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May 16, 1993

 

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Martial Arts Organisation opens in Japan!

 

Black Belt Magasine reveals its exclusive scoop of the world's first ever Professional Martial Arts organisation opening in Tokyo, Japan last night.

 

Pro wrestlers Minoru Suzuki and Masakatsu Funaki, both former standouts in college amateur wrestling in Japan, founded Pancrase along with their business partner, Nobuyuki Sakakibara, after they left their mentor, Yoshiaki Fujiawara, over a dispute on the direction of Fujiwara'a wrestling promotion, Pro Wrestling Fujiwara-gumi. Suzuki and Funaki wanted to continue in a "real fight" direction, but Fujiwara opted to work with a more showman style of wrestling, syaing that "real fights" won't put butts in the seats.

 

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Determined to prove their mentor wrong, Suzuki and Funaki then left the company, bringing with them their top foreign star, shootfighter Ken Shamrock, famous for his victory over kickboxing legend Don Nakaya Nielsen, with them along with establishing a partnership with Sakakibara, a young communications bachelor who made his name promoting events from K-1 Kickboxing and pro wrestling promotion UWFI for Fuji TV.

 

A partnership with such connections, as well as popular fighters like Suzuki, Funaki and Shamrock, leaves PANCRASE with a solid foundation to built around. Many former pro wrestlers and students of wrestling Dojos such as Fujiwara's has shown interest in taking up this "real fighting" endeavour and enroll in Suzuki and Funaki's Pancraseism dojo, and the Pancrase group are busy inviting various martial Artists from various disciplines to take part in their first ever show, which Sakakibara announced would be held somewhere in september, should things go smoothly.

 

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Suzuki Challenges Olympic Gold Medalist Yoshida to a fight!

 

 

In perhaps the biggest marketing coup of the young promotion's history, co-founder Minoru Suzuki has publicly challenged Hidehiko Yoshida to a fight at Pancrase's inaugural event in september!

 

Yoshida, who won the gold medal in Judo at the 1992 barcelona Olympics, has accepted Suzuki's challenge, much to the sirprise and intrigue of the japanese press and public. At a press conference confirming the fight to happen, Yoshda was confident of his chances.

"It is a unique opportunity to be part of building a brand new sport." said Yoshida, accompanied by his agent and Sakakibara. "Suzuki-san is brave and ambitious, but he is a tough guy and has won many tournaments in amateur wrestling. I can't wait to see what pro wrestlers are capable of in a real fight!"

Another rumoured fight on Pancrase's first card is a matchup between Masakatsu Funaki and Ken Shamrock, while dutch kickboxer Vas Rutten is confirmed to fight on the card against an undetermined opponent.

Pancrase is still searching for a place to schedule their first event, with the Tokyo bay hall in Tokyo Disney as well as Korakuen Hall being rumoured to be possible locations.

 

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Meanwhile, back home, Art Davie, Bob Meyrowitz and the famed Gracie family of brazilian Jiu Jitsu experts, have announced that they will organised a similar martial arts tournmaent, to be held at the McNichols sports arena in Denver, Colorado, one of the rare states to not have an athletic commission, which will allow the tournament to be held without much trouble. This tournament, which will be called the Ultimate Fighting Championship, will not only feature the latest prodigy of the Gracie Family in royce, but also Pancrase fighter Ken Shamrock, Former standout Wrestler Dan Severn and dutch kickboxer Gerard Gordeau as well as a grand prize of a million dollar to the winner. The tournament will be held in november of this year.

 

More to come in the next few issues.

 

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Rickson Gracie to make Japan debut vs olympic judoka Ogawa!

The Pancrase martial Arts organisation has anmounced a new fight added to the card of their first ever show, Pancrase: Hybrid Wrestlers, as Rickson Gracie, of the famed Gracie jiu jitsu family, will face off against Olympic Silver medalist in judo Naoya Ogawa in what looks to be a tremendous contest of world class grappling!

 

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Ogawa, who won the silver medal in his weight category at the 1992 barcelona olympics and a 4-time gold medalist at the world judo championships, signed an exclusive deal with Pancrase, and is looking forward to test his skills against a legendary grappler in Rickson. Rickson, meanwhile, wasn't meant to be the Gracie representative being sent to Japan, with Royce Gracie being whom Nobuyuki Sakakibara and Minoru Suzuki originally wanted.

 

However, Royce opted to participate in the Ultimate Fighting Championship tournament taking place in Denver, Colorado later in November, personally suggesting his half-brother Rickson, a living legend in Brazil and former champion in both Jiu-Jitsu and Sambo. Rickson is confident that he will beat the silver medalist in Judo, stating that the fight will be over in a flash.

 

 

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More fights confirmed!


Bas Rutten, dutch kickboxer extraordinaire known for his playful perosnality, now knows the identity of his opponent on Pancrase: Hybrid Wrestlers. Olympic gold medalist Hidehiko Yoshida, who is scheduled to face Minoru Suzuki in the much-publicised Main event of the show, has recommended his old friend and fellow Judoka Tsuyoshi Kosaka to be Rutten's opponent to Sakakibara-san. A 4th degree black belt in Judo, Kosaka looks to give Rutten an interesting challenge in a true "style vs style" clash that makes up the biggest selling point of "Real Fighting"

 

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One of the more interesting fights on the card is a battle of big, beefy boys as "Mr. 200%" Yoji Anjo of pro wrestling promotion UWFI will compete in Pancrase thanks to an agreement between Pancrase and UWFI's Nobuhiko Takada. He will face off against Freestyle Wrestling standout Kazuyuki Fujita, who finished 5th in this year's asian championships and represented Japan in the world amateur wrestling championship. Anjo practiced multiple martial arts before his wrestling career, such as Sumo, Muay Thai and Judo, and he hopes that those skills will serve him well against the sturdy wrestler Fujita.
 

 

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Finally, the opening contest of Pancrase: Hybrid Wrestlers will see two young wrestlers trying their hands at real fighting, as well as two smaller competitors.  On one corner, you have UWFI's Kiyoshi Tamura, one of the brightest prospects in japan, who made himself famous with his bouts against Anjo and Nobuhiko Takada in UWFI, along with training in catch wrestling under the legendary Lou Thesz in America. His opponent will be Kazushi Sakuraba, a former freestyle wrestling standout who finished 4th in the all japan wrestling championships and joined the Pancraseism dojo to pursue a career in Real Fighting. Those two smaller fighters are looking to make a good impression on the Pancrase bosses.
 

 

 

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Pancrase: Hybrid Wrestlers full confirmed card:

Live from Tokyo bay NK Hall



Main event: Challenge fight

1 round, 30 minutes

Minoru Suzuki vs hidehiko yoshida
 

1 round, 15 minutes
Ken Shamrock vs Masakatsu Funaki



Rickson Gracie Japanese Debut:
 

1 round, 15 minutes
Rickson Gracie vs Naoya Ogawa

 


1 round, 15 minutes
Bas Rutten vs Tsuyoshi Kohsaka

 



Pancrase vs UWFI Challenge Match:


1 round, 15 minutes
Kazuyuki Fujita vs "Mr. 200%" Yoji Anjo

 



Pancrase vs UWFI Challenge Match:

1 round, 15 minutes
Kiyoshi Tamura vs Kazushi Sakuraba


What will be fight of the night?

Edited by kinnikuniverse
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Main event: Challenge fight

1 round, 30 minutes

Minoru Suzuki vs hidehiko yoshida
 

1 round, 15 minutes
Ken Shamrock vs Masakatsu Funaki



Rickson Gracie Japanese Debut:
 

1 round, 15 minutes
Rickson Gracie vs Naoya Ogawa

 


1 round, 15 minutes
Bas Rutten vs Tsuyoshi Kohsaka

 



Pancrase vs UWFI Challenge Match:


1 round, 15 minutes
Kazuyuki Fujita vs "Mr. 200%" Yoji Anjo

 



Pancrase vs UWFI Challenge Match:

1 round, 15 minutes
Kiyoshi Tamura vs Kazushi Sakuraba


What will be fight of the night? Rutten vs. Kohsaka

 

 

 

Looking forward to this!

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Who can run the fastest? Who can jump the highest? Who can hold another man down or make him quit? These are the questions that plague any group of people and must be answered on the field of play—athletics at its most primal and pure.

It’s what makes wrestling one of the world’s oldest sports, a form of competition transcending culture, creed and even language, requiring little in the way of explanation. Wrestling is the sport of royalty and the common man—the desire to dominate knows no socio-economic boundaries. That’s why you see wrestling preserved for eternity on the vases of ancient Greece and Egypt.

Wrestling has survived the ages in various forms, from the gentle Glima of Scandinavia, where opponents through each other by their belts, to the rough and tumble grappling of the American frontier, where you could often pick out the grapplers by the scars covering their faces and even their missing eyeballs.

Pancrase lands somewhere in the middle of that spectrum, a brutal competition of potentially harmful techniques and holds that was also carefully regulated and controlled, both by the formal rules and an unwritten Gentleman’s Code.


This is Pancrase: Hybrid Wrestlers!

 

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Pancrase: Hybrid Wrestlers

Live from Tokyo Bay NK Hall, Tokyo, Japan

7,000 spectators (sold out)

Broadcasted on Fuji TV Pay-per-view, with the fights being shown for free on Fuji TV's main channel two days later.

September 19, 1993

 

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The show opens with all of the fighters competing in tonight's groundbreaking card as well as Nobuyuki Sakakibara coming to the ring to thank the fans for coming in droves and deliver short speeches, with Sakakibara serving as the host of this ceremony. While most of them would keep things short and sweet, Minoru Suzuki and Masakatsu Funaki would add that tonight, they will witness the birth of a new sport, and that nothing will ever be the same after tonight.


Opening Contest: Pancrase vs UWFI Challenge match #1

 

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1 round, 15 minutes
Kiyoshi Tamura vs Kazushi Sakuraba

Our opening contest features those two youngsters, with Tamura being the de facto favorite due ot the audience's familiarity with him from UWFI. Yuji Shimada will be the referee of this 15 minute bout.

At the sound of the bell, Sakuraba's big right gets ducked by a charging tamura, who shoots for his legs and brings him down, Sakuraba pulling half guard. After a brief struggle, Tamura passes into side control, but Sakuraba traps him in half guard, even attempting a leg lock that tamura quickly avoids and passes his opponet's half guard and tries to mount him.

