Make no mistake about it: Pride Middleweight Champion Wanderlei Silva and world renowned grappler Ricardo Arona don’t like each other – not even a little bit.

Their rivalry heightened when Arona became the first 205-pounder to beat Silva in the past 68 months, winning a unanimous decision in the semifinals of the Pride Middleweight Grand Prix back in August. The win earned Arona a shot at Silva’s 205-pound title at Pride’s year-end spectacular, Shockwave 2005.

However, the Brazilian Top Team standout wasn’t able to repeat his August performance, as Silva avenged that loss by the closest of margins with a razor-close split decision win.

Silva lunged in with a homerun right hand to start the fight. Arona ducked the looping shot and put Silva on his back with a beautiful takedown.

Rather than merely work for a tie up, which was his strategy in their first fight, Silva quickly put his feet on Arona’s hips and pushed away so he could stand back up. Silva engaged his foe quickly, throwing him down after a sloppy takedown attempt.

Bleeding from the bridge of his nose from what appeared to be a clash of heads, Silva fired kick after kick at Arona’s legs until the referee called for a standup. Silva resumed his role as aggressor, firing shots on the feet and defending multiple takedown attempts over the next few minutes.

In the second half of the opening round, both fighters spent about equal time working their hands from the top position, but neither did significant damage.

The second round started out with Arona executing an excellent heel trip. Silva worked to guard, but Arona passed to the side mount. Then, in a display of sheer power, the “Axe Murderer” basically bench pressed Arona off of him and rose to his feet.

Silva attacked violently with his fists. But none of his looping haymakers found their mark. The pressure, however, forced Arona to pull guard.

Rather than working his hips for a submission, Arona held Silva tightly to him to avoid taking any damage in a ground-and-pound assault. The move prompted the referee to call for a standup and give Arona a yellow card. Not much happened in the remainder of the round.

Arona executed a quick takedown to start the final stanza. Although he was able to keep the champion on his back for the first three minutes of the round, Arona didn’t do much to end the fight, either.

The non-action caused the referee to stand the fighters back up. Silva got more aggressive on the feet, landing two good punches, causing Arona to pull guard.

This time, however, Silva slammed his fists down furiously trying to damage his opponent. But the attack was short lived, as Arona tied up Silva’s arms slowing the attack. The referee proceeded to give the champion a yellow card, just like he’d done to Arona earlier.

In the end, the judges couldn’t agree on the decision, with two judges scoring Silva as the victor and one siding with Arona. InsideFighting was similarly split. The only logical next step, therefore, is for Pride to sign a rubber match to resolve the conflict once and for all.

Japanese superstars Hidehiko Yoshida and Naoya Ogawa are the two biggest draws in Pride Fighting Championships. So it wasn’t surprising that 49,801 fans showed up at the Saitama Super Arena to watch the pair resume their bitter judo rivalry in the main event of the evening.

What they witnessed was Yoshida’s continued growth as a mixed martial artist, scoring an impressive first-round submission win.

Yoshida came out with surprisingly efficient standup against his taller, heavier opponent, starting the action with a good overhand right to Ogawa’s jaw. The blow forced Ogawa to clinch, but Yoshida used the opportunity to execute a beautiful inside heel trip to take the action to the ground.

Once there, the former Olympic gold medalist tried to sink a heel hook. Ogawa defended expertly, transitioning the hold into Yoshida’s guard and working some punches. Yoshida quickly swept him to the mount, looking to work some ground and pound of his own.

After a missed heel stomp, Ogawa reversed Yoshida, regaining the top position at the halfway point of the first round. But he relaxed a little too much, allowing Yoshida to grasp both wrists.

Yoshida then elevated his hips, threw his right leg over Ogawa’s head and rolled into a very tight arm bar. Ogawa tried to fight off the joint lock, but he had no choice but to submit. The official time was 6:04 of the first round.

Mark Hunt’s entrance, featuring traditional Samoan music and dancers, was the best of the night. The calm, chanting voices and horns raised the already frenzied anticipation for his rematch with Mirko Filipovic.

