The Chronological History of MMA
Chapter 12: RINGS ASTRAL STEP 3rd KAMUI 9/14/91 Sapporo Nakajima Sports Center
By Michael Betz & Mike Lorefice 5/2/20

When we last saw Akira Maeda, he was belaying his (shoot) knee injury into a piece of (worked) fiction, as he glorified Aryan poster boy and Double Dragon avatar, Dick Vrij, with what can only be ostensibly referred to as a "squash match." Now with only a little over a month of recovery time, he must return to perhaps face his greatest challenge yet, a man with a long and storied Judo pedigree, Dutch fighter Willie Wilhelm.

We are returning to the Sapporo Nakajima Center, which upon our last visit we were able to be part of the ascension of Ken "Wayne" Shamrock, as he bested Masakatsu Funaki in an electric evening. We can only hope for another glimpse of magic that this location may provide, as when we last witnessed Maeda and his band of hired mercenaries, we were left with a very lackluster experience that we hope is to never be repeated.

We start off with an interview with Maeda inside the arena well before the show's opening time, as he pensively talks about his match with Wilhelm, while footage of competitors warming up is interspersed throughout, and we are then taken backstage as a surprisingly threadbare group of performers/hands prepare for the nights proceedings in a cramped area. Suddenly, we are exposed to the strange juxtaposition of it all, as Maeda has managed to leverage his name and star power to create a façade of having an extensive organization and a grandiose sport-in-the-making, only to reveal that underneath the surface is a mere skeleton crew.

The show opens with the usual pageantry, and I was wholly expecting nothing eventful to come forth when I was pleasantly surprised to see something of great historical import take place. The head of Seidokaikan karate, Kazuyoshi Ishii, and his top pupil, Masaaki Satake, have come to the ring in order to honor Maeda, both with flowers and flowery speeches in an effort to show the solidarity between the essences of RINGS and karate. This is actually an oft under-examined connection that we at Kakutogi HQ hope to explore further in the days to come, as RINGS was very influential upon Ishii, and in turn K-1. Without Maeda's tutelage, Sediokaikan may have never morphed into the kickboxing juggernaut that it became (even surpassing the popularity of Baseball in Japan at one point), which would have left a giant hole in the MMA continuum as we know it today.

We are now tasked with examining the first contest of the evening, a rematch that absolutely no one was asking for, a WATER BOUT between Mitsuya Nagai and Herman Renting. Truly things have already started at a low ebb, as this is the exact same pairing seen a month ago at the Aqua Heat event, and while I found it to be a moderately entertaining excursion, it wasn't exactly something that demanded revisiting. This match started off with an open-handed kickboxing sparring session kind of vibe, but thankfully it didn't stay there long, as we got to see plenty of fine judo from Renting throughout, including a nice ashi-dori-ouchi-gari (leg-pick-inside-trip), and there was a nice sequence from Nagai that saw him charging toward Renting with a flying knee, only to miss, and then rebound with a kneebar attempt that forced a rope escape. When the ref stood them back up afterwards, Nagai executed the very first somersault kick in the kakutogi spectrum, which resulted in a knockdown, and was pleasant for all to behold. The fight did not last much longer though, as the wrath of Renting was complete, and he turned a headlock takedown into a neck-crank for the submission win. I was pleasantly surprised by all of this. While it wouldn't be confused for match of the year by anyone, it did feel like they were starting to find a groove for this style, and by adding some more variety in the grappling and striking exchanges, it led to the match having more drama and a better flow, when compared to their first bout from a month prior.

