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| Kiyoshi Tamura (RINGS Japan, 21-8-1) vs. Valentijn Overeem (RINGS Holland, 5-3) | |
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RINGS really wasted Overeem's legit win over their champion at the time Tamura. The win should have propelled him to main event status, but instead they didn't ask him back for months, almost as if they were punishing him for winning a shoot that they figured he couldn't win. This was the long awaited rematch, but they didn't make the mistake of doing another shoot. Instead, it was one of the stiffest works you'll find, with Tamura being momentarily KO'd from a vicious shoda and having one of his front teeth knocked out from either a high kick or a knee lift (one was right after the other so I couldn't be certain which it was). Overeem was fine on the mat following Tamura's lead, and lethal on his feet hitting harder than most fighters are able to hit in a real match because the threat of Tamura countering him wasn't there. Under the new rules where you got 5 lost points instead of 10, which totally makes sense for shoots but just sucks for works, Tamura was on his final down after the two knockdowns from the devastating blows mentioned earlier. Overeem tried for a gyakukataebigatame (1/2 crab), but Tamura rolled over and wound up on top. Tamura then pulled Overeem to the center, and after a struggle was able to straightened his arm for the udehishigigyakujujigatame win. 6:08
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