The Croatian won their first bout, a K-1 affair, by unanimous decision after scoring the lone knockdown of the fight. Tonight’s rematch also went the distance, although the outcome was very, very different.

The fight started with both men looking to land brutal kicks. Cro Cop fired two lightening-quick left high kicks in the opening seconds. But Hunt defended them with ease. Cro Cop continued his left-legged attack, varying his shots up and down Hunt’s body.

But the Samoan kept pressing forward, landing unbelievable right hands in return and actually scoring the more damaging leg kicks, though at greatly reduced frequency.

After about a minute of kickboxing, the pair clinched. With nothing of consequence happening, the pair separated. Cro Cop again tried a fight-ending left high kick. But Hunt deflected it with his right forearm.

Hunt continued walking Cro Cop down with punches, forcing the former world title challenger to clinch for a second time. Hunt worked his way out and landed a leaping left hook followed by a good knee. The shots caused Hunt’s confidence to soar as he continued stalking the dangerous Cro Cop with punches.

Hunt then landed two more shots – an uppercut and right hand – that caused Cro Cop to shake his head in the negative, the universal sign that the punches hurt.

Cro Cop landed a grazing left high kick a minute later, but Hunt seemed almost impervious to the deadly strike. He merely continued stalking. Cro Cop snuck in a good left hand, but Hunt closed out the round landing the more frequent, more damaging blows.

The second round was very similar to the first with two notable exceptions. First, Cro Cop landed an unbelievable right axe kick right to Hunt’s trapezius muscle. Second, Hunt tossed in body shots to his arsenal, ripping one right hook to the body with such force that it actually moved his opponent almost a foot. Overall, the second was very even round.

The action slowed a bit in the final round. Hunt continued walking Cro Cop down. Cro Cop landed a second axe kick, but Hunt continued landing the bigger shots with his hands and also landed a kick to the body and head.

After each exchange, Cro Cop dropped his hands and walked away, another sign that Hunt’s blows were doing more damage. The Samoan grew more and more frustrated at his retreating foe the round wore on, even taunting Cro Cop to stand and fight.

With a minute remaining, Hunt stood in the center of the ring and put his arms on his hips. Cro Cop stepped in and Hunt landed a good right uppercut that sent his opponent stumbling to the ropes.

Hunt immediately charged in with a leaping front kick. Cro Cop seized the moment to score the lone takedown of the bout. He even worked to the full mount as the final bell sounded. But it wasn’t enough, as Hunt the judges awarded Hunt a split decision, giving him some well-earned revenge for his 2002 K-1 loss.

Kazushi Sakuraba is unquestionably Pride’s poster boy. His long and storied mixed martial arts career includes a wins over five different Gracie relatives. But he’d never faced a fellow countryman, so his bout with Ikuhisa Minowa was a career first for the legend, one he took full advantage of to reestablish himself as a top contender.

At the opening bell, Minowa came out with both guns blazing, firing the first salvo of the bout. Nothing of significance landed, but the pair engaged again with simultaneous right hands.

Both men landed grazing shots, and Sakuraba used the opportunity to jump into a guillotine choke. Minowa defended the hold, but couldn’t seem to solve Sakuraba’s guard.

The referee penalized Sakuraba with a yellow card, causing a 10-percent deduction in his purse due to stalling from the bottom.

After a standup, Minowa rushed in for a takedown. Sakuraba conceded the move while attempting a kimura. Minowa worked to his feet with Sakuraba still holding on to the attempted kimura.

Minowa tried a high crotch takedown, but Sakuraba reversed to the top position. Minowa quickly rolled to a knee bar, then moved to an ankle lock. The latter submission attempt was close, but Sakuraba merely turned and sat into the hold, relieving the pressure from his ankle.

Once Minowa released the leg, Sakuraba snaked his way around to Minowa’s back and worked for a rear naked choke. Minowa defended once again and hit a nice sweep. But Sakuraba merely rolled with his opponent and reversed position almost instantly.

