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If you've been watching the pride 16man heavy weight elimination then you know the final round is about to happen soon! 4 Men left, so lets hear your predictions on who's gonna take this tournament!!
Sergei Khritonov VS Antonio Rodrigo Nogiera
Fedor E VS Ogawa
Winner of each matchup face in the final fight!!
Lets discuss..in detail
PRIDE: FINAL CONFLICT 2004 PREVIEW
By Jade Prout
Of the original field of sixteen fighters, only four remain; when all is said and done, only one man will be left standing. In addition to the two Grand Prix Semifinal matches and the resulting Final Match, DSE brings us a “PRIDE vs. Pancrase” match between Middleweight Champion Wanderlei Silva and Light Heavyweight King of Pancrase Yuki Kondo. Also on the star-studded fight card for Final Conflict 2004 are Kevin Randleman and Ron Waterman in a Grand Prix Reserve Match. Who will survive the Final Conflict? Only time will tell, but perhaps a look at the fighters involved will shed some light on the outcome…
Murilo Bustamante (9-3-1) vs. Kazuhiro Nakamura (3-2-0)
DSE was reportedly attempting to find an opponent for Dan Henderson, and many in the Japanese press were buzzing about the possibility of a Bustamante-Henderson rematch, but it was announced this week that “Dangerous Dan” was being elbowed aside to make way for Yoshida’s top student, Kazuhiro Nakamura. It would seem that instead of giving Murilo a chance to avenge his somewhat controversial loss to Henderson, PRIDE is instead giving Nakamura a chance to atone for his two losses to Antonio Rogerio “Minotoro” Nogueira by matching him with Nogueira’s teammate and training partner, Murilo Bustamante.
Busta, one of Brazilian Top Team’s most decorated members, made a name for himself by fighting to a forty-minute draw with Tom “Big Cat” Erickson at the Martial Arts Reality Superfights event in 1996. He went on to seize the UFC Middleweight Championship from Dave Menne at UFC 35, and successfully defended the title with a submission win over Matt Lindland at UFC 37. Unable to reach a financial agreement with the UFC, Murilo jumped to PRIDE and lost a split decision to Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. After a loss to Dan Henderson by TKO, Bustamante now seems to be in a must-win situation.
Kazuhiro Nakamura lost his PRIDE debut (which was also his MMA debut) by submission to “Minotoro” in March of last year. He returned to the PRIDE ring in the inaugural Bushido show, playing a cautious game and taking a win by decision over Daniel Gracie. After earning another decision win, this time in a largely forgettable performance against pro-wrestler “Dos Caras Junior” earlier this year, Nakamura finished Chalid “Die Faust” at Bushido 3 with an arm bar. At Bushido 4, Nakamura again lost to Rogerio, this time by split decision. He will have a hefty weight advantage over Murilo… but so did Tom Erickson.
Mirko Filipovic (11-2-2) vs. Aleksander Emelianenko (3-0-0)
One year ago, the MMA world was buzzing about a potential match-up between Mirko “Cro-Cop” Filipovic and PRIDE Heavyweight Champion Fedor Emelianenko. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira put an end to that possibility when he arm-barred Cop in the Interim Heavyweight Championship match at last year’s Final Conflict. Fans had hoped for a Cop-Fedor match in this year’s Grand Prix, but Kevin Randleman crushed those hopes with a left hook and a series of devastating hammer-fists at Total Elimination 2004. Now, Mirko faces Fedor’s brother, Aleksander Emelianenko. Fedor will certainly be paying attention.
Filipovic holds a 16-7-0 record in K-1 kickboxing competition, having bested Jerome Le Banner, Mark Hunt, Peter Aerts, Remy Bonjasky and Bob Sapp among others. Upon making the jump to PRIDE, he took out prominent fighters such as Kazushi Sakuraba, Heath Herring and Igor Vovchanchyn on his way to the top. Last year, his streak was ended by the aforementioned loss to Nogueira. Since then, “The Croatian Sensation” has been struggling to regain his former momentum and re-enter the Championship picture. A victory over Fedor’s brother would get him back inside the Heavyweight Champion’s head, to say the least.
Aleksander Emelianenko stands undefeated in mixed martial arts competition, but doesn’t have nearly as much experience as his opponent, and hasn’t faced the same caliber of opposition. His most notable win was a split decision over Assuerio Silva at the first PRIDE: Bushido show. Although that match didn’t make the pay-per-view, this one most definitely will. A fight with Cro-Cop could be a case of too much too soon, or it could catapult Aleksander into stardom and herald the beginning of a climb to the top of the PRIDE Heavyweight ladder. Nogueira may have TWO Emelianenkos to worry about in the near future!
