Today 14yrs ago: Critical Countdown 2004

[Buffmeister]

Event: Critical Countdown 2004
Location: Saitmama Super Arena
Attendence: 43.711
Date: June 20th 2004

Today...14 years ago...PrideFC kicked off their 2nd round of their HWGP04.
And boy, oh boy...it gave is some classics!

Card
Fedor Emelianenko def. Kevin Randleman Submission (Kimura) 1:33

Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira def. Heath Herring Submission (Anaconda Choke) R2 0:30

Hidehiko Yoshida def. Mark Hunt Submission (Armbar) 5:25

Naoya Ogawa def. Paulo Cesar Silva TKO (Punches) 3:29

Sergei Kharitonov def. Semmy Schilt TKO (Punches) 9:19

Quinton Jackson def. Ricardo Arona KO (Powerbomb) 7:32

Kazushi Sakuraba def. Antonio Schembri (Decision Unanimous)

I haven't watched it since...i don't know...but it is a looong time ago.
So the recaps for the fights are just Memoires i have in my head...
Feel free to correct me or add more stuff...

Saku x Schembri 2
Well, to be honest...i don't remember shit from that fight lol (Do you?)
Probably because it wasn't very action packed?
But, Sakuraba got his "revenge" against Elvis, as he took home a decision victory...after finding himself on the wrong end of a huuuuge upset that happened at Pride25, where he got finished by knees, soccer kicks and punches.

Was it the fight where Saku came in in pyjamas and a pillow in his hand?


Rampage x Arona
This one was for the next challenger for Wand's MW belt...
Yes...we all know what happened in this fight...
Rampage slammed a couple of guys before that, but just not like this! It was a textbook powerbomb by Quinton and that one wasn't a work guys..
But before that...Arona did very very good, in a back and forth fight, was active from his guard and was peppering Quinton with punches, heel kicks and threating with some sub attempts. Man, Aronas BJJ was freaking good guys.
For those who don't know:
Arona is the only competitor in Abu Dhabi to have won a championship and to be undefeated so far plus also not losing a single point in any match.
But hat didn't help him tonight!
Triangle attempt...Rampage gets on his feet...pulls Arona up...all the way over his head and...

Rampage and Wand would clash at Pride28 and putting on a classic fight!!!


2nd round of the GP starts:

Sergei x Semmy
Oh my god!...that was brutal guys!
After Sergei gave Ninja Rua
brain-swelling (not trying to sound funny here), he faced the dutch hightower: Semmy Schilt.
Who defeated Gan McGee by armbar in the opening round...

And as this fight hit the ground...it was bad news for Schilt!
Sergei was in his prime back then and looked in top notch shape...

Full Mount for Sergei!...high mount...
He trapped one of Sem's arms with his knee and with his arm, he controlled Sem's other arm.
So he basicly had free shots to Semmys face...and he went for it.
Not agressive...he took his time to hammerfist Sem's eye into...mud.
Schilt was trying to escape but Sergeis balance was too good and the ropes didn't make it any better...
Schilt was breathing hard and when he went for his last attempt to escape...he put in all the power he had and was kinda screaming while doing it...no success...bad bad news! Sergei wasn't in a hurry and kept on hammerfisting right on Schilts eye...
They showed Sem's eye on the big screen and the japanese crowd uuuh'd in disgust...
Ref jumps in and Sergei advanced to the semi's by a tko...

Look at Semmy's face man...


Ogawa x Giant Silva
Long story short...I'm Chicken got the W.
lol
Giant Silva was absolutley no match at all for the olympic silver medalist judoka...
Easiest way to the semi's...


Non-tourney fight:
Yoshida x Hunto
Yoshida is a hero in Japan and Hunto was also a massive fan favorite...
This was actually Hunts MMA debut.
And yeah...you know how that ends against a olympic gold medalist in Judo...you get fucking armbar'd.


Next up...
Big Nog x Herring 2
This was their 2nd meeting out of 3.
And none of their fights were boring.
Once again...it was a back and forth fight...but this time Nog was well prepared.
At the beginning of the 2nd round, Herring shot in for a TD...and Nog felt like it is time for another Anaconda choke...
It was the 2nd Anaconda choke for Big Nog in a row...the first victim was Yokoi in the GPs opening round.
At this time...it was a "new submission" "nobody knew of" or had seen before. And everybody was going nuts that Nog pulled it off again...
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NLC4SvCct-E
These 2 fighters would later meet again, in the UFC, and this time Herring came as close as you can get to finish BigNog, while he still had an intact chin...but in the end lost via decision...


Fedor x Randleman (RIP)
Randleman came in with a huuuuge victory on his shoulders against CroCop and Fedor didn't have much problems, submitting Coleman with a sick armbar from his back...

Rampage joined Mauro and Bas as a special commentator. Fresh after his Powerbomb W against Arona...

Daaaaaammmmmnn!!!!...Randleman gets Fedors back in the corner and belly-to-back-suplexes Fedor right on his freaking neck!
When i saw that...i thought Fedor would be paralyzed from his neck down...guys i tell you...it looked ugly!

The time Fedor got lifted up until Kevin dropped him on his neck...it felt like watching it in slow-motion...and then...reality kicked in as soon as Fedor hit the ground with a huuge impact!
The Randle-Plex was born!

