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By Brian Sweet, MMATorch DVD Review Specialist
Hello again and welcome back to DVD World. My name is Brian Sweet and it is my pleasure to present this week's review of "Pride.33: The Second Coming." As always, please feel free to drop me a line at HYPERLINK "mailto:bs2647@gmail.com" bs2647@gmail.com if you have a request for a specific event to be reviewed or questions regarding anything having to do with MMA or DVDs. I may be able to point you in the right direction if you are having problems completing your collection. Without further ado, lets get down to business and have a look at this week's selection.
Pride.33 - The Second Coming
February 24, 2007
Thomas and mack Center
Las Vegas, Nev.
Frank "Twinkle Toes" Trigg vs. Kazuo Misaki
This fight marked the return of Frank Trigg to Pride. Misaki was coming off an unlikely win over Denis Kang at Bushido 13, which won him the Bushido Survival Grand Prix championship. Trigg was looking to step his game up and to fight in front of a Vegas crowd after having fought his past three fights in Hawaii. Both men came in not necessarily needing a win, but wanting to entertain the fans and to up their stake a little bit. Trigg was already serving as a commentator for Pride and this was only his second fight for the organization ever since Pride.8 in 1999. There is not much else to say about the lead up to the fight, so let's get to it.
THE FIGHT
Round 1: Misaki gets to work with a leg kick and Trigg throws one of his own. Trigg stalks Misaki and shoots in for a takedown but gets stuffed. They clinch against the ropes and both men trade knees. Trigg works for a takedown again and gets it. Frank works from side mount now and lands a few punches to the ribs of Misaki. Kazuo gives up his back and frank takes it. Trigg looks for his favorite maneuver, the rear naked choke, but Misaki defends well. Trigg lands a few punches to the face of Kazuo and goes back to the rear naked choke attempt. Frank locks in a body triangle and works for the choke again. Misaki is showing excellent defense here as Trigg can't lock it in. Kind of a slow round here as Frank still works for the choke, but can't quite get it.
Round 2: Misaki leads with a right to the body and Trigg shoots for the takedown and gets it. Frank works from side mount again and nails a few shoulder strikes. Trugg finally gets to mount, but Misaki gives up his back again. Frank gets both hooks in but Kazuo is somehow able to escape and both men stand back up. Misaki leads with a jab and Frank lands a left hook followed by a nice outside leg kick. Misaki nails a beautiful straight right hand that lands directly on Frank's face. Misaki lands another straight right, but Frank takes it well. They trade jabs and leg kicks. Misaki leads with a straight right agin, but Trigg blocks and works a straight left that lands. Trigg works a double leg takedown and gets it. Frank lands in Misaki's guard and works some ground and pound. Misaki shows some good defense and evades most of the blows.
Round 3: Both men trade jabs and Frank lands a straight left. Frank ducks under a left hook and gets another takedown which lands him in the full guard of Misaki. Trigg works some more ground and pound before the ref repositions them in the middle of the ring. Misaki tried to lock in a triangle choke, but Frank slides out and ends up in side mount. Trigg looks for mount but Misaki evades. Frank lands some nice knees to the body and Misaki gives up his back again. Trigg works for a rear naked choke but Misaki slides out and both men get back to their feet. Misaki jumps in with a flying knee attempt, but trigg blocks it and lands a nice short straight left. Trigg throws a knee of his own and they trade leg kicks. Misaki leads with a left straight, but Trigg times it well and gets yet another takedown. The round ends as Frank sits in the guard of Misaki.
AFTERMATH
Frank "Twinkle Toes" Trigg:
Leading up to this fight, Trigg was coming off a win over Jason "Mayhem" Miller and was looking to string together a winning streak. This fight proved to be his last in Pride, but he went on to lose his Icon Sport title to Robbie Lawler just a month later before winning his next four fights. Trigg has long been considered a good wrestler with excellent top control, but his losses in the UFC are just not something people forget easily.
I'm surprised Trigg took those losses so well. Considering how close he was to finishing off Matt Hughes at UFC 52, it must eat away at him to this day. I'll never forget all the smack Frank was talking about St Pierre as well, before getting utterly destroyed at UFC 54 also.
In any case, Frank is still a very capable fighter and although he lost via knockout to Josh Koscheck at UFC 103, Dana White has said that Frank will get another fight inside the octagon. Whoever his opponent is, they better come correct because Trigg stands a lot to lose if he drops another fight. He has been a fixture in the sport for years now and while his days may be numbered as a fighter, Frank has left his mark and delivered some nice performances over the years. That is more than I can say for a lot of fighters.
Kazuo Misaki:
Misaki really had nothing to lose here as he was coming off the biggest win of his career. He became the Bushido Survival Grand prix champion with a win over Denis Kang and was the perfect opponent for Trigg. I've often wondered if he and/or Trigg knew that Pride was about to go out of business and they just wanted one more fight in the ring. In any case, Misaki went on to participate in the New Years Eve Yarrenoka show against Sexyama, and basically won the fight, but it was eventually ruled a no contest.
He would then go on to fight for Sengoku in Japan and even picked up a win over Joe Riggs at the "Strikeforce:Playboy Mansion 2" card. He suffered a loss at the hands of Jorge Santiago via submission in January of this year, but picked up a quality win seven months later against Kazuhiro Nakamura.
The Japanese crowds seem to love this guy. He doesn't bring anything truly remarkable to the table, but he always comes to brawl and can hang with just about anyone on their feet. There isn't much else to say about Misaki, other than he is a Pride Grand Prix champ and that is something to be respected no matter how you look at it.
Up next: Travis Wiuff vs. James Lee
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