Official Pride 31: 'Dreamers" Thread - Fight Forum - MMA - UFC - Boxing - K1

[Danny] · 02-12-2006, 02:43 PM

Here's the card:

Mark Hunt vs Yosuke Nishijima
Tsuyoshi Kohsaka vs Mario Sperry
Mark Coleman vs Mauricio Rua
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs Kiyoshi Tamura
Sergei Kharitonov vs Alistair Overeem
Jon Olav Einemo vs Fabricio Werdum
Quinton Jackson vs Dong Sik Yoon
Pedro Rizzo vs Roman Zentsov
Josh Barnett vs Kazuhiro Nakamura

Hunt is fighting a big name boxer in Japan. I guess he's like THE guy in Boxing over there from what I've read about him. The guy obviously doesn't have a great ground game and can't knock out Hunt, I'll go with Hunt KO or TKO in the first.

Kohsaka and Sperry's match interests me because it's two awesome veterans bidding for a spot in the Absolute GP. Should be a great fight.

Coleman and Rua do two thing for me:
1. It's Rua's test at heavyweight and we'll see if he'll be a force there.
2. First time two crowned GP champions are fighting each other.

I'm glad we get to see Nog on the card. He's fighting a washed up Tamura so we'll see another win under Antonio's name.

Overeem vs Sergei is going to be awesome. Overeem is going to do well at heavyweight. He is a HUGE middleweight and I think has a chance in this fight. Him cutting down to 205 hurts his gas tank a lot and it'll be cool to see him fight with possibly better cardio. I can see this fight going either way. This is also a test to see if Sergei should be the number one contender that everyone says he is. Kind of like the Sorbal/Van Arsdale match at UFC 57.

Werdum is fighting Einemo who has been hyped up for awhile now and can finally fight after injuries. I think Werdum takes this easily and starts moving himself up the ladder at heavyweight. He's a younger fighter and reminds me a lot of Nog. Those two need a fight.

Jackson is fighting Yoon Sik which should be an easy match for him. This match up, Jackson vs a can, might hint that DSE wants Quinton around. We might not get to see "Iceman" vs "Rampage" 2.

Rizzo vs Roman is a must win for both fighters. Rizzo is a legend in the UFC and cna't seem to make the transition to Japan. Roman is a mid level guy who needs a big win to stay in Pride. Huge name in Rizzo in this match and it'll be interesting to see what happens.

Then Barnett is fighting a decnt 205 fighter in Nakamura. Josh is just too big and powerful for Kazuhiro. I think this match is only ment to sell on Josh's name.

- - -

All in all you got two crowned GP champions battling it out, Two veterans looking for last glory in a spot for the Absolute GP, the Overeem experiement or Sergei's solidified number one contender spot, Rizzo's and Zentsov's shot at staying in Pride, Werdum's comeback, and the names Hunt, Barnett, Nog, and Rampage.

Looks like a good card.

angryjonny · 02-12-2006, 09:17 PM

The main fight I'm wanting to see is Einemo and Werdum. I really like Werdum and hope that he can get passed Einemo. I finally saw one of Jon's fights and he looks really tough. He had a pretty good guard, prevented some ground and pound and reversed a guy and laid down some pretty nice ground and pound in return and TKO'd the guy. It should be a really good match.

I would have rathered see Minotauro vs. Barnett but that fell through. I don't care either way since we still get to see both of them. Josh and Minotauro should both take their fights.

Sergei vs. Overeem I'm also excited about should be a slugfest but Sergei will take it. Alistair is a great striker but Sergei should be able to handle it. The guy likes to get hit hopefully he doesn't take one too hard though.

LastExit34 · 02-12-2006, 09:21 PM

I am not impressed with this card at all....funny thing is, they could have made a good card with the exact same guys, but only fighting different people. This will be the first pride in a long time that I won't be purchasing.

DirtyChuckRulz! · 02-13-2006, 05:16 PM

i ike this card but it has a lot of my favorite fighters on it. they arent the supermatches that Pride has been giving us but i still think its better than most of the UFCs ive seen

Billdolfski · 02-14-2006, 07:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LastExit34

I am not impressed with this card at all....funny thing is, they could have made a good card with the exact same guys, but only fighting different people. This will be the first pride in a long time that I won't be purchasing.

You really won't get it? Huh... I suppose I've seen better, but c'mon now. For one, I'm a big Rizzo nuthugger, so I gotta see him knock this guy out. If he doesn't... bad news bears for ole Pedro.

I'm looking forward to several other fights as well. Coleman and Rua is big, I think... and the reasons why have already been gone over. I still don't know who is going to take this one.

Barnett and Nakamura... I'm agreeing with everyone else and saying that Josh is just too freakin big. We'll see what happens, Nakamura is no slouch.

Rampage is gonna run somebody over and so is Nog, but I'm happy to see them anyways.

Oh... and Sergei's got this one.

SeikanJudanski · 02-14-2006, 10:42 AM

Barnett vs. Nakamura, Coleman vs Shogun and Overeem vs Kharitonov are preety good match-ups. Sadly, I think Coleman is going to get beat up. Overeem has a serious chance to show all the haters how good he is, or how overrated Kharitonov is.. we will see. I have to admit the boy has impressed me in his last few fights.

The rest of the fights are basically B and C grade, each one contains a top fighter, but the opponents could have been better.

LastExit34 · 02-14-2006, 02:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Billdolfski

You really won't get it? Huh... I suppose I've seen better, but c'mon now.

Oh I'll get it...I just won't be ordering it on ppv. It'll be the first one in a long time that I haven't ordered. The only fight that is of any interest to me is Shogun vs Coleman. And thats only because I cling to a shred of hope that Mark strikes lightning and pounds this kid through the mat.

Billdolfski · 02-14-2006, 04:05 PM

It could happen.

SeikanJudanski · 02-14-2006, 04:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LastExit34

Oh I'll get it...I just won't be ordering it on ppv. It'll be the first one in a long time that I haven't ordered. The only fight that is of any interest to me is Shogun vs Coleman. And thats only because I cling to a shred of hope that Mark strikes lightning and pounds this kid through the mat.

Well that would be refreshing.. but I think Shogun is going to take out Coleman, the way Crocop did.

DirtyChuckRulz! · 02-14-2006, 06:26 PM

KO by way of kick to the face, Pete Williams style.

angryjonny · 02-14-2006, 09:14 PM

I just hope he puts on a good show. I've heard he's slimmed down actually and has been working on sub defense. It only took him 10 years.

Just kidding. I've always liked him and hope he can pull out a W but it seems the odds are against him. I'm not counting him out though.

[Danny] · 02-15-2006, 08:04 AM

I just hope that Coleman kills Rua and then "Shogun" can stay at his weight class.

DirtyChuckRulz! · 02-15-2006, 10:08 AM

No love for Shogun Dan? i think he deserves a little more respect than that. i do agree that he should stay at MW but he has nothing else to prove there, hes not gonna fight Wandy for the belt.

[Danny] · 02-15-2006, 10:53 AM

I love "Shogun"! He's one of my favorites, but I don't want him fighting at hevayweight and if he get's killed by a runned down fighter in Coleman, he'll stay at his better weight which is middleweight.

The Absolute GP is a cool concept for huge 205 pound fighters like Overeem and Igor, who have their flaws cutting to 205 pounds. but I don't want to see tip top fighters at middleweight like Rua in it,

SeikanJudanski · 02-15-2006, 11:04 AM

I agree, Shogun should stay at 205. Besides, does he really want to fight Fedor?