Wanderlei Silva (25-3-1) vs. Yuki Kondo (42-13-5)
While Quinton “Rampage” Jackson sits back and waits for his shot at Silva’s Middleweight Championship belt, “The Axe Murderer” will take part in a non-title match with Yuki Kondo. Silva is once again coming off a several-month absence due to problems with his knee, possibly caused or aggravated by his nasty habit of ramming it into his opponents’ faces. With nearly NINETY FIGHTS between them, these are clearly the most experienced fighters on the card. When they meet in the ring, expect fireworks, and keep your eyes peeled. Either one of these warriors could conceivably walk away with the win in this match.
Wanderlei Silva, already an established name in the Vale Tudo circuit, made his UFC debut at “Ultimate Brazil,” falling to the fast hands of Vitor Belfort in just 44 seconds. Taking the loss in stride, Silva began fighting in PRIDE as well as the UFC, but a decision loss to Tito Ortiz at UFC 25 prompted him to focus his energies on PRIDE. After racking up wins over Guy Mezger, Dan Henderson and Kazushi Sakuraba, he became PRIDE’s Middleweight Champion. Silva swept last year’s Middleweight Grand Prix as well, defeating Hidehiko Yoshida and “Rampage” in the same night. Can anyone end his winning streak?
Yuki Kondo plans to do just that. Semmy Schilt, Frank Shamrock, Guy Mezger, Ikuhisa Minowa, Yoshiki Takahashi, Alexandre “Café” Dantas, Sanae Kikuta and Mario Sperry have all tasted defeat at the hands of the 3rd Light Heavyweight King of Pancrase. How many fighters can say that they have fought in SIXTY mixed martial arts matches? Kondo is one of the few who can. In his last 10 fights, Yuki’s only loss was to the gigantic Josh Barnett. A submission artist with heavy hands and a vicious flying knee, Kondo always brings a well-rounded game to the table. This match-up could easily turn out to be the fight of the night!
Kevin Randleman (15-8-0) vs. Ron Waterman (11-2-2)
It would appear that Kevin Randleman has finally returned to his Heavyweight roots after several years of competing as a Light Heavyweight/Middleweight. Many fans gave Kevin the proverbial snowball’s chance in hell to get past Mirko “Cro-Cop” Filipovic in the opening round of this year’s Grand Prix, but he proved them wrong. That victory has raised his stock considerably. Ron Waterman could have earned himself a spot in the GP if he had beaten Cro-Cop at Inferno earlier this year, but it just wasn’t in the cards for him. Now, both men will receive a second chance to advance in the Grand Prix by way of this Reserve Match.
Kevin “The Monster” Randleman debuted in the UFC with a victory over Maurice Smith. After losing a split decision to Bas Rutten, Kevin bested Pete Williams to seize the Heavyweight title left vacant in Bas’ absence. After losing the title to Randy Couture, Randleman dropped to Light Heavyweight, losing to Chuck Liddell but earning a win over Renato “Babalu” Sobral. Kevin then moved to PRIDE and scored several wins before losing to Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Kazushi Sakuraba. Although he was eliminated from the Grand Prix by Fedor Emelianenko, he could buy his way back in with a win here.
Ron “H2O-Man” Waterman won his UFC debut at UFC 20, the same card on which Rutten defeated Randleman. After earning a 2-1-1 record in the UFC, Ron branched out to fight in Pride, WEC and IFC, and he is currently one of the top-ranked Super Heavyweights in Pancrase. Although he holds a mixed martial arts record of 11-2-2, Waterman has only really faced one “big-name” opponent, and that opponent was Cro-Cop; Ron lasted about five minutes in that fight. Yes, that’s longer than Igor Vovchanchyn lasted, but it still doesn’t say much for Waterman’s ability to hang with the heavy-hitters. He could be in trouble.
Grand Prix Semifinal Matches:
Sergei Kharitonov (9-0-0) vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (23-2-1)
In the first round of the Grand Prix, Sergei Kharitonov went toe-to-toe with Murilo “Ninja” Rua and scored a knockout victory to advance to Critical Countdown, where he traded blows with Semmy Schilt and came out on top to win by TKO. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira overcame his first two opponents, Hirotaki Yokoi and Heath “Texas Crazy Horse” Herring, submitting both of them in the second round with his now-famous “Anaconda Choke.” Still, this is not your typical “striker-versus-grappler” match; Sergei is a Sambo expert with excellent submission skills, and Nogueira has displayed rock-solid boxing ability and a chin to match.
