Kakutogi Road: The Complete History of MMA Vol.46 "Axis Mundi"

[Mbetz1981]

Kakutogi Road: The Complete History of MMA Vol.46 "Axis Mundi"

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*Special Thanks to John Krummel for his help in translation. Also, Mike Lorefice (of MMA/Puroresu mega-center quebrada.net) will have his comments be preceded by his initials. *

Axis Mundi: A term often used in many 20th century religious or mythological works which denote a region, location, or in some cases, a special artifact that can serve as a portal between “Heaven and Earth” or “the higher and lower realms.” One of the most preeminent examples of this would be the Foundation Stone, located in Jerusalem, which in Orthodox Judaism is considered the focal point where the celestial (Heaven) converges with the terrestrial (Earth). This example is not unlike where we are now, as FIGHTING NETWORK RINGS is about to give us a similar landmark, which will serve as a nexus between the higher planes that we are collectively striving for (shooting) vs. the baser/more ordinary realities (working).

Yes, it is 8-24-92, and the latest Rings event is upon us with the most apropos name possible, ISHIZUE (礎, which can mean cornerstone, foundation, base, foundation stone, plinth, or substructure). This Japanese word is a wonderfully appropriate description as RINGS itself is serving to be one of the landmarks that will forever put us into remembrance of the early origins of modern MMA. When we first started this in March of 1991, RINGS was by far the weakest of the three shoot-style promotions, but things changed around the beginning of 1992, and now they are offering the most compelling product in the combat-sports world from this period. Since their last event in 91, each of their cards has been offering a blend of shoots/works, sometimes going as high as 4-shoots in a single event. This discovery has been eye-opening and further proof that most of what constitutes general MMA wisdom does not hold up to intense scrutiny. For example, most internet sources will claim that RINGS didn’t start offering shoots until late 1999. Then there are a few in the minority that will say that they started having a mix of shoots and works starting at the beginning of 1995, which is what I had believed before starting this project. I never would have guessed that they not only had shoots as early as late 1991 but that they had as many pre-UFC shoots as they did. This discovery, along with any/all further work that we accomplish, will offer complete documentation of just what was and was not real during this time frame. This endeavor will be the first time that anything like this has been attempted with any seriousness.

After a montage where Akira Maeda emotes to us the utter graveness of what’s in store for the Yokohama Arena, we start with our first match, Koichiro Kimura vs. Masayuki Naruse. Naruse is breaking away from his seemingly never-ending series with Yoshihisa Yamamoto to face the always interesting, Kimura. Back in January Kimura gave us a fascinating early shoot against Mitsuya Nagai, and I’m hoping those same shoot energies will be present for this opener. Things start with Kimura cautiously testing the waters to try and set up a takedown, but Naruse doesn’t seem to share his patience and pelts him with some swift low-kicks for his trouble. Another minute into this and I feel confidant that we have a shoot on our hands, which again amazes me that MMA was this prevalent in 1992. Kimura has a nice arsenal of super-slick takedowns, but Naruse’s small size is working for him, as he is able to ball up and quickly deflect submission attempts from the slower Kimura. Most of this match proved to be a stalemate as Kimura had trouble dealing with the speed of Naruse’s kicks but easily negated Naruse anytime the fight entered into the clinch range. About halfway through, it was clear that Kimura was getting frustrated and allowed that to prompt him to just start throwing caution to the wind and start aggressively barging into the phone booth and ragdoll Naruse to the mat. Sadly, while Kimura may have savant-like skills with the sheer variety of his takedown, his submission game is too armature-hour to put Naruse in any serious trouble. The end came when Kimura attempted to power his way into a very awkward ankle-lock attempt, which only served to give the much more submission-savvy Naruse his own opening to torque a nice toehold of his own. Interesting shoot, and a nice way to open the event.

ML: I enjoy the all out of aggression of Kimura. He fights the old school Japanese submission shoot style where control is not really part of the equation, almost to the point he is really just doing everything in one big burst of energy. His takedowns are good, and he can even get you with a suplex, as he did to Naruse here, then it’s right to the arm or the neck. The problem with this style, obviously, is when your opponent knows you are immediately going for a submission, it becomes exponentially easier to defend because options are extremely limited when nothing has really been set up beyond maybe by the takedown. I thought Kimura did a good job of putting Naruse in danger given the limitations of his submission style, especially with the rear-naked choke, and this was an intense shoot where Naruse was fighting for his life as soon as he got taken down, and almost any time they were on the ground, unless he was able to escape the initial submission and take control, as his ground style was more open to amateur wrestling, and generally slowing things down for a second. Naruse was clearly the better standup, but Kimura applied so much pressure with his takedown/throw game that these portions were generally pretty brief. Kimura did his best to mix his submissions upe, switching to trying for the kneebar when the armbar and rear-naked choke had been exhausted, but this is a lesser option because it is so much easier to counter, and Naruse immediately began shredding Kimura’s ankle. Kimura realized he was losing the footsie battle, and tried to kick Naruse and roll for the ropes, but Naruse wasn’t distracted, and was able to adjust his pressure in a manner that forced Kimura to roll back towards the center, leaving him with no option but to tap to the ashikubi gatame. Good match.

