Kakutogi Road: The Chronological History of MMA |
There is a cyclical nature in almost every aspect of life, and combat sports are no different. In fact, there may not be a better example of how ideas, concepts, and strategies are attuned to seasonal patterns than when one closely examines MMA history. One need look no further than to the leg-lock sciences to see this axiom in action. Lower body submissions were the core of the early Japanese era, but were regulated to an occasional curiosity for most of the UFC’s existence. Now, thanks to the constant innovations within the no-gi BJJ tournament scene, they are starting to be assessed in a new and favorable light, with several pundits speculating that they are the wave of the future in MMA-tech. While it remains to be seen if leg-locks will become the popular standard again, it wouldn't surprise this humble scribe if they are the future of being a successful submission ace. Perhaps, the way forward will revolve around the ancient wisdom of our predecessors, where they lived and died around a go-for-broke attack style, positional awareness be damned.
With that being said, it is 8-4-92 and we are now in the midst of our ongoing journey through the hallowed grounds of kakutogi history, ready to witness the PWFG’s latest offering: TURN OVER ACT 3. “Turnover” may be the most apropos designation possible, as the continued personnel churn is evident with not only two new faces debuting but a familiar veteran returning after a lengthy hiatus, also.
Yuki Ishikawa vs. Dieusel Berto
It would seem that Fujiwara is no longer in a gracious mood, having been the first major figure within these shoot-groups to break out of the mold of recycling the same opening match ad infinitum. Now, despite several months of changing things up, we find ourselves, once again, going to the dried-up well of Berto/Ishikawa. Back in May, these two were forced to suffer the indignity of a 30-min draw that had more meandering moments than Spinal Tap’s Jazz Odyssey period. However, these two have the potential to kick things off in a proper fashion if confined to a concise format, so hopefully, tonight’s the night. The fight starts, and Ishikawa is looking more urgent than usual, and does an excellent job feinting his way to a nice low single that was far too quick for Berto to deal with. The effort didn’t pay dividends, however, as Berto was right back to his feet. What followed was a light sparring session between the two, with Ishikawa having the edge with a greater variety of techniques at his disposal, though we was never able to really get past Berto’s size/strength advantages. Another problem is that, unlike a Kanehara or Tamura, Ishikawa seems unable to put forth any real intensity unless he is in full-blown shoot mode. Ishikawa the shooter has been a lot of fun so far, but his works smack of Prozac. There wasn’t anything majorly wrong with this, but the lack of intensity held it back. * 3/4
ML: This was clearly a work, but the sort of work that doesn't actually work as a work because ultimately it's just a boring stalemate. I mean, there were strategies here, but at the end of the day, they just didn't really do anything. It was realistic in the sense that Ishikawa wanted to take Berto down, but Berto had enough takedown defense to mostly prevent that from happening. The thing is, in a fixed fight that's very whatever, and the problem is, this whole show wound up being works based on things that are so whatever unless they take place in shoots. While much of the match was in standup, it was a bunch of single shots, very few of which were thrown with any ill intent or landed with any particular force. The main thing that stood out was Berto attempting an enzuigiri, but that was for the wrong reasons (though at least he didn't connect).
Duane Koslowski vs. Ryushi Yanagisawa
It’s the return of the Koslowski! We are all very thankful that Greco-Roman stalwart Duane Kosloski has returned, as it possibly spared us from another forced heaping of Johnny Barrett. Koslowski was last seen almost a year ago when he faced Funaki in one of those weird quasi borderline-shoots that seem to be all the rage right now with the PWFG crew. This incident was one of the most unfortunate turn of events for Fujiwara’s company as Koslowski was a very solid hand with a ton of gravitas, but was injured through most of the prime run of this company. He would only return two more times after this before retiring for good from wrestling/shoot fighting/etc. One of my goals is to track him down for an interview and try and learn more about his time in the shoot-style world. Thankfully, he will be returning against the best 1992 rookie outside of Kanehara, for what should be an interesting stylistic matchup.
