My name is Matt Pelkey, and I'll be doing some DVD reviews for the Torch to help the newer fans get a taste of the MMA scene outside of what's been shown on Spike TV the past couple years. I'll be reviewing some Pride PPVs, some older (pre lets say UFC 50) PPVs, and maybe some smaller promotion's DVD's such as King of the Cage and so forth. The first one I'm reviewing is Pride Shockwave 2004.

There are some rules differences in Pride that I'll note before each review of a Pride show. They are:

1. Kicks and knees to the head of a downed opponent are allowed in most cases (Pride allows severe mismatches of size, skill, and/or experience in some of there fights and occasionally disallows these strikes).

2. For all fights there is a ten minute first round and two more five minute rounds.

3. Fights are not judged on a round by round basis as in UFC. Fights are judged as a whole, so while a fighter may win two of the rounds, he may lose a decision if his opponent is closer to finishing the fight.

4. The Japanese culture loves spectacle, so while the UFC is focused on the best, most competitive match-ups, Pride has several "carnival attractions" on their shows (i.e. guys who are really tall or really big but have no real skill and are just fun to watch/look at).

5. Pride fights are in a boxing ring, not a cage and that ends up causing the ref to frequently restart the fight in the middle if they are too close to the ropes. After one or two times of this it tends to start taking away from the fight quality.

6. If the referee feels the fighters are providing enough action, he can issue a yellow card, which deducts 10% of the fighter's purse for the night.

Enough of that, let's start the show!

Our announcers for the night, Bas Rutten and Mauro Ranallo, welcome us to the show and preview the top fights on the card. Most attention is paid to the main event. Fedor Emelianenko takes on Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira to crown the 2004 Heavyweight Grand Prix Champion and to establish an undisputed heavyweight champ. We then go to the crazy Pride intro. I'm not going to go into detail about it, but if you've never seen a Pride show you have to watch it at least once. Its worth it to see the dramatics that pride is all about and to hear the world's greatest PA announcer. Seriously, this lady is awesome! If you think the UFC "gladiator" opening is over the top, you ain't seen nothing yet. On to the fights!

In our first fight, Ikuhisa Minowa, a freelance Japanese fighter, takes on Stefan Leko, a German kick-boxer.

1 - IKUHISA MINOWA vs. STEFAN LEKO

ROUND ONE: Ikuhisa immediately misses with a dropkick (yes a wrestling dropkick! I'd never seen that before) and a forward roll as he tries to grab a leg. Leko takes advantage by hitting a soccer kick to the head of Minowa. Minowa, however, grabs a leg and goes for an ankle lock. He pulls Leko down and gets the quick tapout for the victory.

FINISH: Minowa wins by submission (anklelock) at 0:27 of Round 1

STAR RATING: (*+) Not much to say about this fight as it only lasted 27 seconds, but it gets a + because of the dropkick and a pretty nice anklelock submission.

RAMIFICATIONS: Minowa has been a Pride fixture for years. While never a top star, he's had a very good career with solid victories over the likes of Phil Baroni and Kimo. His list of defeats however reads like a who's who of MMA. Among his defeats: Evan Tanner, Semmy Schilt, Paulo Filho, Quinton Jackson, Wanderlei Silva, Murilo Bustamante, Sakuraba, and Mirko Filipovic. Yikes. Stefan Leko had one more MMA fight after this, losing to finish his career 0-3. He had much more success prior to this as a kickboxer with K-1.

In fight number two, Paulo Cesar "Giant" Silva, a wrestler (and at 7'2, one of those "carnival attractions" I was referring to) takes on Choi Mu Bae, a Korean wrestler who has about a 150lb. weight disadvantage.

2 - PAULO CESAR "GIANT" SILVA vs. CHOI MU BAE

ROUND ONE: Silva bullrushes Mu Bae as the fight starts, swinging wildly and missing. Mu Bae gets a quick takedown and easily takes full mount. After a ref standup, Mu Bae gets a double leg takedown an transitions to side control. Mu Bae lands some nice knees and punches to the body as Silva lets out a couple crazy giant grunts. Mu Bae headbutts Silva and is warned by the ref as, even in Pride, headbutts are still illegal. Mu Bae goes from side control to mount and locks in a side choke, causing a quick tap from Silva.

