November 24, 2002 – Pride 24: Championship Chaos 2
In late November 2002, there was an understandably large amount of attention on what the UFC was doing. The promotion just put on “Vendetta,” a pay-per-view success headlined by a marketable match between Tito Ortiz and Frank Shamrock. The fight wasn’t just about Ortiz’s world title, but about bad blood. It sold itself, literally. 100,000 buys from at-home audiences and a live attendance in Las Vegas of 13,000 made it a breakthrough hit for the promotion. Those numbers might seem like nothing nowadays, but were a serious turning point for the UFC over two decades ago.
But as one promotion was in the process of becoming a success story, the other had already reached that point. Case and point: Just two days after an impressively-sized audience packed out the MGM Grand Garden Arena, Pride FC presented a show at the massive Tokyo Dome in Japan for “Championship Chaos II.”
Now, if you’re reading this article you probably know that UFC got the last laugh, being the enduring promotion and the top brand to this day. But in late 2002, it’s clear that Pride FC had hit its stride much earlier than the leading U.S. promoter. Not only were they seeing bigger attendances, but they had a stronger roster as well. “Championship Chaos II,” despite not being one of the most memorable shows in the promotion’s history, was full of legends: Kazushi Sakuraba, Don Frye, Wanderlei Silva, Fedor Emelianenko, Kevin Randleman, and others.
It feels frivolous to list off all of those names and then just consider a show decent, but the truth is the list of fighters on a card never truly guarantees a great show fight-wise. Pride FC had its fair share of headlines, but in between also had some not-so-great performances, including a slog of an outing from Sakuraba.
Since I consider myself an optimist, I’ll get to some of the more intriguing moments of the night before we address how Sakuraba did.
Fedor’s Real Arrival
2002 was the year when Fedor Emelianenko truly stepped onto the international MMA scene. Sure, those in the know were aware of his performances in Rings Japan, but it was only this year that he started fighting on the big stage of Pride.
After winning his promotional debut against Semmy Schilt earlier in 2002, Emelianenko was paired against Heath Herring for this card. It was a solid test for the Russian up-and-comer, as Herring was a respected heavyweight who had gotten past some notable talents in Pride before (Mark Kerr and Igor Vovchanchyn notably). Those who he didn’t beat, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Vitor Belfort, he at least went the distance with. He didn’t have an untouchable record, but he was far from a slouch, either.
Facing Herring was also a big deal because, well, Japan loved him. “Whether it’s the Texas gimmick, the way he fights, or a combination of that and the hair, he got one of the loudest cheers of the night,” wrote Sherdog’s Garrett Poe, who covered the event in person.
A win of any sort for Emelianenko would be big. What he did was even bigger. The Russian contender made Herring look like one of those set-up opponents, a guy who Pride might have brought in off the regionals to take a beating. It was a competition turned not competitive, as Emelianenko had the fight his way until others decided it should be stopped. Herring lasted just 10 minutes, getting taken down early by “The Last Emperor” and pummeled with ground and pound strikes for nearly the entire time. He was able to reverse into the top position for the final moments of the 10-minute opening round, but the damage on his face was severe enough that he didn’t make it into the second round.
The way Emelianenko absolutely dominated Herring showed that he would very quickly become a dangerous fighter in the division. Just two fights into his Pride run, people knew they had something special with him. In the words of MaxFighting’s Joe Hall, Emelianenko “left little doubt that he belongs among the best heavyweights in the world.”
It wasn’t Emelianeko’s first-ever appearance in Pride, but something about this fight felt like a true arrival moment. It was a fight that made you realize you were not watching a competitor who would become the impressive killer that is now talked about, but instead that he had already arrived at that point. There’s a lot more Emelianenko to talk about from here on out, including the incredibly active 2003 that we’re just around the corner from discussing.
One-Punch Knockout Sends Takada Into Retirement
MMA wasn’t kind to Nobuhiko Takada. While the professional wrestler turned MMA fighter was undoubtedly a key name in the early years of the top Japanese promotion, that journey came with a lot of beatings.