Before the match, we get to see Yanagisawa rock some classic early 90s Crazee Wear, which for the unlearned is a bodybuilding clothing/lifestyle company started by Gary Strydom, who will forever live on in infamy as the first, and only, grand champion of Vince McMahon’s short-lived World Bodybuilding Federation. The bout starts and Koslowski’s Greco-Roman skills are still on point as he looks incredibly strong in completely dominating Yanagisawa down to the canvas, yet he still suffers from what I will now refer to as the “Steve Day problem” in that he is way to clunky in executing any kind of submission to be a serious threat once the fight goes horizontal. Now, thanks to modern MMA, getting a fight to the ground and keeping it there is all you really need to win a round, but there were no points to be gained from stalling out on the mat in these days. This wasn’t bad, but was much drier than I would have expected it to be. They both stayed active the entire time, however, their strengths negated each other which led to a rather dry affair. Better than the opening match, but not exactly enough to make a lasting impression. Points must be awarded to Koslowski for understanding the power of the arm-triangle, which, so far, has eluded Willie Peeters. **
ML: A decent match, but one that didn't have nearly as much intensity as I was hoping for. It was also rather odd in that Yanagisawa, who is primarily a kickboxer, not only chose to wrestle with Koslowski, but could somehow win these battles despite despite Koslowski finishing 8th in the Greco-Roman Super-Heavyweight weight class at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. Koslowski, who hadn't shown much submission skill in the past, had made some improvements in this area, and had the advantage here. Yanagisawa clearly won the standup, but by not choosing to focus on it, he opened the door for Koslowski to eventually submit him with an arm-triangle following a belly-to-back suplex.
Oleg Naniev vs. Jerry Flynn
Not to be outdone in the shoot-style arms race, PWFG proves that it’s also a player in this combat sports cold war by introducing their own Russian fighters, in this case with wrestler Oleg Naniev. I could not find out much about Naniev as of press time, other than he will be having a short stint coming up in RINGS. Here he will be given a most gracious welcome by being tossed into the woodchipper that is Jerry Flynn. Flynn showed no respect for last month’s opponent, Ishikawa, basically giving him almost nothing to work with for the entire match. Right away, between his impressive physique and neon magenta singlet, we can see that Naniev means business. This fight is weird, to say the least. Naniev is moving and acting like he is in a real fight, tossing Flynn around with some serious attitude. Flynn, on the other hand, is acting normal, throwing his half-speed kicks, going about things like it’s another day at the office. Naniev completely tools Flynn on the ground positionally, but doesn’t seem strong enough in the submission arts to finish the job. Eventually, Flynn wakes up from his coma, perhaps realizing that his only chance is going to have to be on his feet and starts to put some force behind his strikes. I was enjoying this up until the stupidly contrived ending where Flynn missed an enziguri kick, which Naniev converted into a half-crab for the victory. That complaint aside, I liked what I saw in Naniev. He is intense, seems to take this seriously, and is obviously a great wrestler, but like many of these recent acquisitions, he lacks overall skills. However, I could see him being a very strong MMA fighter for this upcoming era if he can round out his skill set. As this match stands, I award it ***.
ML: Tonight we witnessed the debut of Soviet heavyweight wrestler Oleg Naniev, and while he wasn't bad, it was also difficult to determine whether or not he had much potential because he had very little beyond his amateur wrestling base. This match was exactly what you would expect with Flynn trying (halfheartedly) to kickbox and Naniev trying to take him down. Not much stood out beyond Flynn injuring himself with a low kick, and later injuring Naniev with a high kick to the eye. Once again, we saw a missed enzuiguri, this time leading to the contrived 1/2 crab win for Naniev. This match was forgettable, at best.