But sakuraba manages to scramble on top of Tamura in north-south position. Tamura attempts an underhook, but Saku seizes side control and attempts a kimura!!

AND TAMURA GETS CAUGHT AND HE TAPS!

And just like that, the winner of the first ever Pancrase match is Kazushi Sakuraba at 10:34!

A pretty good opener for Pancrase's first ever show, with tamura dominating the first half, but a costly mistake on the mount attempt allowed Sakuraba to take control and complete the comeback with a nasty kimura lock. The audience, entertained by this comeback win from Saku, gave both young men a good round of applause.


Official Results: Kazushi Sakuraba defeats Kiyoshi Tamura by Submission via Kimura lock in 10:34.

Despite losing, Tamura did look good in defeat, while Sakuraba is visibly delighted with that win over Japan's top prospect.


Pancrase vs UWFI Challenge Match #2

 

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1 round, 15 minutes
Kazuyuki Fujita vs "Mr. 200%" Yoji Anjo

Fujita is at least 35 pounds heavier than Anjo, but the latter is nonetheless not impressed by the freestyle wrestler. Then again, they is barely any difference in height between the two fighters.

Yuji Shimada once again in charge of this one as he signals for the bell. Anjo is doing exactly what he wanted to, keeping the fight standing up to use his muay thai, but Fujita is more than willing to exchange, for he hits anjo with a few clean shots. A big right hook hits Anjo on tbe counter, but it wasn't enough to bring the shootfighter down. Big miss from anjo followed by an even bigger miss by Fujita with the right hand.

Anjo gets caught by Fujita in the ropes and double underhooks him to gain control, but doesn't really do anything. Thus, Yuji Shimada forces them to break up and restart at the center of the ring.

Fujita again msicles anjo into the ropes, and another break followed. Fujita is slowing down now, breathing a little heavier, but it doesn't matter, for his game plan is clearly to control tbe match with his physicality and wrestling. Striek exchange follows, with fujita busting anjo open with a crisp left hand above the eye, prompting shimada to check on the shootfighter.

The ringside doctor gives the thumbs up, as the cut isn't deep enough to cause troubke for Anjo. The fight resumes with only 3 minutes remaining. Fujita, like a shark, stays on his feet and connects with small combinations right on Anjo's face despite running out of gas. He then forces himself into a clinch and forces anjo back into the ropes to regain his breath and lame it out like its cross tekken until the end of the fight. Anjo breaks free, but misses with a desperation hook, funita hittign a cross counter before time expired.

After deliberation, all three judges unanimously gives the win to Fujita, with his control-driven strategy paying off.

Official results: Kazuyuki Fujita defeats Yoji Anjo by unanimous decision after 15 minutes.

 

 

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1 round, 15 minutes
Bas Rutten vs Tsuyoshi Kosaka

The Dutch kickboxer Rutten will have to keep this fight standing up and not get to close to the judoka Kosaka if he hopes to win this fight. Rutten comes out aggressively, forcing Kosaka to the corner and hitting a big right hand as he pounds away, but Kosaka protrxts himself well and hops away from the dutchman. Kosaka Counters with a left hand, but gets forced back into a corner, Rutten using his kickboxing skills to keep him guessing. Kosaka's takedown attempt misses and Rutten checks him with a leg kick. Rutten is in control of this one, for he is not giving any space for Kosaka to close in on him. He catches the judoka witb a right hook that cuts him above the eye, prmoptign the referee to call the doctor.

The fight could continue, with rutten countering Kosaka's takedown attempt with a roundhouse kick to the body. Rutten is clearly the aggressor, for he is pretty much toying with Kosaka for a long stretch of time.

However, he was getting more and more tired. This was kosaka's strategy, to tire out Rutten so he can take him down. With three minutes remaining in the fight, Kosaka scores a take down and tries to go for the submission, but Rutten blocks him everytime. Eventually, Rutten manages to get back on his feet and pushes Kosaka away until time expired.

Unsurprisingly, the three judges give Rutten the win.

Official results: Bas Rutten defeats Tauyoshi Kosaka by unanimous decision after 15 minutes.


After the match, Rutten thanks the japanese fans in attendance and requested he fights Hidehiko Yoshida next time, much to the audience's intrigue!
 

 


RICKSON GRACIE JAPANESE DEBUT

 

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1 round, 15 minutes
Rickson Gracie vs Naoya Ogawa

A big standing ovation for the olympic silver medalist Ogawa as he came down to the ring. Minoru toyonaga is the referee. Both Rickson and Ogawa are competing in full Competition Gi.

The bell rings and rickson immediately sets up a shoot, but Ogawa was more aggressive. The two would lock up in a tense grappling contest, to the roar of the patriotic crowd, until Ogawa attempted uchi-mata, which Rickson countered by laying his body on Ogawa, forcing him to turtle up. Rickson immediately grabs Ogawa's neck and applies a rear naked choke! Ogawa is in deep trouble, he's trying to escape...

But it was in vain, for Rickson cranks his neck and Ogawa is forced to tap out!

The crowd is stunned at Rickson's cold, ruthless submission game, and they are worried about Ogawa's well being. Thankfully, Ogawa got up to his knees, looking stunned at the sheer speed of Rickson's grappling.

Official results: Rickson Gracie defeats Naoya Ogawa by submission via Rear Naked Choke at 1:00.


After the match, Rickson thanks the japanese fans and say that he is very happy to compete in the country that gave birth to his family's precious Jiu-Jitsu. Judging by the reactions of the fans in attendance, Rickson more than lived up to the hype.
 

 


Co-Main Event

 

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1 round, 15 minutes
Ken Shamrock vs Masakatsu Funaki

Two big ovations for both Shamrock and Funaki as they came down the entrance ramp. Those two are easily the most popular fighters in pancrase behind Minoru Suzuki, but the japanese crowd are obviously behind Funaki here as soon as Toyonaga-san called for the bell.

 

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Funaki is smaller than Shamrock by 25 pounds, but the pancrase co-founder showed no fear, being the aggressor early on with small combinations and forcing the californian into striking exchanges. Despite getting caught by a funaki right hook, Sharock goes for a single leg and brings Funaki down on the mat!

BUT WAIT! FUNAKI CATCHES SHAMROCK IN A GUILLOTINE!!

Yet shamrock gets his neck free from under Funaki's arm as the latter didn't properly locked up the hold! The japanese crowd let out an audible groan at this close call. Shamrock now with some vicious ground and pound, looking to end this fight, but FUNAKI CATCHES HIS ARM AND TRIES LOCKING IT UP...

AND HE DOES A KIMURA FROM GUARD!

AND SHAMROCK TAPS!!

Unbelievable! Masakatsu Funaki with the Kimura from guard out of nowhere! The crowd at Tokyo bay NK Hall is going nuts! What an unexpected ending as Funaki gets up and raises his fists in the air in delight! Shamrock cannot believe it. He went for the ground and pound TKO, but he was too focused on finishing this quickly that he let himself get caught! He is trying to contain his self-anger right now.

Official Rssults: Masakatsu Funaki defeats Ken Shamrock by submission via Kimura from guard at 2:20.

 

 



After the match, the two competitiors shook hands and hugged each other, with Funaki lifting Shamrock's arm in the air like the true sportsman he is, to the joy of the crowd. Afterwards, he shared a few words with the 7,000 fans in attendance, saying that he looks forward to face the best of the best that the world of martial arts has to offer.
 

 


MAIN EVENT: CHALLENGE FIGHT

 

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1 round, 30 minutes
Minoru Suzuki vs Hidehiko Yoshida.

A big pop for the olympic gold medalist judoka Hidehiko Yoshida as he made his way to the ring, competing in full gi. Suzuki comes out in black trunks, wrestling shoes and his signature black towel over his head, also to a big pop from the crowd.

 

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Streamers were thrown during each fighters's introductions, which took yoshida by surprise.

Yuji Shimada referees this much anticipated contest. Suzuki is smaller than Yoshida by 15 pounds.

The bell rings as the crowd comes alive, one side cheering for Suzuki, the other Yoshida. Both men touch gloves to start this fight. Suzuki gets going by getting hold of the olympic judoka and tries forcing him into the ropes, but Yoshida has seen better, and slips out of Suzuki's grab and walks back to the center of the ring. Yoshida catches Suzuki with a right hook, but Suzuki clinches Yoshida and tries sending him down, but Yoshida stood firm and sidesteps his way out of Suzuki's grab.

A big right hand gets ducked under by Suzuki, who shoots for Yoshida's leg and trips him into guard, to the roar of the crowd. Suzuki attempts leg locks, but Yoshida keeps him tightly in guard as he tries to sweep his way to a more favorabel position. A scramble follows, with Suzuki attmepting to grab yoshida's leg,  but it was a bait that Suzuki fell into hook, line and sinker!

Yoshida mounts him, forcing Suzuki to pull guard as the crowd approves of Yoshida's expertise. Suzuki tries locking up a kimura from guard, but Yoshida doesn't give him any inches, throwing short strikes to the former pro wrestler. Suzuki attempts another kimura from lock, but THIS TIME, HE GETS IT! HE STRAIGHTENS YOSHIDA'S ARM AND YOSHIDA TAPS!

The crowd explodes in cheers as Suzuki lays on the mat. He couldn't believe it! And Yoshida couldn't believe it either! Just when we thought this was all over the moment Yoshida mounted Suzuki, the former pro wrestlers steals victory from the jaws of defeat! The crowd chant Suzuki's name as Yoshida helps him get up and lifts his arm. An incredible victory for Minoru Suzuki!

Official results: Minoru Suzuki defeats Hidehiko Yoshida bh submission via Kimura from guard at 9:03.

After the match, both competitors addressed the crowd, with Yoshida thanking the crowd, his family and his trainers for their support, as well as accepting Bas Rutten's challenge, wbile a delighted Suzuki also thanked the crowd for coming in such large number for their first show, and that real fights does put butts in the seat, a tongue-in-cheek reference to his mentor, Yoshiaki Fujiwara.



Surprisingly, Suzuki asked Yoshida to help him arrange a fight between him and his friend Tsuyoshi Kohsaka at the next show!

