Minowaman

PRIDE’s Wildest Fight: Minowaman vs. Giant Silva, A Clash with Nearly 200 lbs Difference

PRIDE's Wildest Fight Minowaman vs. Giant Silva, A Clash with Nearly 200 lbs Difference Few fights encapsulate the spirit of PRIDE FC like the David vs. Goliath showdown between Ikuhisa “Minowaman” Minowa taking…

Few fights encapsulate the spirit of PRIDE FC like the David vs. Goliath showdown between Ikuhisa “Minowaman” Minowa taking on Giant Silva. Held on April 2, 2006, at PRIDE Bushido 10, this bizarre and captivating bout remains one of the most iconic moments in MMA seeing an absolutely insane size difference go down.

Giant Silva

Giant Silva
Height: 7’2” (218 cm)
Weight: 385 lbs (175 kg)

A former professional wrestler and towering figure, Giant Silva entered the fight with an aura of sheer physical superiority. At over seven feet tall and weighing nearly 400 pounds, Silva’s size was his most intimidating weapon.

Ikuhisa “Minowaman” Minowa
Height: 5’9” (175 cm)
Weight: Approximately 200 lbs (91 kg)

Minowa had a catch-wrestling background and unyielding spirit. He was already carving out a reputation as a “giant killer.” Despite often being the smaller fighter in his matchups, his creativity and technical ability made him a dangerous opponent, regardless of the size disparity.

Minowaman found a niche in combat sports. He was an average-sized person but picked fights against the largest humans he could find. Towering fighters or sumo wrestlers, all were fair game. In 2010, DREAM hosted a Superhulk Grand Prix featuring giants of the super heavyweight division. Minowaman was by far the smallest in the tournament and still won in the end.

giant silva minowaman freakshow pride fc

Minowaman vs. Giant Silva

The size difference between the two combatants simply staggering, it was downright cartoonish. Picture a real-life boss battle straight out of a video game: Giant Silva, a towering 7-foot-2 colossus who looked like he’d wandered in from a monster movie, versus Minowaman, a scrappy underdog standing at just 5-foot-9. Silva outweighed Minowa by almost 200 pounds, making their face-off in the ring look more like a publicity stunt than a sanctioned MMA fight. But this was PRIDE.

From the opening bell, Minowaman wasted no time implementing his game plan. Using a forward roll to evade Silva’s massive reach, he swiftly closed the distance and executed a single-leg takedown, bringing the giant to the canvas. Once on the ground, Minowa showcased his catch-wrestling expertise. When going for a roll, it’s not about the size but it’s about how you use it.

Minowa unleashed a series of devastating knees to Silva’s head, leaving the referee with no choice but to stop the fight. The TKO victory came at just 2:23 of the first round.

For Minowaman, the victory was another feather in the cap of his storied career. The win further solidified his reputation as a giant slayer, a fighter unafraid to take on opponents who dwarfed him in size and weight.

PRIDEs Wildest Fight Minowaman vs. Giant Silva A Clash of Extremes

Minowaman vs. Butterbean: 200 lb difference in This MMA Freakshow (and We Loved It)

The year was 2006. The event? PRIDE FC: Bushido 12. The matchup? Ikuhisa “Minowaman” Minowa versus Eric “Butterbean” Esch….

The year was 2006. The event? PRIDE FC: Bushido 12. The matchup? Ikuhisa “Minowaman” Minowa versus Eric “Butterbean” Esch. It was the kind of glorious, absurd spectacle that could only happen in the anything-goes world of mid-2000s Japanese MMA.

Minowaman vs. Butterbean

On one side stood Minowa, the fearless “Giant Killer,” weighing in at 198 pounds of scrappy brilliance. On the other side loomed Butterbean, the bowling ball-shaped boxing legend who tipped the scales at over 400 pounds. That’s right, this fight featured a jaw-dropping 200-pound weight difference. Think David vs. Goliath, but with more spandex and way more chaos.

When the bell rang, Minowa wasted no time in showing why he’s an MMA cult hero. He sprinted across the ring and dropkicked Butterbean square in the face like it was a WWE Royal Rumble. The crowd erupted. For good measure, he tried it again moments later, only to find himself pancaked on the mat under Butterbean’s sheer gravitational pull.
Butterbean, despite his mobility challenges, managed to use his bulk to gain top position. Things looked dicey for Minowa, as Butterbean’s mass seemed more like a geological event than a fighting style. But this wasn’t Minowa’s first time grappling with giants.