Nobuaki Kakuda vs. Yoshinori Nishi

Now for a matchup that I’m very excited about, Nobuaki Kakuda vs. Yoshinori Nishi! These two are an excellent pairing on paper as both are skilled strikers, and both are now a bit past their prime. Nishi is also a very strong judoka, whereas Kakuda is the more accomplished karateka. If this is another shoot, I would assume Nishi is the odds-on favorite, but I know better than to ever discount the savage heart that beats with Kakuda’s frame. I’m not sure what the rules are (I assume that they are normal RINGS rules), but one thing is certain, this will be contested under five 3-min rounds.

Round 1 shocks us all with Kakuda going in right away for a takedown, perhaps, opting for the element of surprise, but to no avail. Nishi’s ne-waza is too solid from years of judo, and he both easily recoups a favorable position as well as deflect a poor Kimura attempt from Kakuda. Nishi dominated most of the round, both on the ground (gaining two submissions) and surprisingly on the feet as well. Outside of a couple of nice counterstrikes from Kakuda, this was almost all Nishi.

Round 2 saw Kakuda get completely manhandled until his naked aggression pulled thru and allowed him to score a nasty head kick on Nishi. I thought that we may have been witnessing our 2nd shoot of the night until the end of the round where Nishi put Kakuda in a benign ankle submission, only to see Kakuda give us some Mr. Perfect level selling before the bell rang.

Round 3-5 continued to give us an ultra-stiff work that was similar to the recent borderline shoots that the PWFG has put out, for better and for worse. Better, because we had two strikers that weren’t afraid to really lay into each other, amping up the realism, and worse due to Kakuda not having anything to offer the mat outside of overselling for convoluted leg submissions. Overall, this was stiff and interesting, but with these two I would much rather see them in a proper shoot. ***

ML: It was kind of frustrating that this wasn’t a shoot because these are two of the notable real fighters of the era, and it was also an interesting stylistic match up because Kakuda is the better striker, but Nishi has the reach advantage as well as a huge skill advantage on the ground. As a work, this was decent, but lacking intensity and kind of inconsistent when it came to the impact of that strikes. For the most part, it was average, though Kakuda’s lame selling was really took me out of the match a few times. While it was surprising that Kakuda got an early takedown, now that he is training in a style that allows him to do more with catching the opponent’s kicks, it is way too tempting not to test his new skills, even if Nishi is the better ground fighter. Kakuda rarely had an advantage on the ground after the opening seconds though, and the way the match played out, you kind of felt like it may not have been a shoot because Nishi had such an advantage in all the round training that it made more sense to get Kakuda some time rolling on the mat rather than put him in a situation where his only chance was to stay off it.

Mitsuya Nagai vs. Cvetlan Paolov.


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Based on this headshot, it would appear that the Russian Federal Security Service was kind enough to forgive Pavlov’s 1930’s attempted train robberies and allow him to compete this evening. He may have wished that he stayed in the gulag as he is going to have a tough time dealing with Nagai, who has been in a mostly shooting mood these last several months. Right away, Nagai charges in with some wild flamboyant kicks that instantly scores a knockdown, and we are firmly in worked territory. Most of the match was Nagai spamming Pavlov with a ton of these showy kicks and Pavlov attempting crude ankle-locks whenever given an opportunity. This was one of the fakest fights we’ve yet seen from RINGS, made worse by the complete lack of chemistry between these two. Nagai’s boundless energy helped, but the only thing that Pavlov seems to be good for is a suplex or two. Nagai shamefully lost to one of the worst armbar sequences in shoot-style history, as you could have easily taken a smoke break with the amount of time it took for Pavlov to figure out how to apply the hold. *

ML: Pavlov is notable for being the first member of RINGS Bulgaria to compete. I was momentarily excited because we had another sambo practitioner in the company, but unfortunately he wasn’t that notable otherwise, as this match really didn’t come off, and he never reappeared, despite surprisingly getting the win. Nagai was just spamming movie kicks, which wasn’t helping any, especially against an opponent who didn’t seem to have much experience on his feet. These two really didn’t seem very capable of working together in any productive manner, as Pavlov was slow and not confident or perhaps even competent. Nagai got Pavlov to his final down then Pavlov hit a belly-to-belly suplex, mounted, then took over 20 seconds just to roll Nagai over and extend his arm for the submission. Even with that amount of time, the submission just looked ridiculous as there was so much space between Pavlov’s legs, the angle of the armbar was wrong, and he was basically just holding Nagai’s wrist rather than actually attacking the elbow joint.

 

[Mbetz1981]

Volume 46 continued.....

Shtorm Koba vs Grom Zaza.

