Tag: Because PRIDE

Aleksander Emelianenko vs. Mirko Cro Cop II Just Got Booked and We Are Excited for Reasons We Cannot Entirely Explain


(While the nostalgia factor is great here, the poster could use a lot more sand-punching IMO.)

Maybe it’s the positively beautiful weather outside, maybe it’s the fact that I’m on my fourth vaportini of the day, but I’ll admit that I started giggling like a ten year-old girl when I heard that a rematch between Mirko Cro Cop and Aleksander Emelianenko will be happening by the end of the year. A TEN YEAR-OLD GIRL, I TELLS YA (Via Fighter’sOnly):

The news comes via Croatian outlet FightSite.hr via Filipovic’s manager Orsat Zovko, also the promoter of CroCop’s ‘Final Fight’ kickboxing show in Zagreb.

Apparently the rematch will take place in October or November under the banner of the new Russian promotion ‘Legend’, which recently staged its first event, headlined by Badr Hari and Zabit Samedov.

“After winning the K-1 WGP title, we had offers coming from all over the world, from Brazilians who were one of the most determined, to Japan, U.S. and Europe. My suggestion to Mirko, after winning his first K-1 WGP title was that he takes a good two months rest before we even think about next match,” Zovko is quoted as saying.

“After intense negotiations in last month, we concluded that he will be fighting at least two or perhaps even three times until by the end of 2013. Each fight has to be a special challenge for him.”

Funny how negotiations with Cro Cop are always described as “intense.” It’s almost as if Zovko didn’t realize that the the HK UMP his client was brandishing throughout the process was for comedic purposes only.

After the jump: Cro Cop vs. Emelianenko 1 in it’s entirety. Because PRIDE. 


(While the nostalgia factor is great here, the poster could use a lot more sand-punching IMO.)

Maybe it’s the positively beautiful weather outside, maybe it’s the fact that I’m on my fourth vaportini of the day, but I’ll admit that I started giggling like a ten year-old girl when I heard that a rematch between Mirko Cro Cop and Aleksander Emelianenko will be happening by the end of the year. A TEN YEAR-OLD GIRL, I TELLS YA (Via Fighter’sOnly):

The news comes via Croatian outlet FightSite.hr via Filipovic’s manager Orsat Zovko, also the promoter of CroCop’s ‘Final Fight’ kickboxing show in Zagreb.

Apparently the rematch will take place in October or November under the banner of the new Russian promotion ‘Legend’, which recently staged its first event, headlined by Badr Hari and Zabit Samedov.

“After winning the K-1 WGP title, we had offers coming from all over the world, from Brazilians who were one of the most determined, to Japan, U.S. and Europe. My suggestion to Mirko, after winning his first K-1 WGP title was that he takes a good two months rest before we even think about next match,” Zovko is quoted as saying.

“After intense negotiations in last month, we concluded that he will be fighting at least two or perhaps even three times until by the end of 2013. Each fight has to be a special challenge for him.”

Funny how negotiations with Cro Cop are always described as “intense.” It’s almost as if Zovko didn’t realize that the the HK UMP his client was brandishing throughout the process was for comedic purposes only.

After the jump: Cro Cop vs. Emelianenko 1 in it’s entirety. Because PRIDE. 


(Fight starts at the 8:20 mark.)

Emelianenko and Cro Cop first met back in 2004 at PRIDE FC – Final Conflict, with “The Croatian Sensation” as he’s called by nobody emerging victorious by way of his patented left high kick KO. After suffering setbacks in the UFC and the Morlock Fight League, respectively, both Cro Cop and Emelianenko have experienced some semblance of a career comeback lately, with the former winning his first ever K1 Grand Prix tournament in March and the latter scoring an improbable come-from-behind KO over the previously undefeated Bob Sapp in May.

Needless to say, if you aren’t the least bit excited for this rematch, then you are a worthless noob who should go jerk off to Fight Master and clean up the mess with your Tapout T-shirt. You know, the one that always smells like bitch, you noob.

