Two legends and pioneers of mixed martial arts both in the U.S. and Japan locked horns at PRIDE 30: Starting Over (aka Fully Loaded in the U.S. in a rip off of an old WWF pay per view name) on October 23rd when Ken Shamrock returned to PRIDE for the first time in over three years to face Kazushi Sakuraba on a card that also featured Mirko Cro Cop's latest comeback, in a rematch with Josh Barnett.

Kazushi Sakuraba and Shamrock may be the two most influential fighters of all time. If not for Sakuraba, there would be no PRIDE. It was the concept of seeing Rickson Gracie vs. Nobuhiko Takada that got Pride off the ground, but after the promotion was sold by KRS (the original parent company) to DSE, it was Sakuraba's legacy created by a series of wins over the Gracies that made PRIDE a bankable enterprise.

By defeating Renzo, Royler, Ryan and UFC Legend Royce Gracie, Sakuraba essentially did what pro wrestling legend Takada could not: he had defeated members of the famed Gracie family. And not only had he defeated them, he went undefeated in fights against the Gracies, whereas Takada was never able to win a fight against Rickson twice and Royce once.

Sakuraba's feud with the Gracies, culminating with the most infamous match in mixed martial arts history at the second Pride Grand Prix show in 2000 where Sakuraba defeated Royce after 90 minutes of action, made Pride a legitimate national promotion in Japan. Pride's surge of popularity assisted in the downfall of pro wrestling companies in that country, not to mention smaller MMA promotions such as RINGS.

Sakuraba's legendary status is equalled to that of Shamrock's. Ken Shamrock was one of the original crop of pro wrestlers to fight in Pancrase. He had a previous legit fight against kickboxer Don Nakaya Nielsen on a pro wrestling show in 1992 where he submitted Nielsen very quickly, but his fight against Masakatsu Funaki at the inaugural Pancrase show in 1993 is considered the first MMA-esque fight for Shamrock.

He would end up becoming one of the strongest headliners for Pancrase during that company's glory years, winning the King of Pancrase title in a two-night tournament. He never lost the belt in a legit match, dropping it to Kiyoshi Tamura in a worked fight.

But Shamrock is mostly known for being the original pioneer of the UFC, along with Royce Gracie. Shamrock's two fights with Royce and his two fights with Dan Severn are now stuff of MMA legend, although fights from that era barely qualify as mixed martial arts in comparison to what UFC is presenting today.

Up until this year, Shamrock's fights were the most watched in UFC and he was the biggest draw in company history. His box office drawing record still remains arguably the best in company history, although his image has been badly damaged with so many recent losses that with this advanced age he will likely never recover his status of UFC kingpin that he once held.

And the knockout loss to Kazushi Sakuraba didn't help matters either. The theme of this Pride event was "Starting Over"; it was Pride's first major show since the Grand Prix Finals won by Shogun. Shamrock was clearly brought in as a high profile victim for Sakuraba. Shamrock may arguably be the most overrated fighter in MMA history, as so many fans, unfamiliar with many of the names in MMA globally, still believed in the "World's Most Dangerous Man" hype from all those years ago.

Realistically, not only is Ken Shamrock broken down from age and numerous injuries suffered both in pro wrestling and MMA, he was never a great fighter to begin with. MMA has advanced so far beyond the 1990s quality of fighting that the top fighters from that era have struggled to keep up. Ken Shamrock, Don Frye, Mark Coleman, Dan Severn are just a few names who have been struggling in recent years that were all at point champions in the UFC.

Shamrock was a solid fighter in an era when most fighters were terrible. Now it's he who is the terrible fighter.

Sakuraba landed a straight left just over two minutes into the first round in a fight that was all stand-up. The punch connected with Shamrock's jaw and Shamrock stumbled back. Sakuraba pushed forward quickly, throwing strikes against the downed Shamrock who had been pushed up against the ropes.

The referee stepped in almost right away. Shamrock was up to his feet a split-second after the fight was stopped and was totally lucid. He didn't seem happy about the quick stoppage. And it was a quick stoppage, no doubt. Although Sakuraba did land the solid left and Shamrock was rocked by it, and it's no compliment to be rocked by a solid left from someone who you outweigh by so much, Shamrock did not look knocked out and realistically the official should have given him a few seconds to see if Ken could recover. But Sakuraba scoring a major win was the whole point here, make no mistake.

Later in the night, Josh Barnett returned from the arm injury suffered in his first fight against Mirko Cro Cop to fight a return bout against the Croatian Sensation. Mirko was coming off his loss to champion Fedor Emelianenko, and much like after his loss to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Mirko was being built for a comeback.

On paper, I had Barnett going over Mirko. Barnett is far better on the ground and Mirko is not world-class in grappling. Barnett should also have better cardio than Mirko, who looked sluggish late in the fight against Fedor. The only flaw for Barnett fighting Mirko is that Barnett has a previous knockout loss to Pedro Rizzo, and Mirko could certainly end this fight the same way. But he didn't.

He did win the fight however, as Barnett faded as the fight went long. Mirko seemed to improve in his conditioning quite a bit since the fight against Fedor, and if he can become refocused on mixed martial arts and ignore all the outside forces that have sort-of kept him at bay lately then we might see the comeback of the Mirko of old. Or he could end up being the biggest choker in MMA history.

OTHER RESULTS FROM PRIDE STARTING OVER

Zuluzinho defeated "Sentoryu" Henry Miller in 1:31. Freakshow. Zulu is huge and after a low-blow to Miller, he was able score a quick ref stoppage.

"Ninja" Murilo Rua defeated Murad Chunkaiev in 3:31. In a quick fight, Rua was able to submited Chunkaiev with a heel hook in the first round. Rua brothers are looking very good this year although Murilo will need to prove himself again against better competition than this.

James Thompson defeated Alexandru Lingu in 2:13. More K-1 style freakshow garbage. Both guys are huge. Thompson is actually an okay heavyweight skill wise. Lungu did well early but gassed quick and Thompson stopped him with strikes.

Quinton Jackson defeated Hirotaka Yokoi in 4:05. This was a gimme fight for Rampage. It was also the last fight in his current deal with Pride as he is now a free agent. Rampage stopped him early with punches.

Sergei Kharitonov defeated Fabricio Werdum via split-decision. This win should put Kharitonov in line for a title shot against Fedor. Slow fight that Kharitonov easily won despite the split-decision result. Ok, let's see Kharitonov vs. Fedor now.

Makoto Takimoto defeated Yoon Dong Sik via unanimous decision. This was a jobber match for Takimoto, who has struggled quite a bit since signing with Pride. Takimoto couldn't even finish Sik in a bad fight, who was destroyed quickly by a broken down Sakuraba earlier this year. Takimoto has been a complete bust for Pride.

Kazushi Sakuraba defeated Ken Shamrock in 2:27.

"Cro Cop" Mirko Filipovic defeated Josh Barnett via unanimous decision.

Jeremy Wall can be contacted at mmachronicle@hotmail.com

Source: MaxFighting.com