PRIDE Bushido: Vol. 8
Rainbow Hall, Nagoya, Japan
July 17, 2005

By Stephen Quadros, “The Fight Professor”

The PRIDE Bushido series continues to sprout wings. I am pleasantly surprised again at the fact that the show is showcasing the smaller fighters while at the same time moving towards showcasing top upcoming (and/or already established) Japanese talent. Specifically the signing of Joachim Hansen and Tatsuya Kawajiri will surely give steep competition to their lightweight golden boy Takanori Gomi. PRIDE’s lightweight division may soon have a heyday with Gomi, Kawajiri and Hansen, much like boxing’s lower weights saw with Sugar Ray Leonard, Roberto Duran and Marvin Hagler in the 1980s. A lightweight tournament would be well timed right about now.

Ryo Chonan

Phil Baroni

Acid tongued Phil Baroni is aggressive, has a knockout punch and may have finally found a home working in PRIDE. His exploits in and out of the ring have always caused extreme reactions from fans; they either love him or they hate him. But one thing is for sure they always talk about the raging bull from New York (Baroni currently resides and trains in Las Vegas, Nevada). Baroni was on a tough losing streak when he was with the UFC. Between the lines on that issue was that he lost to the best guys in the division (Evan Tanner twice and Matt Lindlund twice). But when unheralded Pete Sell submitted Phil in his final UFC fight it looked like he may be on the verge of stepping down into the minor leagues. But the opposite happened. PRIDE’s signing him was a risk but his first opponent was no push over. When Phil stepped in against Ikuhisa Minowa many, including myself, felt that he would fall prey to the Japanese fighter’s unorthodox submission skills. Instead Baroni delivered one of his highlight reel knockouts after a back and forth struggle that was worthy of Calvary hill. Now in steps Ryo Chonan, is arguably the best 185-pound fighter in PRIDE. Chonan is a better fighter than Minowa is in a striking sense. If Minowa didn’t sub Baroni my feeling is that he won’t get caught here either. Chonan’s skill lies in his wild and wooly standup game. Like Gomi, he is one of the new breed of Japanese fighters who are skilled while on their feet. This is a clear departure from the long reigning influence of submission style MMA fighting Kazushi Sakuraba had over his countrymen. Baroni would be advised to take him down and use ground and pound here. Baroni does have a shot to land the bomb while upright but I’m thinking Ryo is a little too slick to get caught. The Italian-American needs to come in as good if not better than he did in his last fight with Minowa. His cardio conditioning should be at the top of his checklist of things to do in preparation. If he does he has a good shot at beating Chonan. And if Baroni is victorious he has to resist the temptation to move up in weight.

Masakazu Imanari

Joachim Hansen

Norway is an icy place. But their MMA scene is heating up, largely because of the globe trotting exploits of its most celebrated fighter, Joachim Hansen. You see Hansen has trashed Rumina Sato and Caol Uno and decisioned …Takanori Gomi! That is correct; Gomi dropped a split decision to Joachim in August 2003 when both were still plying their trade in the Shooto organization. Obviously the plan here is to build on that story line and have the two top ten combatants re-match in PRIDE’s Bushido down the road. Hansen’s first stop in Bushido is against Masakazu Imanari, a 29 year old from Kanagawa, Japan. Imanari has been in with some tough hombres with wins over Jorge Gurgel and Renato Tavares. His loses include decision under Marcus Aurelio and Luiz Firmino. His only defeat inside the distance was from a tsunami of punches from Dokonjonosuke Mishima. His favorite way to win is the heel hook. As tenacious as Imanuri is Hansen shouldn’t have too much trouble here. Hansen represents the sport’s elite, where Imanari occupies the area just below that realm, somewhere between journeyman and contender. Hansen’s winning will surely set the stage for his rematch with Gomi.

Kazuo Misaki

Daniel Acacio

Daniel Acacio is a Luta Livre wrecking machine and he had a major breakthrough in his last match when he stomped veteran Daiju Takase into a referee’s stoppage. But Misaki will give him problems, especially on the canvas. The moment of truth will happen when the two men start to brawl. The guy who gets hurt first will be at a disadvantage and I’m thinking that will be Acacio. But even if Misaki doesn’t get the Brazilian reeling in the standup phase, he will get the fight to the ground and then control the action. This is just another example of the high level that even the undercard matches have evolved to in PRIDE’s Bushido series. Misaki will win but it won’t be a cakewalk.