 

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Pancrase: Hybrid Wrestlers full fight results

Minoru Suzuki beat Hidehiko Yoshida 9:03 submission (Kimura)


Masakatsu Funaki beat Ken Shamrock 2:20 Submission (Kimura)

Rickson Gracie beat Naoya Ogawa 1:00 submission(rear naked choke)

Bas Rutten beat Tsuyoshi Kohsaka 15:00 unanimous decision

Kazuyuki Fujita beat "Mr 200%" Yoji Anjo 15:00 Unanimous decision

Kazushi Sakuraba beat Kiyoshi Tamura 10:34 Submission (Kimura)


Fight of the night: Minoru Suzuki vs Hidehiko Yoshida



Stay tuned for news concerning the upcoming Ultimate Fighting Championship tournament in november!

 

Edited by kinnikuniverse
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New details concerning Ultimate fighting tournament! 

Black belt magazine can now reveal the full details of the upcoming martial arts tournament known as the ultimate fighting championship, to be held at the McNichols Sports arena in Denver, Colorado, and nationally broadcasted on Pay-per-view. 

Promoters Art Davie and Bob Meyrowitz, along with Gracie Jiu Jitsu leader Rorion Gracie, has announced the rules and participants of the tournament in a press conference yesterday. Here are the main takeaways. 

-it will be an 8-men tournament featuring the best martial artists in the world, contested in one night. 

-Matches are to be held in a ring surrounded by an 8-sided cage to give the tournament an underground feel, not unlike the movie Bloodsport. 

Atches will be contested under a 20:00 time limit, with the final being contested under a 30 minute time limit. Judges score the fight as a whole. 

-matches will be contested under modified Vale Tudo rules, which means no holds barred except strikes to the groin, biting, eye pokes and fish hooking.


The 8 Participants of the tournament are 

-Royce Gracie, Gracie Jiu Jitsu Heir

-Ken Shamrock, Shootfighter who made his name in Japan.

-Maurice Smith, Kickboxing world champion known for competing at the K-1 World Grand Prix earlier this year, in april. 

-Dan Severn, former Amateur wrestling standout and world champion. 

-Gerard Gordeau, dutch kickboxing champion 

-Vernon "Tiger" White, Shootfighter from Shamrock's dojo, the lion's den

-Jason Delucia, Shootfighter and kung fu expert, also from the Lion's den

-Oleg Taktarov, Russian Sambo wrestling champion

 

The quarter-final matchups will open the show, with exhibition Kickboxing bouts being used as a breather in between tournament matches.


Here are the brackets and full match card: 

UFC tournament quarter finals 

-Royce Gracie vs Gerard Gordeau 

-Oleg Taktarov vs Dan Severn 

- Vernon "Tiger" White vs Maurice Smith 

-Jason Delucia vs Ken Shamrock


Exhibition Kickboxing match #1 

3 3-minute rounds
Patrick Smith vs Kevin Rosier


UFC tournament semi-finals 

Gracie/ Gordeau vs Taktarov/Severn 

White/Smith vs Delucia/Shamrock 

Exhibition Kickboxing match #2
3 3-minute rounds
Zane frasier vs Trent Jenkins 

 

UFC Tournament Final

 

 

What will be fight of the night?

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UFC 1 tournament


8,000 curious people at the Mcnichols sports arena gathered to witness the first ever no holds barred fighting tournament in north american history. 8 fighters from various countries and styles will duke it out for the grnad prize of one million dollars and the title of ultimate Fighting Champion. Will it be the jiujitsu master from brazil, Royce Gracie? The former wrestling world champion Dan Severn? Former world champion Kickboxers Maurice Smith or Gerard Gordeau? Russina Samboist Oleg Taktarov? Young kung fu master Jason Delucia?  Or the shootfighters Vernon white or Ken Shamrock? We will find out now inside the octagon!


UFC Tournament quarter-finals: Royce Gracie vs Gerard Gordeau.

Many in the unsuspecting audience at the mcnichols arena would take a glance at the two fighters and expect tbe much larger Gordeau to win this one against the smaller Gracie. As the bell rang, though, the crowd was stunned at how easy Gracie took down the much larger Gordeau and mounted him. Gordeau tried sweeping into a better position and actually put up a good resistance, but all it did was leave him wide open for Gracie to apply a rear naked choke to immediately end this fight after only 3 and a half minutes!

Results: Royce Gracie defeats Gerard Gordeau at 3:35 by submission via Rear Naked Choke. Gracie advances to the semi-finals.


Quarter-finals match 2: Dan Severn vs Oleg Taktarov.

Two former world champions in their respective disciplines duke it out in this quarter-finals matchup. A much more evenly matched affair, the two grapplers would engage in a titanic battle for close qaurters supremacy, showing their superb technical skills and countering each hold they had. The crowd didn't really seem to appreciate the intricate wrestling on display here. Taktarov may have more accumen, but Severn has the size and strength advantage, and after an iffy first half where he let taktarov get some damgerous offense in, the beast would wake up and dominate the second half of the fight, taking down the russian multiple times with an uncanny ease and smothering him on the cage with his standup grappling skills. There were no finish though, and after 20 minutes, the judges awards this fight to Dan Severn, who will fight Rocye Gracie in the semi-finals.

Results: Dan Severn beat Oleg Taktarov via Unanimous decision after 20 minutes. Severn advamces to the semi-finals.


Quarter finals match 3: Maurice Smith vs Vernon "Tiger" White.

World kicmboxing Champion Maurice Smith, semi-finalist of the K-1 grand prix earlier this year, enters to an ovation from the few kickboxing fans in attendance. It would be white striking first, though, takkng down smith and landing a few good knee strikes on the kickboxer's head. Smith, however, would get up and actually score a takedown on white, throwing him into the ground when white attempted another single leg. From there, Smith never let go of White, pummeling him with punches until white got away, but he retreated, which prompted Smith to close up on him. White ducks under a right hand and tries grappling him, but Smith simply takes him down leaning on the cage before punching the downed white and hitting him with nasty soccer kicks that knocked out White cold!

Results: Maurice Smith beat Vernon "Tiger" White by TKO via strikes at 6:01. Smith advanes to the semi-finals


Qaurter-finals match 4: Ken Shamrock vs Jason Delucia

The fight was over before it even started. Delucia, probably trying to prove his fearlessness, attempted to immediately shoot for shamrock's leg, but the latter easily counters him and mounts the youngster.after pummeling him good, he delivers a nasty kimura to make delucia tap.

Results: Ken Shamrock defeated Jason Delucia by submission via Kimura at 1:21


The tournament was put on hold for a special kickboxing match between Kevin Rosier and Patrick Smith, two regulars on the american scene. This was put in as a breather in between tournament fights for the remaining competitors to take a breather. Unfortunately, that break was short lived, for Rosier knocked out Smith with a big left on Smith agaisnt all odds, knocking him out cold after only a minute in round 1!

Tournament semi-final 1: Royce Gracie vs Dan Severn

Despite Severn coming in more tired due to goong the distance with Taktarov, Gracie still had a huge size disadvantage, and he was also facing a grappler almost at his level. This would see itself during a good portion of the fight, for Severn dominated the smaller man physically in the grappling exchanges and managing to prevent Gracie from using his agility to gain full guard. However, as the fight went on, Severn's fatigue became more and more apparent. Gracie smelled blood, and got a reaction from the crowd when he took down the much bigger man and mounted him. After keeping him guessing with punches, Gracie attempted to grab his left arm, but Svern got up on his feet trying to get free, only for Royce to crank on his arm and get the jujigatame! Sever taps and its all over!

Results: Royce Gracie beat Dan Severn by submission via armbar at 12:14. Gracie advances to the final.

Semi-final 2: Maurice Smith vs Ken Shamrock

It was pretty much the same stroy as the delucia match. Shamrock easily takes down Smith and toys with him before applying amother kimura for the easy submission win.

Results: Ken shamrock defeats Maurice Smith by submission via Kimura at 1:36. Shamrock advamces to the final.


Before the final, another kickboxing match to take  a breather between veteran Zane Frazier and kenpo practitioner Trent Jenkins. This time, however, it was a much more competitive fight, the crowd loving this back and forth slugfest between two game fighters. In the end, as the thrid and final round abrely begun, Jenkins hit a high kick right on Frasier's jaw, sendi g him crashing down the mat for the knockout win!

 

 


Ultimate Fighting Championship tournament Final:

Royce gracie vs Ken Shamrock


Veteran vale tudo referee Joa Alberto Barreto in charge of this one. Who will become the ultimate fighting champion?

What gracie has proven throughout the entire tournament is that size does not matter. Gordeau didn't bring him down, not even dan severn brought him down. Will shamrock be the one to defeat him?

The bell rings and Gracie goes for the takedown already, sending shamrock on the mat with a single leg and immediately pasisng to half guard. He tries going for side control, but loses control and a scramble ensues. Gracie goes for the leg of Shamrock, but the latter blocks it and forces Gracie to turtle up in front of him.

Shamrock pounds away, but Gracie's turtling protects him well against the american's punches. He would eventually stand up, trying to slow down the fight a little. He ducks under a big right hand by shamrock and tries to shoot, but Shamrock was up to it first and a grappling contest begins, with Shamrock pushing Gracie into the cage, but the brazilian trips shamrock with another single leg. Shamrock was ready for him, though, and scrambles his way to a more favorable position, but Gracie brillantly rolls him over and gets on Shamrock's back!

But shamrock prevents the body triangle and tries rolling away, but Royce stands firm, GOING FOR A REAR NAKED CHOKE...

But shamrock grabs Gracie's arm before he could choke him!

Nonetheless, gracie does a body triangle AND APPLIES A REAR NAKED CHOKE...

AND HE GETS HIM! SHAMROCK IS FLATTENED AND HE TAPS!!

Shamrock tried everything, but in the end, he just couldn't stop the brazilian grappling sensation! Royce Gracie, in front of the patriotic crowd at the Mcnichols Sports Arena, silences them and wins the ultimate fighting Championship!

Offcial results: Rocye Gracie defeats Ken Shamrock at 8:37 via Rear Naked Choke.


Royce Gracie beat Gerard Gordeau at 3:35 via rear naked choke

Dan Severn beat Oleg Taktarov via Unanimous decision after 20 minutes

Maurice Smith beat Vernon "Tiger" White at 6:01 via TKO (Strikes)

Ken Shamrock defeated Jason Delucia at 1:21 via Kimura

Kevin Rosier beat Patrick Smith by knock out at 1:30 of round one.

