Kazushi Sakuraba has started training again, but his left foot hasn't healed yet so he's not sure if he's going to accept the invitation to fight in PRIDE.9. Even though their relationship got off to a rough start, he'claims to be becoming friends with Royce Gracie and also hopes they have a rematch. He's still talking about wrestling in the New Japan junior division if the opportunity arises.

Satoru Sayama demanded that Kazuyuki Fujita face him on the 6/11 PRIDE show.

Royce Gracie wants a rematch with Kazushi Sakuraba this year. Try not to fall out of your seat, but Gracie, who was limping around, actually admitted that Sakuraba was a great fighter.

PRIDE GRAND PRIX 2000 ~Sekai Saikyo Tournament Ketteisen~ 5/1 Tokyo Dome 38, 429

PRIDE GRAND PRIX 2000 Second Round matches:
Igor Vovchanchin KO'd Gary Goodridge at 10:14 when he clocked him with a right hook.
Kazushi Sakuraba beat Royce Gracie by TKO after 90:00 when Rorion Gracie threw in the towel before the bell to start round 7 Sakuraba came out wearing a Super Strong Machine mask, with two seconds also wearing Machine masks, I guess as a way to point out that he was originally a pro wrestler. Sakuraba had a hizajujigatame in the first round. Gracie used his gi for a front sleeper in the second round. Sakuraba scored with a good right low kick in the third round. As usual, he threw in a pro wrestling spot to get a pop. This time it was a Mongolian chop while in the guard. In the fourth round, Royce fell repeatedly to Sakuraba's punches and kicks. The fifth round was mainly Gracie keeping Sakuraba in his guard. Sakuraba tugged Gracie's his black belt and threw some punches. Sakuraba did more damage with the right low kick in round 6, causing Royce to have a hard time standing. Royce didn't get up from his corner after this round, but the towel was thrown in before the bell rang. Although Gracie lost a submission match to Wallid Ismael and had to withdraw from UFC 3 due to injuries suffered in a win over Kimo, this is Gracie's first loss in MMA.
Mark Coleman beat Akira Shoji in 1 round by a 3-0 judges decison. Coleman won with a body hook, but really it was the size difference that did Shoji in.
Kazuyuki Fujita scored a huge upset, winning a 3-0 decision after 1 round over the favorite to win it all, Mark Kerr. Kerr was in a "tortoise state" by the middle of the match. Fujita showed Kerr with punches when Kerr was on his back.

In a special match, Guy Mezger beat Masaaki by decision after 2 rounds because Satake couldn't avoid being taken down.

Semifinals :
Igor Vovchanchin beat Kazushi Sakuraba by TKO after 1 round. Aside from the size difference, Sakuraba was really at a disadvantage here because due to the goofy Gracie rules he had to go 6 rounds while none of the other second round winners even went two. Still, it's said that he won the first 10 minutes but then hit the wall and had no choice but to rest as much as possible for the next five. The judges ruled it was a draw, but Sakuraba's was totally spent as you'd imagine anyone would who fought 105 minutes would be, so his second Nobuhiko Takada decided that it was unreasonable for Sakuraba to continue fighting and threw the towel in.
Mark Coleman got a free win over Kazuyuki Fujita in 2 seconds. Fujita's left knee was injured in the Kerr fight and he was in no shape to perform so the towel was thrown in as soon as the match started.

In a special match, Ken Shamrock used a left hook to beat Alexander Otsuka by TKO at 9:43 of round 1. Shamrock did a lot of damage early in the fight with punches from the mount. He came close to winning with an arm lock, but Otsuka "made use of timing to remove it."

Final:
Mark Coleman beat Igor Vovchanchin by TKO at 3:09 of round 2. Coleman attacked the upper body the whole time. He did a knee kick then repeated blows to the head for the TKO.

The announced attendance is a really bad sign because they drew 10,000 more to the same building on 1/30 for the first round matches.