ML: While our second helping of Nagai vs. Renting isn't exactly producing the ecstasy of dining on honey dew and drinking the milk of paradise, it's a much more sufficient banquet than their initial brew. In fact, outside of Kiyoshi Tamura, these two are battling each other for the biggest improvement from one match to another we've seen so far, with the edge going to Renting. They really figured out how to blend their styles, and now had a clear course of action with Renting either being proactive & initiating the clinch or urging Nagai to kick so he could get the take down by grabbing him. Renting did a lot once he got the fight to the ground, showing a variety of submission attempts, but Nagai's ground game was solid as well, and he was able to both apply submission pressure from the bottom and get back to his feet. The urgency was high here, and they did a nice job of keeping the match moving by continuing to find different transitions & counters to the same basic sequence where Renting would get a takedown off a Greco body lock. Renting's striking was solid as well, but he wasn't going to duke it out with a stronger striker when he could put him on his back & get the first crack at finishing him. They kicked it into high gear after Renting got a down with a soccer kick, with Nagai charging the length of the ring at Renting, which was such a theatrical departure from the otherwise fairly UWF credible action even though he missed the flying knee that had preceeded that it kind of worked in showing he was fired up & didn't care about the risk. Nagai then managed to do an even more spectacular version of the leg catch enzuigiri spot where he instead flipped forward for a knockdown. Renting's takedown game eventually ruled the day though when he changed things up, rolling Nagai down in an arm in guillotine then releasing & reapplying the guillotine from side mount for the win, which the billed as a "reverse full nelson hold". ***

Now we have our FIRE BOUT with perennial cheatyface Willie Peeters, and Dutch wrestling legend Bert Kops Jr. Kops is perhaps best known to modern MMA fans as one of the mentors to former Cage Warriors/DREAM/Strikeforce/Bellator champion Gegard Mousasi, but he has been wrestling since the age of 6, and is active to this day in the MMA and wrestling scene within the Netherlands. The last time we saw Peeters was when he was acting like a big fat jerk at the very first RINGS event, in which he "worked" a match in only the loosest of definitions, as he wouldn't pull his punches while engaging his opponent, but saw it in his heart to allow a bit of cooperation in the grappling sequences (kindly offering Marcel Haarmans an opportunity to work for a Boston Crab or two.) This could prove to be remarkably interesting given Kops's wrestling pedigree and the unpredictability of Peeters, so I am anticipating this contest. The fight starts and right away it seems that Peeters is behaving a bit more than his last outing, working with his opponent, although he is still a bit spazzy, and his body shots are probably too stiff for a work. Both fighters trade throws, strikes, and submissions, all the while Peeters manages to come off like a cartoon character. Kops starts throwing some surprisingly decent worked kicks at Peeters at an appropriate genteel speed, and then shoots in on Peeters to execute a backdrop slam. Peeters responds by charging forward and clocking Kops in the jaw in a seemingly (shoot) jerk move, as it appears to be way too stiff. The rest of the fight saw Kops use several throws, including some beautiful examples of Koshi Guruma (Hip Wheel, or Headlock Throw in BJJ parlance) and some rather contrived gutwrench suplexes. Watching Kops try and execute solid fakery with an opponent that only seems to want to cooperate when he feels like it led to an entertaining match, for all the wrong reasons.

ML: In the spirit of Keith Jardine's great nickname "The Dean of Mean", I propose Willie as "The Peet of Cheat". There was a classic Peeters moment when he didn't go with Kops head & arm throw, and soccer ball kicked Kops rather than letting him back up. That being said, he's one of my favorite fighters on these early RINGS because he's such an unpredictable wildman. Willie landed several of his signature hard closed fist punches to the body today, but Kops seemed to be on the same wavelength, or at least know what to expect from Peeters, and was actually responsible for escalating, if not starting, the violence right at the outset. Kops was very active & aggressive, enjoying displaying his power with a variety of rotational deadlift throws. There was a nice spot where he hit a rather low impact suisha otoshi only to have Peeters pop up & drop him with a running uppercut. This wasn't the most realistic match, but Kops showed a ton of potential as suplex machines who were credible strikes were in short supply in these days. He was probably more suited to UWF-I, but he seemed too good an athlete not to have made an impact somewhere. One of the great things about this match is Kops doesn't take Peeters crap. He comes right back dropping Peeters with a knee, and then when he's supposed to be disengaging, he gives the downed Peeters a little kick. Kops isn't trying to hurt Peeters, but keeping him in check by letting him know that he could, and would consider it. These two seem to be vying for who can be the bigger subtle heel at this point, as Peeters responds by threatening to cheap shot Kops on the rope break. Unfortunately, Kops seemingly tore his left knee midway through the match, and though he tried to proceed as normal, eventually the kneecap seemed to be moving around on him, and it appeared that they'd have to stop the match. Kops wasn't trying to quit though, he just had them spray it numb so he could finish as planned. The injury probably knocked 1/2* off the match, as it continued beyond the point where Kops was particularly productive, with Peeters eventually KO'ing him with a knee. Still, this is the best RINGS match we've seen thusfar. ***1/4