Royce Gracie beat Dan Severn at 12:14 via Armbar

Ken Shamrock beat Maurice Smith at 1:36 via Leglock

Trent Jenkins beat Zane Frasier by knock out at 0:29 of round 3

Royce Gracie beat Ken Shamrock at 8:13 via rear naked choke. Royce Gracie becomes the Ultimate Fighting Champion


Fight of the night: Royce Gracie vs Ken Shamrock

Stay tuned for news concerning Pancrase's second event in Japan!

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Pancrase Returns for 2nd show!

Fresh off the success of the first Hybrid Wrestlers supercard, Pancrase comes back with a vengeance by formally anouncing Hybrid Wrestlers 2 last night. Pancrase CEO Nobuyuki Sakakibara and co-presidents Minoru Suzuki and Masakatsu Funaki stated that the event will take place on saturday February 5th at the famed Kobe World Hall Kobe, Kansai. Sakakibara-san stated that this was the closest date they could book so that fighters can have enough rest to be able to fight as soon as possible.

 

Like the first show, it will feature 6 fights on the main card. The difference, this time, is that there will be two preliminary fights exclusive to FujiTV for free before the PPV proper. The first fight will feature pro wrestling fujiwara gumi graduate Alexander Otsuka, who had joined the pancraseism dojo to test his amatuer wrestling skills against the best fighters in the world, against japanese-American jiu-jitsu practitioner Enson Inoue, while former Shooto fighter Satoshi Honma will make his Pancrase debut against ultimats fighting championship participant Jason Delucia. Maurice Smith was originally contacted to compete in this due to his popularity in japan and history with Minoru Suzuki, but the american kickboxer opted to compete in an upcoming K-1 card instead, which prompted Sakakibara-san to sign Delucia at the suggestion of Delucia's teacher, Ken Shamrock.

Speaking of Ken shamrock, the american, who was runner-up in the UFC tournament, will face Kazuyuki Fujita on the card. The japanese freestyle wrestler comes off an unexpected win over Yoji Anjo at Pancrase 1, while Shamrock looks to bounce back from a shock defeat to Masakatsu Funaki and losing to Royce Gracie in the UFC tournament final.


The major fights of this card, however, are three big matches featuring the biggest names of Pancrase. Hidehiko Yoshida, the olympic gold medalist judoka who lost to Minoru Suzuki in the main event of Pancrase 1, has accepted Dutch kickboxer Bas Rutten's challenge, and the two will feature as the co-main event of Hybrid Wrestlers 2, with co-president Minoru Suzuki fighting 4th degree Judo black belt  Tsuyoshi Kohsaka, as requested personally by Suzuki to Yoshida, being the main event, while the other co-president Funaki will fight Rickson Gracie in what looks to be a good grappling contest. Rickson will also compete in Shooto's ambitious Vale Tudo Japan tournament this summer, and has gone on record to say that the fight against Funaki will serve as a warm-up for that competition.

Finally, the other matches on the card will see Kiyoshi Tamura taking on UFC competitior Vernon "Tiger" white in the opening contest, while olympic silver medalist Naoya Ogawa will fight the much smaller Kazushi Sakuraba in a test of grappling supremacy.

 

 

Pancrase: Hybrid Wrestlers 2 full prediction card



Live from Kobe World Hall

 

Pro wrestling vs Judo challenge match #2:

1 round, 30 minutes
Minoru Suzuki vs Tsuyoshi Kohsaka
 

Japan vs brazil Superfight

1 round, 15 minutes
Masakatsu Funaki vs Rickson Gracie

 

Kickboxing vs Judo challenge fight
1 round, 15 minutes
Bas Rutten vs Hidehiko Yoshida


1 round, 15 minutes
Naoya Ogawa vs Kazushi Sakuraba

1 round, 15 minutes
Ken Shamrock vs Kazuyuki Fujita

1 round, 15 minutes
Kiyoshi Tamura vs Vernon Tiger White



Prelims

1 round, 15 minutes
Satoshi Honma vs Jason Delucia

1 round, 15 minutes
Alexander Otsuka vs Enson Inoue

 

 

What will be fight of the night?

Edited by kinnikuniverse
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Pro wrestling vs Judo challenge match #2:

1 round, 30 minutes
Minoru Suzuki vs Tsuyoshi Kohsaka
 

Japan vs brazil Superfight

1 round, 15 minutes
Masakatsu Funaki vs Rickson Gracie

 

Kickboxing vs Judo challenge fight
1 round, 15 minutes
Bas Rutten vs Hidehiko Yoshida


1 round, 15 minutes
Naoya Ogawa vs Kazushi Sakuraba

1 round, 15 minutes
Ken Shamrock vs Kazuyuki Fujita

1 round, 15 minutes
Kiyoshi Tamura vs Vernon Tiger White



Prelims

1 round, 15 minutes
Satoshi Honma vs Jason Delucia

1 round, 15 minutes
Alexander Otsuka vs Enson Inoue

 

 

What will be fight of the night?

Ken Shamrock vs Kazuyuki Fujita

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Tiger White pulls out of fight, Maurice Smith replaces him!

 

In a surprising turn of events, kickboxing star and UFC tournament and K-1 Grand Prix 93 semi-finalist Maurice Smith will fight at the second Pancrase show, after all! The american bailed out of competing in the K-1 Grand Prix 94 event following a dispute over money issues, while Vernon "Tiger" White, who was scheduled to face Kiyoshi Tamura in the opening contest of Pancrase: Hybrid Wrestlers 2, will not compete due to injuries suffered in training.

 

Minoru Suzuki, who is scheduled to fight Tsuyoshi Kohsaka on the same card, quickly phoned Smith, an old rival of him from their days in UWF, and managed to bring him to japan and Nobuyuki Sakakibara to sign him on to be Tamura's new opponent for the upcoming february show on short notice.

 

Pancrase: Hybrid Wrestlers 2 will take place at Kobe World Hall on saturday, February 5th, 1994.

 

 

 

Pancrase: Hybrid Wrestlers 2 updated predictions card



Live from Kobe World Hall

 

Pro wrestling vs Judo challenge match #2:

1 round, 30 minutes
Minoru Suzuki vs Tsuyoshi Kohsaka
 

Japan vs brazil Superfight

1 round, 15 minutes
Masakatsu Funaki vs Rickson Gracie

 

Kickboxing vs Judo challenge fight
1 round, 15 minutes
Bas Rutten vs Hidehiko Yoshida


1 round, 15 minutes
Naoya Ogawa vs Kazushi Sakuraba

1 round, 15 minutes
Ken Shamrock vs Kazuyuki Fujita

1 round, 15 minutes
Kiyoshi Tamura vs Maurice Smith



Prelims

1 round, 15 minutes
Satoshi Honma vs Jason Delucia

1 round, 15 minutes
Alexander Otsuka vs Enson Inoue

 

 

What will be fight of the night?

 

Edited by kinnikuniverse
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https://youtu.be/vTeVTchrzIQ

Pancrase: Hybrid Wrestlers 2 Report

 

Live from the Kobe World Hall, Kobe, Kansai, Japan

 

February 5th, 1994

 

 

Preliminary fights

 

Our first preliminary fight was between former wrestler Alexander Otsuka against japansese-hawaiian jiu jitsu practicioner Enson Inoue. As predicted, the contest went to the ground pretty quickly. Inoue showed some good defensive acumen, but the star of the fight was otsuka. The young amateur wrestler was crisp and smooth with his takedowns, and his mount suffocated whatever attempts at sweeps inoue wanted to do. In the end, Otsuka would score an easy unanimous decision win after 15 minutes.

 

Alexander Otsuka beat Enson Inoue by unanimous decision. 15:00

 

the last prelim fight was between former Shoot fighter Satoshi Honma and Lion's den kung fu specialist Jason Delucia, who fought in the UFC tournament last november.

 

The two standup fighters tentaively tested each other with jabs and warning shots, but then, Honma hit a thunderous right hook that landed right on Delucia's button to knock him out at only 1:51!

 

Satoshi Honma beat Jason Delucia by Knock out at 1:51

 

MAIN CARD

 

1 round, 15 minutes

Kiyoshi Tamura vs Maurice Smith

 

the inaugural contest of the show proper features Kiyoshi Tamura of thr UWF against K-1 grand prix semi-finalist and former ISKA world champion Maurice Smith, who replaced Vernon "Tiger" White after the latter injured himself while training.

 

The opening minutes would see Smith carefully manage Tamura's distance, taking advantage of the youngster's impatience with counter strikes, including some nasty straights that hit Tamura's nose. Tamura, however, would switch up his strategy, tempting smith to engage in a striking battle. Such a tactic against a top class kickboxer like smith seemed risky, but Tamura made it work, sneaking into Smith's pocket and grappling him into the corners in order to wail on him with body shots.

Knees by S.ith didn't do much damage, and Tamura would continue landing body shots in close quarters on tbe kickboxer to wear him down. Whiel Smith did land some sneaky shots of jis own, tamura's strategy was paying off, and he would take down Smith with a leg trip from the ropes!

 

Smith tried to get out of this predicament, which left his right arm exposed, and tamura, like a shark, Pounced on it and applied a nasty kimura for the submission win!

 

Kiyoshi Tamura beat Maurice Smith via submission by way of Kimura at 11:18

 

 

Afterwards, Tamura and Smith shook hands like true sportsmen.

 

1 round, 15 minutes

Naoya Ogawa vs Kazushi Sakuraba

 

when this match was announced, many fans were curious about how the much smaller Sakuraba would do agaisnt the olympic silver medalist Ogawa. as we saw with Royce Gracie at the UFC Tournament, however, size doesn't mean anything in "Real fighting",  and Sakuraba went on to remind peopel of that when he managed to force Ogawa on his behind in the inaugural grappling exchange!

 

Ogawa's expertise in Judo is not to be underestimated, however, and the olympian would easily use his size advantage to sweep Sakuraba and secure a better position on top of him. Sakuraba would keep Ogawa on the defensive, however, with his heel hook attempts and tight guard, and the smaller wrestler would eventually sneak out of the ground and back up.

