KNOCKOUT VIDEOS You can Pre-Order this
amazing event by e-mailing
KOvideos@hotmail.com
and ask for the Pride Grand Prix 2003. Video is £8.99 and that includes
all p&p costs. Event will be available roughly 1 week after event airs
in the U.S.A.
Pride Grand Prix 2003 taking place on November 9th sees the Semi-Final
and Final of the Middleweight Tournament featuring 4 of the best Middleweights
in the world right now. 4 have fallen, now only 4 remain.... However only
1 can truly be called Champion. Here's our preview of what could be the BIGGEST
and BEST Pride event ever!!
Semi-Final 1
Vanderlei Silva vs Hidehiko Yoshida
VANDERLEI SILVA
MMA RECORD 19-3-1
Vanderlei Silva is the current Pride Middleweight Champion and one of the
most
explosive and exciting fighters in the world ever. In the ring Silva is
brutal and deadly
inflicting beatings and KO's to everyone he comes across. Silva fought
in UFC Brazil,
and UFC 25 before moving to Pride and has made it his home from home.
The
Brazilian has become the biggest draw in Pride after his 2 fights with
Kazushi Sakuraba
(the only man to beat Royce Gracie).
VS
HIDEHIKO YOSHIDA
MMA RECORD 4-0
Yoshida is Japan's only hope at the Pride Grand Prix 2003. He beat fellow
Japanese
Fighter Tamura in the quarter final stage but is a heavy underdog against
current
Pride Middleweight Champion Vanderlei Silva. Yoshida is a Judo expert but
has
great submission skills, beating both former UFC champions Royce Gracie
and
Don Frye. His stand-up game is not good however and Silva will be looking
for a KO.
Verdict: Silva is far to good standing up for Yoshida to win with punches
or kicks, his
only hope is to take Silva down but Vanderlei has seriously good take down
defence.
Guess: Silva via KO Rnd 1
Semi-Final 2
Chuck Liddell vs Quinton Jackson
"ICE COLD" CHUCK LIDDELL
MMA RECORD 12-2-0
Chuck is a UFC veteran with a record of 8-2 in the Octagon. He has also
had great success in PRIDE with a 2-0 record and 2 KO's. He is a great standup
fighter and has had a great number of KO's in his career. Chuck had been
the NO.1 Light Heavyweight contender in the UFC for over a year after his
fight with Kevin Randleman and Murilo Bustamante, but Champion Tito Ortiz
seemed unwilling to fight him. Eventually Chuck faced Randy Couture for the
"Interim" Title.
Chuck beat Alastair Overeem in the Quarter Finals and continues to represent
the UFC in this Pride Tournament.
VS
QUINTON "RAMPAGE" JACKSON
MMA RECORD 18-3-0
Quinton made the transition from King of the Cage to Pride in great fashion.
Although he lost to Kazushi Sakuraba in a great fight, he has established
a 6-2 winning record including victories over Igor Vovchanchin, and has
risen to NO.1 contender for Vanderlei Silva's Middleweight Belt. Quinton
has made an art of slamming his opponents into the ground and has recently
KOed Kevin Randleman in the NO.1 contender fight.
He defeated Former UFC Middleweight Champion Murilo Bustamante to get this
far and is ranked #2 in Pride after his recent performances.
Verdict: Very close fight on the cards. Both have good stand up skills-
Chuck is a former Kickboxer, Rampage has won in K-1 before, so the stand up
should be close. Although Chuck has great takedown defense in the UFC, he
has a cage to help him back up and that is lacking in Pride. Jackson could
end up winning the fight on the ground. However I have a good feeling about
Chuck for this fight and think he could catch Quinton with some good punches
and wear him down
Guess: Chuck via TKO Rnd 2
You can Pre-Order this
amazing event by e-mailing
KOvideos@hotmail.com
and ask for the Pride Grand Prix 2003. Video is £8.99 and that includes
all p&p costs. Event will be available roughly 1 week after event airs
in the U.S.A.
PRIDE HEAVYWEIGHT INTERIM TITLE FIGHT
Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipov vs Antonio
Rodrigo "Minotauro" Noguiera
MIRKO "CRO COP" FILIPOV
MMA RECORD 6-0-2
Mirko is a K-1 (Kickboxing) fighter and has devastating KO power. When
he joined Pride he had debatable Ground skills (as his fight with Vanderlei
Silva showed). But recently his rise has been rapid and has beaten 3 of the
best fighters in Pride and now finds himself ready for a great fight with
Antonio Nogueira for the PRIDE Interim Heavyweight Championship. Cro Cop
is unbeaten in MMA and relies on his left high kick to KO opponents.
His three fights with Kazushi Sakuraba, Heath Herring and most recently
Igor Vovchanchin (Great KO!!) were all amazing fights ending in big
KO's or beat downs.
ANTONIO RODRIGO "MINOTAURO" NOGUEIRA
MMA RECORD 16-1-1
Antonio is the Former Pride Heavyweight Champion and has a great record
of 16-2 in MMA. His ground game is the best in the world and being a
former pro boxer he has decent stand up as well. He has beaten some of the
best the game has to offer in Heath Herring (an amazing fight), Mark Coleman
and Gary Goodridge. At Pride Shockwave he faced 27 stone monster Bob the
Beast Sapp in a phenomenal fight. Eventually the great man had to loose,
to current Pride Heavyweight Champion Fedor Emelianenko at Pride 25, but
his is still a truly great fighter.
The winner of this fight will face Fedor Emelianenko some time at the beggining
of 2004.
Verdict: This is a true battle of the Striker (Cro Cop) vs the Grappler
(Nogueira) and this fight could go either way. Cro Cop has looked virtually
unstoppable in his last 3 fights (against Sakuraba, Herring and Vovchanchin)
and seems to have great takedown defense. His tactic on the ground will be
to stall and hope for the referee to stand it up. Nogueira will hope to take
Cro Cop down but that could be a tricky task, and his last couple of fights
(against Fedor and Rodriguez) haven't gone well.
Guess: Cro Cop via KO Rnd 1
Other fights include:
Kazushi Sakuraba
vs Kevin Randleman
Gary Goodridge vs Dan Bobish
Dan Henderson vs Murilo Bustamante
Heath Herring vs Yoshihisa Yamamoto
You can Pre-Order this amazing event by e-mailing
KOvideos@hotmail.com
and ask for the Pride Grand Prix 2003. Video is £8.99 and that includes
all p&p costs. Event will be available roughly 1 week after event airs
in the U.S.A.