Using his superior grappling skills, Minowa deftly swept Butterbean, turning the tide in his favor. From there, it was classic Minowa: ground strikes, slick transitions, and an armbar that looked impossible but somehow worked. Butterbean tried to resist, but after 4 minutes and 25 seconds of the first round, he had no choice but to tap out.

The fight was everything fans loved about PRIDE. This was a fight, theater, comedy, and display of skill all rolled into one. Minowaman with his fearless approach and pro-wrestling-inspired flair, cemented his status as a true fan favorite. Butterbean, for his part, dusted himself off and went on to win his next two PRIDE bouts, finishing his MMA career with a respectable 17-10-1 record.

Minowaman vs. Butterbean may not go down in history as the most competitive fight, but it was pure entertainment. A freakshow match in the best possible way. PRIDE gave us fights no one else would, and for that, we’re forever grateful.

Here’s What a UFC Magic the Gathering Set Looks Like

You didn’t hear about Dana White’s latest announcement: An MMA-related Magic the Gathering set?

Well,there’s a reason you didn’t hear about it: It didn’t happen. Thankfully, one of our favorite past times is figuring out what products should needlessly be merged with our MMA obsession. A few days ago, we arrived at Magic the Gathering (MTG for short). We played the addictive card game back in high school. We wondered what a set of MTG that spans the entire MMA world might look like. The below cards–featuring the likes of Dana White, Conor McGregor, Greg Jackson, as well as several “MMA memes”–are the result of our mental meandering.

A few notes: We haven’t played Magic in about 10 years so some of the gameplay semantics might not be totally accurate. Also, some of the abilities are for the purposes of chiding MMA as only irreverent CagePotato can. All real photos in the cards come from Getty Images, save for the photo of “Minowaman” Ikuhisa Minowa, which comes from Sherdog. Another card’s image comes from a YouTube screen capture (you’ll know which one).

With that, here are the cards. We hope you enjoy them:

You didn’t hear about Dana White’s latest announcement: An MMA-related Magic the Gathering set?

Well, there’s a reason you didn’t hear about it: It didn’t happen.

Nae bother, one of our favorite past times is figuring out what products should needlessly be merged with our MMA obsession. A few days ago, we arrived at Magic the Gathering (MTG for short). We played the addictive card game back in high school. We wondered what a set of MTG that spans the entire MMA world might look like. The below cards–featuring the likes of Dana White, Conor McGregor, Greg Jackson, as well as several “MMA memes”–are the result of our mental meandering.

A few notes: We haven’t played Magic in about 10 years so some of the gameplay semantics might not be totally accurate. Also, some of the abilities are for the purposes of chiding MMA as only irreverent CagePotato can. Nearly all “real” photos in the cards come from Getty Images, save for the photo of “Minowaman” Ikuhisa Minowa, which comes from Sherdog.

With that, here are the cards. We hope you enjoy them:

Even MORE cards await on page 2. Have at it!

VIDEO: Minowaman May Have Turned a Guy’s Leg Backwards on Saturday

(Props: hirochan60 via MiddleEasy)

As I tweeted earlier, I wish I had a better-quality video of this, and I’m not sure what that says about me. Basically, Ikuhisa “Minowaman” Minowa fought Swedish rookie Goran Jettingstad at Inoki Genome Fight 1 in Tokyo on Saturday, and may have possibly turned his leg completely backwards during a leg lock. I had to watch this crowd-shot footage three or four times to wrap my head around it, but yeah, that seems to be what happened.

Keep in mind that Minowa was competing in his 102nd professional fight that evening, while Jettingstad came into the match with a professional record of 0-0. (Good one, Japan!) Anyway, we’ll update this post if a better video appears. By the way, our old pal Brett Rogers also competed on the Inoki Genome Fight 1 card, where he KO’d Yusuke Kawaguchi in 28 seconds. Video of that knockout is after the jump…

(Props: hirochan60 via MiddleEasy)

28 Signs You’re Not a “REAL” MMA Fan

(“So, did you find a stream of that UFC fight we bought tickets to, or will we have to show up halfway through the main event to play on our phones during it?”)

by CagePotato.com staff

1.You use “UFC” and “MMA” interchangeably.

2. You don’t know how to score a fight under PRIDE rules.

3. You boo fights the second they hit the ground.

4. Your “MMA training” consists of curling in the squat rack, shadowboxing while watching MMA (despite having never hit pads in your entire goddamn life), and picking fights at Buffalo Wild Wings.