 

the match overall was a tight, back-and-forth grappling contest, with Ogawa managing to score with uchi-mata, but still unable to pin down sakuraba for long. Sakuraba would catch Ogawa with single leg takedowns on the counter and grt on a side mount. Ogawa attempted a kimura of his own, but Saku popped out of it with a dazzling display of submission escape, which the crowd really appreciated!

 

However, an overconfident Sakuraba shoot for a takedown, but Ogawa caught him and forced hin into the ropes, where he smothered him with his size. Saku reached for his left leg, but Ogawa grabbed his arm and successfully took him down with a Ippon-Sei nage!

 

Ogawa went for the kill with an omoplata choke, but Saku the rubber man slipped out of it and managed to gain mount on Ogawa! the olympian tried getting rid of him, but Saku held firm and managed to lock his arms underneath Ogawa's chin for a guillotine choke! Will he submit him before time expires?

 

YES, OGAWA TAPS!

 

Kazushi Sakuraba with an amazing win, barely beating the clock in a tense grappling clinic!

 

Kazushi Sakuraba beat Naoya Ogawa via submission by way of Guillotine Choke at 14:59

 

Afterwards, Saku and ogawa pay their respect to each other by shaking hand and bowing down to one another.

 

1 round, 15 minutes

Ken Shamrock vs Kazuyuki Fujita

 

one of the more fascinating matches on this card. Shamrock, runner up of the UFC tournament, looks to bounce back from his surprise defeat at the hands of Masakatsu Funaki, while Fujita is looking to build momentum following his debut win over UWF's Yoji Anjo.

 

Both men tentaively pschyed each other up with takedown attempts and sneaky jabs in the early goings. Both Shamrock and Fujita have equal size, so any grappling contests between the two would be a battle of attrition.

 

Fujita does catch Shamrock with an uppercut as he attempted a shoot, but the world's most dangerous man still managed to grab hold of Fujita's legs, but Fujita used his solid base to stand still. He actually mounted shamrock's back, but Shamrock immeidately sneaked out into side control to avoid any danger. A few short hammer blowd kept fujita guessing as shamrock attempted to grab his arm, but Fujita powers out of the side control and turned shamrock over to mount him!

 

A few shots landed on shamrock, but the californian managed to pull fujita into guard. After 2 minjtes of inaction, referee Yuji Shimada forced the two competitiors back up.

 

That is exactly waht Shamrock wanted, and he would nail fujita with a few good shots, but Fujita's iron chin absorbed them like sponges as he pushed himself onto Shamrock for a grappling exchange.

 

Fujita attempted a hip toss, but Shamrock held onto his base and forced him to turtle up! Fujita is in trouble!

 

AND SHAMROCK APPLIES A REAR NAKED CHOKE!

 

Fujita gets up, Shamrock piggybacking him...

 

BUT HE IS FLATTENED! FUJITA TAPS AND YUJI SHIMADA RINGS THE BELL!

 

Ken Shamrock with the rear naked choke and he's finally on the win column in Pancrase!

 

Ken Shamrock defeated Kazuyuki Fujita via submission by way of Rear Naked Choke at 8:10

 

Japan vs Brazil Superfight

1 round, 15 minutes

Masakatsu Funaki vs Rickson Gracie

 

Big tension across the arena as Funaki and Rickson made their way to the ring. This is the first tiem a gracie fought a popular japanese fighter since the infamous fight between Helio and Masahiko Kimura. Is Funaki gonna repeat what Kimura has done?

 

The task at hand is a hefty one, for Rickson is arguably the top grappler in the world, and he would prove it by taking down Funaki right at the opening bell.

 

Funaki ain't a scrub, though, and he would escape from Rickson's mount and get back up.

 

the following minutes wouls see Funaki defend himself pretty well from Rickson's shoot attempts, landing counter knees on his face and forcing him onto the ropes and pushing him away. Any successful attempts at shooting by Rickson was cancelled by Funaki getting out of his predicaments. A scare for thr brazilian as Funaki maanged to get him into a guillotine choke! But Rickson popped his head free using the ropes to flip over and gain side control and position himself for an armbar...

 

AND HE GETS IT!

 

FUNAKI IS TRAPPED!

 

AND HE TAPS!

 

Rickson Gracie with the beautiful armbar to get the win over the Pancrase co-president!

 

Rickson Gracie beat Masakatsu Funaki via Submission by way of Arm Bar at 9:52

 

1 round, 15 minutes

Bas Rutten vs Hidehiko Yoshida

Rutten challenged Hidehiko Yoshida following his win over Tsuyoshi Kohsaka, which Yoshida accepted. A big ovation from the kobe crowd as Yoshida made his entrance.

 

This might be rutten's biggest challenge yet, for Yoshida is a gold medal winning judoka, and the early goings of the fight would show that, as Yoshids kept Rutten on the defensive with his grappling and scoring with a big uchi-mata into mount.

 

Rutten would escape, however, and use his kickboxing to counter Yoshida's shoot attempts with push kicks and body shots. Rutten then tossed Yoshida into the corner following another grappling attempt and wail on Yoshida, who nonetheless defends himself well and scores another take down with a single leg.

Rutten used whatever kmowledged he has of ground fighting to keep Yoshida in a tight guard, however. It may be rudimentary, but It was effective, as Rutten elbowed Yoshida's head in order to prevent the judoka from going for a submission. Rutten's stalling tactics would frustrate Yoshida and referee Yuji Shimada, who warns Rutten of his stalling tactics. If he keeps going like that, he' be yellow carded.

 

This would go Rutten's favor, though, for he would score with plenty of body shots and devastating low kicks to counter whatever takedowns yoshida planned to do.

 

Yoshida would then attempt a standing kimura in another grapple, but Rutten's body shots were wearing him down, and the dutchman would free his arm and connect with a short hook that dazzled yoshida!

 

Yoshida instinctively shot for his legs, but Rutten brough him down with yoshida's head between his legs. He connects with knees to Yoshida's head and attemlted to switch to a back mount for a rear naked choke, but Yoshida saw it coming and puts in into side control!

 

Rutten would then frustrate the olympic gold medalist by putting his arm on top of Yoshida's head. Yuji Shimada then brought the two back up, but only gave another warning to Rutten for his stalling. 

 

However, the moment the fight restarted, Rutten delivered a lightning quick roundhouse kick right in Yoshida's head, stunning him!

 

AND RUTTEN WITH A VICIOUS RIGHT HAND RIGHT ON THE BUTTON!

 

YOSHIDA IS OUT!!

 

What a knockout by Bas Rutten!

 

Bas Rutten beat Hidehiko Yoshida via knockout at 13:43

 

Say waht you wnat about Rutten's stalling tactics, but it definitely worked, and Bas Rutten scores perhaps the biggest win of his Pancrase career!

 

After the fight, Rutten shakes Yoshida's hands and adresses the crowd, thanking them for coming here and thanking his trainers and sponsors for helping him. Being asked who he wants to fight next, Rutten says that Minoru Suzuki is next on the list, to the intrigue of the japanese crowd!

 

Minoru Suzuki vs Tsuyoshi Kohsaka

1 round, 30 minutes.

 

Suzuki personally requested the 4th degree judo black belt Kohsaka as his next opponent to Kohsaka's friend Hidehiko Yoshida after their headline-grabbing challenge fight at hybrid wrestlers 1. Kohsaka comes out to a decent reaction, but Suzuki got a big ovation as he made his entrance in his signature wrestling boots, black trunks and towel over his head.

 

upon the bell ringing, the two combattants circled around the ring tentaively, looking to psyche each other into a mistake. The first to budge was, surprisingly enough, Suzuki, who attempted to shoot unsucessfully on kohsaka's legs, which allowed the judoka to control the early portions of the match, but not scaring Suzuki with any submission attempts or any ground and pound, for Suzuki defended himself really well with ground sweeps and really tight guards.

 

Suzuki would then use his catch wrestling acumen to counter Kohsaka's uchi-mata and hip throw attempts in order to mount him many times. Kohsaka's submission defense, however, was just as good as Suzuki's, and he would sweep his way into more favorable positions and score a few shots on the pancrase co-president.

 

two very evenly matched grapplers who can't seem to score the one takedown that will give them the advantage...until Kohsaka does so with a beautiul inside leg trip into side control!

 

Suzuki is in trouble, for Kohsaka can apply him a gogoplata or a katahajime from that position!

 

But Suzuki pulls Kohsaka into half guard to contain him.

 

oh wait a minute...

 

SUZUKI IS ABOUT TO CATCH KOHSAKA...

 

HE DOES! HE APPLIES A D'ARCE CHOKE!

 

AND KOHSAKA TAPS!

 

Minoru Suzuki wins a grueling grappling contest with another top level judoka with a spectacular D'arce choke! Unbelievable!

 

Minoru Suzuki beats Tsuyoshi Kohsaka via submission by way of D'arce choke at 14:51.

 

Afterwards, Suzuki hugged Kohsaka and celebrated with the fans. Upon being asked who he wants to fight next, Suzuki says that he thinks the people here have a good idea as to who's next...that's where Bas Rutten came down to the ring and have a massive staredown with Suzuki! It looks like the main event of Hybrid Wrestlers 3 is already set!

 

 

FULL CARD RESULTS

Prelims

Satoshi Honma knocked out Jason Delucia  1:51 minutes

Alexander otsuka beat enson inoue by unanimous decision

 

Main Card
Kiyoshi tamura submits Maurice Smith via Kimura at 11:18 minutes.

Kazushi Sakuraba defeated naoya ogawa by submission via guillotine choke at 14:59

Ken Shamrock beat Kazuyuki Fujita via rear naked choke at 8:10.

Rickson Gracie beat Masakatsu Funaki via armbar at 9:52

Bas Rutten beat Hidehiko Yoshida via knockout at 13:43

Minoru Suzuki beat Tsuyoshi Kohsaka via d'arce choke at 14:51

 

Fight of the night (according to the game: Masakatsu Funaki vs Rickson Gracie)

 

Hope you enjoyed this folks! See ya next time for more Pancrase action!

Edited by kinnikuniverse
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PANCRASE: HYBRID WRESTLERS 3 SET FOR GOLDEN WEEK!

Anticipated Suzuki vs Rutten bout to main event!

