Kakutogi Road: The Chronological History of MMA
Chapter 41: RINGS OSAKA MEGA-BATTLE 6th Hayate 7/16/92 Osaka Furitsu Gym
By Michael Betz & Mike Lorefice 7/7/21

HAYATE is Japanese word that can mean hurricane, gale, tempest, or blast. There is also a connotation to the word that implies a suddenness, which is appropriate for what we are about to witness. Forces beyond all mortal comprehension are set to collide within the Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium this evening, and we are fortunate enough to have a bird’s eye view. The date is 6-17-92 and FIGHTING NETWORK RINGS is set to offer up a main event featuring legendary 70s karateka, Willie Williams, and Akira Maeda. RINGS has been the most intriguing of the different promotions that we've been covering these last few months, not that they've necessarily been the most entertaining, but they have by far been moving the closest to full-blown MMA compared to PWFG and the UWF-I. They went as far as to have four (pre-UFC mind you!) shoots last month, so it will be interesting to see if they continue in this direction. This will also mark a new addition to our columns in that we are having our resident Japanese translator, Hebisasori, examine these events beforehand, in the ongoing quest to provide any interesting shoot-truths that may be missed due to my woeful inadequacy in understanding Japanese.

The festivities begin with all the competitors being weighed in, despite the lack of any weight classes, or even titles for that matter. Perhaps, RINGS has no need for any formally recognized titles, for Maeda is its eternal champion, as well as its raison d'être, and anything more would be superfluous. After the weights are tabulated, we are given a look at pensive Maeda, who is solemnly kicking his pads knowing that his hour of reckoning will soon be upon him. He must face one of his fellow Seidokaikan brethren in Williams, a man that he surely looked up to when he was merely a young aspiring karate practitioner in the 70s, so this trepidation is to be expected. While longtime MMA fans will probably not have many fond memories of Williams (who was already 41 when he joined RINGS) due to many of his slow and awkward matches, he truly was a force of nature in his prime as Mas Oyama’s (Sediokaikan karate founder) main American protégé. Even though he’s had three fights in RINGS leading up to this, one was a shoot where he still looked solid, and the other two were works that ended quickly, so he still had a lot of name value in Japan, going into this fight.

The evening will begin yet again in shame, as we are going to the same well for our third helping of Yoshihisa Yamamoto vs. Masayuki Naruse. I probably have no right to complain, as at least this doesn’t involve Takayama, but on the other hand, it doesn’t involve Kanehara either, so maybe I have a point in grousing. Still, the last two matches between these two were fine, if overlong, so the potential is here for a great match if they turn the intensity up. The match starts with some light kickboxing fare before Yamamoto takes down Naruse with ease and puts him in an ankle lock. After the escape, this pattern continues for a couple more minutes, and while fine enough, I keep waiting for some ill-intentions to be put behind some of their efforts. Eventually, Naruse turned up the volume and kneed the stuffing out of Yamamoto after being on the receiving end of a spinning back kick. Then our first interesting waza of the night appeared when Yamamoto put Naruse in something that I can only describe as a shoot-style version of a figure-four, which was cooler than that may sound on paper.

The rest of the match was a nice blend of grappling/striking, with some inventive submission attempts from both men. This was their best match yet, however, the only missing ingredient was that the first half lacked intensity but did heat up as it progressed. Perhaps I’ve been spoiled by the amazing series that Kanehara/Maeda put forth, as when they would go, it felt like their lives were on the line and nothing could stand in their way of outdoing the other, but here it often felt too polite. *** ¼

ML: Akira Maeda has become as lazy as Yuko Miyato, booking the same rookie match to open every show. Normally, I would want to see the great fighter in Hiromitsu Kanehara over the two decent ones in Yoshihisa Yamamoto & Masayuki Naruse, but Yoshihiro Takayama is so ungodly awful that this is clearly the more competent matchup of the two. This was another fine bout, but the intensity was so lacking it seemed more like an exhibition to show off some cool kicks and flashy combos. Yamamoto's size advantage helped him a lot in the takedown department, but then he was also a lot more dominant on the mat than I expected him to be. Technically speaking, their standup, which Naruse has the advantage in when he can overcome Yamamoto's reach, was much more evolved than their matwork, but both continued to show a lot of potential. It wasn't exactly shocking to see these two go the distance given their other two matches were 15 minute draws as well.