Bart Vale vs. Kazuo Takahashi
I can only hope that Takahashi will do to Captain America what the Red Skull has always dreamed of… Sadly, that is likely impossible as I now fear that Bart, “America” Vale is now a made-man in the Fujiwara organization, and as such will not have to face a decapitation by the ever-scrappy Kazuo. Takahashi doesn’t disappoint, and goes right after Vale with some intense low kicks that prompted Vale to respond with what was probably his stiffest and most intense strikes yet. I have to give Takahashi a lot of credit here, by going after Vale with his trademark blazing intensity, he was able to force Bart to drop the lazy showboating and actually react in a serious and credible fashion. Vale had a significant edge in the size department, but Kazuo is the kind of kid that you need a sledgehammer to put away, so it was more competitive than one would expect. Also, Kazuo was able to beat Bart at his own game by getting the better of the kicking exchanges. While outkicking Bart was an impressive accomplishment, he couldn’t do much when Vale would just put his weight behind a palm strike and really wallop him. Thanks to Kazuo’s winning ways, this managed to be interesting, edgy, and entertaining. *** ½
ML: This wasn't a good show, but it's shocking that this could be listed among the "highlights". The big difference was that Takahashi's all out takedown attack forced Vale to add surprisingly good defensive palm strikes, while at the same time the relentless pressure forced him to subtract his horrible head kicks This was probably the best Vale match we've seen so far because Takahashi dictated, keeping the pressure on, and thus refusing to allow Vale to engage and his usual shenanigans of dancing around and spamming no setup high kicks. Takahashi wasn't doing anything different than he always does, but by typically going for the takedown until he could get it, this forced some more legitimate and intense striking from Vale to try to fend him off. Takahashi doesn't mind taking some damage, so Vale was allowed, if not encouraged, to strike with more ferocity than usual. Of course, Vale was still a turtle once Takahashi got him to the canvas, but Takahashi stayed active, so something was happening even though there weren't many transitions. Vale eventually got his lackluster striking going, and scored the knockout, but it felt far less cinematic than usual. Surprisingly decent.
Masakatsu Funaki vs. Aleksey Medvedev
When Enson Inoue was being interviewed at UFC 13 before his fight with Royce Alger, he was asked about how he would handle such a powerhouse within the American wrestling scene. Inoue simply responded that he wasn’t worried about it because “Wrestlers don’t understand submission.” That quip sums up what happened here as Funaki quickly dispatched with his opponent, Aleksey Medvedev, who was a fantastic Russian wrestler, having won a silver medal at the 1996 Olympics in freestyle wrestling. Still, all the wrestling skills in the world aren’t going to save you from being armbared by a prime Funaki. IMO this was a quick shoot that is an interesting peek in how dominant submission is against the uneducated, but the interest begins and ends there.
ML: Another great amateur wrestler debuted here, with Belarusian Medvedev going on to win an Olympic silver medal at Super Heavyweight in freestyle wrestling in 1996, then finishing sixth in 2000. Medvedev had a really stiff looking action figure type of standup posture, but, of course, moved really well on the canvas. Beyond that, I couldn't really tell you much, as he was really only allowed to get one reversal before Funaki finished him with the armbar. This didn't stike me as in any way being a shoot. It was odd that Funaki didn't toy with the opponent like usual, but perhaps it was because Medvedev was so inexperienced he seemed incapable of any real standup or maybe they see how well the Superman act is working for Takada?