Back when we reviewed the Rings event from 1-25-92, we mistakenly reported that Shtorm Kova only had a single appearance, limited to that event. Both myself, and my esteemed colleague, Mike Lorefice, were impressed with Koba, and we no longer have to lament him only having one chance to shine. When we last saw Grom Zaza, he gave us a very worthwhile performance against Volk Han, even if the Volkster was largely the one carrying him through it. Before the fight we get a glimpse of fellow comrade, Volk Han, helping prepare Zaza for the war that is about to take place. One couldn’t ask for a better trainer than Han, as let’s face it, when the Russian Top Team disbanded and Fedor was no longer under the watchful eye of Han, his grappling was never the same.

The match opens up with some very poor kicks from Zaza, which were somewhat redeemed by a clever flying head-scissors takedown, that would have been 10x cooler had it not been so obviously set up by Koba. Zaza did immediately follow it up with a nasty gut-wrench suplex, so there’s that. Zaza is much better on the ground where he can put his sambo to use. This match had lots of throws and leg attacks and was entertaining if not necessarily well crafted. Koba looks and acts credibly, but you can tell he is allowing Zaza to dictate the match, and Grom is too inexperienced to try and call a spot-heavy pro-wrestling style affair. These Rings events have taught me that if you have two martial artists trying to work a match, you’re better off having them go with a more realistic sparring style unless your name is Volk Han. Eventually, the fight was ended when Zaza got Koba in an interesting submission that looked like a cross between a full-nelson and a neck crank. This match had plenty of action, and as unpolished as it was, it kept my attention for the entire 11mins. ** ¾

ML: While never dull or uneventful, this also never rose to the level of becoming something beyond a clunky exhibition of random suplexes and submissions. I suppose it was notable for containing the first flying headscissors performed in a shoot-style match, but obviously that wasn’t adding to the shootiness. Unfortunately, neither was much else they did, as the fans were actively laughing at how light there strikes were, and they just had no concept of how to actually construct a worked match to look like they were actually resisting each other’s attempts to do all these moves. They were at least active and trying to be entertaining, but this was just a mess.

Chris Dolman vs. Herman Renting

Last month Chris Dolman shocked the world by being in his first (and possibly last) publicly televised shoot, although I doubt that this is what he had intended. About the only good thing that I can say here is that it was only around 5mins long and it did have the dubious honor of having the first instance of a butt scoot sequence. Dolman was back to his molasses-like ways, and Renting, while a good hand in most situations, isn’t the guy that is going to pull something passable out of Dolman. Not as bad as a Johnny Barrett disaster, but totally pointless. *

ML: Dolman was just going to waddle in, eating whatever surprisingly light strikes Renting could hit him with, in order to grab him and exploit his advantage on the mat. Renting tried to adjust by kicking and circling off, but then Dolman was able to get the take down by catching his kick. This all sounds way more passable than it actually was, as Dolman just looked geriatric, and was making Renting, who is normally useful, looked much worse than probably ever. No urgency or intensity, but at least it was brief.

Masaaki Satake vs. Rob Kaman

Now for a kickboxing match between Masaaki Satake and Rob Kaman. Kaman has been on fire this year, looking absolutely devastating in all of his appearances, with only Adam Watt giving him some trouble before being brutally knocked out. One thing Satake has going for him is his chin, but I doubt he’ll have the skills to hang with Kaman in the long game. Before round 1 starts, we see an interview with Kaman, who says that he is going to have to use his speed if he is going to beat Satake, but he will still try and knock him out.

Round 1 sees Kaman being true to his word and does an excellent job using a swift series of push kicks to keep Satake at bay. Satake, to his credit, is being patient and not overextending, which will give him a chance to carefully time his attacks. Satake is playing the role of the counterpuncher here, giving Kaman a hard kick every time his midsection is attacked. In terms of volume this would be a slight edge to Kaman, but I think that Satake had the more punishing attacks.

Round 2 saw Kaman change strategies, opting to use his jab to set up quick low-kick combos. Great round for Kaman as Satake could never get his bearings for this round.

Round 3 sees Kaman in even more of a groove, hardly allowing Satake to do anything at all. Satake did manage an occasional nice counter but would never follow it up. Great round for Kaman, and Satake is going to have to be a lot more aggressive if he is going to have any chance to win this fight.

Round 4 starts with Satake firing off some nice straight punches with connect. In fact, Satake did better this round, landing his share of hard shots, but his problem is that Kaman can land 2-3 times before he even can think of firing off one. Probably the best round for Satake in the quality of his offense, but he isn’t anywhere near winning of any kind of a scorecard.

Satake shows a lot of heart in round 5 by giving it his best, but Kaman is too quick, and too good, for Satake to chain together enough offense to take Kaman out. Mystifyingly, the fight ends in a draw due to a lack of judges. I can only assume that this is a failsafe put in place to protect Ishii’s golden boy once again. Still, this was a good fight.

