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.
DAN "HOLLYWOOD" HENDERSON VS. WANDERLEI "THE AXE MURDERER" SILVA
I won't lie... although this fight turned out to be something special, many fans weren't terribly excited when this fight was announced. Many of us were looking forward to another Fedor brawl to top the card. Wanderlei had announced at Pride.32 that he would be fighting on the next card and the fight many of us wanted to see was Shogun/Wandy. Henderson seemed the safe pick since Pride wanted to showcase their middleweight champ and Dan was the American that would get the crowd into the fight.
Aside from the fact that Henderson had spent much of his Pride career fighting at 185 pounds, it seemed odd to give the welterweight champion a title shot at the middleweight belt. What was interesting about the fight is that Wanderlei was coming off a brutal knockout loss to Mirko Cro Cop at the Pride 2006 Openweight Grand Prix. Many expected Silva to come out heavy and to win in dominating fashion. There were many variables at play and it just seemed rather confusing and put together at the last minute, in typical Pride style. What occurred though was a nice back and forth battle that capped off a night of incredible action. Let's dive right in and have a look.
THE FIGHT
Round 1: Both fighters touch gloves and Henderson gets busy with an inside leg kick. Dan leads with a right left hook combo, the second of which lands nicely and backs Silva up. Henderson comes rushing in looking to land more bombs and nails a wide right hook and just misses a left as Silva clinches. Dan separates and lands an outside leg kick but slips and lands back first on the canvas with Silva in hot pursuit. Wanderlei lands a nice right hand from the top, but Dan pulls him down into half guard. Silva sits in half guard as Henderson lands a few elbows to the thigh of Wanderlei. The action slows now as the ref calls for action. Referee Yuji Shimada stands both men up and issues a warning to each fighter demanding action. Henderson fakes a right hook and Silva tosses out a looping right of his own followed by a few more punches that miss. Henderson leads with a big right hand that partially connects and clinches against the ropes. Silva executes a thai clinch and works a knee to the midsection of Henderson as Dan connects with two short right hooks on the inside. Henderson looks for double under hooks as both men catch a breather in the corner. The ref separates them and Dan works an inside leg kick again.
Henderson shoots in for a takedown but Silva evades and just misses a hard right hook as Dan lands two of his own, which back Silva into the ropes. Henderson works the jab and a few straight right hands. Silva is showing some decent head movement now as not much lands for Henderson. Both men trade some hard shots here as Henderson backs away wisely. Silva lands a leg kick as Dan just misses a wild right hook. They trade inside leg kicks before Henderson lands a nice left hook and a series of combination punches that momentarily drop Silva, but he gets back to his feet quickly. Henderson lands a hard knee to Silva's ribs, but eats a right hook for his effort. Silva leads with a right but is met with a right uppercut. Both men are swinging hard here. Silva lands his best punches of the fight with a right hook left straight combo that stuns Henderson. Silva lands another right hook as Dan moves toward the corner and wings a right hook of his own. They clinch in the corner as round one ends.
Round 2: Henderson gets busy with a leg kick as Silva misses with a right hook. They both miss with hooks and clinch against the ropes. Henderson works for the takedown, but doesn't get it. Dan locks in a guillotine choke and lands a nice knee to the face of Silva followed by another as Silva escapes the choke attempt. Dan is relentless with his second takedown and ends up in Silva's guard in the corner. The ref repositions both men in the middle of the ring. Henderson looks to posture up but Silva keeps him in close. The action slows a little as both men try to improve their positions. Henderson works some ground and pound but Silva is game and evades most shots. Silva desperately looks for a way off his back, but Henderson controls him nicely. Silva finally worms his way out but Henderson jumps back into guard. Dan is showing some really nice top control here as he postures up and lands a few bombs to the grill of Wanderlei. The ref repositions both men again and Silva works an armbar attempt, but Henderson slips out and just misses a massive right hand as the round ends.
