Pride 32: The Real Deal
Pride: The Real Deal
Saturday, October 21, 2006
Thomas and Mack Center
Las Vegas, Nevada
By Stephen Quadros, “The Fight Professor”
Fedor Emelianenko ![]() |
|
|
![]() |
(Non-Title Fight)
Fedor Emelianenko is currently the best fighter in MMA. He has proven that with solid, unarguable decision victories over Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira (twice) and Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic. His resume also includes decision wins against Ricardo Arona, Renato “Babalu” Sobral and K-1 World Grand Prix champion Semmy Schilt. Inside the distance he has dispatched Heath Herring (TKO), Kevin Randleman (first round submission) and…Mark Coleman, also with a submission in round one. |
![]() |
Mauricio "Shogun" Rua ![]() |
|
|
![]() |
Because of the controversy that I mentioned in the above section around the Shogun/Coleman match, a fight between Shogun and Kevin Randleman makes sense. Kevin is a teammate and training partner of Mark Coleman, and like Coleman is known for his wrestling. As a matter of fact, Randleman may be a greater threat in the single region of takedowns and slams, which was how Coleman “defeated” Rua. So “if” Kevin can pick Mauricio up and dump him in the right way, the fight should be over, right? Well it’s not quite that simple. It’s not like the Chute Boxe team who trains Shogun doesn’t know that that is Kevin’s strategy. Mauricio is fully recovered from his surgery to repair the arm and is going to be ready for Kevin’s explosive and sometimes reckless style. This fight depends on what kind of shape Randleman is in and what kind of pre-fight focus he has. If he has not taken this fight as seriously as he should have, he will get either stopped or submitted. But chances are good even if he has prepared in a Spartan-like way …he may STILL get stopped or submitted. Either way, I feel that Shogun will prevail here. And if that scenario unfolds, will the easy going Shogun want a rematch with Coleman? Or will that even matter if Fedor trounces “The Hammer”? |
![]() |
"Dangerous" Dan Henderson ![]() |
|
|
![]() |
After finally campaigning in the Pride 183 pound division, where he won the 2005 tournament belt, Dan Henderson is fighting Mr. On-Again-Off-Again, Vitor Belfort. Dan has a problematic style when he faces anyone but Vitor potentially can (used to be able to) reek havoc simply because his hand speed is that fast. I will go with the man who has the best and most disciplined mental game, so I figure Dan will win a decision here. |
![]() |
Josh "The Baby Faced Assasin" Barnett![]() |
|
|
![]() |
Being touted as “The Rickson Gracie” of judo sounds impressive…until you step into the high ranks of MMA. And Pride has not cut Pawel Nastula any slack since they inducted him into the show. His first bout was against the former #1 fighter in the game, Rodrigo Nogueira, who stopped him with strikes late in round one. Then he faced Russian wrecking machine Aleksander Emelianenko, Fedor’s brother and was choked out late in the first. He was probably thrilled to face and armbar Edson Drago in July and get into the win column. But now he again faces one of the best in the world in Josh Barnett. Barnett was the runner up in Pride’s 2006 open-weight grand prix (he was stopped by old adversary Mirko Cro Cop in the final match). Barnett, who beat Randy Couture to snatch the UFC heavyweight belt in 2002, has an MMA rap sheet that is a mile long and, if he’s injury free, will take this by TKO. |
![]() |
Eric "Butterbean" Esch ![]() |
|
|
![]() |
In a match that will have no bearing on the sports top ten rankings, popular toughman “champion” Butterbean will clash with former WCW and WWF (that means pre-WWE) performer Sean O’Haire. If a foe stands directly in front of the 350-pound plus Esch with his hands down, he is surely in danger, because the Butterbean CAN punch. Although O’Haire is 1-1 in MMA he has potential as a mixed martial artist. Still this match is a strange one. If O’Haire has ANY kind of ground game he should be able to submit Eric. Otherwise he may be waking up in the center of the ring courtesy of one the human Pacman’s (Butterbean’s) looping fly swats. | ![]() |
Kazuhiro Nakamura ![]() |
|
|
![]() |
Kazuhiro Nakamura may be the most talented and experienced 205-pound MMA fighter in Japan. Travis Galbraith took this match on short notice and will be up for the task, but inevitably will be defeated. |
![]() |
Joey Villasenor ![]() |
|
|
![]() |
This is a great match. Villasenor may be the finest fighter, other than Diego Sanchez, that King Of The Cage has ever produced. And he has experience in Pride (many thought he won his fight against Ryo Chonan). Robbie is coming off a loss against Jason “Mayhem” Miller in what has been described as a war. This is a test for both gents. A loss will hurt Lawler’s career more than Joey’s. And I’ve got a hunch that Villasenor will win this. |
![]() |
Phil "The New York Badass" Baroni ![]() |
|
|
![]() |
Phil Baroni is the most entertaining MMA fighter in the US. We know he can punch, but a standing battle would be a mistake here since Yosuke Nishijima is a former cruiserweight boxing champion (his boxing record was 24-2-1 with 15 KOs). Phil should take a page from his friend Ikuhisa Minowa’s playbook and take Nishijima to the floor and keep him there (Minowa used that same tactic to beat Phil the second time they fought). If he does that he will beat Yosuke easily. |
![]() |