FINISH: Choi Mu Bae by submission (side choke) at 5:44 of Round 1

STAR RATING: (**) This fight didn't have the greatest action but it was fun to watch Silva get dominated by someone so much smaller than him.

RAMIFICATIONS: Silva currently holds a 2-6 record in MMA, but as long as Pride stays in business and he stays a giant (and I think he will) he'll have a home in Pride. Mu Bae went on to lose his next to fights to Sergei Kharitonov and Sylvester Terkay (yep that one) and has since left Pride to fight with other organizations.

Next up is Ryan "Loose Cannon" Gracie, a Gracie Jiu-Jitsu fighter, against Japanese wrestler Yoji Anjo. Before the fight Bas Rutten gives us a little background on Anjo's history with the Gracie family. For those who don't know the story, in 1994 Anjo, a Japanese professional wrestler at the time, flew to California with his posse and stormed into the Gracie dojo and challenged Rickson Gracie to a fight. Rickson locked to two of them in a room and beat Anjo to a bloody pulp, sending him home with his tail between his legs.

3 - RYAN GRACIE vs. YOJI ANJO

ROUND ONE: Ryan gets a quick takedown into side control. After a nice knee to the body by Gracie, the ref restarts them in the middle. The ref, not satisfied with how Gracie has positioned himself, tries to physically move Ryan. Living up to his nickname "Loose Cannon", Gracie slaps the ref's hand away and warns him not to touch him. He receives a yellow card for his efforts, and I'm honestly surprised he didn't get disqualified for it. The refs restarts the fight standing so Gracie just takes him down again. Gracie takes Anjo's back and after eating a few punches to the face, Anjo turns over and gives up the mount. Gracie switches to side control and goes for a keylock. He transitions to the back and attempts a rear naked choke. When that doesn't work he delivers some heel strikes to the body. The action stalls for a couple of minutes until out of nowhere, Gracie slaps on a beautiful armbar for the tapout victory. Its actually pretty brutal and it looks like he broke Anjo's arm.

FINISH: Ryan Gracie by submission (armbar) at 8:33 of Round 1

STAR RATING: (**+) Pretty decent action although one-sided. It gets a boost because of Gracie almost getting into a fight with the ref and for the wicked armbar. After the fight Gracie goes over to check on Anjo who is still sitting in the ring holding his arm. Gracie tries to help him up using the arm! Gracie tries to explain he's hurt but I think something got lost in translation.

RAMIFICATIONS: This was actually the last MMA fight for both men. Gracie finished up 5-2, but with his name value he'll always be able to get another fight if he chooses to. Anjo ended his career a spectacular 0-5-1. Perhaps after having his arms almost ripped off he decided MMA wasn't for him after all.

We finally start getting into the better fights on the card as Ryo Chonan takes on Anderson Silva, the Muay Thai master and current UFC middleweight champion.

4 - RYO CHONAN vs. ANDERSON SILVA

ROUND 1: Chonan opens with a leg kick. Silva tries to return the favor but misses. Chonan blocks a high kick. Nice overhand right followed by a big left for Silva. The fighters have a nice exchange on the feet with neither getting a definitive advantage. Silva gets a takedown and takes Chonan's back. Chonan gets a nice reversal and ends up on top in Silva's guard. Silva has such ridiculously long legs that he's able to apply a figure four body lock while in the guard. You don't see that everyday. Chonan lands some good punches from the top. Silva gets a yellow card for not trying to improve his position and the ref stands the fighters up. Chonan goes for a spinning backfist, misses, and gets taken down by Silva. Silva stands up and eats an upkick, so he backs off and lets Chonan get up. Silva misses a high kick as the round ends. Good, close round goes to Chonan.

ROUND 2: Good flurry by Silva to start. The more I see him fight, the more I'm starting to think Silva might be the best all-around striker in the world. Back suplex by Silva takes Chonan down, but they both quickly stand up. Silva lands a couple good punches and finally utilizes the Thai clinch for the first time. He lands a knee to the body and a punch to the head as he lets go. That’s his bread and butter, he should keep going back to that. Chonan lands three straight leg kicks but walks right into and straight right hand on the third. Another overhand right by Silva. Silva goes for the Thai clinch but Chonan gets a single-leg takedown and ends up in Silva's guard. Round 2 ends with Chonan on top but not doing any damage. Another good round, but this one definitely goes to Silva.

