The show has started and Takada is doing his gimmick where he can't speak English. The lights are out, but the place looks EMPTY. No production to speak of whatsoever.
1. Joachim Hansen vs. Jason Ireland. This is so sad. There are empty seats EVERYWHERE. Hansen beat him in 2:33 of the third. A mauling. Finish was an armbar that should have been stopped earlier than it was.
2. Frank Trigg vs. Kazuo Misaki. Trigg nearly got the win via rear-naked choke in the first round. Seriously, Frank Trigg. HAN SOLO IS IN THE CROWD. Second round was better for Misaki, but I don't think you can say either man dominated. Fight went the distance and Trigg got the win via decision. He'll now be returning to do commentary like Jerry Lawler.
3. James Lee vs. Travis Wiuff. Lee, with very short notice, came into this fight and HAH-HUMBLED~! Travis. Stunned him with a shot, took him down, rear-naked choke, tap within 1 minute. Sucks to be Travis.
4. Sokoudjou vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira. This shouldn't last long. Well, I was right, but not like I expected. Sokoudjou knocked him out with a shot in seconds, in one of the biggest upsets in PRIDE history.
5. Mac Danzig vs. Hayato Sakurai. I don't even want to make a prediction after the last two fights. Sakurai dominated that round. No upset. Sakurai knocked him out with 59 seconds left in round two.
6. Mike Russow vs. Sergei Kharitonov. You know you're in trouble when, like with Mike Russow here, it says on your graphic that you are "NEW TO MMA". Russow did all right for himself all things considered, but then fell victim to an armbar from the bottom.
7. Mauricio Shogun Rua vs. Alistair Overeem. Alistair did OK for himself early, but then Shogun got him down and threw a knockout punch down into the guard for the win.
8. Coughlin's Boy Nick Diaz vs. The Evil Elf Takanori Gomi. OK, this is only the first round and this is by far the best fight of the year by a gigantic margin. Coughlin wins. Gomi took him down in the second and Diaz won with a gogoplata. One of the best fights in MMA history.
9. Wanderlei Silva vs. Dan Henderson for the PRIDE Middleweight Title. Henderson is the Welterweight Champion so he could leave with two belts tonight, and given the upsets we've already seen, that's entirely possible. Very even until the final few seconds of round one when Silva ROCKED him and pounced. Henderson dominated round two as Silva laid in the mount and only went for one armbar in the last five seconds or so. The night of upsets is complete. After six years, Wanderlei Silva just got knocked the fuck out by Dan Henderson, who is the new PRIDE Middleweight Champion.
One of the best MMA shows in years. Tony, Vinny and I will be back late tonight for members to run down this show in great detail, hopefully by midnight PST. Thanks for joining us and we'll talk to you then!
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