ML: Satake did what he is “good” at here, or in other words had slightly more than 40 pounds on his far more skilled opponent. Though Satake also had the reach, Kaman had so much more speed, footwork, and talent that he was able to get in and land a strike or two, keeping Satake off-balance by mixing things up, then either block or evade Satake’s answer on the way out. There was just a huge difference in the predictability of the two, as Kaman would kick the legs, and punch or kick to the body or head, whereas Satake was mostly throwing middle kicks that Kaman saw coming from a mile away. Satake got more aggressive as the fight progressed, realizing allowing Kaman to dictate when he attacked was a losing strategy. The last 2 rounds were better for Satake, as he was far more active. I certainly wouldn’t say he won any rounds because he just never landed solidly, but by putting Kaman on his back foot a lot more, he at least wasn’t being completely humiliated in the latter portion. Maybe not quite a good shoot, but at least interesting, with Kaman looking phenomenal in the early portion.

 

[Mbetz1981]

Volume 46 continued....

Volk Han vs. Dick Vrij

It recently came to my attention that there was a third film in the original Fly series, 1965’s Curse of the Fly, which is sort of where Rings is right now with Dick Vrij. Yes, the flying Dutchman is back in time to do battle with the master of sambo, Volk Han. Instantly, Han flies towards Fly with his flying Kani-Basmi (scissors attack), which may be banned in judo competitions but is legal here in Fighting Network Rings. Han then franticly attacks any appendage he can get his hands on, while Vrij is scurrying away as if his life depended on it. So far, this isn’t the least bit real but is really awesome. Han then misses a couple of spinning-back-slaps which gives Vrij time to stalk him down and attack his legs. Between the crowd going bonkers, Han’s non-stop inventive arsenal, and the comic book villain persona of Vrij, this all added up to tons of silly fun. Han even gave us a proto-Imanari style butt-scoot into killer leg attacks. Eventually, Han saves the day for all the Volkamaniacs with a knee slicer. The entertainment value was simply too strong with this one, and I am thus forced to award it *** ½

ML: Han had the crowd going nuts from the outset, the sheer energy and aggressiveness of his attacks propelling the match forward with such verve that you are too mesmerized by his unique brilliance to think about it not being the most realistic match you’ve ever seen. The method to Han’s madness, or in other words the story of the match quickly became evident, as Han’s desperate and crazy attacks were due to him wanting absolutely no part of kickboxer Vrij in standup, particularly at distance. Han would leap, dive, spin, roll, buttscoot, anything he could think of to get a hold of Vrij and look to get it to the canvas. Vrij answered Han’s initial barrage with a leg kick knockdown that Han argued was a slip, while Vrij urged the crowd to cheer for him, playing as subtle a heel as a cartoonish video game character can play. This certainly wasn’t the best technical RINGS match we have seen so far, but it was probably the most exciting. Both fighters were so dominant in their discipline, and it was a great back and forth war where one would come close to finishing, only to have the other come right back.Vrij was fighting for is a life on the ground, burning through his rope escapes to get back to his feet. There wasn’t a lot of deception from Han in so much as you knew he was coming immediately, but did his best to keep from getting nailed coming in, using his hands too protect his head from the clinch knee while looking for the double-leg, which saw Vrij instead focus on going wide rather than up the middle, throwing kicks even if it meant releasing the clinch. They milked all the drama they could possibly squeeze in, with Vrij having Han down to his final down. Han was teetering on the edge of falling for the TKO, but managed to catch a high kick and counter into an ST for the win. Han gave a virtuoso performance, and while Vrij wasn’t great, even looking lost on the mat at times, he certainly managed to do his part without destroying the match. ***1/2

Akira Maeda vs. Andrei Kopylov

Last month Kopylov beat the sub-boss in Volk Han, which now allows him to face the final master in Akira Maeda. So far, this crowd in the Yokohama arena has probably been the most on-fire of any event that we have yet witnessed, and the last match (Volk Han vs. Dick Vrij) probably had the loudest/most sustained ruckus of any match to date. That may very well be until this bout, as Yokohama is about to go ape for their hero, Maeda. The match starts, and Kopylov is treating this as a more serious version of his match with Han, using lots of nice sambo, but in a more restrained fashion compared to his last outing. The action was very mat-based but done at a brisk pace, and Maeda kept up nicely, providing logical counters to Kopylov’s offense. This contest eventually wound up blowing me away, as I think I can honestly say that this is the highest quality Maeda/Rings match to date. Throughout 18 mins this never wavered in its intensity or commitment to being serious, and because Kopylov maintained pressure on Maeda the entire time, it served to squeeze the very best out of Akira. This main event wasn’t anywhere near as important historically as Maeda’s matches with Volk Han, but I dare say that the quality was a notch higher as it fit the true ethos of the shoot-style better. This wasn’t perfect, as it could have had a few mins shaved off (Maeda’s leg seemed to start bothering him about halfway through and affected his stand-up), but overall, it was great and might be the last time we see a match of this caliber from Maeda again. ****

