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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.
THE FIGHT
Travis Wiuff vs. James Lee
Both men were making their Pride debuts and were looking to make an impact. Wiuff was already a veteran of over 53 fights and needed a win here in order to get invited back to pride. Travis was well known around the MMA world at this point, mainly for his willingness to take fights on relatively short notice. Wiuff had already had two chances in the UFC but lost both fights and this was his chance to make a bigger name for himself. Lee, on the other hand had spent most of his career in the King of The Cage promotion and fought primarily in the light heavyweight division. Wiuff remained rather inconsistent with his ability to take hard punches, but Lee remained relatively unknown and many figured Wiuff would take the victory. This fight ended quickly and in devastating fashion. Let's dive right in and have a look.
The Fight
Round 1: Touch of gloves and Wiuff fakes a left jab but throws out a straight right as Lee simultaneously lands a perfect right hook that catches Wiuff right on the jaw, dropping him hard to the mat. Lee pounces and works from back side control while dropping bomb after bomb to Travis' face as Wiuff desperately look for a single leg. Wiuff almost gets the takedown, but Lee sprawls nicely. Travis gets back to his feet as both men clinch but is nearly dropped again with a massive knee that lands for James. Travis finally gets a takedown, but lee brilliantly defends with a kimura attempt that Wiuff evades as both men get back to their feet. Wiuff is relentless with his takedowns and gets another single leg but Lee locks in a fight ending guillotine choke. Very impressive showing here by James Lee as he finally managed to finish off Wiuff after staying in control the entire fight.
AFTERMATH
James Lee
Lee went on to compete two more times in 2007 for the King of the Cage promotion before finally getting a call from the UFC. Big things seemed on the horizon for James as he proved to be very quick and capable of both submission and knockout victories. In fact, all of James' fights ended in either a submission or a knockout, even the ones he lost. Lee holds a notable win over Australian MMA fighter, James Te-Huna who just signed on to compete at UFC 110 in February of next year. Lee has only lost to Vernon White, Dean Lister, and most recently, Allesio Sakara at UFC 80. Lee was scheduled to compete at UFC 88 in Atlanta, but he was forced to withdraw from the bout due to injury. I haven't been able to verify if he is still signed by the UFC, but he has not fought since January of 2008. He is an exciting fighter to watch and possesses excellent submission skills and good wrestling technique.
Travis Wiuff
Wiuff would go on to compete eight more times in 2007 and lose only once. The man is simply a machine and he is always ready to bang. Although he never won in the UFC or Pride, Travis is one of those guys that everyone knows and respects. As of this writing, Wiuff has competed in 70 total pro fights and only lost 13 of them. He holds big wins over Keith Jardine, Kevin Jordan, Travis Fulton (3), Roman Zentsov, Ruben Villareal, Jason Guida, Ricco Rodriguez, Chris Tuchscherer, and Kazuyuki Fujita. Considering that Wiuff has only been fighting for about eight years now, he averages almost nine fights a year. He is a mainstay in this sport, and although he probably won't earn another shot in the UFC, his record and his determination stand for something pretty spectacular.
UP NEXT: Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
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