Next up is Nobuaki Kakuda vs. Yukihiro Takenami. Kakuda is coming into this having lost a hard-fought shoot last month against Mitsuya Nagai, where Nagai was awarded a decision victory. I have been unable to discover much about Takenami, other than the fact that he once fought against Ernesto Hoost.

Before the fight, Kakuda gives an interview where he explains that he has been very disappointed with himself, as he feels that he has been failing his fans by not obtaining a significant win in a while and that this fight is important to him to get back on track. It then cuts away to Akira Maeda talking about how his middleweight division is shaping up to be very interesting. This indicates to me that there must be more than meets the eye when it comes to any kind of formal weight classes. I don’t recall ever seeing any indication of weight classes being used in RINGS, but between the weigh-ins and Maeda talking about a middleweight division, it at least shows that this was a consideration of his at one point. I’m not exactly sure what to make of it, but it’s interesting, nonetheless.

We can instantly see that this is a shoot, and Kakuda means business. He has a possessed look about him, and whatever one can say of his eventual gatekeeper status in late 90s K1, this man was all heart. Takenami tries to cautiously feel Kakuda out, but is eating several hard kicks for his trouble. Takenami eats another thunderous kick to his ribs when he decides that the ground is the much safer place and takes down Kakuda rather easily with a headlock throw. Sadly, his submission credentials seem to be of the “grab the head and squeeze” variety, which only works if you’re Mark Coleman. The rest of the round saw Kakuda get easily taken down by Takenami, but was never put in any trouble, due to the lack of any follow-up.

Round 2 starts and is over quickly as Kakuda just kept blitzing Takenami, knocking him down 3 times in less than 2-mins. Takenami was able to get a desperation double-leg takedown, but in vain as it was too close to the ropes. Interesting shoot that would have been better with a more seasoned opponent than Takenami. Kakuda lacks any takedown defense, which makes him a good pairing for a striker vs grappler matchup, but Takenami simply didn’t have the toolbox hand with Kakuda. After the fight, Kakuda shakes Takenami’s hand and tells him that he hasn’t felt that scared in a long time and gives him a show of respect.  

ML: This match showed the shooting experience of Kakuda, who used his movement to take apart the debuting street fighter by just low kicking then getting out of range. Takenami still had some success in the 1st with the kubi-nage, so in the second round Kakuda became much more aggressive, coming forward and just destroying what was left of the leg for the quick finish from the third knockdown. An enjoyable shoot, though not super competitive.

Now we get a very entertaining & stiff-work between Mitsuya Nagai and Willie Peeters. Both of these men are coming off tough shoots last month as well, Nagai having fought an excellent fight against Kakuda, and Peeters, who somehow got a draw against Masaaki Satake through his many spectacular temper tantrums. We know that if nothing else Peeters will find a way to entertain us, so we are always happy to see him.

The fight starts rather slowly with Peeters once again going for a bodylock, only this time he seems to confuse kneeing his opponent with doing the running man. Nagai then goes for his own bodylock, followed by a kneebar entry, but Peeters is simply too big and easily powers out of it. After some sparring, we get our first notable moment when Peeters hits an excellent belly-to-back suplex, but one that availed him nothing as it put Nagai in a position to lock in an inventive ankle-attack, prompting the first escape.

Round 2 starts with Peeters hitting his patented koshi-guruma (headlock throw), but unlike last month he isn't taking 5 mins to congratulate himself. Sadly, Peeters has been on the cusp of proper etiquette this entire time, which isn't the Willie that we've all come to know and love. He's definely not showing the intensity he would in a shoot. Peeters got a crude choke off a scarf hold, but after the break, Nagai landed a glancing high kick to Peeters's head which scored him a knockdown. Another interesting moment was when Peeters sunk in a deep guillotine choke, where Nagai's answer was to collapse into a ring post, forcing a break.