ML: Kopylov really brought out some good and realistic things from Maeda on the mat. He gave a really strong performance, showing the Han match was not only no fluke, but also wasn’t the usual very good match simply because Han is great. Normally Maeda durdles endlessly on the canvas, moving as little as possible, but we saw some actual grappling transitions from him tonight. This match was far more realistic than perhaps anything we have seen from Maeda so far, and while it was lucky to be 1/10th as exciting as Han’s match, it bore a lot more resemblance to actual MMA than the mat oriented matches what we normally see outside of PWFG. Though Maeda is Superman, the crowd was great tonight, and bought into the possibility of Kopylov winning. Kopylov was clearly the superior ground fighter, putting Maeda in some real peril, despite Maeda ultimately managing to play almost even with him before the predictable result of Maeda not only beating Kopylov, but doing so by submission. Maeda had one really good kick flurry, and definitely won the standup when he finally had enough to being threatened on the mat and decided to shift to the finishing portion, but this was more like an updated with some realism version of his earlier UWF matches than what we’ve been seeing from him in RINGS against standup specialists. Overall, this was a lot better than expected, but not the sort of match I’d be in a hurry to watch again. ***1/4

Conclusion: Another recommended event from RINGS, this time with a bit less of an MMA feel. I would have liked to have seen at least one more shoot on the card, but this had lots of nice moments. It had some weak spots too, but the last two matches sealed the deal as far as pushing it into worthy cannon. Also, we are still getting at least one shoot on every card (two if you count the kickboxing match), and one of those works (Nishi/Kakuda) was in that quasi work/shoot space that we’ve been seeing from PWFG, lately. While the UWF-I still has the lock on having the most talented stable of performers, RINGS is doing a lot more with the cards it has than Booker Miyato is. Putting it another way, we could say that the UWF-I ran away with the lead on being the best promotion in the first half of 1992, if for no other reason, because of their outstanding series between Kanehara/Maeda. However, RINGS have been catching up and so far, the 2nd half belongs to them. Mixing shoots with works will almost always guarantee that you’ll have a compelling product, and despite their flaws, RINGS has been putting the lazy antics of booker Miyato to shame these last few months. However, the UWF-I can turn this around with their outstanding roster, but I doubt that Miyato will allow it to happen.

ML: This is the best pro wrestling card we have seen from RINGS so far, and probably their second best shows so far behind 6/25/92, which was made by two of three shoots coming off well. We haven’t seen a card like this from them that ended strongly with two good pro wrestling matches, largely because prior to tonight Han was the only one who actually got a good match out of perpetual main eventer Maeda. The 7/16/92 show was good as well, so this promotion is really trending in the right direction. Kopylov has been an important addition, and in good part the uptick in the quality of the last two shows is due to him.

 

[Mbetz1981]

Volume 46 continued…

Now, for another outstanding contribution from our resident translator, John Krummel, we have a translation of all the interviews of this event. Here is Krummel’s translation in his own words:

“Maeda’s voice over at beginning: [difficult to understand because of his Western Japanese dialect] “I was surprised the other day when in our opening ceremony, I looked at the number of participants and thought how we’ve grown.”

Opening ceremony: Maeda’s greetings: “Thanks for coming…. Our success is due to you fans…” [couldn’t hear all of what he said due to fans screaming]

Then introduction of representative leaders of Rings Holland (Netherlands), Rings Russia, Rings Georgia, and the newly established Rings Bulgaria.

Speech by leader of the new Rings Bulgaria: “Good evening, recently I met Mr. Maeda and in our conversation found myself agreeing to his vision of combat sports/martial arts and decided to cooperate and we are happy to have our fighters participate in this event…I would like to prove to you on this ring that the strength and techniques of Bulgaria are the best… Please look forward to seeing Bulgarian fighters on this ring…” Then photo shoot of the 5 national reps of Rings (including Maeda of Rings Japan).

Kimura (Submission Arts Wrestling) vs Naruse: (Rings Japan):

Naruse’s prefight interview: “I want to see to what extent my strikes would be effective and to what extent the wrestling I learned at Maeda Dojo will work on him. Earlier I met him in the hallway and said hi to him, but once I get on the ring, I’ll treat this as a fight.”

[that looked like a shoot and was a big win for Naruse who beat a submission specialist with submission… I think Kimura lost his will to fight after getting poked in the eye, he kept saying to the doctor at that point that “I can’t see…”]

Naruse’s postfight interview: “Kimura is a submission specialist, so I gave him my foot as a bait and tried to hook his foot… in the end I was quicker in getting him to give up… It was a matter of tactics with which I was able to win…”

Kakuda (Seidokaikan karate) vs Nishi (Keishukai, with experience in Daidojuku karate [now kudo], judo).

Nishi’s prefight interview: “…well I don’t really like getting hit, so I’ll take the distance with footwork and when the chance comes I’d like to pull him to the ground…”

Kakuda’s prefight interview: “… in August I quit my company job, so from today I’m no longer a part-time fighter and I can no longer be permitted to depend to ask for favors…Since that’s the situation, I’d like everyone to have expectations for my future… In that sense today is a new beginning for me, a commemorable date, especially at such a big arena. While walking through the runway [to the ring], I felt like my hands and feet couldn’t touch each other…I will fight hard to give you a good match.”

Postfight conversation [when Nishi lies down], he’s saying his right knee hurts.

Hallway where Maeda greets Kakuda after the fight, Kakuda tells him, he’s going to train more. Maeda tells Kakuda that his ground fighting has improved and Kakuda says, thank you and I’m sorry I couldn’t do better, etc. Maeda says it was a good fight, and Kakuda says he’ll work hard again, etc.