Kharitonov, who has displayed an impressive combination of skill, resilience and sheer aggression in his less-than-one-year-old career in PRIDE, is undefeated in mixed martial arts competition. This ruthless Russian has shown himself to be equally adept at submissions and striking, and not a single one of his fights has ever gone to the judges’ scorecards. In fact, in his four fights in PRIDE, he has spent a combined total of less than 20 minutes in the ring, and has never had a fight enter the second round! Many viewed Kharitonov as a “dark horse” to win this tournament, and he may potentially pull off the upset in August.
Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira cut his teeth in World Extreme Fighting and Rings before signing with PRIDE in 2001. Handily submitting Gary Goodridge and Mark Coleman, Nogueira won a unanimous decision over Heath Herring to become PRIDE’s first Heavyweight Champion. After winning non-title matches against Enson Inoue, Bob Sapp, Semmy Schilt and Dan Henderson, he dropped the title in a unanimous decision loss to Fedor Emelianenko, but bounced back with a win over Cro-Cop to seize the Interim Heavyweight Championship. Experience will be his biggest advantage over Sergei in this match.
Fedor Emelianenko (18-1-0) vs. Naoya Ogawa (7-0-0)
Ogawa is “The Great Japanese Hope” in this tournament, as was Yoshida in last year’s Middleweight Grand Prix. Although arguments still rage over the quality of opposition these Japanese icons faced on their respective roads to the semifinals, one cannot dispute the fact that they were both given tough draws once they got there. Yoshida, of course, fought Wanderlei Silva in last year’s Final Conflict, and Ogawa’s opponent will be the most feared Heavyweight on the Planet: PRIDE Heavyweight Champion Fedor Emelianenko. This could be Ogawa’s chance to give his many critics something to chew on, win or lose.
Fedor, who amassed a 9-1-0 record in Rings competition between 2000 and 2002, is undefeated in PRIDE. After back-to-back wins over Semmy Schilt and Heath Herring, Fedor set his sights on Nogueira and the Heavyweight Championship; he got his title shot at PRIDE 25, and walked away with the victory and the belt. In the first round of the GP, he arm-barred former GP Champion Mark Coleman, and submitted Coleman’s protégé Kevin Randleman by Kimura at Critical Countdown to earn his place in the semifinals. He is now just two wins away from becoming both Heavyweight Champion and Grand Prix Champion.
Still, Fedor had best not look past his next opponent, Naoya Ogawa. Undefeated in his MMA career, this popular pro-wrestler has claimed victories over Gary Goodridge, Stefan “Blitz” Leko and “Giant” Silva. However, if you take Goodridge out of the picture, Ogawa’s other victims have a combined MMA record of just four wins and SIXTEEN losses, and four of those opponents have competed in just one MMA fight each. Ogawa has never faced a top-shelf opponent, and Fedor is arguably the greatest mixed martial artist in the world. “Ogawamania” is running wild, but “Emelianenkomania” may stamp it out at Final Conflict.
Grand Prix Final Match:
Who will make it to the finals? When Fedor was rumored to be facing Kharitonov, we could have safely assumed that one of the finalists would be Russian, but now it’s anybody’s guess. Sergei, Nogueira, Fedor, Ogawa… those are four heavy-hitters any way you match them up. In the world of mixed martial arts, there are no givens; however, if anything is certain, it is that Final Conflict 2004 will be an event to remember.
PRIDE: Final Conflict 2004 airs on North American pay per view for customers of iNDEMAND, DIRECTV, and TVN on Sunday, August 22nd, 2004 at 9:00pm EST, 6:00pm PST. For customers of DISH Network, the premiere will be Thursday, August 26th, 2004 at 9:00pm EST, 6:00pm PST.
My picks are Nog to take the tournament
Randleman over Waterman
Mirko of Alexander E
W.Silva over Kondo
Bustamante over Nakamura
whew... So hard to say with top fighters like this... I like the looks of this Sergei Kharitonov I bet hes been in Sambo for 20 years, experience like that counts even if he is "new to NHB, The Japanese is looking surprisingly tough too, Fedor is a calm hunter and did you see how he was unfased by Randlemans Slam... Still I guess I have to go with Nog. We know hes got a chin, we know he can submitt even the strongest. He can go from submission to submission like a snake!
As for Silva/Kondo... As much as I respect Kondo I gotta go with Wand. he is just a beast compared to Kondo. Being able to keep a level head with That type of ferociousness is an asset in this sport! To me this is a money fight for bolth of them!
I would have to go with FCONTACT on this one
So we all agree then... Nog to take the final four... Wand over Kondo.
:D I love everyone at AR :D
oh yeah, i'm going on sportsbetting.com right now to prove this ****.