5. You don’t have the UFC Fight Pass, security issues aside.

6. You don’t have Legacy FC and Titan FC fight cards committed to memory.

7. Your pathetic DVD collection doesn’t even have any events from Rumble on the Rock.

(“So, did you find a stream of that UFC fight we bought tickets to, or will we have to show up halfway through the main event to play on our phones during it?”)

by CagePotato.com staff

1.You use “UFC” and “MMA” interchangeably.

2. You don’t know how to score a fight under PRIDE rules.

3. You boo fights the second they hit the ground.

5. You don’t have the UFC Fight Pass, security issues aside.

6. You don’t have Legacy FC and Titan FC fight cards committed to memory.

7. Your pathetic DVD collection doesn’t even have any events from Rumble on the Rock.

8. You didn’t create a Facebook to watch preliminary fights.

9. You didn’t post a four paragraph “I don’t even have a Facebook” rant when CagePotato switched over to Facebook comments.

10. You shout “PRIDE NEVER DIE!” during every UFC card, yet you can’t name five PRIDE fighters who didn’t eventually compete in the UFC.

11. You’ve never set foot in an Indian reservation to watch amateur-level fights.

12. You’ve never gotten your ass beat in an unsanctioned smoker.

13. You rage about MMA sites mentioning pro-wrestling…when they write about Brian Johnson and Don Frye.

14. There are pictures of you from 1999 in an Austin 3:16 shirt and throwing up the Diamond Cutter.

15. You own zero articles of clothing with skulls, wings, glitter, rhinestones, and metal studs.

16. You don’t even have a tribal tattoo, let alone a tattoo in a language you don’t speak.

17. You think the UFC Hall of Fame is a thing that matters.

18. “Is Silva like the Jones or Smith of last names in Brazil?”

19. You think Muay Thai is a fruity rum drink.

20. Rampage Jackson is *still* your favorite fighter.

21. Tito Ortiz is *still* your favorite fighter.

22. You think leg kicks don’t finish fights.

23. You spell Super Hulk Tournament correctly.

24. You don’t even know who Valdemar Santana is, noob.

25. You think Bruce Lee invented MMA.

26. You think Dana White invented MMA.

27. You get all your MMA news from shill sites funded by the UFC.

28. “Bellator?”

[VIDEO] Amorphous Tim Sylvia-Like Blob, and Other Attractions from Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye 2012

Mirko Cro Cop VS Shinichi Suzukawa

DREAM 18 wasn’t the only Japanese MMA event on New Year’s Eve. Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye 2012 – a hybrid MMA/Pro-wrestling card – also provided the MMA community with some freak show goodness. We’ve been putting off coverage of this event until videos surfaced because frankly, when the main event features a post-prime Cro Cop vs. a disgraced sumo wrestler turned professional wrestler, well, yeah, this event can wait a few days.

The main event, Cro Cop vs. Suzukawa, proved that no matter how far past his prime he is, Cro Cop can still submit a clueless jabroni making his MMA debut. In other words, it was a decent freak show fight that played out exactly as it should have. It just wouldn’t be New Year’s Eve without a freak show fight, now would it?

The co-main event displayed Japanese judoka Satoshi Ishii fighting against what was apparently Tim Sylvia. Despite committing himself to the most explosive workout program in all of MMA, The Maine-iac showed up looking like he hasn’t even thought about training since his Arlovski fight in September, and did it ever show. Ishii took the fight by unanimous decision.

Video after the jump.

Mirko Cro Cop VS Shinichi Suzukawa

My favorite moment from this one comes around the 1:40 mark, when Ishii pushes Sylvia across the ring attempting a takedown. No one is here to say that judo doesn’t work against larger opponents, but Ishii found that it’s certainly much more difficult to implement when your opponent is a 300+ pounds of fat, ribs and lousy tattoos. Probably the best instance of a fighter being confused by his freaky opponent’s fatness since Minowaman vs. Butterbean.

Speaking of Minowaman, he fought on New Year’s Eve, as is tradition. His opponent was middleweight “Playbor” Bor Bratovz. Okay, so it wasn’t a freak show fight, but Minowa managed to defeat someone his own size, which is almost as impressive. He picks up a heel-hook in the first round of this one.

Rolles Gracie also defeated Yusuke Kawaguchi two minutes into the first round of their fight by arm-triangle choke. You’re on your own for a video of that one, though. Enjoy the freak shows.