Nagai (Rings Japan) vs. Pablov (Rings Bulgaria)

Pablov’s prefight interview (based on Japanese subtitles): What will be your tactics in tonight’s fight?: “I have nothing to say, everything will be shown in the fight on the ring…” Tell us your aspirations for your debut fight?: “I will show a good fight to the Japanese fans”

Nagai’s prefight interview: “I’ve only seen him in the public sparring/training session for only about 2 minutes, so I really don’t know what kind of fighter he is. So I’m not thinking of any complicated tactics but will just go with my own usual style of fighting. After the gong sounds, if I feel that I can finish him, regardless of the time, I’ll just go for it.”

Pablov’s postfight interview (based on woman translator): “I’m happy to win my first match here. I was knocked down 4 times but I tried hard [not to lose]. His kicks were very quick, but I’ve trained in judo and sambo and was able to win.”

Nagai in locker room: Maeda asks, what happened, and Nagai apologizes…and Maeda says something like “you did fine…”

Zaza (Rings Georgia) vs Koba (Rings Georgia)

Dolman (Rings Holland) vs Renting (Rings Holland)

Satake (Seidokaikan karate) vs Kaman (Holland)

Kaman’s prefight interview: he speaks in English

Satake’s preight interview: “Rob Kaman is indeed an experienced and top fighter, but I, Satake Masaaki, have spirit/energy and I’m not about to lose… but of course he’s the top in the world of kickboxing and I’m not sure exactly how far I can go against him, but I’m going to try my best, and make a full effort while exhibiting aura through my entire body and spirit… The key point is his tactic of moving from low [leg] kicks to punches which leads to KOs, so the issue is how to avoid that… But there’s also a weight difference so another issue is to what extent I can use that weight advantage.”

Satake’s postfight comments: “…his punches were light… the body punches were also lighter than I thought they would be… but his defense is really good, against low kicks… I’d like to fight him again…”

Vrij (Rings Holland) vs Han Rings Russia):

Han’s prefight interview (in Russian) based on Japanese subtitles: “I have been training as much as I can. Fans, please watch my fight. Dick Fry is a very strong fighter, but will be no problem for my sambo.”

Vrij’s prefight interview (in Dutch), based on Japanese subtitles: “Han will probably try to attack me with submissions. So I’ll keep the distance and fight him with kicks. In other words, we will see today which is stronger: Han’s submissions or my kicks.”

Han’s post-fight comments (through interpreter): “Japanese fans, thank you very much. I’ll continue working hard for the future.” [He said something about Satake and Dollman in Russian but the interpreter didn’t translate that part…]

Vrij’s post-fight comments (he speaks in English).

Maeda (Rings Japan) vs Kopilov (Rings Russia):

Kopilov’s prefight interviews, based on Japanese subtitles: “I know how strong Maeda is so I’ve been seriously training, and I’ve been thinking of a new submission hold for tonight’s fight.”

Maeda’s prefight interview: “Han moves around a lot, trying to hook different parts of the body, until suddenly he’d catch you with a submission. Kopilov on the other hand grabs you firmly and when you resist, he uses the momentum of your resistance to take you or catch you [in a throw or submission]… he’s that kind of a fighter… and he’s pretty strong when he grabs you… but he’s also different from the way Dolman grapples. Dolman grabs you and just squeezes you without letting go, but Kopilov, when he seems to let you go, he suddenly hooks you in a submission. So I’m going to have to look at the situation and react accordingly. Today even if I get hurt, I’ve taken shots so I can fight as hard as I want…so I’m not too worried…”

Maeda’s postfight comments: “when he grabbed me, he was pressuring me but also trying to use my own resistance… he fights similar to how I fight… We inaugurated Rings in May of last year but I’ve been able to do my best because of the fans… even in my private life, when jogging on the street, fans would encourage me with some kind words… I really think that it’s because of the fans that I’ve (and Rings) have been able to come this far… I’ll continue working hard in the future. Thank you.”

*This entire event can be seen over at www.patreon.com/KakutogiRoad along with thousands of hours of MMA/Kickboxing/Puroresu/Lucha footage, interviews, bonus articles, etc. *

 

[Mbetz1981]

The infamous hall of pre-UFC shoots that we’ve covered in these columns continues to grow, thanks to one additional shoot from this RINGS event. The kickboxing bout between Satake/Kaman was real too, but we're not including that one. (This list excludes any/all Shooto fights, as those were all-shoot.)

Here is the latest list:

Freek Hamakers vs. Charlie Lieveld (A Free-Fight that took place on 11-20-88 at a Dutch kickboxing event)

Gerard Gordeau vs. Dick Veldhuis (A Free-Fight that took place on 2-19-89 at a Dutch kickboxing event)

Yusuke Fuke vs. Lawi Napataya (PWFG 7-26-91)

Minoru Suzuki vs Lawi Napataya (PWFG 8-23-91)

Ken Shamrock vs Kazuo Takahashi (PWFG 11-3-91)

Nobuaki Kakuda vs Herman Renting (RINGS 12-7-91)

Gerard Gordeau vs. Mitsuya Nagai (RINGS 12-7-91)

Minoru Suzuki vs Takaku Fuke (PWFG 1-15-92) This was a shoot, but there were no strikes. It was similar to a ADCC match.