Ken Shamrock's opponent will be Alexander Otsuka. This is really weak. Otsuka might be able to do the distance with Shamrock since he has great stamina and Shamrock isn't the greatest finisher in the world, but that would just make Shamrock look bad because Otsuka isn't that good or highly regarded. If Shamrock wins, which is what I and probably most others expect to happen, he doesn't gain anything because he beat a guy that hasn't beaten anyone other than a washed up fighter that was always overrated. If he loses then everyone will write him off as being too old and out of practice. It's not as bad as the original proposal of Shamrock vs. Nobuhiko Takada, but at least that match would have been a draw.
There's an angle where DSE wants Shinya Hashimoto to fight on one of their shows so they are saving him a ringside seat for the 5/1 Dome show. Hashimoto is very interested in Vale Tudo and "secretly" watched PRIDE.4. He'll probably be there since Inoki is going to be there with Fujita and Sakuraba.
It's rumored that the winner of Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Royce Gracie will just bow out of the tournament, which probably swings the odds even more in Igor Vovchanchin's favor. He's too big for either of those guys, so a replacement (assuming they don't give him a bye) could potentially give him a tougher fight.

Antonio Inoki taught Kazushi Sakuraba a masho (devilish) sleeper to use on Royce Gracie. Inoki is supposed to be Sakuraba's "presence person" for the fight against Gracie, which I think means he'll be in his corner, but I'm not really sure.
Sakuraba had someone teach him ventriloquism so he could use it to make the ref think Gracie is giving up. Not only is Sakuraba a great fighter, but he comes up with some funny shit to publicize his matches.

DSE conceded to Royce Gracie's nonsensical unsafe rules where the referee and doctor aren't allowed to stop the match and there are no judges, so his match will go on forever unless Gracie or Sakuraba taps or their second throws in the towel. In the rest of the tournament matches, the judges will keep sending the guys out for another round if it's close but declare a winner if it isn't. It looks like the first round will be 20 minutes this time instead of 15, but extra periods will still be 15 minutes.

Masakatsu Funaki & Kazuyuki Fujita are training together for their upcoming Tokyo Dome matches. Unless Funaki is just being nice and helping Fujita out, this is probably more for publicity than anything else.

Kazuyuki Fujita is going to train with Don Frye for his 5/1 match against Mark Coleman. Frye will probably be his second for that match. Before Frye was doing bad works on a regular basis, he was running over the likes of Gary Goodridge, Amaury Bitetti, and Brian Johnston in UFC, but Coleman was the one guy that beat him, winning the UFC X tournament in the process. Frye came back and beat Goodridge (again), Mark Hall (Hall put him over, which was a help as far as his stamina went), and Tank Abbott to win the Ultimate Ultimate '96, which Coleman wasn't a part of, and then moved on to making better money to do works. Speaking of Johnston, who was Fujita's tag partner for a little while before Fujita left New Japan, he also says he will help Fujita out.

Kazushi Sakuraba isn't going to allow Royce Gracie to weasle out of their 5/1 match. Sakuraba agreed to Gracie's selfish rule changes (his words, not that I disagree), saying that he'll fight Gracie for a week if he has to. Sakuraba basically did what he had to do. It doesn't matter if he wins the tournmanent because as long as he wins this one match, he'll be the only guy to have defeated two Gracie's in mixed martial arts competition.