–J. Jones

Meanwhile, in Professional Wrestling: Don Frye and Yoshihiro Takayama Have Sloppy, Kayfabe Rematch [VIDEO]


(Props: MiddleEasy)

I’ll get this out of the way up front: I’m not exactly a fan of remakes. Attempting to improve something that most people think is fine as-is usually results in the creation of something indefensibly stupid (like that 2002 remake of Rollerball) that will make everyone feel terrible about themselves (like how anyone who paid to watch that 2002 remake of Rollerball felt). This is especially true when the people remaking something completely miss the point of what they’re remaking, and decide to take out all the parts with social commentary and replace them with explosions and sideboob (You get the point).

So I guess it goes without saying that when All Japan Pro Wrestling attempted to recreate Don Frye and Yoshihiro Takayama’s PRIDE 21 encounter during a professional wrestling match last Sunday, I wasn’t exactly a fan. The fact that it happened during a tag team match also featuring Masayuki Kono and Keiji Mutoh didn’t exactly help things for me. Two things before we go any further – yes, fellow wrestling nerds, Keiji Mutoh used to be The Great Muta and no, I didn’t know he was still alive, either.

Video awaits after the jump.


(Props: MiddleEasy)

I’ll get this out of the way up front: I’m not exactly a fan of remakes. Attempting to improve something that most people think is fine as-is usually results in the creation of something indefensibly stupid (like that 2002 remake of Rollerball) that will make everyone feel terrible about themselves (like how anyone who paid to watch that 2002 remake of Rollerball felt). This is especially true when the people remaking something completely miss the point of what they’re remaking, and decide to take out all the parts with social commentary and replace them with explosions and sideboob (You get the point).

So I guess it goes without saying that when All Japan Pro Wrestling attempted to recreate Don Frye and Yoshihiro Takayama’s PRIDE 21 encounter during a professional wrestling match last Sunday, I wasn’t exactly a fan. The fact that it happened during a tag team match also featuring Masayuki Kono and Keiji Mutoh didn’t exactly help things for me. Two things before we go any further – yes, fellow wrestling nerds, Keiji Mutoh used to be The Great Muta and no, I didn’t know he was still alive, either.

Things start off fine, as Don Frye cuts a totally insane promo for the bout (obviously) and then everyone makes their way to the ring. And then the actual match starts, and everything completely goes to shit. Masayuki Kono and Keiji Mutoh demonstrate how an MMA fight would look if one of the participants could barely move after spending nearly thirty years as a professional wrestler and the other participant tried to slow down enough to make his partner look agile. Seriously, you may just want to skip to the 8:16 mark of the video.


06. Mutoh & Frye vs Takayama & Kono – (AJPW 03… by SenorLARIATO

Frye and Takayama give the crowd an extended hug, some light shoulder punches and sloppy suplexes that vaguely resembled their PRIDE encounter the same way that Celine Deon’s cover of “You Shook Me All Night Long” vaguely resembles something a person with a soul and a personality would enjoy. Their original encounter was so incredibly dramatic and awesome because it was all very real, despite looking like something straight out of professional wrestling. Their kayfabe recreation, where even the dimmest fans in the audience knew that it was fake, never had a chance at being more than a rest period for Kono and Mutoh.

This wasn’t exactly twenty minutes of lucha libre, but you wouldn’t know it by how badly all four men gassed out by the end. But at least we were given Don Frye stomping on Masayuki Kono until he let go of what sort-of resembled an armbar, so, you know, there’s that.

@SethFalvo

And Now He’s Retired: Mark Coleman, The Godfather of Ground & Pound, Officially Hangs Up His Gloves

Mark Coleman groping MMA photos funny
(Insert whatever version of a “Ground-n-Pound” sex joke you see fit here.)

