in what turned out to be a fairly quick match-up. The fight began with the two combatants trading punches. Pulver then caught Taisho with a left, sending him to the canvas with a flash knockout. The referee rushed in and stopped the fight. Taisho was up in a second, looking like he was expecting the fight to continue, but this one is done.
Backstage Pulver said that he liked fighting at 143 pounds but he knew that he would have to come up to 73 kilograms to get into the Bushido Grand Prix.
The first match of the night saw Charles “Krazy Horse” Bennett face undefeated Pancrase fighter Yoshiro Maeda. Bennett scored a knockout with a huge right hook at 1:55 of the first round. This was another nasty KO. Bennett timed the punch perfectly while Maeda’s hands were down after throwing for the body.
Bennett went jumping out of the ring and running around on the ramp much to the amusement of the audience. The American said that he knew Maeda was a striker. Bennett further stated that it was a lucky punch and that he wants to fight Gomi again. When asked if his gold teeth had any significance, he told the reporters that before he started fighting for a living he was a “street pharmacist” and gold teeth just kind of came with the job.