Minoru Suzuki vs. Wayne Shamrock
Thanks to the efforts of our resident translator, John Krummel, we have learned that this match was not supposed to happen. This was originally slated to be a rematch between Fujiwara/Suzuki, which was hinted at by Suzuki back in August. Thankfully, Fujiwara injured himself in training, and Ken had to step in as a last min replacement. I say thankfully because long-time readers of our columns will remember that the last time that Fujiwara/Suzuki met, it was a half-hour of Suzuki laying on top of his opponent. This bout will be the 5th and final time that these two would meet before Pancrase, and while the results have varied, these two have always put on a good showing, which is what this event needs right now. The opening mins of this fight were fantastic as Suzuki forced a top-notch showing from Ken with his ever-present intensity. Suzuki moves so effortlessly here, light on his feet, bouncing in and out of striking range, but of course, can’t handle Shamrock’s immense power once caught in a clinch. It didn’t take long for the requisite leg-lock battle to show up, but unlike most of these that tend to be rather boring, this worked splendidly as the intensity never wavered. Suzuki acted like a man possessed, trying to put everything he had into securing a heel hook on Ken, but to no avail. When the footsie battle didn’t pay off, it was time for a lengthy-standing war, with Suzuki doing a good job of employing some stick’n’move, but warded off to some extent by Shamrock’s effective use of the side stance. I have to admit to being quite impressed with the rest of this. Granted, because of its 30 min running time it had some dead spots, especially in the final ten mins but the intensity never wavered and even its slower moments felt like two men desperate to figure out how to get past the defenses of the other. This contest always felt like an incredibly intense chess match and easily warrants a solid ****. It didn’t have the gonzo go-for-broke atmosphere of the recent Tamura or Kakihara successes but had gravitas aplenty.
ML: These two did an amazing job of holding my attention for 30 minutes despite barely succeeding with any of their offense. I definitely enjoyed this match, but it is certainly the type of overly realistic and strategic match you only enjoy in moderation, and when done by highly skilled performers. This really felt like a new match, and was definitely the most Pancrase-esque match we have seen so far. Their goal here was to keep applying pressure, but have the opponent counter or somehow slither their way out just before they managed to fully lock the submission. They kept moving until they got a controlling position, then grinded on the opponent to set up the submission, but their eventual explosion was met with, if not preceeded by an equally fast counter move by the opponent. The movement in this match was excellent, a big step up from what we've been seeing even in the best PWFG, particularly from Shamrock, who was very fluid, quick, and explosive on the mat, finally seeming a match for Suzuki in those departments. The stakes were high, and their actions always felt important. Even though the match was really long, especially given the scant amount of offense that was actually locked in, this never felt like stalling or killing time, as they kept setting things up and coming ever so close. They definitely weren't taking a minute between moves then alternating between a useless abdominal stretch and a pointless chinlock like the worst MMA fighter of all-time, C.M. Punk, in his lame Bret Hart vs. 1-2-3 Kid ripoff against Darby Allin. Suzuki & Shamrock's success here was not in what they did, but that they were able to credibly keep the audience anticipating through all that they ultimately failed too actually apply. It was probably not a huge surprise that their deciding match of 1992 went the distance given Suzuki had three 30:00 draws in 1991, including one with Ken, and Shamrock already had a 30 minute followed by a 40 minute draw with Funaki earlier this year, but Suzuki seemed to be more on a roll with his only loss this year being the first match to Shamrock (hence the scheduled big match against Fujiwara). Overall, this was the kind of match you wanted this show to end with because two high end performers that know each other really well were finally able to showed this completely no frills realistic style had something to it, after 5 weak attempts earlier in the show. ***1/4
Conclusion: This event had some decent moments, but was coated in a shell that was drier than a salt lick sitting out in the Arizona desert. However, the problem I’m having with being overly critical here is that this org is pushing the envelope in how much shoot we can wedge into the shoot-style, which is commendable in a way, but the problem isn’t so much the execution as the concept is lacking in the first place. We are left in a place where we can see that you either have to fully commit to shooting or being entertaining but straddling the fence with a series of matches that occupy this weird not-fake-but-not-quite-real space isn’t at all conducive to any kind of lasting entertainment value. While it has been an interesting journey, it is clear that this is the poorest iteration of the shoot-style concept, simply because the intensity is too lacking with these faux-sparring sessions. Still, I don’t want to sound too harsh, because this had some good moments. Vale/Takahashi was good, and the main event, while long, was also worth watching, but overall, this was way too subdued.
