In the wee hours of the morning for most American fans, a resurrection of a beloved mixed martial arts promotion occurred in Japan. Although it may not bear the name of the old promotion, its intention was clear; Bring the fans back to the days of PRIDE. Yarennoka opened up with fantastic introductions, theatrical production, and even brought back Lenni Hardt to announce the fighters for the event. The elevator platform, the runway to the ring, the white canvas, the lighting, it all screamed of PRIDE. The event itself did not disappoint in the quality of the bouts. Let's recap the exciting night of events.
The surprise battles
The most exciting fight of the night was by far Kazuo Misaki vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama. Both fighters had expressed some animosity toward each other leading up to the event at times, but overall seemed to respect each other. The staredown at the pre-Yarennoka press conference was the most heated one out of all the matchups, and it was looking to be a bareburner. It did not disappoint.
Both fighters felt each other out for most of the early few minutes of the fight. Some exchanges occurred, but Akiyama caught Misaki dead on the chin and put him to the floor. Unfortunately for Akiyama, he didn't pounce on the opportunity. Misaki was able to recover and eventually unleash his own strike that put Akiyama to the floor. As Akiyama regained his footing, Misaki landed a knockout kick between the eyes of Akiyama and put him out for good. A fantastic battle that went back and forth and saw Misaki come back from life support to win.
Fedor vs. Hong Man Choi was seen as being an easy win for Fedor by much of the mixed martial arts community. It was a win for Fedor in the fashion we've grown accustomed to seeing from the Russian. His quick transition game sunk in the armbar in the first round, but only after being bruised up significantly by simple hammerfists from the giant Korean. Fedor managed to avoid the onslaught for long enough to transition into the armbar while in full guard. A very exciting fight for the fact that Choi was able to get top control and pound Fedor for a couple of seconds and visibly hurt “The Last Emperor”. Nonetheless, Fedor was still able to come out on top.
Other matchups
Shin'ya Aoki won an uninspiring unanimous decision over silver medalist judoka Bu-Kyung Jung. Jung sunk in two armbars that nearly broke Aoki's arm and had the crowd on its feet. Aoki managed to escape and pound out a decision win that he was lucky to get before being submitted.
“Mach” Sakurai did as expected, but without the fantastic knockout. He put Hasegawa in a lot of trouble for most of the fight, but was unable to land the big blow that could end the fight. In Sakurai's defense, Hasegawa has proved in the past that he can hang around even while being beaten.
Mitsuhiro Ishida put on a wrestling clinic against Gilbert Melendez. Melendez found Ishida on his back for most of the first round, and he was unable to reverse it for most of the round. Ishida worked a strong wrestling takedown game and simply peppered Gilbert while on top and on the back. Melendez came back in the second round with a solid knee to Ishida's head, and then was able to do some top control pounding of his own, but it wasn't to the degree that Ishida had put on him in the first round. Ishida edged out Melendez by decision.
Makoto Takimoto defeated Murilo Bustamante in a controversial split decision. Although Takimoto was closer to actually ending the fight when he caught Bustamante and dropped him, Bustamante controlled most of the fight. It may be a question of judging criteria.
“The Crusher” Tatsuya Kawajiri did exactly that... crushed Azeredo. For nearly the entire fight, Azeredo was on the bottom being punched and peppered with small shots from Kawajiri. Kawajiri didn't quite wind up the power to put Azeredo out, but it was a dominating performance from the lightweight.
Chicago native Mike Russow surprised many fans. He looked more powerful than Zentsov at the weigh-ins and proved it in this clash. Russow put Zentsov down immediately, and worked a smart submission grappling game on the ground. He eventually sunk in a quick North South choke on an utterly horrible performing Roman Zentsov. Fedor should start teaching him transition techniques.
Production
If you were a loving fan of PRIDE, this production is exactly what you want to see. A large runway, elevator platform for the fighters, the high steps down to the runway, the large panoramic screens, the music, the drums, and Lenni Hardt screaming fighter introductions were all present. From the opening bell, the white canvas on the mat showed the spilt blood of its combatants.
The pre-fight television promos were very good as well. Some of the promos added backstory to some of the rivalries, especially the Misaki vs. Akiyama bout. Overall, an impressive event as far as masking PRIDE and also providing some unbelievable matchups.
Divisional shifts?
Fedor will maintain his #1 ranking regardless of this bout, but it was more interesting of a fight than we may have first thought once they stepped in the ring. Unless Couture fights Fedor and wins, or Couture beats Nog and remains more active, we won't see a shift. Nogueira will most likely never surpass Fedor as far as standing is concerned due to his two decisive defeats by the hands of Fedor.
Other battles will affect world divisional rankings. Akiyama may drop, and Misaki, Ishida, Kawajiri, and Sakurai will most likely move up or sit in the same place. Specifically, Ishida defeated Melendez, arguably a top 3 lightweight. Aoki is definitely the undecided one. Will he drop due to poor performance?
Overall thoughts
Personally, I was impressed with how the production was put together. Almost exactly like the PRIDE events, and I believe was done by the same firm. It was nice to go back and have an event that brought back those memories. The most glaring success from the event was the matchups. After all, we are all here to see fantastic mixed martial arts. Yarennoka didn't disappoint.
Misaki came back from the dead to defeat Akiyama, and Fedor, although heavily favored, looked to be in trouble for a split second before showing why transitional MMA rules the fight game. Kawajiri showed fans everywhere why he is the “Crusher”, Ishida displayed unbelievable pace and wrestling ability, and Mike Russow put his name on the map.
Look forward to possibly another event being organized by the same groups. Monte Cox did hint at this during the event, and I would not doubt that the event will push people to want to see more of the same. PRIDE could be making a comeback under the support of former DSE employees and M-1 Global. Whether that is good or bad is another story due to the always present “Yakuza” factor in Japan, but we'll most likely see this type of event again.
Quick Results
Shinya Aoki over Bu-Kyung Jung by unanimous decision
Hayato “Mach” Sakurai over Hidehiko Hasegawa by unanimous decision
Fedor Emelianenko over Hong Man Choi by armbar at 1:54 of Rd. 1
Kazuo Misaki over Yoshihiro Akiyama by back from the dead knockout at 2:12 of Rd. 1
Mitsuhiro Ishida over Gilbert Melendez by unanimous decision
Makoto Takimoto over Murilo Bustamante via split decision
Tatsuya Kawajiri over Luiz Azeredo by unanimous decision
Mike Russow over Roman Zentsov via surprise North-South Choke at 2:58 of Rd. 1