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.
ALISTAIR "UBEREEM" OVEREEM VS. MAURICO "SHOGUN" RUA
I always figured Shogun should have at least agreed to fight Wanderlei for the title. Obviously since both men were in the chute box camp, they would never scrap with each other. Bros over championships seems to be the popular opinion these days. I just think the promoter should have the final say regarding who fights who. It seems that Rua went about as far as he could go in the middleweight division without actually fighting for the championship and then moved up to heavyweight.
Ricardo Arona received a title shot at "Shockwave 2005," mainly because he managed to defeat Wanderlei in the 2005 Middleweight Grand Prix. In my opinion, a Shogun/Wanderlei scrap would have been extremely explosive. The grand prix was the best opportunity for us to see it. Arona basically ruined it for everyone and Shogun got stuck back in the middleweight division after winning the tournament. I guess the next best thing for Shogun was this second fight with Overeem. I cannot voice my displeasure enough with regards to the title fight we never got to see between Shogun and Wanderlei, so let's just have a look at the fight we did get to see.
THE FIGHT
Round 1: Shogun starts with a leg kick that just misses. Alistair throws out a jab and Shogun does the same but both miss. Shogun looks to land a right high kick, but Overeem blocks it well. Overeem works a jab followed by a flying knee that barely lands as Shogun looks for another right high kick that misses its mark. Shogun lands a nice leg kick as Overeem counters with a right hook left uppercut combo that almost lands.
Overeem leads with a left hook, gets inside, and they clinch against the ropes. Shogun spins out and lands on the canvas. Overeem lands in back control but stands and lets Shogun up. Both men trade jabs before Shogun works left leg kick that Overeem counters by grabbing his heel and landing a jab.
Shogun tries to scamper away but hits the mat and Overeem almost lands a nice left hook while he towers over Mauricio. Shogun works the jab again before missing a left hook that gets countered into a nice inside leg kick by Overeem. Shogun rushes in as he appears frustrated, but Overeem clinches and walks Shogun towards the corner. Overeem works some knees in the clinch but Shogun looks for the takedown.
Overeem displays nice balance and evades nicely as Shogun ends up face down on the canvas before Overeem lands a succession of hooks flowed by a thai clinch and a knee that misses. For the time being, Shogun is getting picked apart here as Overeem lands a left hook and throws out an overhand right that Shogun ducks under.
Overeem wisely throws Mauricio to the ground, lands a left hook, and clinches against the ropes. Shogun looks for a trip takedown, but Overeem evades and brings the action back into the center of the ring. Shogun works a thai clinchof his own, but Alistair spins around and lands in back side control. Rua looks for a kimura, but Alistair pulls out and works from half guard. Rua lands a nice left hook and shoots in for a takedown.
Rua finally gets it and stands briefly as Overeem lays on the mat on his back. Mauricio eats an upkick just before diving in with a loaded right hand that barely misses. Overeem looks to control the wrists, but Rua stands again and dives in with another wild overhand right that lands perfectly on Alistair's chin knocking him out. Shogun lands a few hammer fists and straight punches that prompt Steve Mazagatti to call the fight. Excellent scrap here.
AFTERMATH
Alistair "Ubereem" Overeem:
Alistair has transitioned nicely from a light heavyweight fighter to an excellent heavyweight competitor. He has impressive muay thai skills and his stand up has improved by leaps and bounds over the past few years. When Overeem isn't competing in K-1 kickboxing, he can often be found picking up MMA wins on his record. After this fight, Alistair would lose only one more time before winning the Strikeforce heavyweight championship by knocking Paul Buentello out in November of 2006. He wasn't hugely successful in Pride, but did manage to beat some big name fighters, such as Vitor Belfort, Sergei Kharitonov, and Igor Vovchanchyn.
His best days seem to be ahead of him now as his striking skills are devastating and he also possesses a guillotine choke that works miracles for him. He has been lobbying an awful lot for a fight with Fedor as of late, but seems destined not to compete in a Strikeforce cage again. If a Fedor fight does ever occur, it would certainly be interesting. Ubereem has really come into his own lately and only time will tell if his skills are as great as he seems to think they are.
MAURICIO "SHOGUN" RUA
At this point in time, Shogun was considered the top light heavyweight fighter in MMA in the eyes of many. This event took place when fans were still debating the level of competition between the UFC and Pride. Rua had maintained an excellent 11-1 record in Pride with his sole loss being to Mark Coleman via an accidental arm break. Shogun managed to claim the 2005 Middleweight Grand Prix championship and crushed everyone put in front of him. All that changed of course with his next fight. Shogun was submitted by Forrest Griffin at UFC 76 in September of 2007. Fans were highly disappointed with Mauricio's performance and some even began to call him overrated.
He rebounded with successive wins over Mark Coleman and Chuck Liddell. Rua showed a massive improvement in Shogun's game and seemed to mark a return of top ranked light heavyweight. He was given a title shot against Lyoto Machida but lost via decision at UFC 104. Many fans, myself included, believe Rua won the title that night. I won't go into specifics, but it seems both Machida and Rua are going to fight again shortly to try and rectify the decision at UFC 104.
Shogun has defeated some great fighters throughout his career and his only losses came from top ranked competition. A case can be made that the Coleman loss should not count, but in the end, a loss is a loss no matter how you look at it. If Rua continues to perform at such a high level, he will become one of the richest and most famous fighters in UFC history.
Up Next Nick Diaz vs. "The Fireball Kid" Takanori Gomi