ROUND 3: Round three is more of the same. Good leg kicks from Chonan and good, hard punches from Silva. Nice body kick by Chonan. Straight right hand by Silva. Chonan takes Silva down with a flying heel hook and gets a quick tapout! That was amazing. Bas Rutten tells us that's the sort of thing you only see in demonstrations. I believe it. I've never seen that before.

FINISH: Ryo Chonan by submission (flying heel hook) at 3:08 of Round 3

STAR RATING: (***+) This was a very good fight. A lot of good back and forth action and a ridiculous submission. Easily the best fight so far.

RAMIFICATIONS: This was a big upset. Its probably the biggest win of Chonan's career. He's very popular in Japan (all Japanese fighters are), and while he's still never been seen as a title contender, he did start to fight more top quality fighters more consistently after this fight. Anderson Silva on the other hand has gone on to do some things. This was the second fight out of his last five that he lost by submission. Being the true champion that he is he took his world class striking back to Brazil and trained with the Nogueira brothers until he earned his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt. This is the last fight he lost (other than being dq'd for an illegal kick, but I don't count that). He went on to debut in the UFC by destroying both Chris Leben and then Rich Franklin. He is the current UFC middleweight champion and one of the top overall fighters in the world.

Fight number five brings us back to the spectacle side of things a little bit as Japanese hero and Olympic judo gold medalist Hidehiko Yoshida faces American and Olympic Greco-Roman wrestling gold medalist Rulon Gardner.

5 - HIDEHIKO YOSHIDA vs. RULON GARDNER

ROUND 1: Glove touch to start. Leg kick and a missed high kick by Yoshida. Straight left knocks Yoshida down and Gardner falls into his guard. Ref restart in the center. Yoshida goes for an armbar, making Gardner realize he has no business on the ground with Yoshida, so he backs off and Yoshida stands up. Overhand right by Yoshida connects and he goes for a single-leg but Gardner sprawls nicely to avoid it. Gardner has north-south position and lands a couple heavy knees to the head (something that would be illegal in the UFC). Both fighters stand. Clinch and some dirty boxing by Gardner. He's like a 300lb. Randy Couture, which makes sense since that's who trained him for this fight. A flurry of punches by both men and Yoshida goes down looking for a leglock and eats some hammer shots by Gardner as the round ends. Round 1 to Gardner for the knockdown and for getting the better of the stand up exchanges.

ROUND 2: Another glove touch to start. You can see bad bruising and discoloration on Gardner's leg as he comes out to fight. A lot of wild swinging and missing in the early going. They tie up in the corner and the action stalls for quite some time. Gardner finally decides he's rested and pushes Yoshida into and through the ropes and unloads some right hands to the face. They restart in the middle as Yoshida almost goes completely through the ropes. Gardner blocks a takedown and throws Yoshida to the ground as the round ends. Pretty boring round other than the one flurry by Gardner. He takes the round based on that.

ROUND 3: A third glove touch gets us started. Classy. Yoshida looks gassed as they both miss punches. Both are awarded yellow cards for this stunning action. Neither likes losing their money so they actually have a decent exchange although neither does much damage. Yoshida slips going for a high kick and falls down. Gardner wants no part of the ground game so Yoshida stands up. Gardner gets a takedown and runs out the clock laying on top of Yoshida. Another boring round by two gassed fighters goes to Gardner.

FINISH: Rulon Gardner by unanimous decision at 5:00 of Round 3

STAR RATING: (**-) Pretty dull fight. Think Sylvia-Arlovski III. Decent first round followed by mind numbing subsequent rounds.

RAMIFICATIONS: This did nothing to hurt Yoshida. He's still a national hero and will still fight as long as he chooses. He actually gave a much better showing in his two decision losses to Wanderlei Silva. This was Rulon Gardner's only MMA fight. He was basically just taking a payday and capitalizing on his Olympic fame. Nothing personal, but I say good riddance. He's the type of fighter that takes the sport back ten years to the day when one-dimensional wrestlers ruled. Trust me when I say it was a boring time for the sport.