Despite having little-to-no experience fighting and a lengthy professional wrestling career in his background, they threw some of the hardest bouts Takada’s way. He got armbarred by Rickson Gracie in 1997, and then again the next year. He got tapped out by Mark Kerr, finished by Igor Vovchanchyn.
He wasn’t always a winner (and the times that he did win have been disputed), but he’s undoubtedly a big name in the beginning years for Pride.
But now, it was time for him to say goodbye. He faced off against Kiyoshi Tamura on this card, a rival who he had chased down for years. After trying to put the fight together for a long time, it made sense that they met in his final fight.
In a testament to how big Takada and Tamura were, the crowd was on fire during this fight. They were into the bout and remained interested despite an incredibly lengthy pause due to an accidental groin kick which Takada endured.
It’s not often that things could be described as somehow becoming worse after getting kicked in the groin, especially in an instance like Takada’s where he was down and out for a while, but things certainly got worse.
Respectfully, Takada received the type of fight that wouldn’t give someone any second thoughts on retiring. Tamura chopped him down with kicks for more than a round, before suddenly putting his lights out with a gnarly counter right hook. It was a walk-off moment for Tamura and provided a bone-chilling visual of an unconscious Takada out on the canvas with a thousand-yard stare.
It wasn’t the type of retirement fight that Takada likely wanted, but honestly how often does a fighter’s last appearance go the way they desire? While the knockout was nasty, the fight was sort of poetic to Takada’s career. Despite being technically out-classed by all his opponents, he was someone who didn’t give up. He called out who he wanted to fight, and he endured brutal exchanges with absolute tough opponents. His eyes were bigger than his stomach, from the start to the bitter end.
Sakuraba Wins, And The Positives End There
Okay, as promised, it’s time to talk about Kazushi Sakuraba.
After back-to-back losses, dropping fights to killers Mirko Cro Cop and Wanderlei Silva, this was a chance for Sakuraba to get some momentum back. Just three months after dealing with a broken eye socket due to his Cro Cop fight, he was back in the ring. And while the eye didn’t seem to bother Sakuraba, he clearly still seemed off. The ever-banged-up Sakuraba was reportedly dealing with torn knee ligaments, which he suffered just days before appearing.
They gave Sakuraba the layup of all layups: French fighter Gilles Arsene, who entered with just one pro fight to his name. The English commentary team described him in a way that you would for someone you just learned about 10 seconds before cameras started rolling: “The only thing that we know from him is that he probably ate a croissant this morning because that’s from France,” Bas Rutten mentioned. So, if the compliments end at what he may or may not have been eating, it doesn’t sound promising for Arsene’s performance.
Sakuraba was destined to get a finish, and he did eventually score a submission. But by the time he closed out his bout with an armbar against Arsene, the crowd was bored and tired by his excruciatingly slow performance. Sakuraba took Arsene down early in rounds and slowly wailed away at him with ground and pound. It was clear that Arsene had basically nothing for Sakuraba, and was just a breathing punching bag. Yet, the fight just kept going on and on. Rutten, who was at one point uncharitable about Arsene, sounded unimpressed by Sakuraba. “What can we say?” he said, during the fight as the massive Tokyo Dome crowd sat on their hands.
It was not a reassuring return for Sakuraba following back-to-back beatings. In a performance where many likely hoped that he would remind the world who he was, a bad impression was left.
Arona Gets Past Rua In Decision
Remember what I said about how the best matchups don’t always produce the best fights? This was another one of those scenarios. “This match was my most anticipated. Expecting a Sperry/Rua type spectacle, it was much less exciting,” said Poe of Sherdog.
To be fair, this fight wasn’t awful either. It was competitive and had some good exchanges, it just didn’t light the world on fire. And hey, it’s a sport after all. These guys care about winning mostly.
The opening round showed that Arona had the better work on the ground. Rua was able to get into good positions for brief moments, but Arona would eventually find a way out and get back in control. In what felt like a bit of a trigger-happy move from the referee, Arona was given a yellow card for stalling at one point.
The opening round had an interesting finish, as Arona scored a takedown after eating a hard head kick. He started to look for a leg lock in the closing seconds, but couldn’t secure it in time.