Next up is the UNIVERSE bout with Dick Vrij and Tom Van Maurik. Maurik was one of the more interesting components of the last RINGS event with his unusually stiff body shots that he dished out to Chris Dolman, so I'm intrigued to see how this plays out with aspiring Bond-Villain Vrij. What is not interesting, is that this contest has been formatted to be seven 3 minute rounds, presumably to keep Vrij from gassing. Things are not looking better once the fight begins, as apparently someone had a conversation with Maurik, and his stiffness is nowhere to be found here. Instead we have some exceptionally soft, fake looking quasi kickboxing. This is an odd move, as much of this audience would surely be kickboxing savvy, and presenting a very striking orientated match that lacks any semblance of stiffness seems questionable all the way around.

The action picked up a little bit by the middle of round 2, and we saw a little bit of grappling, as Vrij attempted a pitiful rear naked choke, which prompted a rope escape from Maurik. Round 2 probably gave us the only (shoot) action that we are likely to see tonight, when Vrij ruffled the curly locks of Van Maurik's hair as they were both clenched up in the corner. The intensity continued to escalate by round 3, and both competitors became more lively, but at no point was this ever credible, or even much more than marginally entertaining. The Japanese crowd was rightly indifferent to most of this. At least the UWF-I has the good sense to stick real kickboxing bouts at the beginning of their cards, and this whole affair makes me wish that Maeda had done the same, or at least asked his buddy Ishii to loan him a couple of up and coming Sediokaikan karatekas to provide us with a knockdown bout (we'll see this starting with the next show as Nobuaki Kakuda, Rob Kaman, & Masaaki Satake will soon make their RINGS debuts). Simply put, this was crap, and is amazing to watch knowing that this will eventually become the most important MMA promotion in the late '90's. The match ends with Van Maurik submitting to an ankle lock, and we are thankfully moving on to the EARTH BOUT.

ML: One would expect the universe to have more to offer than this. I'd say these two were hitting like Miss Universe, but that would surely be sexist. These two could definitely have beaten Frank Trigg to the monicker "Twinkle Toes" if they wanted to own up to these shenanigans. There was a particularly funny sequence where Van Maurik scored the first knockdown overwhelming Vrij with a series of close range shots that barely connected, so Vrij threw his mouthpiece out, which I suppose made sense given his teeth were in no danger if that was as hard as Van Maurik was willing to hit. The match was nonetheless fairly even, but then Vrij got 3 knockdowns in the 4th. Vrij tried to finish with a clinch knee, but they did this really silly, contrived spot where Van Maurik urgently drove forward for the takedown to avoid, and they spilled to the floor with Vrij getting the better of it, so he was able to do something of a diving knee off the apron. Vrij finally caught Van Maurik with a nice right head kick, probably accidentally because Van Maurik's head was lower than he expected going down fast from a weak left high kick. Surprisingly in this kickboxing match, the finish was Vrij catching a middle kick & dropping into an Achilles' tendon hold. Van Maurik was going to grab the ropes despite having no downs left, but couldn't make it that last inch & was forced to tap. Definitely one of the worst matches we've seen so far.