Now the card really starts heating up as Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic gets his rematch over Kevin Randleman. Randleman pulled off a huge upset eight months earlier, knocking Cro Cop out with a big, looping (see: lucky) left hand during the Heavyweight Grand Prix tournament.

6 - MIRKO FILIPOVIC vs. KEVIN RANDLEMAN

ROUND 1: Before the fight, Cro Cop smiles as if he knows something we don't. I don't doubt it. Randleman immediately shoots in twice and gets stuffed both times. Cro Cop lands a knee to the head and locks in a tight guillotine choke until Randleman taps out.

FINISH: Mirko Filipovic by submission (guillotine) at 0:41 of Round 1

STAR RATING: (*+) Not much to this fight but it gets the + solely for having Cro Cop as one of its participants.

RAMIFICATIONS: This fight proved Randleman's knockout was a fluke. Cro Cop is one of the top fighters in the world in any division, and he went on to win last year's open weight grand prix and then signed with the UFC where he is poised to fight for (and win) the Heavyweight Title. This fight didn't do much to damage Randleman. No one ever made the mistake of thinking he was on Cro Cop's level. 99% of fighters in the world would be thrilled to go 1-1 against Cro Cop in their career. What did hurt him though was submitting a false urine sample to a state athletic commission and earning himself an indefinite ban from fighting. Makes you wonder what exactly would have shown up in his own sample.

In fight number seven of the night, Japanese Pancrase fighter Yuki Kondo takes on American wrestler and Team Quest member, Dan Henderson.

7 - YUKI KONDO vs. DAN HENDERSON

ROUND 1: Right hand by Henderson misses and the fighters clinch. Henderson gets the takedown and ends up in side control. He attempts a guillotine and transitions to the mount. Kondo gets a reversal and escapes. Both fighters stand up. Henderson lands some right hands and they clinch in the corner. Kondo gets the takedown and ends up in half guard. Kondo displays his Pankration background with some palm strikes from in close. Kondo switches to side control and they get restarted in the middle. Kondo lands an elbow to the body to set up a knee to the head. Smart. He goes for the mount but gets caught back in half guard. Kondo opens up a small cut on Henderson's forehead with a punch from the top. Both fighters stand and Kondo lands a nice combo. Henderson goes for the clinch but falls backwards and pulls Kondo down with him into half guard. Kondo transitions to mount and goes for a side choke. Henderson escapes as the bell sounds. Solid but unspectacular round goes to Kondo.

ROUND 2: Good body kick and high kick by Kondo as round 2 starts with a flurry. Body lock takedown by Henderson and he's in side control. Henderson gets north-south position and lands a knee to the head. Reversal by Kondo gets side control. Henderson tries for a guillotine but to no avail as he lacks position. Kondo gets full mount as the fight is restarted in the middle. Both fighters stand, and Henderson lands an uppercut. Trip takedown by Kondo which Henderson reverses mid-fall and ends up on top as the round ends. Close round goes to Kondo for getting the better of the standup.

ROUND 3: Nice uppercut and combos by Henderson to start round 3. Nice jabs and straight punches by Kondo in return. A clinch and takedown for Henderson. He works for a guillotine from side control. The ref stands them up and issues both yellow cards for lack of action. Henderson immediately takes down Kondo, but Kondo pushes him off with his feet and stands up. Another clinch and another takedown by Henderson, but this time Kondo lands right on his head. Fight ends with Henderson in side control. Round 3 definitively to Henderson and that might be enough to win the fight as Pride judges the fight as a whole.

FINISH: Dan Henderson by split decision at 5:00 of Round 3

STAR RATING: (**) Decent action by both, but nothing terribly exciting. Neither fighter ever seemed to be close to finishing the fight.

RAMIFICATIONS: This fight did nothing to hurt Yuki Kondo. If anything it proved that he could hang three rounds with a top level fight like Henderson. Since this fight, Henderson, however, has gone on to win not only the Pride Welterweight, but also the Middleweight titles. He currently holds both (and is the only fighter in Pride history to hold two belts at once), and most recently defeated Wanderlei Silva for the Middleweight crown.

In the next contest, lightweights collide as Takanori Gomi battles former UFC lightweight champ Jens Pulver.