The fight became much more one-sided in the later rounds, with Arona controlling Rua. Despite the yellow card deduction, he gutted out a decision victory in the end.
This continued an unstoppable run for Arona, beating Guy Mezger and Dan Henderson previously. Unfortunately, it’s the beginning of a brief absence for him. A pair of setbacks took Arona out of competition in 2003, preventing him from fighting that year. We’ll next hear of him in 2004 when he faces Rampage Jackson.
Judo Star Yoshida Scores Debut Win Against Frye
“Championship Chaos 2” also included the arrival of Hidehiko Yoshida, a Judo Olympian who was making the crossover to MMA. He was given a steep challenge for his first fight, meeting fan-favorite Don Frye.
The fight was Frye’s first MMA appearance since the famous 2002 meeting against Yoshihiro Takayama, which remains a well-known moment in the sport to this day. While more than a year removed from that fight and coming off a kickboxing loss to Jerome LeBaner, there’s no doubt he had huge relevance at the time.
Yoshida was roughly a decade removed from his 1992 Barcelona Olympics gold medal win in Judo and was in his early 30s when debuting.
Frye received a large pop from the crowd during his entrance, coming out in a gi. Yoshida wore one as well but ended up being the only guy to keep it on for the fight – a wise move on Frye’s part.
The fun for Frye ended there, basically. Yoshida had him under control for the five-and-a-half minutes of their clash, taking him down immediately and eventually setting up an armbar which forced a tap. It was a big win for Yoshida, beating a notable name who had only lost once in his career before then. So much so, that Maxfighting’s Hall noted how many skeptics thought the match was fixed. “They argue Frye’s performance was uncharacteristic and uninspiring, among other things.”
Those who knew about Yoshida’s extensive Judo background were shocked that some didn’t believe the result. “I wonder why it is so difficult for people to accept that he won and as an Olympic champion? … He is toying with these guys and they don’t know it,” a forum post from the 2002 site E-Budo.com wrote.
One-Sided Maulings
There were some other beatings earlier in the night, many of which had predictable outcomes. Here’s a breakdown of them all, arranged from least to most mismatched:
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira further established himself as a problem in Pride, submitting Semmy Schilt with a triangle choke in six-and-a-half minutes. Nogueira had ground control against Schilt for a long time, eventually pulling guard for a submission victory. By this point he had built up wins over many big names and was clearly a top talent at heavyweight. The rumor mill rumbled about former UFC champ Josh Barnett possibly being next for him around this time, although the fight didn’t happen for another four years.
Wanderlei Silva defended his middleweight title against Hiromitsu Kanehara, dropping him with a head kick and left hook before the Japanese talent’s corner threw in the towel. It was a beating but could have been much uglier if it went longer, and the move from Kanehara’s camp to stop the fight was incredibly wise.
Undefeated Hirotaka Yokoi was matched against K-1 striker Jerrel Venetiaan in a grappling-versus-striking contest. The ground work of Yokoi overwhelming led the dance, forcing a submission in the 13th minute.
Appearing for just the second time since making the jump from UFC to Pride, Kevin Randleman faced unsuccessful pro Kenichi Yamamoto. A one-sided performance on the ground ended via flashy knees to the head, with Randleman essentially doing brief handstands to build up the momentum and land his strikes.
Championship Chaos 2 Concludes
Overall, Pride 23 wasn’t a spectacular show nor was it a bad show. We had the big moments that gave us things to look forward to, like the strong outing from Fedor Emelianenko and the continued success of guys like Ricardo Arona and Wanderlei Silva. Some fights weren’t the most thrilling, and I didn’t enjoy watching Kazushi Sakuraba’s performance, but it gave the added drama going forward of seeing how he will perform in the future. Bouncing back from Pride 22, a card that many considered not great, this wasn’t an awful offering.
Next Week: We’ll finish up our watch of 2002 with Pride 24: “Cold Fury 3.” The end-of-year card is just eight fights but has some good matchups: Looking for an impressive fifth win of the year, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira will meet Dan Henderson. We’ll also see the second-ever promotional appearance from Alistair Overeem, Kevin Randleman taking on Murilo Rua, and much more.
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