Round 3: Silva works a leg kick and rushes in for a clinch. Dan shakes him off and resets. Henderson leads with a hard left hook that connects, but Silva takes it well. Wanderlei works a few more leg kicks but eats a right hook before Henderson shoots in for a takedown. Silva rolls through and ends up with back control as they work their way to the corner. Silva lands a nice left hook and wings a few more punches but Dan evades well and scampers away. They reset and Silva goes back to the leg kicks. Henderson leads with a straight left then nails a beautiful spinning back fist that lands perfectly. Henderson follows up with two right hooks that barely miss and they clinch against the ropes. Dan tosses out a jab followed by a right that lands nicely and stuns Silva. Henderson nearly connects with a left hook that misses. Silva throws out a left right combo that misses and leaves him open to a massive left hook thrown by Henderson that obliterates Silva. Wanderlei falls back hard and Henderson nails a forearm smash to the face and makes history as he became the only man to hold two championships in two separate weight classes simultaneously.
AFTERMATH
Dan "Hollywood" Henderson:
At this point in time, Henderson was coming off a dominating win over Vitor Belfort at Pride.32 and was poised to make a statement. Prior to the Belfort fight, Henderson suffered a shocking decision loss at the hands of Kazuo Misaki at Bushido 12 in the quarterfinals of the Bushido Survival tournament. Henderson had dominated all of his opponents in the welterweight division and he was the favorite to win the Survival tournament. The fact that he rebounded in such a big way with this win really showed a lot of people that Dan's time was not over yet as an elite fighter.
Shortly after this event, he would go on to sign with the UFC and lose both his welterweight and middleweight championships. His middleweight title went first as Henderson lost a hard fought decision to Quinton Jackson at UFC 75. Up next was an excellent scrap with the reigning UFC middleweight king, Anderson Silva at UFC 82. Henderson did well in the early goings of the fight, but ultimately was forced to submit to Silva via rear naked choke in round 2. Dan rebounded with three big wins over Rousimar Palhares, Rich Franklin, and everyone's favorite big mouth, Michael Bisping.
Henderson has signed with Stikeforce. Henderson proved with his monstrous knockout over Bisping at UFC 100 that he is still a force to be reckoned with and he gives Stikeforce an added dose of star power and credibility.
Wanderlei "The Axe Murderer" Silva:
I'm sure most readers already know who Wanderlei Silva is, so I won't go into many details of his past other than a few fights leading up to this event. Silva came into this fight looking to not only keep his championship, but to entertain the American audience with a brutal knockout. Silva always entertains period. No matter who the opponent is, he comes to scrap and certainly lives up to his nickname. Leading up to this event, Silva was coming off the worst knockout loss in his career to Mirko Cro Cop and wanted to win in a bad way.
The brutal knockout that Silva suffered here in Vegas caused a lot of people to speculate that Silva may be ready to call it quits. Silva put up a great fight, but just didn't look as comfortable in the ring as he used to. Enter Dana White and an offer to fight Chuck Liddell at UFC 79. Wanderlei and Liddell both showed up looking to out strike the other and the ensuing war was an instant classic, but Wanderlei lost via decision. Up next was a 30 second demolishing of Keith Jardine at UFC 84, which captivated some of the newer fans and marked a return to form for the Axe Murderer. Silva would then lose his next two fights, but he is still adored by the fans. His heart and will to win shine through in every single one of his fights.
Up next for Wanderlei is a middleweight scrap with Sexyama in what should be a good battle down under in Australia. Silva has made his mark in MMA and continues to entertain every fight he participates in. I suspect Silva may never become a UFC champion, but he will forever be considered a true legend in this wonderful sport.
PACKAGING
This event was produced by Zuffa, and as such was released with only a single disc. There are some extras to go along with the fights, but they are nothing special. The jewel of this DVD is definitely the fights themselves and they represent the last great event by Pride. This offering is truly something to be owned immediately for those who have not yet purchased it. I've seen this DVD on amazon for as little as 11 bucks plus shipping and quite often at my local Best Buy store mixed in with the latest crop of UFC events. It is quite easy to get a hold of and I highly recommend it.
Thanks for reading this eight part review. I hope you have enjoyed my insight on this great Pride event of epic proportions and I will see you again soon.
[Wanderlei Silva art credit Cory Gould (c) MMATorch]