When UFC Hall of Famer Mark Coleman stormed onto the mixed martial arts scene in 1996 following a storied college wrestling career and top 10 placing in the 1992 Summer Olympics, he brought with him an economic, workman style of fighting that would lead him to championship glory on his first night out. The event was the aptly-named UFC 10: The Tournament, and after beating the rights to the nickname “The Hammer” out of Moti Horenstein in his very first fight (an agreement that Moti never honored), Coleman would take out veteran Gary Goodridge and UFC 8 tournament winner Don Frye in back-to-back fights to claim the tournament championship. Coleman would repeat this feat in even more dominant fashion at UFC 11 and would unify the Heavyweight and Superfight Championships at UFC 12 the following year by choking out fellow scary wrestler Dan Severn. With the victory, Coleman’s legacy as one of the sport’s pioneers was all but written in the history books.

But Coleman didn’t stop there. Over the next 14 years, Coleman would not only popularize but would be dubbed “The Godfather” of the wrestling-based, “ground-n-pound” attack that would lead him to a PRIDE openweight championship in 2000 and a list of victories over the likes of Mauricio Rua, Stephan Bonnar, and Igor Vovchanchyn to name a few. But as all good things must come to an end, so must the legendary career of the now 48 year-old Coleman. Although he hasn’t fought since his 2010 submission loss to Randy Couture — a bout that would mark the first Hall of Famer vs. Hall of Famer fight in UFC history — Coleman has decided to officially announce his retirement from the sport as of yesterday. “The Hammer,” who is scheduled to undergo hip surgery next week (because that’s what old people do, amiright? *self-fives*), posted the following on his Facebook:

Total Hip replacement next Monday. Ouch.

The hammer is done fighting. I know been done. Just looking for some prayers.

i thank everyone who will help me get through this. Have to pay to play sometimes. Only regret is could have worked harder.

Love you all live your dream.

After the jump: A look back at some of Coleman’s greatest moments, as well as one of his worst.

Mark Coleman groping MMA photos funny
(Insert whatever version of a “Ground-n-Pound” sex joke you see fit here.)

When UFC Hall of Famer Mark Coleman stormed onto the mixed martial arts scene in 1996 following a storied college wrestling career and top 10 placing in the 1992 Summer Olympics, he brought with him an economic, workman style of fighting that would lead him to championship glory on his first night out. The event was the aptly-named UFC 10: The Tournament, and after beating the rights to the nickname “The Hammer” out of Moti Horenstein in his very first fight (an agreement that Moti never honored), Coleman would take out veteran Gary Goodridge and UFC 8 tournament winner Don Frye in back-to-back fights to claim the tournament championship. Coleman would repeat this feat in even more dominant fashion at UFC 11 and would unify the Heavyweight and Superfight Championships at UFC 12 the following year by choking out fellow scary wrestler Dan Severn. With the victory, Coleman’s legacy as one of the sport’s pioneers was all but written in the history books.

But Coleman didn’t stop there. Over the next 14 years, Coleman would not only popularize but would be dubbed “The Godfather” of the wrestling-based, “ground-n-pound” attack that would lead him to a PRIDE openweight championship in 2000 and a list of victories over the likes of Mauricio Rua, Stephan Bonnar, and Igor Vovchanchyn to name a few. But as all good things must come to an end, so must the legendary career of the now 48 year-old Coleman. Although he hasn’t fought since his 2010 submission loss to Randy Couture — a bout that would mark the first Hall of Famer vs. Hall of Famer fight in UFC history — Coleman has decided to officially announce his retirement from the sport as of yesterday. “The Hammer,” who is scheduled to undergo hip surgery next week (because that’s what old people do, amiright? *self-fives*), posted the following on his Facebook:

Total Hip replacement next Monday. Ouch.

The hammer is done fighting. I know been done. Just looking for some prayers.

i thank everyone who will help me get through this. Have to pay to play sometimes. Only regret is could have worked harder.

Love you all live your dream.

After the jump: A look back at some of Coleman’s greatest moments, as well as one of his worst.

Coleman vs. Vovchanchyn (Pride FC 2000 Openweight Grand Prix Finals) 

(some of) Coleman vs. Frye (UFC 10: The Tournament Finals)

Coleman vs. Rua 1 (Because PRIDE)

Coleman vs. Wanderlei Silva

–J. Jones