Round 3. Peeters wastes no time falling on top of Nagai and slapping on a strange neck crank that looked like it was going to cause Nagai's cranium to explode like a grape. To my utter amazement, Nagai hung on until the ref called for a break as the action was getting too close to the ropes. Another headlock takedown ensues, but Nagai is very clever (and flexible!) and is able to use this angle as a way to initiate an armbar, which forces Peeters to quickly let go of his head and reposition himself. Good round.

Round 4 starts with Peeters shocking me by connecting with a reverse roundhouse kick. Not to be undone, a stunned Nagai responds with an incredible rolling kick of his own that floors Peeters. Major points have to be awarded to Nagai for his completely gonzo attitude here. Nagai tried it again for the 2nd time which missed completely but did succeed in bringing out the jerk in Peeters, who in a fit of embarrassment, tried to head stomp Nagai while he was down on the canvas.

Final round. Nagai decides to go for broke and comes charging in towards Peeters, but unlike Nishi and Satake before him, Nagai has no defense for the headlock takedown. Peeters is able to stifle Nagai's momentum but does eat some hard kicks in the process. Nagai's main problem at this point is that he seems too gassed to maintain a long enough offense to put Peeters away. Eventually, the bell rings, and Nagai auto-loses due to having taken more escapes. An incredibly fun fight and an amazing show of heart from Nagai. Peeters was oftentimes manhandling him, but his creativity and willingness to take risks put a lot of pressure on Peeters. During the post-fight interview, Nagai said that he hasn't been training much lately, and this cost him his stamina. He then vowed to train harder in the future, to prevent this from happening again. ***3/4

ML: Peeters actually managed to behave himself in his very flashy work filled with suplexes, throws, and spinning kicks. They earned high marks for style points, but it was a bit lacking both in substance and in urgency in between the highlight reel maneuvers. As no Peeters match could be without some level of chaos, he accidentally walked to the wrong corner after the second round. It's funny how people's ideas of what works and doesn't work change over the years. For instance, Peeters hit an overhead suplex out of a standing arm triangle, but immediately transitioned to a headlock, as if that was the real submission of the two. Some goofiness aside, this match is a lot of fun, with constant action both in standup and on the mat. Things were competitive in standup, where the low impact even on the knockdowns was somewhat surprising, especially for Peeters, who fought like he'd finally been warned about hitting too hard. However, Peeters really dominated the throw game, and generally had the positional advantage on the ground, though he fed Nagai his leg for a kneebar that forced a rope escape. Peeters clearly won the match, and RINGS actually awarded him the decision rather than their usual full time draw. ***

It's time for the Return of the Fly! Only, instead of Vincent Price, we will have to settle for Dick Vrij. Here, he must take a break from punting the groins of Japanese natives long enough to face his best friend and partner in crime (in both the figurative and literal definition), Hans Nijman. When we last saw Nijman, he was on his way to having a surprisingly good match against Akira Maeda that ended far too quickly, but today this went exactly as you would expect. Mostly a lot of slow-motion faux-sparring, with terrible submission attempts from both men. Thankfully, when it hit the mat they wouldn't spend too much time there, but they didn't really make up for it on their feet, either. They could have at least gone for a fast-paced kickboxing style of work, but they were just too lazy to make this worthwhile. *3/4

ML: I was expecting more striking from this battle of Dutch kickboxers. Although neither are anywhere near to being good workers, and they ventured to the mat more than I was hoping, this wasn't bad so much as just uninspired because it was a low energy and intensity heavyweight bout without much movement. This would have been a good candidate for a 5 minute match rather than the 10 they gave it, and maybe then they would have displayed a few bursts of something that resembled energy or enthusiasm?

