Best of PRIDE, and maybe DREAM too

Speaking of Sato/Nakayama, what a fantastic fight that was:

Rumina Sato vs. Takumi Nakayama (Shooto - Treasure Hunt 11)
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3348997006829874736#

Also, here's Frank Shamrock vs. Enson Inoue from Vale Tudo Japan '97, which I think is a little dated these days but has an awesome finish:

Part 1 -- http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3mrtp_fr...oue-round_sport
Part 2 -- http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3mrvq_fr...oue-round_sport

Thanks for posting the Sato/Nakayama link, awesome.

Oh btw OJ, I'll get a copy of Uno vs Tokoro sometime within the next two weeks and I'll upload it when I get it. Also, OJ did you see the last DREAM show? I was wondering if anything interesting was said regarding RINGS, Akira Maeda and Volk Han in Tokoro's pre-fight video promo.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wgr3UIedS0Q

The last Dream show was on in the middle of the night so I skipped it. Were there any good fights?

Tokoro talked about how cool he thought RINGS was in junior high school and how much he idolised Volk Han.

There was nothing dull on the show, it was actually pretty entertaining, but seeing Sakurai, Sakuraba, Hansen, and Tokoro all lose in the way they did was sad.

The best thing about the show were two pretty good fights with Yoshiro Maeda vs Kenji Osawa and Kazuyuki Miyata vs Takafumi Otsuka.

First ballot Japanese HOF'ers is interesting.

I think Sakurai has had a better career than Sato but I'd rather watch Sato at this point.

I'm not sure what Sato's prime was. From DVD watching, it seems like 1997-1999, but unlike Sakuraba after he got washed up so quickly, Sato returns for some very competitive fights along after 1999. It's something that I need to think about more before giving a more definitive answer.

IMO prime Rumina Sato was from 1997 up until the first fight with Uno in 1999, you could stretch it out up until the second one, but for me that was the point where Rumina started to go downhill, this doesnīt means that the guy is bad, but it isnīt the same Sato from previous years, he has some good fights from time to time like Tim said, but yeah his prime was from 97 up until 99...

Caol Uno vs Hideo Tokoro

http://rapidshare.com/files/405002129/Caol....part1.rar.html
http://rapidshare.com/files/405399848/Caol....part2.rar.html
http://rapidshare.com/files/405402360/Caol....part3.rar.html

3 great minutes

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xdzhwi_ca...vic-07-29_sport

Ha, that armbar escape was unbelievable. Nice upload

Rumina Sato goes to Canada and annihilates the competition

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xdzul1_vts-01-1

This is so badass.

I uploaded this highlight video of the 6-25-97 Gig show that Shooto put on.

From the first fight highlights, we saw Caol Uno unleash his trademark takedown (which is one of the most beautiful moves in MMA), and then later we see Uno do an awesome rapid fast application of a rear naked choke. No one does that choke quite like Uno. In the Hayato "Mach" Sakurai segment, we see Sakurai bust out an awesome cartwheel guard pass that leads him into getting side control. It was pretty neat. The last two matches get the most time on this video, and they seem to be really good fights. The Kato-Fujiwara fight is the closest thing to a full match on the show, and it looks like the best fight. Kato pulls off a very good performance and the match contains some very memorable striking exchanges. The Gono-Nakao fight also has some cool highights like Gono's excellent striking, and Nakao's trip takedown and his attempts at flying over Gono's guard.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xclg8n_sh...s-6-25-97_sport

Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Daisuke Sugie
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4VpUbaAVGE

Baret Yoshida vs. Masahiro Oishi (clipped)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=288rheAuu8g

Gilbert Melendez vs. Naoya Uematsu
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1j0l0_ue...-melendez_sport

The Uno/Tokoro files were corrupt for some reason.

Here's a rip from my Hero's 3 disc:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=VGQOQZJ7

Cheers, that was well worth the wait. Great fight. Adding it to the list.

Anyone know the back story to the 11/15/02 Rumina Sato vs. Takumi Nakayama? Watched it again last night and the crowd going ape shit for everything was something out of a Crush Gals 1985 match.

I'm not sure which of these finishes I love more, but both are spectacular stuff from Tamura.

Akitoshi Tamura vs. Ian Loveland
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lD6Q0Kyyhyw

Akitoshi Tamura vs. Hayate Usui
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDuwxSU98Wc

I really want to see Hioki in the UFC, especially in a fight against Rani Yahya. Love his mounted triangle.

Hatsu Hioki vs Joe Pearson
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFi3ZqVVlJI

Also, anyone here see Royler Gracie vs Hideo Tokoro? It might be my favorite of all the classic Tokoro fights. The moment where Tokoro gets the mount, even if it only lasts two seconds, is such a wonderful moment.

I liked the Tokoro/Royler fight, probably the best overall fight from the K-1 NYE 2006 card. Would still have it ranked near the bottom of the "classic" Tokoro K-1 Hero's fights (7/6/05 v Nog, 8/5/06 v Menjivar, 9/7/05 v Uno).

One thing that really made me fall in love with the fight was how well Tokoro handled himself when on the mat with Royler. Obviously, Royler's never been an elite MMA fighter but while he was already 3 years passed his prime, he was still one of the greatest grapplers the world had ever seen up to that point. Also, the flying knee Tokoro hit on Royler was fantastic. I'll upload it in case anyone's interested in seeing it on here.

Also, Shooto's in the news with this scandal:

http://www.sherdog.com/news/articles/Insid...nd-Future-30732

I found this while searching for images of Akira Maeda and figured that I would share it. It's the fall of Pride as a comic book.

http://www.mmanews.com/forums/general-mma-...ranslation.html

Nice!

I love the drawing of Dana White as the puppetmaster.