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| Manabu Yamada vs. Katsuomi Inagaki | |
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Yamada was one of the early stars of Pancrase, but the toll of having one match in this style per month has really caught up to him. He was able to return from his latest injury, a broken arm, but realistically he's finished as a serious threat to any of the top guys in this league. This was an interesting match. Yamada is primarily a striker, but he felt Inagaki, who is also a striker and like everyone else has a real reach advantage on Yamada, was the superior striker so his game plan was to avoid striking. Yamada's game plan was successful because he was able to tie Inagaki up when they were standing and control him on the mat. However, he failed to mount any kind of an offensive, so his strategy, while sound, made for a dull fight. Inagaki did better than Yamada on the mat, but the best offensive he could mount was a weak forearm choke. Thus, it wound up going the distance. A draw was a fair decision here because no one did anything better than controlling their opponent. 10:00 (4:18 aired) plus 3:00 overtime. |
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