It seems that things have gone from bad to worse as Chris Dolman is back in action after a 7-month layoff. He has returned to face Buzariashibili Ramaji, a man that has been impossible to learn anything about, due to the limitations of Google when searching for a butchered English transliteration of a Georgian name. The match starts, and Ramaji instantly throws a shoot kick to Dolman. Dolman doesn't seem happy about Ramaji's aggressiveness, and is being super stiff today, way more than usual. Things quickly go to the ground where Ramaji aggressively goes for an armbar, and shows that this was another impressive specimen that managed to slip through the cracks as he moves impressively for a man of his size. Dolman may move like molasses, but he is still a judo master, and as such, was able to turtle his way out of danger and back onto the offensive. The finish was sloppy but legit. Dolman just kind of brute forced his way into that choke

ML: RINGS seemed poised to get more boring now that Mr. Dullman returned from a seven month stint on the disabled list, but shockingly this was actually a heated shoot. Dolman surely assumed the young Russian was no match for him, but there's something to be said for being half the opponent's age, especially when it's a real fight. Ramaji clearly was not here to lose, and had a hard time controlling himself at times. There was definitely no love lost between these two, and I appreciated Ramaji's urgency and all out aggression. Ramaji didn't have much defense, but he really took it to Dolman & made him work, until Dolman was able to use his overeagerness against him. This was short, but certainly more entertaining than anything Dolman has been involved in before, or probably since.

Next, we have Masaaki Satake set to fight Dutchman, Peter Oele. This will be a "gloved bout" presumably under RINGS rules, but I'm unsure. This will be Oele's debut, and he would go on to have a handful of matches for RINGS until 1995. During the pre-fight interview, Satake says that he is comfortable in a gloved match as he trains in them all the time and is happy that he doesn't have to worry about catching a finger in the eye from an open hand strike. He also mentions that Oele is a strong kickboxer, so he thinks that this will be a good fight for the fans.

Things are underway, and while there haven't been any rules posted this seems to be the equivalent of an MMA fight with boxing gloves. Despite the wide range of legal options, both men seem content in making this a kickboxing fight, so Satake should be in his element tonight. Oele has a height and reach advantage over Satake and is looking crisp in his execution. Satake shows some good footwork, moving in and out, but is cautious not to overcommit. Even Round.

Round 2 starts and Satake quickly establishes that magic distance where he is just close enough to fire off long-range kicks, but far away enough to avoid trouble. Oele responds with a thunderous high kick that would have likely decapitated Satake had he not caught the leg in time. It’s becoming very apparent that Oele is a very dangerous person, but Satake’s experience is giving him an edge here. Oele does a nice job of forcing Satake to clinch and eat some hard knees, but Satake is able to respond with some crisp elbow shots as a counter. We get our first taste of ground fighting when Oele tries a very crude attempt at a headlock throw, only to rightfully eat a nasty elbow to the side of the head for his trouble. Oele then figures out a better way when he manages to catch a kick, and succeeds in tripping him down to the canvas. Surprisingly, Satake responds with an armbar attempt, and when that didn’t work, an ankle lock. Not surprisingly, boxing gloves make submissions incredibly difficult, and both men languish away in a footsie battle until the round is called. Slight favor to Satake in this round.

Round 3 starts and both men go hard right away. Both are landing plenty of nice shots, but Oele only seems to be pushing kicks through while Satake is also able to work in his boxing and elbows, land with both more volume and variety. Good round for Satake.

Round 4. Oele starts of nicely, with some powerful kicks, followed by some clinch knees. Just when it seemed like this might shape up to be his round, Satake lands a breathtaking spinning-reverse-back kick to Oele’s midsection and completely floors him. This may be the most impressive thing I’ve ever seen Satake do. The fight is over, Oele is toast. Good shoot. I don’t say this often, but Satake looked great tonight, and he had a real opponent, at least one that would be a strong kickboxer with some more seasoning, so my hats off to him. In the post-fight interview, Satake said that it wasn't a difficult match to fight in, because he could see his opponent well, although his opponent was tall and did a good job protecting his middle. Satake also said that he wants to continue improving and wants to ride his current momentum by fighting more. He also said something about wanting to strengthen his internal organs which was a suggestion made to him by Akira Maeda. What that means is anyone’s guess.

