The show begins with one of the many Gracie brothers, Ralph Gracie, taking on Makoto Muraoko (although there's actually no introduction for him). This was a quick one. It quickly went to the ground, where Gracie quickly took control, taking Muraoko's back, and synching in a rear naked choke. The Japanese fighter didn't tap, and the referee stopped the fight when he saw that Muraoko was unconscious. Well, it's the sort of thing you expect from the Gracies, isn't it?
Next up was Igor Zinoviev against Harold German. Another quick fight saw Zinoviev knock German down early, going in for the kill first with a knee bar attempt, which German managed to escape from, and then with a relentless ground and pound, which German soon tapped out to. So far there's been just eighty-six seconds of fight action.
Then it was on to Gary Myers against Tom Glanville. This one lasted longer than the first two fights combined, and saw a dominating performance from Myers. After escaping from a triangle attempt early on, Myers quickly got back on top, putting his elbow on the side of Glanville's head. That particular move almost won him the match, but it was only when Myers rained in a few head butts that Glanville tapped out. A very good performance from Myers.
Gracie student Mario Sperry was next, facing Rudyard Moncayo. You could see that Sperry was a Gracie student from the opening bell, as he quickly used a leg trip to take Moncayo down to the mat. He immediately went for an arm lock, but it wasn't long before Moncayo reversed positions and took Sperry's guard - for about three seconds. Sperry was soon back on top, and after a brief flurry of punches Moncayo was tapping. Nice stuff by Perry, but I had the feeling that as soon as they said he was a Gracie student that he was going to win.
The next fight saw Marcus Silveira facing Russian fighter Victor Tatarkin, also in this unknown tournament. More Brazilian domination saw Silveira take Tatarkin down early on, and from there he transitioned at will, almost getting a rear naked choke, before taking the back again and unleashing with the ground and pound, with the Russian's corner throwing the towel in to end the onslaught. This one looked absolutely brutal.
Silveira then made a quick return, facing Gary Myers, making me think that this was actually a part of a tournament, which wasn't actually announced on this DVD. This was the most even fight on the show so far. It soon went to the ground, and for the first time a Brazilian was on the defensive with Myers taking the guard and going to work. The fight was stopped briefly so the doctors could check on the cuts that the fighters had sustained. This gave Conan the chance he needed to recover, as he soon locked in a standing guillotine choke, with Myers quickly tapping out. We then saw an official give Silveira a title belt, so I guess this was a tournament after all.
And as it turns out, there were actually two tournaments in this show, with Igor Zinoviev and Mario Sperry returning to action in a middleweight final. The Brazilian dominance of the show ended with this fight. Sperry did well again here, and looked great in the mount, but Zinoviev did what nobody expected he would do, and escaped Sperry's mount. The Russian was soon back on his back, but this time he went for a guillotine choke, which ultimately was unsuccessful. Sperry regained control, and once again looked like he was going to dominate again, until Zinoviev reversed the positions again. Both fighters then got to their feet, with Zinoviev holding on to the cage while Sperry tried to work. After a few moments of this, the fight went back to the ground, and a Zinoviev knee opened up a nasty cut above Sperry's left eye. The doctor had no choice but to stop the fight, giving the fight and title to the Russian. Definitely the best fight of the first show.