From there, Minowa stood up and took Sakuraba’s back. But the Japanese legend grabbed Minowa’s arm resumed his search for a kimura, his best submission hold. The hold was deep. Minowa tried to ride out the final 30 seconds of the round, but the pain was too much to bear, forcing him to submit at 9:36 of the first round.

Takanori Gomi and Hayato Sakurai have been close friends for a number of years. But the pair had to put their personal affections aside on New Year’s Eve, as they battled it out to crown the inaugural Pride Lightweight Champion.

Sakurai, the vastly more experienced of the two, said heading into the fight that the first man to land a significant punch would win by knockout. His words proved to be prophetic, though he came out on the losing end of things, as Gomi scored a knockout win at 3:56 of the opening round to become the first Japanese champion in the history of Pride Fighting Championships.

The fighters came out cautiously, circling for the first several seconds without engaging. It was an obvious sign of respect.

The action finally got underway when Sakurai threw one of his damaging leg kicks, but Gomi countered it with a good looping left hand. Sakurai then landed back-to-back inside leg kicks that certainly got Gomi’s attention.

That’s when the leather started to fly. Gomi engaged his former mentor with a three-piece combination. But Sakurai fired back punch for punch. A third inside leg kick followed by an outside leg kick seemed to slow Gomi momentarily.

After a few seconds, Gomi rushed in for the clinch. Sakurai tried to throw his friend, but Gomi reversed the move, quickly taking Sakurai’s back and throwing punch after punch to the side of the head.

Sakurai worked to his feet, but Gomi continued his assault, landing a left-right combination squarely to his friend’s jaw to score a knockout win at 3:56 of the first round.

The first time Dan Henderson and Murilo Bustamante locked horns in a Pride ring the bout ended amidst controversy. Henderson won that fight by first-round knockout. However, the Brazilian claimed an illegal headbutt did the damage, not a right hand.

There were no headbutts in the final of the Bushido Welterweight Grand Prix, but the crowd at the Saitama Super Arena seemed a bit perplexed when the judges awarded the fight, and the new welterweight title, to Henderson by split decision.

Bustamante seemingly controlled the action in the opening round, scoring three separate takedowns and controlling the action for the vast majority of the 10-minute opening stanza. He did little damage, however, following the takedowns, working sporadic ground and pound, as well as the occasional soccer kick while standing. Yet, Henderson never seemed to be in any serious trouble, though he did seem to be tiring rapidly.

The opening round came to a close with Henderson executing a solid single-leg takedown, his second takedown of the round.

The second round started out with Henderson pressing the action more so than in the first round. He landed some good shots on the feet, before Bustamante landed an excellent jab that opened a small cut under Henderson’s left eye.

After the referee stopped the action to briefly check the cut, the American exploded onto his opponent with a trademark overhand right. The blow rocked Bustamante and a follow-up knee dropped the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt for the only knockdown of the fight.

With just over a minute left, Henderson worked knee after knee in an attempt to end the fight. But Bustamante defended well so Henderson stood up and resumed the battle on the feet. The two exhausted warriors missed with wild right hands as the final bell sounded for the two-round championship fight.

One must keep in mind that Pride does not score fights round by round. Judges score fights as a whole, putting greater emphasis on how a fighter ends the fight. Henderson’s knockdown and subsequent push to end the fight proved to be the difference for two of the three judges.

The size difference between Pride Heavyweight Champion Fedor Emelianenko and his New Year’s Eve opponent, Zuluzinho, was dramatic. But it wasn’t nearly as dramatic as the single punch that sent the 370-pound giant crashing to the canvas in the early moments of their fight.

Fedor came out looking to engage the enormous Brazilian on the feet at the opening bell. The deadly Russian missed with a lead right hand, but a clean-up left hook found its mark. Zulu dropped immediately and Fedor was all over him, unloading punches and hammer fists in furious fashion.

In other action, James Thompson used an aggressive standup attack to defeat the Giant Silva by technical knockout at 1:28 of the first round. Kazuhiro Nakamura beat Yuki Kondo by three-round unanimous decision. And “Krazy Horse” Charles Bennett reminded Japanese actor Ken Kaneko that fighting is very real, sinking a painful arm bar at 4:14 of the first round.