Mauro:"OMG! STRAIGHT ON HIS HEAD!!!"
Bas:"KNEE!!...HE SHOULD KNEE HIM TO THE HEAD!!" (As Kevin got north-south on Fedor)
And he right away went for it..
Quinton:"its like he is hearing you Bas!"

And then...Fedor just effortlessly sweeps Kevin and is on top...north-south for him...
And he gets to work with punches to Kevs head...while Randleman kept on holding on...
Quinton:"I don't wanna be the black guy here!...let it go Randleman...go for something else!" lol

As Fedor looked to his left...he saw Kevin's arm chilling around and ready to being attacked.
Snatched in a Kimura and tapped Randleman out in just 93seconds...

What a fucking comeback!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=l0CpdMyRby4
(Randleman, i think, just lost his father before this fight and probably came in very emotional)

Great Event guys!
In one night we saw: The Randle-Plex, Quinton's powerbomb and Sergei pounding on Schilt in brutal fashion...Mark Hunts debut...and of course...Saku

Overall...this GP kicked ass!

 

[HHJ]

This was a really good card. Herring vs Nog part 1 was competitive. This second fight wasnt,all due to Nogueira's improved striking.

 

[ThunderL1ps]

I heard the other day that Ogawa retired from PW recently to focus on helping his son in judo who will likely represent Japan in the Olympics. I wonder if his son is interested in competing in MMA before judo uses up his body?

Edit: He's a pretty big kid

 

[ThunderL1ps]

Five of these guys are still fighting all these years later.

 

[The Reed]

Food for thought. This event is older than half the posters here.

 

[hot carl]

I miss the old pride posters.

 

[sabretitan]

I MISS PRIDE

 

[HHJ]

I heard the other day that Ogawa retired from PW recently to focus on helping his son in judo who will likely represent Japan in the Olympics. I wonder if his son is interested in competing in MMA before judo uses up his body?

Gotta win the medals to make MMA worth his while.

 

[HHJ]

BTW the dvd release has an extra dvd with the commentary turned off. You get to hear Arona and Rampage talk to each other during the fight. On the ground Arona trying to turn,he accidentally elbowed Rampage in the face(Illegal in pride) and apologized,and Rampage said "its ok"

then Arona hit Rampage with the upkick to the jaw and Rampage went down hard,and that was the chance for Arona to finish the fight but instead Arona appealed to the referee to stop it,which he didnt. The fight wasnt stopped,and Arona said "you okay?" and Rampage in obvious agony said "im allright.."

Arona gets a bad rap for his style,and beating some beloved fighters,but he was a good guy who happened to show mercy and it cost him. When he got powerbombed,for sure he got headbutted,and he was right to complain about that.

 

[Fossor]

Epic stuff took place that day.

Look what USADA did to MMA:

 

[leatherneck]

great taste in mma,
great thread.

 

[Buffmeister]

I miss the old pride posters.

Yep...same here...their posters were awesome...

New event, new awesome poster(s)
New UFC Event...they just copy and paste

 

[Stan]

I feel old I remember this great fight card like it was yesterday. Pride would put on the greatest MMA shows of all time and this 1 had it all with Fedor getting Randleplexed on his head then defeating Randleman less than a minute later. Rampage power bombing Arona into unconsciousness was just amazing to see. UFC should implement 10 minute first round and yellow card.

 

[Skeptic_Zero]

I miss pride

 

[Buffmeister]

I feel old I remember this great fight card like it was yesterday. Pride would put on the greatest MMA shows of all time and this 1 had it all with Fedor getting Randleplexed on his head then defeating Randleman less than a minute later. Rampage power bombing Arona into unconsciousness was just amazing to see. UFC should implement 10 minute first round and yellow card.

Count me in for 10min opening rounds...and yellow cards too...enough with that boring
wall n stall shit...

 

[Omega Man]

You never knew what could go down in a Pride event.

 

[Goodfella86]

Great thread. It was indeed a memorable night for the sport. I'll never forget the reaction of my friends (back then, I had friends) when Rampage slammed Arona. We were shocked at the power it took to do that. The only thing more shocking was the Randleplex.

I also remember all of us practicing the anaconda choke afterwards. Nog put that sub on the map.

BTW the dvd release has an extra dvd with the commentary turned off. You get to hear Arona and Rampage talk to each other during the fight. On the ground Arona trying to turn,he accidentally elbowed Rampage in the face(Illegal in pride) and apologized,and Rampage said "its ok"

then Arona hit Rampage with the upkick to the jaw and Rampage went down hard,and that was the chance for Arona to finish the fight but instead Arona appealed to the referee to stop it,which he didnt. The fight wasnt stopped,and Arona said "you okay?" and Rampage in obvious agony said "im allright.."

Arona gets a bad rap for his style,and beating some beloved fighters,but he was a good guy who happened to show mercy and it cost him. When he got powerbombed,for sure he got headbutted,and he was right to complain about that.

Interesting stuff.

 

[91 seconds]

And Bones just got his drivers license. I don't know what was more violent.

 

[IGotAHugePeckah]

Those Pride event posters were magnificent.

 

[HHJ]

I feel old I remember this great fight card like it was yesterday. Pride would put on the greatest MMA shows of all time and this 1 had it all with Fedor getting Randleplexed on his head then defeating Randleman less than a minute later. Rampage power bombing Arona into unconsciousness was just amazing to see. UFC should implement 10 minute first round and yellow card.

No way would losing 10 percent of your purse for a foul would fly in the usa