Pride FC Inferno was “do or die” for 8 of its competitors. With the lucrative 16-man Heavyweight Grand Prix coming up in April, Dream Stage Entertainment needed to finalize the brackets. Faced with difficult decisions, it decided to let the fringe contenders decide for themselves. Accordingly, the "Survival Matches" dominated the story lines as 8 men fought for the right to enter the April tournament. First up was Igor Vovchanchyn against Dan Bobish.
Bobish started the fight like a man on a mission. He secured the takedown early in the round and was able to control his explosive, albeit smaller, opponent fairly easily. Unfortunately for the crowd and Bobish’s chances at victory, he reverted right back to his natural lay and pray style and did basically nothing while he had Vovhanchyn down. Although his corner implored him to work, Bobish simply refused to listen.
At the four minute mark of the opening stanza, the referee stood both competitors up and, amazingly enough, gave both a yellow-card for inactivity. Bobish was clearly gassed at this point, whereas Vovchanchyn looked fresh. That would prove to be the difference in the fight, although Bobish again secured the takedown as Vovchanchyn attacked with his hands. The round ended with more lay and pray by the out of shape American.
In the second round, Bobish’s lack of conditioning dictated the action. The fresher Vovchanchyn easily avoided Bobish's sloppy takedown attempts. Igor used this opportunity to start landing his bombs. Early in the round, the Ukrainian hit Bobish with a huge overhand right. Bobish ate the punch and tried another sloppy takedown attempt. Vovchanchyn defended and threw a knee as Bobish went to the canvas. Then he Vovchanchyn threw the deciding blow – a kick to the face – as the gassed Bobish attempted to rise to his feet.
Bobish was flat on his back after eating the kick from his Ukrainian attacker. Vovchanchyn used that opportunity to mount his fallen foe, secure his positioning and then unleash hell! Igor rained down brutal and decisive blows to the head and body. Bobish accepted defeat and tapped out at the 1:45 of the second round. Igor Vovchanchyn secured his spot in the Heavyweight Grand Prix.
The next bout was the most highly anticipated match-up of the entire card as it marked the return of ‘the Smashing Machine’ Mark Kerr. The former Pride superstar achieved almost legendary status this past year as HBO did an amazing documentary on his rise to glory and his fall from grace. This would be Kerr’s second bout in his return as he showed up 30 pounds lighter than normal, but grossly soft and out of shape, for his unsuccessful 2003 grappling match in Abu Dhabi against Ricardo Arona. Would Kerr show up his former huge, ripped and dominant self? It’s time to find out.
When Mark Kerr entered the ring, fans and DSE alike had very high hopes. Back were the some of muscles that we saw in the 1990s and gone was a good portion of the excessive fat that we saw in Abu Dhabi last year. Kerr looked to be improving his conditioning and focused since an abysmal showing against Arona. Unfortunately, unveiling a muscular, albeit somewhat smooth physique, would be the highlight of his short night.
After a brief feeling out process, Kerr finally shot for the takedown against his opponent, Yoshihisa Yamamoto. The Japanese fighter sprawled nicely, but Kerr simply hoisted his foe and slammed him viscously to the mat. In a bizarre twist of fate, Kerr hit his own forehead on the mat during the slam and actually knocked himself out ala Matt Lindland versus Vitale Falaniko at UFC 43 six months ago. As Kerr went limp, Yamamoto rolled him over and began pounding his unconscious foe prompting the referee to stop the fight a mere 40 seconds into the action. Yamamoto advances to the Grand Prix, but Kerr will surely be back for at least one more bout.
The next fight was one of the most competitive bouts of the night as Heath Herring squared off against UFC castaway and Pride rookie Gan McGee. The bout began with both fighters looking to strike. Herring landed a few right hands, but none of them fazed his huge opponent. For his part, McGee, who was carrying at least 30 extra pounds since not having to make the 265 pound UFC heavyweight limit, seemed sluggish and slow. His standup was chiefly ineffective against the quicker Herring, but he hurt Herring the few times he landed.
After tasting McGee’s power, Herring decided to take the fight to the ground and he took McGee to the mat. Surprisingly enough, McGee was both nimble and powerful on the ground as he reversed the action. Not much happened on the ground and as the first round came to a conclusion.
The second round started with McGee looking to push the pace and Herring accepting the role of counter-puncher. This round proved to be a standup war with McGee clearly landed the bigger scoring blows. It was not long before he had his Golden Glory opponent draped in a mask of blood. To make matters worse, Herring’s right eye began swelling badly late in the round and it looked like it was only a matter of time before it closed completely. The round ended with Herring bloody and hurt, but his foe looking to be tiring rapidly.