Billy Scott vs James Warring (UWFI 12-22-92)

Nobuhiko Takada vs Trevor Brebick (UWFI 12-22-92)

Mitsuya Nagai vs. Koichiro Kimura (RINGS 1-25-92)

Nobuaki Kakuda vs Rob Kaman (Rings 1-25-92)

Masaaki Satake vs Gerard Gordeau (Rings 1-25-92)

Adam Watt vs. Hans Nyman (RINGS 3-5-92)

Nobuaki Kakuda vs. Rudy Ewoldt (RINGS 3-5-92)

Masaaki Satake vs. Fred Oosterom (RINGS 3-5-92)

Gus Garcia va Richard Carle (PWFG 3-20-92)

Ozzie Alvarez vs Pedro Goderich (PWFG 3-20-92)

John Lana vs Herman Cicedo (PWFG 3-20-92)

Pieter Smit vs. Mikoki Ichihara (Sediokaikan/RINGS 3-26-92)

Herman Renting vs. Yoshinori Nishi (Sediokaikan/RINGS 3-26-92)

Naoyuki Taira vs. Eric Edlenbos, (Sediokaikan/RINGS 3-26-92)

Maurice Smith vs. Masaaki Satake (Sediokaikan/RINGS 3-26-92)

Yoshinori Nishi vs Willie Peeters (RINGS 4-3-92)

Kazuo Takahashi vs Yuki Ishikawa (PWFG 4-19-92)

Kiyoshi Tamura vs Mathew Saad Mohammed (UWF-I 5-8-92)

Minoru Suzuki vs Yuki Ishikawa (PWFG 6-25-92)

Yoshinori Nishi vs Peter Dijkman (RINGS 6-25-92)

Mitsuya Nagai vs Nobuaki Kakuda (RINGS 6-25-92)

Naoyuki Taira vs Eric van der Hoeven (RINGS 6-25-92)

Masaaki Satake vs Willie Peeters (RINGS 6-25-92)

Nobuaki Kikuta vs. Yukihiro Takenam (RINGS 7-16-92)

Chris Dolman vs Buzariashibili Ramaji (Rings 7-16-92)

Masaaki Satake vs Peter Oele (RINGS 7-16-92)

Yoshinori Nishi vs. Greg Douglas (Sediokaikan-Kakutogi-Olympic-II 7-30-92)

Koichiro Kimura vs. Masayuki Naruse (RINGS 8-24-92)

 

[Mbetz1981]

In case anyone was wondering what Dave Meltzer had to say about this event.... Here is his write up:

8/21 YOKOHAMA ARENA - RINGS

Notes: Card drew 14,700 paid in an arena that holds a little over 17,000 with tickets ranging from $160 down to $40. Between the live gate and substantial souvenir money, I'm sure the total take is well over $1 million and probably closer to $1.5.

The crowd seemed better dressed (not like it's a suit and tie crowd but a mid-20s yuppie dressed audience) and this show had a lot more women in the audience than the other groups. You got the impression it was "more respectable," although wrestling in Japan generally doesn't have that non-respectable stigma.

The matches have a total realistic look to them and moves that "wouldn't hold water" in a realistic shooting situation aren't used. Rules are that punches are okay to the body but only slaps to the face, no head-butts to the face although head-butts to the body are legal, no using the elbow on someone who is down but it's okay if they're standing, no kicking or kneeing someone while on the mat but it's okay if they're standing. If one breaks a submission by a rope escape it's counted on the scoreboard, as is a knockdown. Three rope escapes equals one knockdown. In the event of a time limit draw, the winner will be determined by fewest knockdowns and rope escapes. Five knockdowns automatically ends the match except when the matches are fought in rounds, in which case three knockdowns during any one round or five in total ends the match.

