Pride 33 Results in Las Vegas

[forza1]

Great Fights in Pride 33

Fight #1:
-Joachim Hansen vs. Jason Ireland

Round 1: Great first round, probably 10-9 Ireland. Ireland was destroying Hansen with leg kicks most of the round, and even got a takedown early. Hansen got a takedown of his own, and was on Ireland's back for a while working on a choke. Ireland would escape though, end up in the position again soon thereafter, but escape once again to finish the round on top pounding Hansen.

Round 2: Hansen round. Hansen caught him with a flying knee and then got a Thai-clinch and destroyed Ireland with knees to the face, and some punches. Stall throughout the middle portion of the round, and Hansen improved position and finished the round nearly submitting Ireland with an armbar, but instead just pounding on his face from the position.

Round 3: Hansen finishes the fight with an armbar. I believe via verbal submission from Ireland. Hansen controlled the round, for the short amount it lasted - and sealed the deal. First he almost got him with an oma plata, then a triangle, then the armbar finished the deal. Nice transitions, impressive victory.

Joachim Hansen def. Jason Ireland via Submission (armbar) in Round 3.


Fight #2:
-Frank Trigg vs. Kazuo Misaki

Round 1: Boring round, which means Trigg is winning. Got a takedown about a minute in, remained in control of position the whole round. Side control on top for the most part, but didn't do anything with it. Eventually got Misaki's back and worked on a rear naked choke for the entire rest of the round. 10-9 Trigg.

Round 2: Probably another Trigg round, I guess you could argue for Misaki as he had some moments on the feet. Trigg controlled the majority of the round though on the ground, although again he wasn't doing much.

Round 3: Another boring round. Misaki didn't do much of anything, but that's because he had a great wrestler on him seemingly just wanting the buzzer to sound so he can get his second "unexpected" win in his last two fights. I say "unexpected" because despite the odds, I've said numerous times this is Trigg's fight all along. At least he'll be pretty for the rest of the show for his announcing duties.

Frank Trigg def. Kazuo Misaki via Unanimous Decision after 3 Rounds.


Fight #3:
-Travis Wiuff vs. James Lee

Round 1: What an amazing debut. Right off the bat Lee caught Wiuff with a good shot and had him reeling, he kept pounding - think Coleman-Fedor II. He eventually tried a kimura, didn't get it but got back up, Wiuff took him back down, and then Lee sunk in a guillotine. I think Wiuff even had an arm in, but he tapped anyways.

James Lee def. Travis Wiuff via Submission (guillotine choke) in Round 1.


Fight #4:
-Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. Sokoudjou

Round 1: OH MY GOD! It didn't last half a minute, Sokoudjou knocks Nogueira out COMPLETELY cold. I mean KNOCKS him out. WOW!

Sokoudjou def. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira via KO (punch) in Round 1.


Fight #5:
-Hayato Sakurai vs. Mac Danzig

Round 1: Good round. Sakurai was blasting Danzig a lot early, almost stopped him right at the start of the round. Most of the round was Sakurai just out-classing Danzig on the feet. Late in the round, Sakurai got an awesome judo-like throw/takedown.

Round 2: Relatively boring round until the last minute, where Sakurai blasted Danzig with a huge punch that immediately floored Danzig. Sakurai followed in with another punch or two to get the referee stoppage.

Hayato Sakurai def. Mac Danzig via KO (punches) in Round 2.


Fight #6:
-Sergei Kharitonov vs. Mike Russow

Round 1: Was a Russow round until the end. Early, Kharitonov was forcing Russow to eat some shots standing. From there on, Russow controlled the remainder of the round until the finish, with takedowns and superior positions, including full mount and back control. However, Kharitonov threw his legs up and got an armbar while Russow was standing. Russow tapped out but then claimed he didn't. Replay shows otherwise. Dumb U.S.A. chants and boo's for the finish, seemingly because Russow denied the tap and because the crowd became pro-Russow due to his American heritage.

Sergei Kharitonov def. Mike Russow via Submission (armbar) in Round 1.


Fight #7:
-Mauricio "Shogun" Rua vs. Alistair Overeem

Round 1: Great fight. Overeem was doing better standing early. Finish saw Shogun land some bombs from Overeem's guard and got the TKO finish with some follow-up strikes.

Mauricio "Shogun" Rua def. Alistair Overeem via TKO (strikes) in Round 1.


Fight #8:
-Takanori Gomi vs. Nick Diaz

Round 1: Best round ever. This is Gatti-Ward with tiny ass gloves. Gomi was winning the first half of the round, but for the last 2-3 minutes it was a complete back-and-forth war, but Diaz definitely gained control and almost finished Gomi at the end. Holy ****!

Round 2: Another great round, with the two slugging again. Diaz had a disgusting cut on his eye which caused a stop for a doctor check. Gomi gets a takedown, but Diaz immediately slaps up a gogo plata and submits Takanori Gomi!

Nick Diaz def. Takanori Gomi via Submission (gogo plata) in Round 2.


Fight #9:
-Vanderlei Silva (c) vs. Dan Henderson (PRIDE MW Title)

Round 1: Pretty good round. 10-9 Henderson in my opinion. Henderson caught Silva a few times throughout the round with big punches, including a huge one at the end that really seemed to hurt him. Silva landed some nice ones too, and had top control on the ground for a while early on. Still, Hendo's round.

Round 2: Another Henderson round. This one was clearly his round. He had top control for most of the second half of the round. Silva is cut. Silva tried twice for an armbar, the second time was right at the close of the round and was really close - but Henderson got out and landed a couple big shots on top to finish the round.

Round 3: Henderson destroys Silva! He knocks him completely unconscious with a humongous punch! Silva is completely out cold!

Dan Henderson def. Vanderlei Silva via KO (punch) in Round 3 to become new PRIDE Middleweight champion.

[PJC]

A night of upsets indeed...

Gomi tapped out, Little Nog and Wand... out cold