 

A week after the successful Pancrase: Hybrid Wrestlers 2 at Kobe World Hall, the japanese promotion held a press conference in Tokyo to formally announce Pancrase: Hybrid Wrestlers 3.

 

Company CEO Nobuyuki Sakakibara confirmed that the event, to be held once again at the Kobe World Hall, will feature, in the main event, the much anticipated bout between Pancrase co-founder Minoru Suzuki and dutch kickboxer Bas Rutten.

 

"When Rutten-san, made his challenge against Suzuki-san, we at pancrase were actually planning on having the two competitors fight at one point." Said Sakakibara. "Rutten-san has been a hit with the fans in japan, and Suzuki-san's popularity is undeniable. So really, it was only a matter of when they will fight. Rutten-san simply took the initiative!"

 

Suzuki himself, meanwhile, has made his intentions very clear.

 

"Rutten is a dangerous striker, but as we saw against Yoshida-san, he has a glaring weakness on the ground" Suzuki pointed out. "I'm coming in this fight to win and make Rutten tap out"

 

Rutten smiled at Suzuki's comments and heeled it up in response.

 

"He won't see my kicks and straight right comin'. It will be over before he can even hope of shooting for my legs!"

 

Other fights at Pancrase: hybrid Wrestlers 3 to be confirmed in the following days.

 

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UFC-STYLE TOURNAMENT COMING SOON?

 

at that same press conference, Sakakibara-san gave an interesting answer to a Gong magazine journalist about whether there will be a tournament similar to the Ulitmate Fighting championship that Pancrase might organise here in japan.

 

"The UFC tournament in america definitely caught our interest." Said Sakakibara. "We found the concept of a one-night tournament featuring fighters and martial arts from all around the world to be very intriguing. Sayama-san (Satoru Sayama, AKA: Tiger Mask, former pro wrestler who opened the Shooto fighting organisation) is also organising a similar tournament in Vale Tudo Japan this summer, of which Pancrase fighter Rickson Gracie is participating. We will watch this tournament with great interest."

 

This opens up a possibility that Pancrase might do its own take of a one-night invitational tournament in the future.

 

SECOND UFC TOURNAMENT SCHEDULED FOR SUMMER 1994

 

Royce Gracie and Ken Shamrock, the two finalists of the UFC tournament in last november, will return in the second edition of the Ultimate fighti...

 

paper scratched.

 

 

Pancrase: Hybrid Wrestlers 3

 

Live from Kobe World Hall

 

Matches confirmed so far

 

1 round, 30 minutes

Minoru Suzuki vs "El Guapo" Bas Rutten

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https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pancrase#/media/File%3APancrase_Hybrid_Wrestling_logo.png

MORE FIGHTS CONFIRMED FOR PANCRASE: HYBRID WRESTLERS 3!

 

Funaki-Sakuraba, Rickson-Anjo, Yoshida-Ogawa headlines the new matchups.

 

Black Belt magazine can now reveal exclusively the full card for the upcoming Pancrase: Hybrid wrestlers 3 card in Japan.

 

Held once again at the Kobe World Hall, the japanese organisation will put out, as usual, a solid card from top to bottom, headlined by the much anticipated bout between Minoru Suzuki and Bas Rutten.

 

The most headline-grabbing fight of the undercard is the challenge made by Yoji Anjo of the UWFI against Rickson Gracie. The shoot wrestler, who lost to Kazuyuki Fujita, challenged the brazilian jiu-jitsu master on behalf of Takada Dojo, the main training groudns of UWFI wrestlers.

 

Rickson, who is set to compete at Vale Tudo Japan, accepted the challenge, and went on to say that the fight will be so short that he will go back to training for the vale tudo japan tournament immediately after.

 

The most interesting fights from a skill standpoint, though, are two matchups with very different stories. Pancrase co-founder masakatsu Funaki, who scored a surprise win over Ken shamrock and looked good in a valiant, but vain effort against Rickson Gracie at Hybrid Wrestlers 2, will face the rising up and comer Kazushi Sakuraba, who submitted both highly touted prospect Kiyoshi Tamura and Olympic silver medalist in Judo Naoya Ogawa in his first 2 pancrase fights. Originally, Sakuraba was supposed to fight against Ken Shamrock in what looked to be a potential tune-up fight for Shamrock for a rematch against Funaki, but the american opted instead to train extensively for the second Ultimate fighting championship tournament, leaving Funaki to step in and make hismelf Sakuraba's opponent in what is surely the latter's biggest test of his career.

 

The other matchup sees two former olympic medalists and teammates facing each other for the first time in order to finally get on the win column, as Hidehiko Yoshida and Naoya Ogawa will engage in probably the highest profile match of the card outside of Suzuki-Rutten in terms of japanese fans and journalists interest. Yoshida said that he still respects his former olympic teammate Ogawa alot, and he cannot wait to finally face him in the ring, while Ogawa is confident that he will get his first win in what looks to be a trmemndous judo contest.

 

Finally, the main card will be filled with a matchup of two big grapplers as Kazuyuki fujita faces Tsuyoshi Kohsaka, while former Shooto fighter Satoshi Honma, fresh off his spectacular knockout win over Jason Delucia, will make his main card debut against another Lion's den memeber, Vernon "Tiger" White, who will finally make his debut in Pancrase after getting injured during training for a scheduled fight against Kiyoshi Tamura.

 

In the prelims, we will see many young fighters debut in the ring. First off, PancraseISM dojo graduate Daijiro Matsui takes on young martial artist Sanae Kikuta, whose credentials include winning local judo championships and training under Satoru Sayama dn kickboxing legend Stan Longinidis. Jason Delucia returns facing off agaisnt 18-year old Yuki Kondo, himself a student at the PancraseISM dojo, while Alexander Otsuka returns to face off against young Judo standout Jutaro Nakao.

 

Pancrase: Hybrid Wrestlers 3

 

full predictions card

1 round, 30 minutes

Minoru Suzuki vs "El Guapo" Bas Rutten

1 round, 15 minutes
Masakatsu Funaki vs Kazushi Sakuraba 

1 round, 15 minutes
Rickson gracie vs Yoji Anjo

1 round, 15 minutes
Hidehiko Yoshida vs Naoya Ogawa

1 round, 15 minutes
Kazuyuki Fujita vs Tsuyoshi Kosaka

1 round, 15 minutes
Satoshi Honma vs Vernon "Tiger" White


Prelims

1 round, 15 minutes
Jutaro Nakao vs Alexander Otsuka

1 round, 15 minutes
Jason Delucia vs Yuki Kondo

1 round, 15 minutes
Daijiro Matsui vs Sanae Kikuta

 

Predictions are welcome!

Edited by kinnikuniverse
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  • 2 weeks later...

 

https://youtu.be/vTeVTchrzIQ

Pancrase: Hybrid Wrestlers 3

 

May 1994

 

live from Kobe World Hall

 

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Prelims Results

 

Daijiro matsui defeats sanae kikuta via unanimous decision after 15 minutes

Yuki Kondo defeats Jason Delucia via unanimous decision after 15 minutes

Alexander Otsuka defeats Jutaro Nakao via unanimous decision after 15 minutes




spacer.png vs spacer.png

1 round, 15 minutes

Vernon "Tiger" White vs Satoshi Honma

White makes his debut in Pancrase following a sudden injury in training for a schedlued fight against Kiyoshi Tamura at hybrid wrestlers 2, while Honma makes his main card debut following his spectacular KO win over jason delucia.

The bell rings and both men tentaively circle around one another, looking to psyche the other into a mistake. Honma throws some short combinations, but white deals with them easily and zeroes in on Honma's mid-section white mid-kicks. A short one two combination sets up a shoot attempts which pushes Honma into the corner. Honma tried turning White around, but white successfuly completes the takedown and starts unloadong punches that Honma easily deals with in his guard.

Despite defending well, it was clear that Honma didn't know what to do on bottom, and white took advantage of the shooto fighter's inexperience to force him into turtle position and apply a nasty rear naked choke to end this fight!


Vernon "Tiger" White defeated Satoshi Honma via Submission by way of rear naked choke at 2:47.

After the match, White then surprised everyone by challenging Minoru Suzuki to a fight!
 

 

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1 round, 15 minutes

Kazuyuki Fujita vs Tsuyoshi Kosaka

Two fighters with wildly different fortunes recently. Fujita win his inaugural fight against yoji anjo, but lost to ken shamrock ina  close contest, while Kohsaka was beaten by bas rutten and, despite giving his best effort, came up short against minoru suzuki in hybrid wrestlers 2.

A tentative start to the match as both men tried to seek an opening for a takedown. Fujita was more aggressive, engaging in a tussle on the ropes. Fujita then attempts  athrow, but Kosaka manages to force himself on top and force fujita to pull guard. Kohsaka throws some ground pucnhes to keep fujita guessing and set up a submission attempt, but fujita uses his strength to flip over kohsaka and get side control.


Fujita attempts to pummel kosaka witb punches, but Kohsakascared him with a triangle armbar attempt that forced Fujita to back off as kosaka got back up. The rest of the fight would pretty much follow in the same pattern, for both guys spent their time grappling with one another until Kosaka managed to score an inside leg trip near the end. Kosaka attempted a submission hold, but unfortunately for him, time expired before he could capitalise.

All judges gave Kosaka the win by unanimous decision.


Tsuyoshi Kohsaka defeats Kazuyuki Fujita via unanimous decision after 15 minutes.
 

 

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1 round, 15 minutes
Rickson gracie vs Yoji Anjo

A big atmosphere for this one, as Anjo entered accompanied by Nobuhiko Takada and Kiyoshi Tamura, while Rickson entered all alone.

To say this fight was short would be a massive understatement. As soon as the bell rang, Rickson took down anjo and just manhandled his face with nasty ground and pound before finishing him off with a d'arce choke for the submission win in only under a minute!!

Rickson Gracie defeated Yoji Anjo by submission via D'arce choke at 0:58


Silence befell the crowd as medics carried a bloodied anjo to the back, while Rickson simply walked back to training for the vale tudo japan tournament.

 

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A bloodied Anjo after the fight.