ML: The finish was great, but otherwise this low volume, slow paced heavyweight match didn't do much for me. The most notable thing was the start of the second round was delayed until Dick Vrij could find Oele's mouthpiece hiding somewhere under the ring apron. Satake is a fighter that I'd categorize as being on the slow side, but he had a noticeable speed advantage here. Oele had the reach, but mostly backed up and tried to use the front kick to keep Satake off him.

Our hero Volk Han is back! This time to face his fellow teammate, and brother in sambo, Andrei Kopylov. Thanks to the power of subtitles, we were able to learn some interesting info about these two. Kopylov talks about how he is a sambo teacher and has faced Han in the past on four different occasions (within sambo tournaments) and has a record of 2-2 against Han. He mentioned that he is wanting to break this stalemate between them with a new technique that he has been working on. In Han’s portion, he says that he considers Kopylov the greatest sambist of the former Soviet Union, and that he has beaten many strong opponents over many tournaments. He also said that Kopylov is strong in hand/arm techniques and leg techniques. Interestingly, he also mentioned wanting to break their stalemate with a new technique that he has been working on.

The battle starts with both men throwing plenty of kicks, trying to figure out how to set up a takedown. Han is the first to solve the riddle with a flashy single-leg pickup, followed by a slam and a calf-slicer entry. The crowd is eating this up, perhaps, because this was how Han ended Maeda at the end of their last encounter. An insane sequence followed where Kopylov gave some Curt Henning level selling before turning the hold into a way to attack Han with a knee-crush of his own. Then Han managed to turn this into some kind of demented variation of a figure-four leg-lock, which Kopylov somehow managed to escape by turning onto his stomach and applying a toehold, which won him a rope escape point against Han. So far, this hasn’t been at all realistic, but is loads of fun all the same. 

Not to be upstaged, Kopylov hits a tomoe-nage (or monkey-flip if you prefer) as a way to set up a series of attacks against Han’s lateral joints, but winds up having to ward off another insane leg submission entry from Han, by turning it to either a leg-split, or a very nasty game of twister. This exchange culminated with a crazy battle of the double-heel-hook, where Kopylov was the first to attempt it, but Han was the one that succeeded in its execution, thus getting the rope escape point and evening the score. Eventually, Kopylov pulled off a huge upset win over Han around the 17min mark with a toehold, which was some smart booking as it now establishes another Russian star in the mix. The rest of this match followed the flashy innovation that only a madman like Han could come up with, and only with someone like Kopylov, who is familiar with his musical language of Sambo. If we wish to be pedantic, we could say that this wasn't a perfect match in the sense that its flashiness sometimes went against the core spirit of what the U-Style is trying to impart, but from an entertainment/professional-wrestling standpoint it was right on the money. 

I would go even further by saying that this wound up being the first true Volk Han match in the sense that it showcased just how boundless creativity combined with a Sambo/MMA mindset can elevate what pro wrestling is capable of as an artform. We had seen flashes of it before this, but the longer match-time given to Han for this bout, and the chemistry that he shared with his fellow sambist, allowed him the ability to shine above his prior outings. Yes, this was still pro-wrestling, and no it wasn’t a good case study in how close to a real fight this style could get to emulating, but it did offer a heretofore unprecedented number of new ideas and tools that could be added to its tapestry. Some of these techniques could be seen in isolation in times past, but never chained together in such an eloquent way. For that Han should easily be considered on anyone’s short list of the greatest professional wrestlers of all-time but is sadly known (at least in America) outside of a small circle of shoot-style enthusiasts. While this didn’t have the layers of nuance or complexity that some of his later matches had, it was still lots of fun, and historically significant. ****