The Gracie's are at it again. Their latest shenanigans are that Royce is saying he'll boycott the 5/1 Tokyo Dome show if they don't accept the special rules he has submitted for his match(es). Gracie's rules not only eliminate judges, but the referee as well. Even though he would have to fight 3 times in one night to win the tournament, he wants all his matches to have unlimited time. Furthermore, there will be no referee in the ring, so the only way the match can end is if the towel is thrown in or a participant taps. The good thing about this is that victory and defeat would be decided by the two fighters in the ring or their most trusted second. However, not having a referee is beyond stupid because they are there as much to protect the fighters as anything else. I'm all for the fighters being honorable, but in the heat of battle sometimes you don't even realize your opponent has tapped so you continue to pound the hell out of them or keep the submission on thinking they are still trying to escape. This doesn't even get into what happens if someone cheats. I hate to say it, but if there aren't judges and there's no one to disqualify a fighter then there's nothing but honor to prevent the fighters from flagrant rule violations. Even if the rule violations aren't flagrant, the only guy that would lose anything is the person that it happened to.
Gracie's apparent motives for making this threat are twofold. First, DSE had agreed that his 1/30 fight would automatically go into the 15:00 extension if there wasn't a winner in the first 15 minutes. The reason that they couldn't honor the unannounced stipulation is that his opponent, Nobuhiko Takada, wussed out and refused to come out for the second round. Since the fans didn't know of the stipulation and the promotion realizes that as awful is Takada is in shoots, he still has more value on top than pretty much anyone else that's fought there, they protected him by giving Gracie a 3-0 decision (in all the other fights, after the first round ends the judges either award a victory or say it was close enough that it should go into the extra period). Second, Royler Gracie was defeated by Kazushi Sakuraba via ref stop and since the Gracie's will never admit that they were beaten by a better man, they are trying to convince people that DSE screwed them, which in this case is pure bull. Anyway, Gracie is supposedly willing to fight anyone PRIDE can throw out him as long as it's under his rules. IMO, it's the same old thing with Royce, he's realizes he's not going to beat Sakuraba on 5/1, so he's trying to weasel his way out to protect his undefeated record.

Masaaki Satake has supposedly developed a new artificial breathing tactic to use on his opponents after he's mounted them. He pushes and presses the opponent's chest to make them breathe unnaturally. Masaake Satake may fight Alexander Otsuka on the 5/1 Tokyo Dome show.

Masaaki Satake has decided to receive training so he can make his puroresu debut. When that time comes, he is planning on using punches, the Sayama spinning toe hold (I just can't picture him doing this), and the Bill Robinson doublearm suplex as some of his main offense.

DSE announced the bracketing for the finals of their GRAND PRIX 2000 tournament on 5/1 at the Tokyo Dome. The quarterfinal matches are:
Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Royce Gracie. This is the big draw of the tournament. Sakuraba doesn't think Gracie should be allowed to fight with the gi, so he says he's going to strip him of it during the fight. Sakuraba will win this fight due to superior skill, but it'll most likely be a long fight. Sakuraba has the best stamina of the final eight, but the length of this match will likely negatate some of that.
"A lot of this also depends on the rules. It's been mentioned Royce has a deal where his fights can go as many rounds as it takes. If true, this match could really drag. Sak will win, though. He's been in there with some great fighters and always at least held his own. Royce struggled with Takada," wrote Miko.

Igor Vovchanchin vs. Gary Goodridge. This will be a brutal slugfest. How long this lasts probably depends on aggressive Gary is (Igor is the better striker, but he's more of a counterpuncher type) and how much heart Gary has. I don't think Goodridge has the ability to test Igor at all, but depending on how aggressive Igor is and how much Gary can take, this could last a while.
"Their last fight was stopped rather suddenly, with Goodridge staggering but wanting to go on. Goodridge's only chance if if one of his wild powerful punches land. Since Igor is a counterpuncher, an aggressive attack plays into his hands, so the fight should be exciting. The brutal part is likely to be Igor punching Goodridge, unless Goodridge finds a way to land more punches," wrote Miko

Akira Shoji vs. Mark Coleman. Shoji will be dominated, but he has more heart than skill. Coleman will win almost for sure, but Shoji will probably drain enough of his energy that he'll be easy pickens for Kerr in the second round.
"Shoji has a way of surprising people. He doesn't look like much of a fighter, but he's a stayer who's very active and tries really hard. Coleman will do his now usual boring ground and grind. If Shoji canb't stop the takedowns, it'll be a dull JD," wrote Miko.

Kazuyuki Fujita vs. Mark Kerr. A big mismatch. The only question is how long it will take Kerr, who like most wrestlers is questionable when it comes to finishing the job, to win the match.
"Kerr seems a little more clued in about finishes than other wrestlers. The question will be if he will try anything in this match or settle for the ground and grind," wrote Miko.