Actually, the first two matches, one involving two young Japanese wrestlers of about 200 pounds, and a second involving two 30 something karate instructors, looked to be legitimate shoots. The second one, under the round system which went five rounds to a decision, was almost surely a shoot since both men have puffed up eyes when it was over. The first one probably was as well. From that point on, I don't believe any of the matches were legitimate shooting, but all were worked to look realistic, which they did, at least judged against what you expect to see from pro wrestling. In the third match, which matched Mitsuya Nagai of Japan, a 23-year-old with the typical young UWF fighter body structure (small hips, muscular chest and shoulders but not thick and massive like a bulky U.S. or Mexican wrestler at 221 pounds) against a 231-pound Bulgarian sambo (submission) wrestler, Cvetan Pavlov. Match only went 5:45 before Pavlov, who had just suffered his fourth knockdown, came back and got a submission with a cross-armbar. The fans popped huge for the comeback finish. Next came a pair of Soviets, as Grom Zaza (222 pounds) bested 239-pound Schtorm Koba in 11:06 when he tied him up completely with a fullnelson. These two worked like pro wrestlers in their second day of training only doing shoot moves, but the sloppiness was okay because it does give it a less polished realistic look. Next came shooting legend Chris Dolman, a former world champion in sambo, now 47 years old and 257 pounds, beating pupil Herman Renting, 40 pounds lighter, in 5:51 with a facelock. Dolman looks like a tough, mean old-timer that you wouldn't want to mess with even though he's clearly past his prime. He moved slow, in fact, really hardly moved at all, and didn't look in great shape, but gave the aura of being dangerous as hell if he hooked you. Next was a kick boxing match as 192-pound Rob Karman of Amersterdam, Holland, the biggest kick boxing superstar in Japan right now (WKA world light heavyweight champion) faced Japan's most famous karate star, 224-pound Masaaki Satake. They fought with 10 ounce gloves (only match where the combatants wore gloves) and went to a five round draw with no knockdowns and no telling blows. Fans booed the decision loudly as they're used to winners and losers, but if this was a shoot, which if I had to guess it wasn't but that the judges weren't smartened up, it would have had to have been ruled a draw because it was even with no telling blows. The match had a lot of intrigue because both men are famous fighters in their respective sport. Karman was clearly the more skilled, but Satake had 30 pounds on him and was the local national hero in his sport. Next up was Soviet army sambo wrestling champion Volk Han of Graziya, the new superstar of this promotion, against Dick Fry, a bodybuilder/kick-boxer from Holland who is the only member of this group who has the potential to make it big in American wrestling. Fry looks like a cross between Sting and Dolph Lundgren, both in size and actually has a better physique than either. He comes across as a tough, dangerous, in perfect condition but stoic and strategic fighting roid monster at 6-3, 250. This match had super heat as they went back and forth between Han getting submission holds on and Fry making the ropes, and Fry using punches and kicks for knockdowns but Han recovering just before the ten count every time. It was actually super dramatic live. After Han had been knocked down four times, he got an ankle submission hold on in the middle and Fry gave up at 10:35. Given what the expectations are of the crowd and limitations based on realism (although how real is it, one would argue, to have people come back from being knocked down four times to win), this was an excellent match and stole the show. But the promoter and king of this style, Akira Maeda, was up next against Andrei Kopielov, another Soviet army sambo champion who earned the shot at Maeda by scoring an upset over Han last month in his RINGS debut. Kopielov continued to catch Maeda in holds, particularly working over Maeda's knee. It had been well publicized that Maeda had his knee scoped just a few weeks earlier and it was heavily taped. Maeda got some knockdowns using his kicks. Still, Kopielov was in charge and Maeda appeared in danger of losing. Quite frankly, after seeing him live, Maeda is a super worker as far as ability to make the match dramatic and exciting, which is what all pro wrestling is really about to begin with. Of course, the means to that end are different with this group as compared with any other. Maeda made his comeback and the crowd exploded when he got the submission at 18:18.

This is definitely something that someone would have to be educated to in order to enjoy, rather than the exaggerated simplicity of many aspects of traditional pro wrestling. The matches were intriguing, even if most of them wouldn't be judged as any good on a pro wrestling standard. However, the final two matches were very good, at least live, since the crowd intensity and total believability without having to suspend disbelief creates a different atmosphere than pro wrestling. The fans here don't wonder if the matches are shoots or not. They know. They're wrong, but in the building, perception is reality and given that, this is reality all the way.

This aired two nights later in its entirety on the WOWOW Channel (similar to HBO). With all the cameras, including one on a crane, the taping set-up and overall production looked to be equivalent to a WWF taping.

 

[Mbetz1981]

It's time for another heaping of brutality as we delve into the 8-28-92 event from the UWF-I. Kiyoshi Tamura and Yoji Anjo have one of the best matches of the year, footfighting master, Makato Ohe, returns, and Gary Albright must face a rematch with Olympic Judo Bronze Medalist in Allen "Bad News" Coage! Don't miss this exciting chapter, only at www.patreon.com/KakutogiRoad For only $10 a month you get to: Follow along with MMA from the beginning (in this case March of 1991) The Kakutogi Video Archive: Where one of the world's largest collections of rare MMA/Kickboxing/Puroresu/Classic Wrestling is held. More are added every day, and will eventually add up to over 20,000 hours of combat sports entertainment! We also cover a lot of kickboxing history along the way, and of course, add footage of those events whenever possible. We include a lot of contemporaneous media/news sources to coincide with our columns, so you can follow along with the media coverage of that era, also. Every Tue we include translations of rare MMA materials into English. Right now we are translating Shooto: The Technical Shooting Fight from 1986 into English, and when that is complete we have many other treasures that will be translated. We have exclusive interviews with figures that were there, and one of the major goals of this project is to interview many of the Japanese/Dutch/Brazillian personalities that were important to the development of MMA, many of which, have been ignored by western media. You also get a warm fuzzy feeling, knowing that you are helping MMA history to be adequately covered by people that actually care about it.