As much as I'm hopeful the acidic notes of earthen soil will cleanse my palette with a crisp and refreshing cascade of citrus flavor, it's more likely this next fight will be chalky and will coat our tongues with a most unpleasant aftertaste. Wilhelm gave us the worst match of the last RINGS undertaking, and I can't reasonably expect Maeda to pull something great out of him, but I can hope, can't I? If nothing else, Maeda continues to be incredibly over, as the crowd simply cannot wait to start chanting his name amidst a sea of strobe light effects. Wilhelm is donning his judo gi with all the pride that Holland can muster, while Maeda is sporting a heavily taped knee. Sadly, any hopes that this clash would save the evening are quickly dashed, as Wilhelm once again shows he has no business trying to throw fake kicks, which, not surprisingly, look really fake. Maeda isn't helping matters any with his slow-motion German suplex into an armbar, which forces a rope escape. Wilhelm gets back up and hits some knees from the clinch, a tasty Hari-Goshi throw, and tries to work in an armbar of his own, which scares the crowd, as their hero is now in danger. If nothing else, the crowd is into this, so at least that lends a welcome energy to this affair. After his throw, Wilhelm tries to engage Maeda in some ne waza, but apparently is not versed in proper leg lock etiquette, and Maeda catches him in a heel-hook that prompts another rope escape. A short time after they get up, Wilhelm taunts Maeda to kick him in his portly belly, to which Maeda dutifully obliges, and Maeda is taken down by a Fujiwara/straight armbar for his trouble. Maeda then picks up the aggression and fires off several kicks to Wilhelm, but his leg is captured, and he is put in the most fearsome submission from the Northeastern seaboard, the Boston crab. All of Sopporo must have breathed a sigh of relief, as Maeda fought hard to get to the ropes and escape his impending doom, but no such mercies will be extended to us, the viewers of this tripe. The rest of the match shows Maeda repeatedly kicking Wilhelm for his insolence, and dragging him into the center of the ring to execute a heel hook that took about as much time as it would to read through the Wall Street Journal.

ML: We're seeing the same thing in all 3 promotions, the guys running them are old school pro wrestlers, and the more real martial artists they bring in, the sillier & more dated their tricks that never worked when the opponent wasn't helping out look. In the current setting, it's doubtful that a healthy Maeda is going to carry anyone to a good match, and this was far from a healthy Maeda. However, the match quality here isn't the relevant factor to Maeda. Maeda's 11/29/89 match against Wilhelm drew 60,000 at the Tokyo Dome, so it's obvious why he wanted to have a rematch with the '84 Judo Olympian. While that was a less out of shape version of Wilhelm, who also wisely wore his gi, this again is Maeda doing Inoki's fork over the cash to get all the real martial artists who would destroy him to instead take the knee, so in his mind it's guaranteed to achieve his only two goals of raising his credibility and fortunes. Apart from the 30 seconds where Wilhelm was releasing obnoxious screams & urging Maeda to hit him in the belly welly this wasn't bad, but it was never compelling either. Maeda couldn't do much, and while Wilhelm actually did pretty well, especially for a guy who doesn't really know how to have a match, it kind of felt like an exhibition where he was just demonstrating some things he can do. As a performance, it was barely passable, but the fact that it totally felt like a performance, and it wasn't an entertaining one at that, made it a failure. Maeda's big slow comeback with the low kicks leading to the high kick knockdown was surely the most contrived aspect of the show. Really nothing he did had enough zest to be even somewhat believable, but a lot of the problem was that even with the show being pushed back to give him more time to recover, his body was just barely able to cooperate.