This first round should lead to:
Sakuraba vs. Vovchanchin. Sakuraba is much more skilled, but gives up so much mass and strength. If he can take Igor down, which at his size is a big if, then he has a decent chance to win. The problem is most likely it'll be a whole lot of standup, and Sakuraba has less reach and inferior striking ability. This is just a bad matchup for Sakuraba that I can't really see him winning unless the events of the previous round wind up working to his favor, which isn't likely because he has the better opponent in that round. As long as Sakuraba beats Gracie, anything else positive that he might do would be gravy. If there's really a no time limit rule in the Gracie match then that can only hamper the chances of the winner of that match succeeding in subsequent rounds.
This could be a little dull. Sak's best chance to get a takedown is too shoot when Igor's punching, but Igor is a cautious striker and doesn't leave many openings. If it can go to the mat, Sak has a chance. Personally, I'm not much of a fan of matches with big weight differences," wrote Miko.

Kerr vs. Coleman is like a match between the same fighter except Kerr has a lot more stamina. This will probably be a long boring grappling battle with Coleman losing because he won't have enough in the tank.
"Maybe we'll see more standing striking here, probably by Kerr. Sometimes these wrestler vs. wrestler matches turn into brawls, but I'd expect this this would be on the mat soon enough. Kerr wins, though I'll probably fast forward the match," wrote Miko.

Igor vs. Kerr would be an interesting final because I think Kerr is the better of the two, but Igor sort of beat him in their only match (he won, but it was ruled a no contest because an illegal strike k led to the win). Due to Igor being a better finisher than Kerr, he'll probably have more left by the time this match starts, and they are close enough where a stamina and/or health advantage will likely be the difference.
"I don't even want to predict this far since it's so variable. A second Kerr-Igor match would be different because Kerr would probably focus on wrestling and the old ground and grind. In their first match, Kerr tried to show off his striking skills in the opening seconds and got knocked down. The focus of the match would be if Kerr can take Igor down without getting caught coming in," wrote Miko.
Yeah, the thing with these one night tournaments (I know this isn't truly one night, but it's the final three matches in one night so it's basically the same thing) is that they are more a battle of attrition than skill. That said, Gracie, Goodridge, Shoji, Fujita can't win because they don't have the skill and ability. Coleman can't win because he doesn't have the stamina. The other three guys could win if they do their homework and get the right breaks.

The proposed joint DSE & WWF show for June in the Tokyo Dome is off. DSE is claiming that the expensive broadcasting rights costs were the main obstacle in the agreement.

Kazuyuki Fujita is demanding a match with Royce Gracie in the quarterfinals of the PRIDE GRAND PRIX 2000 tournament on 5/1 at the Tokyo Dome. The fan balloting to determine the matchups is still going on for another week or two, but it's actually some kind of questionare that steers the fans in certain directions rather than being a list of names and four empty brackets for the fans to put the names into. I guess the ballot leans toward Royce vs. Sakuraba due to the Gracie vs. Takada Dojo series that began with the original PRIDE. Sakuraba, who earned the nickname "Nihon no Kyuuseigun (Japanese Saviour)" in November when he became the first Japanese fighter to defeat a Gracie family member since 1951, has also said he wants to fight Royce Gracie to avenge Takada's latest loss. Fujita vs. Gracie wouldn't really be much of a match because you have a guy that has one MMA fight in his life against a guy who has one MMA fight since 1995 and couldn't even come close to beating Takada in 15 minutes (although Takada came to stall and claimed he hurt his leg in training as an excuse for his latest pitiful performance). If Gracie vs. Fujita was a quarterfinal and Sakuraba was in the same bracket then you would most likely wind up with Gracie vs. Sakuraba anyway, and Gracie would have gotten two free wins to reestablish himself before he faces any real competition.
With Fujita beating RINGS veteran Hans Nyman and Antonio Inoki and Akira Maeda looking to work together this year, Maeda has requested that Fujita appear in RINGS at some point after the PRIDE tournament is over.