ML: Sambo master Kopylov made his debut here, having won the USSR championship in the superheavyweight division the previous year. Finally, we got to see Han against an opponent who understands his own game, and the results were outstanding, as both were able to counter the counter to the counter. Kopylov and Zaza were the only opponents Han faced this year that you believe might be able to beat him in a shoot. Kopylov is a weight class above him, with equal training and similar skill, though obviously not a one of a kind genius like Han. The match was super competitive, really kind of a stalemate, as they went back and forth with leg locks on the mat. Right off the bat, we saw some impressive mat action, with Kopylov doing a great job of making it appear that Han was going to get the submission before the match really even got going. Kopylov is very nimble and coordinated for a 250+ pounder. He immediately won me over using a clinch knee to set up an actual reasonable monkey flip, then tried to spin into an armbar, but Han blocked. It just felt wrong that they didn't have a Twister mat out there for this veritable leg lock clinic. You might think that the highlight of a meeting between such skilled submission artists would be them rolling, but this was one of those cases where the grappling was so even that the stand up, and the takedowns into submissions out of it, is really what made the difference. The creativity and surprise to score on their feet, and find a way into an immediate submission when they hit the ground really made the match, though partly because big moves are much easier to appreciate then subtle manipulations and adjustments. Kopylov added a lot, and this was more believable than Han's other matches due to him, but whether or not either of those things were plusses was another story, as they made the match more exciting in the competitive sense, but at the same time less excited the splashy sense. At some point, it was getting a bit repetitive, not because of the length in a general sense, but because so much time was devoted to just going back and forth twerking on the knee. ***1/2

Now for the main event between two men that have drunk deeply from the rivers of Seidokaikan, Akira Maeda and Willie Peeters. It’s a shame that this couldn’t have happened in the early 80s as Williams is past his prime, and Maeda is past the point of having a useful knee. In the interview before the match, Maeda talks about how he's nervous because of the image he has had of Willie from his past. He talks about how he used to see him fight in the Kyokushin tournaments in the 70s, along with his bear fight, the Inoki fight, etc., but he says that his image is probably no longer the reality so he's trying not to be nervous. Before we begin, let us check in with Ace Historian, Mike Lorefice, for a recap of the infamous Inoki/Williams bout.