8 - TAKANORI GOMI vs. JENS PULVER

ROUND 1: The fighters circle. Single leg takedown attempt by Gomi is stuffed. Good punches thrown by both, but not much landing early. Pulver takes an accidental poke in the eye. Big right hand by Gomi followed by some nice leg kicks. Very nice body shot to right hook combo by Gomi. Nice knee in the Thai clinch and a devastating left hook finally drops Pulver and its over.

FINISH: Takanori Gomi by KO at 6:29 of Round 1

STAR RATING: (***) Excellent fight, although completely one dimensional. All standup from start to finish. Pretty damn fun to watch if that's your thing though.

RAMIFICATIONS: This was Pulver's Pride debut and he didn't disappoint. He put up a pretty good showing against possibly the top lightweight in the world. He has since returned home to the UFC where he waits a fight with BJ Penn with the winner getting a shot at the lightweight title. Gomi is the current Pride lightweight champ although he lost his last fight to Nick Diaz. Title fights are rare in Pride so a fighter can lose a couple times yet keep his belt for seemingly forever. This is a good showcase for Gomi because he knocked out a top striker in Pulver.

Next up is the Axe Murderer, Wanderlei Silva. Silva is the top fighter out of the Chute Box camp in Brazil and he is seriously scary. This fight was supposed to be his fourth fight against mma legend Kazushi Sakuraba, but Sakuraba was injured so in stepped Mark Hunt. Hunt is a kickboxer from New Zealand and a veteran of K-1. He has a giant head and is seemingly impossible to knock out.

9 - WANDERLEI SILVA vs. MARK HUNT

ROUND 1: Randy Couture joins the commentary team for the last two fights. No complaints here. Silva shoots in and gets an early takedown. He stands up and lands two knees to the head of Hunt. Hunt knocks Silva down with a clubbing left hook but doesn't follow him down. Silva smiles as he stands up and I think its at this point he realizes he's in for a war. Hunt misses with a big uppercut and gets taken down again. Silva stands up and goes for a stomp and a soccer kick but neither connects. Hunt gets up and the normally reserved Japanese crowd is pumped. A big left hook rocks Hunt. Silva gets a takedown and they are restarted in the middle with Silva in side control. Silva tries to lock in a kimura, but Hunt reverses it beautifully and ends up on top. Hunt's weight advantage is neutralizing Silva's ground advantage. Hunt brushes off a triangle attempt and stands up. Then, in the move of the night, he tries to jump on Silva butt first! Couture calls it and Atomic Butt Drop. Can't disagree there. Silva ends up on top and takes some time to rest. Silva then stands up and misses a big stomp. Silva starts throwing bombs, but isn't connecting. Hunt rocks him with a big punch and knocks him down. Hunt follows him to the ground and the first round ends with him on top. Great first round with a slight edge going to Silva.

ROUND 2: Round two starts with a bang as Hunt nails Silva with a right uppercut and then a right hook that drops him. Hunt avoids an armbar attempt and misses a stomp. He then drops down into Silva's guard. The ref restarts them in the middle and Silva still looks out of it. Hunt backs off allowing Silva to stand up. In the clinch, Silva gets a trip takedown. Silva ends up in full mount and both seem to be taking a breather. Another beautiful reversal by Hunt and he ends up in Silva's guard as the second round comes to a close. Another very good round, this one easily in Hunt's favor.

ROUND 3: Big knee up the middle to the body of Silva. Silva attempts a takedown and almost gets Hunt's back, but Hunt scrambles nicely and escapes. Both men appear gassed but are still throwing bombs. Silva gets a double leg takedown. Hunt receives a yellow card for lack of action. The ref stands them up but Silva quickly gets another takedown. Silva goes from half guard to full mount, and as they announce the final minute in the arena, Hunt tries to use a burst of energy to escape but to no avail. Silva backs off and the fight ends. Both fighters raise they're arms thinking they've won. Round goes to Silva but decision probably to Hunt as he inflicted more damage and was closer to finishing the fight a couple times.

FINISH: Mark Hunt by split decision at 5:00 of Round 3

STAR RATING: (****) Great fight. Fight of the night. Any advantage Silva had on the ground was neutralized by Hunt's weight advantage. Hunt is a good striker with heavy hands and is seemingly invincible on his feet. This was just a bad matchup for Silva.