PRIDE GRAND PRIX 2000 ~Sekai Saikyo Tournament Kaimakusen (initial battle) ~ 1/30 Tokyo Dome 48, 316
PRIDE had the first round of their GRAND PRIX 2000 and there really weren't any surprises.
Royce Gracie beat Nobuhiko Takada in one round by a 3-0 judge decision. Takada had already lost twice o Royce's brother Rickson, but still hasn't given up challenging these guys. His next loss will be 5/1 against Ken Shamrock, but if people will pay to see it, he'll lose to Royce Gracie again later this year.
Mark Kerr beat Ensen Inoue in one round by a 2-0 judge decision.
Igor Vovchanchin beat Alexander Otsuka in one round by a 3-0 judge decision.
Mark Coleman forced Masaaki Satake to submit to a neck lock at 1:15.
Kazushi Sakuraba beat Guy Mezger. The match was supposed to go the extension, but Ken Shamrock complained and had Mezger abandon the match. Shamrock's complaint was that DSE had an agreement with him that the matches involving his Lion's Den fighters would only go one round. In Mezger's case, going more than one round would not have been to his advantage since he took the fight on two weeks notice, but obviously just leaving the ring guaranteed a loss.
Kazuyuki Fujita made Hans Nyman submit to a kesagatame (judging by the picture of the finish, this is some kind of a necklock) at 2:48.
Akira Shoji beat Ebenzer Fontes Braga in one round by a 2-0 judge decision.
Gary Goodridge made short work of Tachihikari, forcing him to submit to a guillotine choke at 0:51.
The reserve (alternate) match was Vanderlei Silva over Bob Schreiber at 2:42 with a hadakajime (naked choke). They were supposed to have Barretto vs. Telligman as well, but it was suspended.

PRIDE is allowing the fans to make the matches for their 5/1 Tokyo Dome show. The ballot will be passed out to those who attend the 1/30 show. This is a pretty smart move because they need all the help they can get to fill the Dome, so giving the fans what they want should draw more people. This should result in some matches that wouldn't be booked otherwise because the guys are friends or from the same camp. The "student vs. teacher" match (ROFTL) of Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Nobuhiko Takada is one such match, except Takada would have to beat Royce Gracie for that match to be a possiblity, and that's not going to happen.
Vanderlei Silva vs. Gary Goodridge is off. Instead, Goodridge is getting pro wrestler Tachihikari to beat to a pulp. Tachihikari was one of the many sumo wrestlers that Genichiru Tenryu recruited for WAR when he was their top star (Tenryu has a thing for former sumos since he was a sumo himself). Sumo is about the extent of his real fighting experience and he's not exactly known for his conditioning, so odds are he gets Sano'd. Silva may be in an alternate match against rulebreaking punk Bob Schreiber. Why they would consider asking that guy back after all his infractions against poor Daijiro Matsui is beyond me. I mean, it's not like Schreiber is good or a draw.

Vanderlei Silva will replace Tskhadaze Zaouz as Gary Goodridge's opponent in the tournament. Zaouz had to cancel due to Visa problems. Silva, a UFC veteran, was going to be an alternate even though he's better than some of the guys in the tournament. Goodridge is one of those guys. I really don't know anything about Zaour, but Goodridge probably caught a bad break here. That said, since both guys are strikers but Goodridge is clearly the more powerful of the two, Gary could win if he can connect with a couple big punches during what is likely to be a long standup portion. Although he's a striker, Silva would be better off trying to take this to the mat because Goodridge has shown an inability to get off his back.

Due to their SEG contracts, Kevin Randleman and Big John McCarthy are off the 1/30 PRIDE show. Former King Of Pancrase Guy Mezger will be taking Randleman's place in the tournament match against Kazushi Sakuraba. This is probably for the best because Mezger's name means more to the Japanese fans since he's fought over there so many times, while Randleman has had about one match in Japan. More importantly, Mezger is smaller and not as good (although he is more talented, it's not enough to make up for the difference between the two as physical specimens), so Sakuraba has a much better chance of advancing to their next Dome show by winning this match.