Ok, it greatly saddens this scribe to say this, but this was mostly atrocious. The first match showed us a glimpse of moving in the right direction, as at least Nagai and Renting were able to work out more of a drama and flow to their fakery, even if it felt more manufactured than something coming out of the PWFG, but there really isn't anything else here that would suggest surviving another year, let alone becoming the prestigious promotion that it did. Also, outside of a couple of nice throws, Wilhelm looks atrocious, and it's amazing that some are just not cut out for working matches. Dolman, despite moving like dried paint, was a strong judoka, but he always carried himself credibly and gave off the impression that he was the real deal. Still, if nothing else, Maeda has the right idea, by giving it a grandiose format, and an international flavor, hopefully it's just a matter of time before the talent meets the vision.

ML: I'm going to disagree here. I think this was a major positive step forward for the promotion. Yes, there are some really bad signs, savior Maeda is broken, and Vrij isn't capable of being the top foreigner because he badly needs someone to lay out the match & carry him, and Willy Wilhelm simply needs to go, but the undercard is rounding into shape. Nagai is already a reasonable worker two matches in, Peeters keeps having good matches with his odd blend of dickishness & flash, Renting is getting it, Kops has a ton of potential (if he's not broken), and Ishii has arrived to loan his stable of karate guys, which will give RINGS access to Japanese fighters who actually have a legitimate pedigree & some notoriety that comes with that.

In other news:

PWFG is rumored to be negotiating with David Gobedshivili for a possible debut in early 1992. Gobedshivili is a former Olympic gold medalist in freestyle wrestling, and there has been a lot of interest in him and Alexander Karelin as of late, with NJPW making offers, as well as Verne Gange, the owner of the now defunct AWA.

Action film superstar Chuck Norris recently invited controversial martial arts personality George Dillman to his home in an effort to learn more about Dillman's reported system of being able to knock out people via lightly tapping various pressure points. Norris holds black belts in Tang Soo Do, Judo, and Shito-Ryu Karate, and is always looking to further his marital education. Norris was reportedly still skeptical of the veracity of Dillman's claims after the demonstration, but is willing to have him make a return visit in order to learn more.

The UWF-I recently ran out of money, as the expenses of running monthly shows exceed what they have been able to take in. In a desperate effort, Nobuhiko Takada contacted former UWF owner Shinji Jin, and was able to use him as a middleman to work out some financing from the current owner of the SWS and PWFG promotions, Hachiro Tanaka. Tanaka is one of the main executives of Megane Super, an eyeglass company in Japan. This is remarkable as Takada had previously avowed to never deal with Jin again, as his antics led to a scandal that took down the UWF to begin with. This will also put Takada in a somewhat precarious position as Tanaka will now have ownership in three different major wrestling promotions in Japan.

Recently disgraced sumo and pro wrestler Koji Kitao is also looking to get financial backing from Hachiro Tanaka and is trying to start up a wrestling promotion in the vein of the UWF, with himself as the star.

ML: Masakatsu Funaki wrestled the 3rd of his 4 matches in SWS this year on 4/23/91 against Fumihiro Niikura. While the match was again technically good, it was nowhere near the level of his previous two SWS matches against Naoki Sano, as it was never even remotely competitive to the point I've already forgotten if Niikura was allowed a singular piece of offense. Nonetheless, Funaki is the best of the Japanese fighters at constantly adjusting his position on the ground to maintain control. Though he doesn't have a strong background in either wrestling or BJJ, his movements are seemingly naturally a lot better than the other fighters, even if they still fail sometimes due to the faulty pro wrestling notion that there's a place in real fighting for no body control appendage locks. This movement is crucial to the success of his style because more than the other shoot fighters, his concept of realism is based around an economy of high spots. Funaki is one of the better strikers, but he really tries not to utilize much of it, instead preferring to set up submissions on the mat, and use a few powerful shots for knockdowns either to maintain interest or to lead to the finish. Funaki was much more respectful of Niikura than Fujiwara was on 4/1/91, but it seems that Canada is the only place where it's good to be part of the Viet Cong, as Niikura was again nothing more than a jobber.