RAMIFICATIONS: This was a big upset. Hunt was a last minute replacement for this fight and beat one of the top fighters in the world. He went on to win his next fight against Mirko Filipovic also by unanimous decision. Either of these fights could be considered his best victory in his career. He's lost his last two fights to Josh Barnett and Fedor, respectively, but that's nothing to be ashamed of. Wanderlei Silva was the Pride middleweight champ for years before losing his title in his last fight against Dan Henderson. This fight did nothing to damage him however, as he remains one of the top fighters and top draws in the world.

Its main event time and we get a nice video package to get us hyped up for it. Fedor says people call him the best in the world, but he needs to face more top guys like Nogueira to earn that title. Fedor is the man. This is for the undisputed Pride Heavyweight title and to determine the 2004 Pride Heavyweight Grand Prix winner.

10 - FEDOR EMELIANENKO vs. ANTONIO RODRIGO NOGUEIRA

ROUND 1: We get a full intro for Nogueira and both the Brazilian and Russian national anthems. Sweet. Nice leg lock and hip-toss takedown by Fedor early. Jumping stomp misses by Fedor. Nogueira stands up. Big double leg takedown by Fedor and a soccer kick to the face connects. Clinch and Fedor just tosses him to the mat. Nogueira stands. Fedor's excellent takedown defense yields yet another takedown for Fedor. Fedor is in full guard. The ref restarts it in the middle and Fedor backs out. Trip takedown for Fedor, but Nogueira immediately stands up. Huge right drops Nogueira but Fedor doesn't follow him down. Another big right nails Nogueira. Fedor is just picking him apart with punches right now. Nogueira finally gets a double leg takedown and attempts an armbar as the round ends. Other than the takedown at the end, completely one-sided round for Fedor.

ROUND 2: Nogueira comes out aggressive and goes for a takedown but its blocked by Fedor. Nogueira is doing much better in the stand up early in this round. Nog shoots in for a takedown but eats a knee and Fedor ends up with the takedown. Good punches to the head and body from the top by Fedor. Fedor backs out only to get yet another takedown. Fedor easily brushes off any submission attempts from Nogueira. Fedor nailed three hammer fists to the face of Nogueira as the round ends. Different round, same story for Fedor.

ROUND 3: A quick flurry and takedown by Fedor starts the final round. They exchange a few punches from the guard and Fedor backs out. Fedor decides to go back to the ground and almost gets armbarred. The pattern continues as Fedor takes Nogueira down and then backs out and then takes him down again. Nogueira starts grabbing for any limb he can sensing he needs to finish the fight to win. Fedor backs out but dives in with a big right hand to the head. The both stand up and throw bombs at each other trying to end the fight as the bell sounds. Another round definitively to Fedor. Complete domination.

FINISH: Fedor Emelianenko by unanimous decision at 5:00 of Round 3

STAR RATING: (***) Very entertaining fight but completely one sided. Fedor dominated in all facets from start to finish.

RAMIFICATIONS: Fedor reclaims the title of undisputed Heavyweight champ and wins 2004 Heavyweight Grand Prix. He is the best fighter in the world bar none and hasn't lost in six years. Nogueira continues to be one of the top heavyweights in the world. He and about five or six other guys compete for the title of "Best heavyweight not named Fedor."

There is one more fight on disc two. A "bonus" fight between Makoto Takimoto and Henry "Sentoryu" Miller. I use the term "bonus" very loosely as this fight is so boring I refuse to take the time to type the recap. Only watch this if you absolutely have to.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: This is a pretty good show. Not the best Pride has to offer, but it does have several good fights and many of their top names such as Fedor, Nogueira, Silva, and Gomi along with some top UFC fighters such as Pulver, Cro Cop, and Anderson Silva. Silva-Hunt gets the nod for fight of the night followed by Silva-Chonan, based solely on the highlight reel submission. It also had a couple of snoozefests like Yoshida-Gardner and Kondo-Henderson. I got this DVD at BestBuy for $9.99 so at that bargain price I'd say its worth picking up.

This is my first review of hopefully many, so thanks for reading, and I'll get another one done as soon as I can. 

To email me, Matt Pelkey, send to matt6buckeye@hotmail.com.