The rest of the eight PRIDE Grand Prix 2000 first round matches that will take place on 1/30 at the Tokyo Dome were announced.
Nobuhiko Takada vs. Royce Gracie is still on, meaning Naoya Ogawa will not be participating. Gracie will win this match.
Miko Kubota's comments:Gracie will win this, my only question is how and how easily. If he has trouble with Takada that doesn't bode well for his future in MMA.
Enson Inoue vs. Mark Kerr is still on. This is a tough one to call because Kerr is so big and physically dominant, but Inoue has a habit of pulling incredible submissions out of nowhere for the win. I think Inoue will win this match if it finally takes place, but it's pretty much a toss up.
Miko: I'm really curious to see how this goes. If Kerr's in top condition, I think he has the edge. If not Enson should pull off the submission. Another factor is how Kerr will fight. He's been working on his striking and his wrestling is good enough that if he wants to keep the fight on his feet he probably can, making it tougher for Enson to get a submission.
Alexander Otsuka will face Igor Vovchanchin. I think Igor is overrated, but Alex has almost no chance of stopping the Russian tank.
Miko: Igor was considered a good but not great heavyweight, right up to the point where he destroyed Mark Kerr. That fight made his reputation, even though the result was later changed to a no contest. Otsuka's rep was also made on one fight, his defeat of Marco Ruas, though that had way more to do with Ruas being a shadow of his former self than anything Alexander did. Igor will win this, but he tends to be a more cautious counterpuncher, so if Alexander doesn't take the fight to him this could be rather boring.
Masaaki Satake meets Mark Coleman. Coleman will beat Satake to a bloody pulp. If it last long enough for Coleman to tire, I still don't see Satake having the skill to put him away. His only chance really is to catch Coleman with one big kick ala Pete Williams. Coleman just got married, so that could possibly help Satake since he might be distracted from his training or something, but his honeymoon isn't until after he gets back from Japan.
Miko: Coleman beats Satake, no question at all. Coleman's not been the same smashing machine he was in the UFC, his stamina's a little better and he paces himself more but he's not bombing people out like he was.
Kazushi Sakuraba challenges UFC Heavyweight Champion Kevin Randleman. I put a lot less emphasis on size than most, but this is just a horrible opponent for Sakuraba. It will help draw a crowd and Sakuraba will gain a ton if he wins, but Randleman is just to massive for little Sakuraba. Randleman isn't bulky, he's just solid muscle with freakish strength. He'll just take Sakuraba down at will like he does to all the heavyweights that way 30 or more pounds more than Sakuraba, and keep him down while he uses the annoying ground and pound. I don't know that he can finish Sakuraba, but Randleman won't tire and Sakuraba doesn't have the striking ability to beat him in standup (he'll get one blow in if he's lucky before being taken down). His only chance is if Randleman gets sloppy when he's on top, leaving an opening for Sakuraba to catch him in a submission. However, we've seen Randleman on top the whole match in his UFC bouts and no one has been able to do this too him yet. Bas Rutten is superior to Sakuraba when it comes to skill, and he had about 35 pounds on Sakuraba when he fought Randleman, yet really couldn't do anything beyond punch from his back. Even if Sakuraba does this, he's not even close to 1/2 the striker that Bas is. I really hope Sakuraba wins, but I think they are sacrificing long term in order to help pop one gate because they know they can't come close to filling this building.
Miko: I don't think this match is quite so bad for Sak. Randleman is a strong tough wrestler, no doubt, and will have a size edge. I agree he'll be able to take Sak down most of the match, unless he gasses like he did against Bas. If Randleman wins it'll be by judges decision after ground and stalling for most of the fight. He won't beat Sak in standing striking. I don't think he'll be able to ground and pound him, and I'm not sure he will even try because of how long the fights are. Sak's not the striker Bas is, but unlike Bas he doens't always end up on his back everytime the fight goes to the ground and he's better with submissions than Bas has shown in MMA. Pride rules are also not as wrestler friendly as UFC rules, since Pride doesn't assume the top is automatically superior or strikes from the top are automatically better than strikes from the bottom. Even so, this is a strange match to make in the first round just because Sak's their top native, skill wise, and he's not going to look good in this fight, win or lose.
Akira Shoji meets Ebenzer Fontes Braga. This is kind of a weird match. Both guys are good, but not great. Neither is really a draw, although Shoji helps a little simply because he's a native. I think Braga will win, but this could go either way.
Miko: Shoji's pudgy, active and tries really really hard. I've not seen any great skill from him though. Braga's pretty good though, so I'd think he'll win. Probably not fast, Shoji's shown staying power in his matches with some decent people, but Braga has the skills.
Gary Goodridge takes on Tsuhadaze Zaour (?). Goodridge is really powerful, but doesn't have much stamina and has very little ability on the ground. He could win in the infancy of the sport, but hasn't really stepped up his game at all. I've never heard of Zaour, and I probably spelled his name wrong.
Hans Nyman of RINGS Holland will meet Allan Goes. Nyman has a big size advantage, but he's just a plodding kickboxer with no ground game. Unless Goes is unable to get him down, which is doubtful, he'll win by submission.
The matches will have a 15 minute time limit. Three judges will score the fight. There could be a 15 minute extension, but I think that only happens if the judges rule the bout a draw.
UFC's Big John McCarthy will make his PRIDE debut as a referee on this show. Let's Get It On!