 

 

 

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1 round, 15 minutes

Hidehiko Yoshida vs Naoya Ogawa


Two big ovations and name chanting from the kobe fans as the two former olympic judo medalists made their way into the ring. The contest started as the judo contest that i was predicted to be, but the more the fight went on, the more yoshida showed that he actually worled on his standup, hitting some noce, short boxing combinations on Ogawa's body. Ogawa gained the advantage with an uchi-mata, but Yoshida sweeps his way out of trouble and on top of Ogawa. seeking an opening, Yoshida attempted many submissions, but ogawa deals with them easily and sweeps out of his predicament and back up. Ogawa attempted an inside leg trip, but Yoshida takes advantage of him being off-balance to hit a spectacular ura-nage on Ogawa! Yoshida tried going for the kill, but Ogawa holds on as time expires!

All three judges gave Yoshida the unanimous victory.

Hidehiko Yoshida defeated Naoya Ogawa via unanimous decision after 15 minutes.
 

 

 

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1 round, 15 minutes
Masakatsu Funaki vs Kazushi Sakuraba

A big ovation for the pancrase co-founder as Funaki made his way to the ring, while Sakuraba got a decent reaction, but it was clear who was the crowd's favorite.

The bell rang and both fighters circle the ring and put defensive stances. Funaki kept saluraba at bay with jabs and warning low kicks.  But sakruaba catches a mid-kick attempt and takes funaki down!

The crowd goes nuts as funaki was now pulling guard against the young challenger. Sakuraba got a bit too excited, though, and the more experienced funaki easily jumped out of this predicament and got back to his feet.

From then on, Funaki's experience would take over, as he would successfully complete three nice takedowns on the young and inexpereicned Sakuraba. However, on the ground, Saku proved to be more than amtch for funaki, escaping his submission holds and attempting many of his own.

The crowd enjoyed this ground fighting clinic, cheering for both men as they attempt to one up eachbother. Funaki then decided to stay up, protecting himself from saku's takedown attempts and punishing him with short combinations and kicks.

AND FUNAKI CACTHES SAKU WITH A LEFT HOOK!

SAKU GOES DOWN!

FUNAKI POUNCES ON HIM AND PUMMELS HIM!

YUJI SHIMADA JUMPS IN AND STOPS THE FIGHT!!

Masakatsu Funaki wins this by TKO to the roar of the crowd!


Masakatsu Funaki defeats Kazushi Sakuraba via TKO at 14:07.

After the match, both fighters bow down to one another and lift each other's arms under the shower of applauds from the crowd.

 

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MAIN EVENT

1 round, 30 minutes

Minoru Suzuki vs "El Guapo" Bas Rutten


A big ovation for the pancrase co-founder as minoru suzuki enters the ring in his signature black trunks, boots and towel over his head, while Bas Rutten shows off his athelticism by jumping over the top rope.

Huge atmosphere for this main event as the fighters are introduced, and the pre-fight staredown only added even more tension in the arena!

 

 

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Suzuki started very preemptively, for he doesn't want to engage in a standup war against the kickboxer rutte. But rutten might've sensed that suzuki was a bit too hesitant, for he started to force Suzuki into corners with hsi striking, catching him with big blows and even kmocking hik back tot he ropes once! A check by the ringside doctors saw suzuki having a cut underneath his left eye.

Rutten smelled blood, for he went for the kill, attempting vicious knees and bombs, forcing Suzuki to keep clinching. Eventually, he grabbed Rutten's waist and forces him into the ropes.

Oh wait a minute...

He's lifting him up!

GERMAN SUPLEX!!

RIGHT ON RUTTEN'S NECK!

The momentum has now shifted into Suzuki's favour as the crowd cahnts his name in unison! Rutten tried his best, but it's clear that he has pain on the side of his neck! Suzuki rampages Rutten with blows to the body and knees to the head. Rutten tried to push away Suzuki, but Suzuki grabs his leg.

AND HE GOES FOR A TOE HOLD!

AND HE SECURES IT! RUTTEN'S IN BIG TROUBLE...

AND ITS APPLIED, AND RUTTEN TAPS!

Minoru Suzuki, after getting absolutely pummeld in the first 8 minutes of the fight, pulls off an epix german suplex and sexures the submission victory over Bas Rutten as the crowd goes wild! Mamma mia!


Minoru Suzuki defeats Bas Rutten by submission via toe hold at 9:55.

The crowd cheers for Suzuki's name as his cornermen Masakatsu Funaki and Yuki Kondo carried him back on his feet, while Rutten left the ring with an ice bag on his neck and wincing in pain.

After the match, Suzuki adresses the Kobe crowd and thanks them for supporting him and PAancrase with another sold-out show. He then responds to Vernon "Tiger" White' challenge by saying that he can't wait to face him!

 



Meanwhile, backstage, Bas Rutten sat down in front of the journalists, still wincing from that mean head drop he got from Suzuki's german suplex. He says that he was disappointed in his performance, saying that he looked like a sittign duck once he went on the ground. He then concludes by saying that now, he understands just how important ground fighting is to the sport of "Real Fighting", and that he is gonna train with the best grapplers in the world in order to get his revenge on Suzuki.
 

 

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Pancrase: Hybrid Wrestlers 3

Full Results:

Minoru Suzuki defeats Bas Rutten by submission via toe hold at 9:55.

Masakatsu Funaki wins this by TKO to the roar of the crowd!

Hidehiko Yoshida defeated Naoya Ogawa via unanimous decision after 15 minutes.

Rickson Gracie defeated Yoji Anjo by submission via D'arce choke at 0:58

Tsuyoshi Kohsaka defeats Kazuyuki Fujita via unanimous decision after 15 minutes.

Vernon "Tiger" White defeated Satoshi Honma via Submission by way of rear naked choke at 2:47.


Prelims


Daijiro matsui defeats sanae kikuta via unanimous decision after 15 minutes

Yuki Kondo defeats Jason Delucia via unanimous decision after 15 minutes

Alexander Otsuka defeats Jutaro Nakao via unanimous decision after 15 minutes


Fight of the Night: Minoru Suzuki vs Bas Rutten

Edited by kinnikuniverse
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RICKSON DOMINATES AT VALE TUDO JAPAN

 

Cousin Royce favorite for UFC 2. Is Gracie dominance imminent?

 

july saw the sacramaent of a new superstar in japan, as Rickson Gracie won the inaugural edition of the Vale Tudo Japan tournament on friday, July 29th, in very convincing fashion, submitting all of his opponents in under 3 minutes, including defeating american Bud Smith in the final in only 39 seconds!

 

The brazilian Jiu-Jitsu master, who is undefeated in Japan so far, represented the Pancrase promotion in Japan along with the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu academy, and Pancrase couldn't ask for a better promotional tool to prove that it is THE place to be for the best martial artists in the world.

 

Along with Rickson and his immediate family being present, Pancrase founders Masakatsu Funaki and Minoru Suzuki, as well as CEO Nobuyuki Sakakibara, were also present at the event, which indirectly confirmed the rumour that Pancrase is potentially hosting its own invitational tournament sometime in the future. Interviewed after the tournament about a potential Suzuki vs Rickson fight, Sakakibara declined to comment, while Suzki himself said that it would be an interesting fight.

 

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Rickson might not be the only Gracie who might win a one night tournament, this week-end, for sunday, July 31th, is the date where the second edition of the Ultimate Fighting Championships will be held. After the unexpected success of the inaugural edition, Art Davie has sent invitations to fighters from all corners of the world in order to give this edition a true "world cup of martial arts" vibe, with fighters from 4 different continent competing in the tournament, which will run in the same format as the previous one, it being an 8-men openweight tournament that will be contested in one night at the McNichols Sports arena in Denver, Colorado.

 

However, there will be a change in the duration of the fights. Instead of continuous 20-minute fights, the fights will be split into two rounds. The first round will last 10 minutes, while the second will last only 2. Judges will score the fight in its entirety.

 

With that said, the 8 fighters who will vye for supremacy in Denver this sunday features many fighters who returns from the first edition, including the finalists Ken Shamrock and Royce Gracie, as well as Dan "the beast" Severn, UFC 93 semi-finalist Maurice Smith and Oleg Taktarov. Those 5 will be joined by three brand new fighters, each as different as they are mean.

 

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Marco Ruas (Brazil), Luta Livre

 

a veteran of the Brazilian Vale Tudo scene, Ruas is a living legend in Brazil, well known for his feud with Jiu Jitsu fighters and his unique style combining Muay Thai and grappling techniques.

 

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Enson Inoue (JPN) - Jiu Jitsu

 

A japanese-Hawaiian jiu jitsu grappler, Inoue previously fought in Pancrase, where he lost to Alexander Otsuka. This sunday, Inoue will represent Japan, and he hopes to show the world that the Gracies aren't the only Jiu Jitsu masters.

 

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Branko Cikatic (Croatia) - Taekwondo/Kickboxing

 

The multi-time Kickboxing heavyweight champion and K-1 Grand Prix champion is easily the biggest get of this UFC 94 tournament. Art Davie has managed to convince K-1 founder and CEO Kazuyoshi Ishii to let the Croatian tiger compete in the tournament. While he is about to turn 40, he is still an elite-level kickboxer, so he should not be underestimated!

 

Royce Gracie is considered the favorite to retain his title this year, with Ken Shamrock being seen as the main rival for the brazilian. Shamrock has been training extensively for this tournament, and anything other than a victory against Gracie would be seen as a failure by the world's most danegrous man!

 

Also of note is that the Pancrase trio of co-founders Masakatsu Funaki and Minoru Suzuki  and CEO Nobuyuki Sakakibara will be in attendance in Denver! Maybe to scout for future fighters for Pancrase  and to see how their top gaijin Ken Shamrock will do.