The final stanza saw McGee looking for the knockout. As the new Pride FC fighter, McGee did not want to leave his fate in the hands of the judges – maybe he remembered what happened to Ricco Rodriguez. McGee’s emphasis on the knockout led to wild punches that Herring was able to avoid and counter effectively. But he could not hurt his opponent. As the final bell sounded, both fighters did enough to earn a decision. Personally, I had McGee winning, but Heath Herring got the nod and secured a spot in the Grand Prix by split decision.
The fourth and final bout of the “Survival Matches” was anything but competitive. Accomplished fight veteran Sergei Kharitonov faced off against the enormous pro-wrestler, L.A. Giant. Unfortunately for the Giant he is a fight novice and was like a fish out of water. Kharitonov immediately took the fight to the ground with a trip, passed an amateur guard and secured an armbar less than two minutes into the fight.
also had three other intriguing match-ups. The first saw former light heavyweight contender, Murilo "Ninja" Rua, against perennial opponent Alexander Otsuka. This fight had all the elements present for another controversial ending. The bout opened with Otsuka rushing his foe wildly and initiating a clinch. Both men threw a few knees, but the Chute Boxe star landed one squarely his opponent’s cup and Otsuka went down in pain. It looked as if the fight would be stopped as Otsuka repeatedly attempted to rise to his feet only to collapse once again.
According to Pride FC rules, Otsuka would be given a chance to recover and resume fighting later in the evening. There was a collective feeling in the air that Otsuka would use this opportunity to simply take a disqualification win and move on with his life. But nobody can ever doubt his willingness to fight as Otsuka did, in fact, return later to finish his business with the dangerous Ninja Rua.
When the fight resumed, both fighters exchanged on their feet with Otsuka doing some good work. But the Chute Boxe star took the fight to the ground and gained the dominant position. He worked some ground and pound to wear Otsuka down, and then allowed his opponent to get up to resume a strike fest. This time Otsuka took the action to the ground and attempted a nice heel hook, but Rua defended nicely before sinking a beautiful triangle choke and getting the submission at the 5:25 mark of the opening, albeit restarted, round.
The next match-up featured young contender Kazuhiro Nakamura out of the Yoshida Dojo against the masked man known as Dos Caras Jr. The bout opened with Nakamura completely dominating the action with his judo skills. He threw Caras Jr. at will and nearly secured an armbar on two separate occasions. It was a dominating performance by Nakamura.
The second round opened up with a good exchange between the fighters. But the Mexican pro-wrestler was able to back Nakamura into the corner and keep him there with a clinch. After several minutes of no action, a finally resumed as the round closed with both fighters landing blows. It was an even round, but it was clear that Caras Jr. was only trying to survive at this point.
The third round began where the first round left off as Nakamura threw Caras Jr. with ease and tried to end the fight by ground and pound. After dishing out some damage, Nakamura attempted an armbar and then rolled into a triangle choke, but Caras Jr. defended nicely and ended up in the dominant position. He tried desperately to end the fight with his own ground and pound, but Nakamura survived and was awarded a clear and easy unanimous decision.
The final fight was a very interesting affair between Ron Waterman and Mirko Filipovic. Waterman came out like a man possessed in the first round. He threw caution to the wind and rushed the dangerous Croatian securing a nice takedown. Cro Cop secured his guard on the ground as Waterman tried everything he could to end the fight including his trademark neck crank. After some good ground and pound, Cro Cop started to relax and strike from his back. Cro Cop was effective striking from his back and it led to Waterman making his lone mistake, which would cost him the bout.
After getting hit with one of Cro Cop’s bottom strikes, Waterman relaxed his base, which allowed Cro Cop to escape out the side door and rise back to his feet. Once standing, Cro Cop took immediate control and looked to punish his opponent with a brutal high kick and two punches. Waterman tried desperately to take the fight back to the ground, but Cro Cop ended the night with a murderous soccer kick to the head of his down opponent that sounded horrifyingly similar to a Barry Bonds home run. Waterman left the world of the conscious as Cro Cop won by knockout at 4:37 of the opening stanza.
Overall, it was another great night of fights by Dream Stage Entertainment. The return of the Smashing Machine proved to be the only real let down of the night. But I am certain that we will see Mark Kerr back in a Pride ring very soon, and possibly in an alternate match for the Heavyweight Grand Prix. Now, it’s time to start looking forward to Bushido!
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