Nobuhiko Takada will face Royce Gracie as part of the PRIDE Grand Prix 2000 on 1/30 at the Tokyo Dome. Takada has already suffered two pathetic losses to Royce's brother Rickson Gracie at the Tokyo Dome. However, Takada's "student" Kazushi Sakuraba gained a measure of revenge when he defeated Royce's brother Royler on 11/21 at PRIDE.8. Royce dominated UFC when very few guys had a clue of what they were doing, but soon the other guys started to catch on. Instead of trying to advance his style, he never took any more fights after Ken Shamrock beat him on 4/7/95 in a match that was technically ruled a draw (there weren't any decisions in UFC at that point) because that was the only way (outside of just fighting guys like Takada) to preserve his undefeated record. He came back for one submission match (read: rules that should be favorable to Gracie) in 1998 where he lost to Wallid Ismael, who is hardly a top fighter although he also isn't any slouch. Takada represents no threat to anyone outside of Chris Condo, so he's an incredibly safe opponent for Royce, unlike the guys Royce would have faced had he gone through with doing the ongoing RINGS tournament.

Enson Inoue vs. Mark Kerr try three is also scheduled to take place on the 1/30 show. Like Kawada vs. Vader, if they book it enough they'll eventually find a show when both guys are healthy enough to fight. The rest of the 16 man tournament will be announced on 1/5. Supposedly, they are trying to get fighters from WWF, WCW, NJ, and UFO (Ogawa).

Masaaki Satake, who recently graduated from K-1, wants to fight Naoya Ogawa in the first round of the 16-man PRIDE Grand Prix 2000 tournament on 1/30 at the Tokyo Dome. Satake was K-1's top native kickboxer from the beginning of the promotion until recent times. He really wasn't that good and honesty was over the hill in 1996, but, for all the great foreigners they have, K-1 has never had any quality fighters on the native side to push him out. Satake is training at Takada Dojo in hopes of learning the ground game. Before you laugh, remember that Kazushi Sakuraba does most of the teaching there. Still, Satake is an old 34 (slowed down, injured up, not in top condition), so it's awfully late for him to be getting into this style of fighting. He has worked a lot of matches, as he was the #2 native in the RINGS promotion back in the days when "no one" in the US wanted to watch RINGS outside of maybe Han's matches. Ogawa should be able to beat Satake in a shoot, but I still doubt it will be a shoot if he fights Ogawa. Thus, putting over Ogawa could be a good payday for him.

Dream Stage Entertainment, the company that promotes the PRIDE MMA shows, and WWF are talking about co-promoting shows in Japan beginning next June. These would be major shows that would be held in domes or huge stadiums. WWF hasn't been in Japan since their disasterous Japan Mania tour in 1994 that bombed everywhere, including drawing what at the time was the record low attendance in Yokohama Arena. WWF did have success when they ran shows with the now defunct SWS promotion in 1991, mainly because Genichiru Tenryu can draw with the right opponents. For this to be successful, Nobuhiko Takada will have to still be able to draw with the right opponents. I can't see any good that could possibly come out of this. The best we can hope for is that the Japanese won't be converted to sports entertainment, just as they weren't converted to the circus of roiders.