ML: NJPW 2/27/80 WWF Martial Arts Title: Antonio Inoki vs. Willie Williams R4 1:24. Most of Inoki's "martial arts matches" have been complete embarrassments, but this was truly an epiphany, showing "real" fighting was a style actually worth developing and exploring, something that could look different in a good way rather than just being a less flashy version of the same sideshow shenanigans. Here we had a collision between the top pro wrestler & sort of top karate guy, in an era where karate was still big enough that being the top karate fighter mattered, as they still represented the top means of self defense study in Japan, as well as most other corners of the globe. Williams was the top foreign protege of legendary karate master Mas Oyama, who was famous for defeating animals such as bulls & bears. Willie actually only made it to the semifinals of the 160 man Karate World Championships tournament the year before, but he was already known in Japan for playing himself in a movie where he earned the nickname "The Bear Killer" by following in Oyama's footsteps and taking one out, so he seemed to be the flagbearer in this battle between fake & real fighting, which was actually more something the fans demanded than the usual fight where Inoki just leveraged his money to get world class fighters who would beat him in seconds to lay down for him. While still obviously a work, the heat & intensity were off the charts, and there was genuine desperation, mostly because neither side would agree to do the job, and with such huge stakes, both sides were very leery of a double cross. In a setting where there's genuine suspense & hostility, and thus neither side really wants to compromise themselves or be generous and trusting to make the other look superior, even Inoki's usually feeble attempts to create heat by being chippy came off well because they were applied to something that seemed urgent and ready to ignite, rather than completely farcical and begging to be laughed at. All that being said, the match was mostly good due to Williams having being an amazing athlete who had great skill & wasn't willing to compromise it. After all, while Williams had more of a name in Japan & higher standing in their karate world, this is ultimately the same disaster as the Monster Man match if he didn't deliver the goods. While Williams was never a favorite of RINGS fans, keep in mind that he was 41 when he debuted there. This 28-year-old version is almost a totally different fighter than we saw in the '90's, really a revelation to this style, as he's actually trying to use his length, footwork, & speed rather than reverting back to the established dumbed down, no skill stand around begging to be clobbered hokem the way even most pro wrestlers who have won MMA matches do. When I say Williams was a great athlete, I don't just mean for a 6'7" guy, he seemed like he could have been a dominant power forward in another life, and I have no doubt he could have won the UFC heavyweight title had he been born later, especially if he was competing with today's stiffs such as Derrick Lewis & Jairzinho Rozenstruik, who stand around doing nothing beyond praying the opponent for some reason gets bored enough to just run into their right hand. Williams was an amazingly fast, reactive athlete, and he didn't just make it easy for Inoki as Inoki's other clay pigeons did. Williams may not always have employed modern MMA technique, but he understood how to fight, and he was trying to bring his battle tested reactions to wrestling rather than trying to fit in by doing everything at half speed, and compensating with over the top theatrics. There were great little bits such as Inoki shooting for a single, but Williams stuffing it with an underhook, then immediately peeling off to the side & disengaging so Inoki couldn't make a second attempt at the takedown. The action constantly broke down by spilling to the floor, in part because neither guy wanted to give the other an opening for anything major, to be prone to the point the opponent could take them out if they decided to be a shady back stabber. While this was worked, it's more that 1 guy would do something expecting the other to either take it or not, and then once in a while they'd purposely give an opening. For example, Williams would use his reach to land jabs that Inoki should take because they are solid but not going to knock him out, but then he'd throw a slightly slow & telegraphed high kick that Inoki was supposed to counter. In any case, the real or imagined threat of the opponent choosing glory over honor added a legitimate tension to the fight, keeping both guys on their toes & reacting sooner rather than later. In the 2nd, Williams dodged a rolling thunder & kicked Inoki in the head, but Inoki finally dragged him down. They rolled to the floor though, where things got out of control & Inoki emerged with a bloody head. After a really long break, they finally restarted only to have Inoki escape to the floor to avoid Williams strikes & both guys crashed to the floor (which Inoki tried to recreate in seemingly every UFO match) after Inoki took Williams down. All this smoke & mirrors was keeping the urgency up while limiting exposing the fakery because one of the big problems with Inoki vs. Chuck Wepner particularly was the more Wepner hit Inoki with his obviously pulled strikes, the more the match failed to succeed on any level. Inoki finally seemed to have his chance hitting a hane goshi, but Williams immediately responded with an up kick only to nearly get armbarred trying to follow with ground and pound. The finish where they each threw a dropkick then wrestled each other over the top to the floor, with Inoki getting an armbar but Williams being saved by the double ring out was the only part that seemed obviously scripted. Though Inoki got that bone at the end, Williams owned him for most of the match, certainly doing way better than any of the other martial artists had done against Inoki. In some sense not a lot happened here, but the movement of Williams & the urgency of both made it feel drastically different than perhaps anything we'd seen before. While I wouldn't rank it close to the best match of the 20th century, as it was named in a 2003 poll in Japan, because it's so much better than the previous Inoki martial arts matches that were chores to try to keep a straight face through, it truly felt original, and it has endured the test of time. ****

Strangely, this match will be divided up into rounds, which we haven't seen in Maeda's previous RINGS encounters, but makes it more like karate. Right away it is painfully apparent that Williams has no business being in show business. He is a great karateka, but his pulled knees just look atrocious. Thankfully, Maeda quickly takes him down to the ground where he can hopefully mask this deficiency. Sadly, that isn’t working either, and Williams is just flat-out bad at faking fighting. Perhaps, someone in the highest tier, like a Tamura could get something usable out of him, but even Maeda in his prime would probably not be able to carry Williams to anything close to watchable. This wasn’t the worst match we’ve seen or the worst main event for that matter, but for all the spectacle and build-up behind it, it was very disappointing to see such a lack of a pay-off. Eventually, Williams succumbs to a submission 2 mins into the third round, and I hope that we will pretend that this never happened. In the post fight interview, Maeda said the fight was easier than he expected because instead of going for combinations, Willie was just trying to go for one hit KOs, which were easier to deflect.