ML: If we want to be fair to Flair, we can simply state that this show had absolutely none. It did have one match that was better than Flair, but the rest was equally uninspiring, albeit at least it was neither cornball nor spot for spot the same match we get the other 364 nights. Still, while not the absolute worst (perhaps only because we were spared of both Fujiwara and Johnny Barrett), this show would get my vote for the dullest we have reviewed so far.
Our resident translator, John Krummel was kind enough to go through this event and translate the interview segments. Here is his transcription:
Opening speech from Minoru Suzuki representing Fujiwaragumi :
“Thank you for coming today. While watching the fights I hope you feel the passion and spirit of the fighters. We appreciate your support and cheering to the very end. Thank you.”
Speech by Yoshiaki Fujiwara who had to cancel his appearance today because of an injury while training: “I thank you all for coming today. Yesterday, due to my inattention, I injured my rib. As a result, I am deeply sorry that I am not able to fight today. But I plan to be on my best condition on October 4th at the Tokyo Dome. I appreciate your support, thank you very much.”
Ishikawa vs Berto:
Ishikawa’s prefight interview: Question: “What is your strategy today?”: Answer: “I’m not that great in my kicks, so I think I’ll try to take him to the ground and submit him in grappling. He likes to grab the legs, but if you look at his body, in comparison to his upper body, his legs are thin and is the weak point so I’m thinking of trying to hook his ankle. Last time we were trying to grab each other’s ankles, so I’ve been studying how I can hook the ankle real quickly, so I’m going to try that.”
Koslowski vs Yanagisawa:
Yanagisawa’s prefight interview: Question: “What is your fight strategy today?”; Answer: “Well, the opponent doesn’t use kicks so I have no real reason to be afraid of the strikes, so to that extent it will be easy for me. But he’s going to try to grab me and will go for my leg when kicking, so I’ll have to be careful about that and not be thrown.”
[my own (translator’s) thoughts: boy was he wrong… this kinda looked like a shoot too… at least the finish, the powerful suplex landing Yanagisawa on his head and then the shoulder lock..]
Vale vs Takahashi:
Takahashi’s prefight interview: Question: “What is your fight strategy today?”; Answer: “Last time we fought in February I got KO’d by Vale, but this time I’ve been training more, and so I want to see how much my kicks will be effective against him, and I want to see how much I’ve improved to approach Vale’s level.”
Medvedev vs Funaki:
Funaki’s prefight interview: Question: “What is your state of mind today as you’ll be fighting someone from the former Soviet Union?”; Answer: “A little while ago I had a glance of him and noticed he’s really tall, over two meters, so if he catches me and picks me up, it would be like flying in the air. But when standing, if he comes near, I’ll hit him with kicks and punches, and if I can knock him down with that, I’d be happy.”
Suzuki vs Shamrock:
Suzuki’s prefight interview: Question: “What is your impression of Shamrock these days?”; Answer: “Last time at Tokushima it seemed like he’s come back. For a while he was losing a series of matches in a row and I could see from his expressions that he was depressed psychologically, but it seems like he’s gotten over that now. And this is someone I can go full force against without thinking too much since this is also before the big event at the Tokyo Dome. I don’t feel any special pressure about this either. Win or lose, whatever the consequence, he’s someone against which I can try out my arsenal of techniques prior to the Dome show. Maybe it was better that I’m not going against Fujiwara. I feel no pressure in this match with thoughts like “I have to win” or “I must win…” [Translator’s note: the implication is that he would feel that way when going against Fujiwara. It seems like his fight with Fujiwara may have been the originally scheduled fight until Fujiwara got injured and had to cancel.]
*In Other News*
KICK World Bantamweight Champion, Ramona Gatto, recently won a hard fought 10-round decision against previously undefeated, Natalia LaRoshka. This fight took place on Russian soil and was for the ISKA World Flyweight Championship.