Jutaro Nakao

Marcus Aurelio

Jutaro Nakao of Shooting Gym Osaka has been fighting since 1996 and may be best known for his choke out of UFC lightweight champion Pat Miletich back in 1999. But at 34 years old he may be teetering in the area between his prime and the downside of his physical prime. He has almost 30 fights with a record of 18-9-1. His match with American Top Team’s Marcus Aurelio will determine whether he falls into ‘gatekeeper’ status or still remains a viable ‘contender’. With a 12-2 record Marcus has proven much, even in his split decision loss to Dokonjonosuke Mishima, who is one of the top guys in Japan. The experience of Nakao will make this a competitive fight but the freshness of Aurelio will be the deciding factor. Marcus Aurelio will take this by a possibly uneventful decision.

Takanori Gomi

Jean Silva

Takanori Gomi is in the process of becoming THE lightweight to beat if you want to be recognized. Trouble is he is entering a phase that PRIDE champions Fedor Emelianenko and Wanderlei Silva know so well; when people perceive you as “unbeatable”. The weight of such a mantel is one that can cause even the most focused champion to go crazy. But Gomi is pretty darn special. I do put him in the same category with Wanderlei and Fedor because I believe that he is Japan’s new Sakuraba. Jean Silva comes in as a crown jewel representative from England’s prestigious Cage Rage organization. As their lightweight champion he has endured through thick and thin. Now training with the Chute Boxe Academy, Silva has improved his overall game. A black belt in jiu jitsu with the craziest kicks since Jose “Pele” Landy, Jean brings much to this fight. But it is Gomi’s time and he will defeat the Brazilian, probably by KO. If Silva wins it will surely set up a big rematch. Either way Silva will make a powerful impression.

Tatsuya Kawajiri

Luis Firmino

If film director Sam Peckinpah ever told a cinematic story involving mixed martial arts this match is what his vision would look like, technical, violent and at times chaotic. I consider Tatsuya Kawajiri the ‘other’ best lightweight in the world next to Gomi. In their rematch he avenged his decision loss to former Shooto king Vitor “Shaolin” Ribeiro by stopping him with punches. Kawajiri also defeated Yves Edwards, who currently is in everyone’s top ten orbit. Tatsuya Kawajiri is simply DANGEROUS. Luis “Buscape” Firmino is a definite test for Kawajiri, a test he will pass. Firmino is a Brazilian Top Team fighter who prefers submissions but can hang with a slug out as he did in his split decision loss in his last outing to Chute Boxe’s Luiz Azeredo. Kawajiri will win this by decision and get the wheels turning in everyone’s heads about dream matches with Gomi and Hansen.

Dennis Kang

Andrei Semenov

I'm starting to get sick of saying "Ooh, what a match!" But if the shoe fits... Denis Kang is on his way up. He is one or two steps away from possible greatness. Andrei Semenov is a strong opponent, whose forays into acting produced mixed results when he returned to fighting.  When Semenov is focused he is dangerous, so this should be a fairly competitive match.  But I am picking Kang because he, besides being very strong and well-rounded, has not been tainted by every fighters kryptonite: the acting bug.

Ikuhisa Minowa

Kimo

Minowa is a daredevil. He's crazy but boy does he have guts. Win or lose he comes to rumble! The problem for Minowa is not a technical one, it is about pure strength. Minowa has to take the Hawaiian into the deep waters of the third round to test his stamina. If he can survive Kimo's early onslaught and get him tired he can win by submission. If he tries to out-bull Kimo, he is going to get crushed.

Stephen Quadros, “The Fight Professor”, has worked as a host and play-by-play commentator for some of the world’s greatest fight organizations including: PRIDE, K-1 and Inoki Bom Ba Ye.  He currently balances his activities between acting, freelancing around the globe as a host/commentator for major fight shows (World Extreme Cagefighting, Cage Rage, etc.), choreographing fight scenes for feature films and playing drums for the band, Sacred Cowboys.  Visit Mr. Quadros on the world wide web at: www.StephenQuadros.com