ML: Williams was at least interesting here, while Maeda mostly just sucked. Many of Williams knee's left something to be desired, but at least he was active and aggressive, working hard and doing his best to make this look like an important fight. The match was pretty good when they were on their feet, with Williams landing some nice body punches and Maeda trying to kick Williams legs out, but logically Maeda couldn't stand with Williams for long, while he owned Willie on the mat. The problem, as with all of Maeda's matches, is he doesn't do anything once it hits the canvas. These breaks certainly helped allow Williams to maintain the energy to do his explosive bursts when he got up, but would it have been too much to ask to at least give the illusion that some semblance of work was actually going on while they were on the mat? This wasn't terrible, but obviously it happened a decade too late to be notable.

Conclusion: Despite the terrible main event, and the lackluster Vrij match, this was another good RINGS event. Maybe just a few notches below last month (which felt like an MMA event through-and-through), but we got a good mix of shoots and entertaining works, including a great match with Han/Kopylov, and even the opener, while not in the Kanehara/Maeda sphere, was decent. I’m enjoying where RINGS is at right now, as even if you have some misfires in the worked department, if you mix several shoots on the same card, that will almost guarantee that you aren’t going to bottom out.

ML: RINGS is the only league right now that is striking a nice balance between works and shoots. While their works generally aren't as good as UWF-, a card with a couple good fake matches and a couple of legitimate matches is arguably more compelling as a whole.

*In other news*

On 7-12-92 Stan “The Man” Longinidis faced Grant “The Bomber” Barker in Sydney Australia. When we last saw Stan, he calmly and coolly dispatched Branko Citatic in an easily won decision. Barker has been making waves lately as a brash up-and-comer, so this was a classic case of the established veteran facing the hungry rookie. Stan is always at his most dangerous early in the fight, and tonight is no different, as he begins by stalking his prey like a vicious wolverine. Barker tries to push Stan back with a couple of kicks, but there is seemingly no answer on how to keep Stan from blocking off his access to the center of the ring. Towards the end of the round, Stan started throwing some bombs, which were mostly blocked by Barker, but it looks like Grant is on borrowed time here.

Round 2 starts and Stan instantly floors Barker with an incredible right hook. It’s obvious that the Barker hype train is about to be derailed, as it’s just a matter of how long he can last. Barker spent most of the remainder of this round covering his face and praying for a swift end.

Barker came out swinging in round 3, and to my surprise, had Stan on the defensive. Barker was looking good until Stan managed to chop him down with an insane low kick. Barker got back up only to take another hard left hook to the chin. Game over. While this was hardly a competitive fight, Stan is one of our favorites here at Kakutogi HQ, and it’s been wonderful to see him on such a tear, as of late. We look forward to seeing his next move.

ML: In round one, Stan just walked Barker down, keeping him against the ropes with the upper thigh kick and front kick. Barker was clearly looking for a huge counterpunch, but since he wasn't holding his ground, Stan had no reason to overcommit. Barker tried to correct that in the 2nd, but when he tried to come over the top of Stan's low kick with his own middle kick, Stan just dropped in with a big left hook. Stan tried to pour it on, but even though Barker was missing, he fired back so heavily that you had to respect his capabilities. Round two was a big round for Stan, and though Barker had no quit in him, it was not a good sign that his thigh was beginning to give him problems. Early in round three, Barker's left leg kick gave out from a low kick. Stan went right back to the low kick, and Barker tried to answer with his own right low kick, but the plant leg was compromised, and I think that did him in more than Stan's subsequent left hook.