 

ULTIMATE FIGHTING CHAMPIONSHIPS 94 TOURNAMENT BRACKET AND PREDICTIONS CARD:

 

Royce Gracie (BRA) vs Enson Inoue (JPN)

 

Oleg Taktarov (RUS) vs Maurice Smith (USA)

 

Marco Ruas (BRA) vs Branko Cikatic (CRO)

 

Ken Shamrock (USA) vs Dan Severn (USA)

 

Semi Finals:

Gracie/Inoue vs Taktarov/Smith

 

Ruas/Cikatic vs Shamrock/Severn

 

Tournament Winner :

 

Fight of the night:

 

Edited by kinnikuniverse
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Royce Gracie (BRA) vs Enson Inoue (JPN)

Oleg Taktarov (RUS) vs Maurice Smith (USA)

Marco Ruas (BRA) vs Branko Cikatic (CRO)

Ken Shamrock (USA) vs Dan Severn (USA)

Semi Finals:

Gracie/Inoue vs Taktarov/Smith

Ruas/Cikatic vs Shamrock/Severn

Tournament Winner : Royce Gracie

Fight of the night: Gracie vs Taktarov

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Royce Gracie (BRA) vs Enson Inoue (JPN)

Oleg Taktarov (RUS) vs Maurice Smith (USA)

Marco Ruas (BRA) vs Branko Cikatic (CRO)

Ken Shamrock (USA) vs Dan Severn (USA)

 Semi Finals:

Gracie/Inoue vs Taktarov/Smith

 Ruas/Cikatic vs Shamrock/Severn

 

Tournament Winner : Royce Gracie

 

Fight of the night: Taktarov vs Smith

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https://youtu.be/6Ne5UOV1T04

 

Ultimate Fighting Championships 94

Quarter-final #1

Royce Gracie vs Enson Inoue

Enson starts by hitting a nice straight right on Royce. That woke up Royce, for he immediately took down Enson and goes for side control, but Enson fought it back and scramble for a better position. Gracie does well to force him back into gaurd, however, and goes again fro side control, gaining it after a few minutes of scramble by the larger Enson. However, the inevitable happened and Royce locked in an armbar for the easy win

Rocye Gracie beat Enson Inoue at 3:24 of the first round by submission via armbar

 

Quarter-Ginal #2


Oleg Taktarov vs Maurice Smith

A classic wrestler vs kickboxer duel featuring fighters who have accomplished a lot of things in their respective disciplines throughout their careers. Smith was the aggressive one, missing with a big right hand. Tkatarov is hesitant to get in on the clinch, for smith's knees can definitely do damage to his body. Smith hits soem  good shots on Taktarov. A mid kick attempt was caught by Taktarov and the russina pushes the former kickboxing world champion against the cage and does a beautiful double leg takedown using the cage.

Smith now with his back against the cage, he tries to get out of here, but taktarov cathes him witb a guillotine and forces the submission!

Oleg Taktarov beat Maurice Smith by submission via Guillotine choke at 3:05 of the first round.

 

Quarter-Final #3


Marco Ruas vs Branko Cikatic

Both fighters touch gloves to start the fight. A nice counter combination by ruas connects on Cikatic. Cikatic eats a mid kick, then the two would slug it out, exchanging punches, with Ruas taking down Branko by ducking under a one-two combination and tripping him into side control, applying a nasty kimura to end the fight.

Marco Ruas beats Branko Cikatic by submission via Kimura at 4:41 of the first round.

 

Quarter-Final #4


Ken Shamrock vs Dan Severn

The crowd was loud for this battle between the two favorties to take down Royce Gracie. Both men touch gloves as the siren howled. Severn immediately takes down Shamrock, but a guard attempt GETS BLOCKED BY SHAMROCK, WHO COUNTERS IT WITH A SURPRISE ARMBAR AND SEVERN TAPS!!

The crowd is stunned and goes wild as Ken Shamrock shocks the mcnichols sports arena with that unexpected armbar! Everyone got up on their feet and congratulated Shamrock, including Minoru Suzuki, Masakatsu Funakinand Nobuyuki Sakakibara of Pancrase, who are in attendance tonight!

Ken Shamrock beat Dan Severn by submission via armbar at 1:48 of the first round.

Severn didn't even know what happened! He looks very disappointed in losing in such a quick fashion.

Followimg the quarter finals, a kickboxing exbibition fight between Dennis Alexio and Zane Frasier followed in irder to give a break to the final 4 fighters. The much more experienced Alexio won the fight by unanimous decision.
 

 

Semi-Final #1

 

 Royce Gracie vs Oleg Taktarov

Immediately, Gracie shoots for the leg and gors fir an armbar, but taktarov manages to escape in time! Anothe rarmbar is dealt with by taktarov and tkatariv gets back up, almost landing a vicious right hand that could've knocked Gracie out! Gracie then shoots for the legs and pushes Taktarov into the cage. Taktarov sneaks into mount position, though, and start punching a bit, but Gracie pulls him tight and flips him over to a tirtle position, applyign a body triangle.

He then grabs tkatarov's neck and chokes him out for the submission win!

Royce Gracie beats Oleg Taktarov at 4:41 of the first round by submission via rear naked choke.

Royce Gracie goes to the UFC 94 tournament final.
 

 

Semi-Final #2


Ken Shamrock vs Marco Ruas

Ruas's right hook is countered by shamrock's own as both fighters start the fight exchanging blows, but nothing connects until Shamrock hits a nice combination. Ruas ducks under a hook, but barely misses shamrock with his own. He then lands a solid right hand that pushed away shamrock!

Shamrock answers with a counter left hand, however, and he goes for another hit, but ruas feitns and throws a right that shamrock ducks under. The crowd is loving this slugfest.

Ruas is now starting to fatigue a little. This is what shamrock wanted and hit a nice combination to send Ruas back two steps. Ruas clinches to gain soem energy, but shamrock hits a few body punches as time runs out for a very entertaining first round!

The second round began and shamrock sends a right hook ruas's way, but ruas counters with a takedown!

BUT WAIT A MINUTE, RUAS IS TRAPPED IN A SURPRISE GUILLOTINE BY SHAMROCK...

AND HE POPS HIS HEAD FREE!

The fight could've ended right here!

Ruas keeps shamrock grounded with nice use of his weight a d prevents shamrock from sweeping. Shamrock hits an elbow on ruas's head, and manages to scramble his way into a dominant position, hitting some shots on Ruas before time expired!

In an entertaining, back and forth fight, the judges give ken shamrock the unanimous decision win!

Ken Shamrock defeats Marco Ruas by unanimous decision.

Ken Shamrock goes to the UFC 94 tournament final

Before the UFC 94 tournament final, a light heavyweight kickboxing title match between Patrick Smkth and Rick Roufus was next. Roufus won against Smith by unanimous decision to retain his light heavyweight title.
 

 

https://youtu.be/wRr42bQudD4

Before the final, the anthems of brazil and the united states were played.

 


UFC 94 final : Royce Gracie vs Ken Shamrock

A massive staredown during the referee big john mccarthy's instructions as there was no love lost between Gracie and Shamrock in this highly anticipated rematch for the UFC tournament championship! Who will be the ultimate fighter of 1994?

They touch gloves despite all the tension in the air.

Shamrock conencts with a right hook, but gracie takes him down, but shamrock was ready for him this time and keeps gracie in guard. A few elbows were smothered by Gracie, but Shamrock gets back up following gracie losing hsi control as he attempted to pass to a better position. Shamrock immediately grabs gracie as he attempted another shoot attmept, but misses with a vicious hook. Gracie take shin down again, though, but shamrock scrambles out of position and goes after his leg, but gracie sees it coming and gets side control.

Gracie attempts mount, but shamrock was ready and scrambles back up, pushing Gracie into the cage. A big knee to the body of gracie follows, with another knee to the ribs of Gracie followed by an uppercut and a nasty elbow that opened up a cut on Gracie's face!

Gracie grabbed shamrock, though, and pulled him tight into him, doing dirty boxing on him. Shamrock is putting up a better fight than in their first encounter in the UFC 93 final!

Big John Mccarthy stops the fight to check Gracie's cut. The doctor signals for thr foght to continue and mccarthy brigns both foghters back to the center of the octagon.

Shamrock lands a right, but gracie goes for anothrr takedown and gets it, going to half gaurd inmemdiately and tries passing to side control, but shamrock scrambles and goes underneath him in north-south position. Gracie's armbar attempt was subsequently blocked by Shamrock, who tried to scramble, but gracie was having none of it!

Shamrock tries to scramble, but gracie gets side control in return! However, he opted to regain his breath as the first round came to an end!

Both fighters got cheered on by the crowd, with the pancrase trio at ringside clearly impressed by Shamrock's performance in that round.

The second round began and gracie takes down shamrock again. Geacie attempts to pass guard, but shamrock pushes him away and scrambles, which keads to gracie gaining side control, but shamrock quickly gets half guard gracie tries to pass it, and shamrock seems to let him pass...only to grab him and ram him into the cage, to the roar of the patriotic crowd!

Knee strike to the ribs of gracie followed, followed by some ground and pound from Shamrock that Gracie negotiates well, but Shamrock keeps pressing him onto the cage and hit some knees. Gracie then gets out of the way and hits another takedown on Shamrock before time expired!

The crowd gave its respect to both fighters, who each have their arms lifted in the air. After a few minutes of deliberation, all three judges gave to win...to Royce Gracie!

Royce Gracie beats Ken Shamrock by unanimous decision. Gracie wins UFC 94 and retains his title as the ultimate fighter.

That was a much better fight than their first encounter, and the crowd came back home sad that shamrock didn't win, but they were still satisfied. Shamrock, meanwhile, had a long look on his face, for he felt that he was that close to beating Gracie...

Still, the pancrase team of Suzuki, Funaki and Sakakibara congratulated him, for he did himself and Pancrase proud. Japan can't wait to see that new, more vicious Ken Shamrock back in action in a Pancrase ring!


UFC 94 tournament winner: Royce Gracie

Fight of the night: Marco Ruas vs Ken Shamrock

Edited by kinnikuniverse
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SUZUKI VS SHAMROCK , FUNAKI-RUTTEN SET FOR PANCRASE: HYBRID WRESTLERS 4!

Pancrase: Hybrid Wrestlers 4 was announced this week-end by CEO Nobuyuki Sakakibara and co-founders Masakatsu Funaki and Minoru Suzuki, to be set on September 18th. The event will take place at the Yokohama cultural gymnasium, a 5,000 seater, and it will be boradcasted for free on FujiTV a few days later as a prime time TV Special named Pancrase: Pancrash!.

Already, two huge fights have been announced to headline this event: Ken Shamrock, fresh off a very impressive run to yet another UFC tournament final, where he put up a much better fight against tournament champion Royce Gracie, goong the distance against the brazilian Jiu Jitsu master, returns to Japan as a new, more rounded fighter, and upon returning to Pancrase, he personally requested Minoru Suzuki to be his opponent.

"I feel like i'm a much better fighter than before" shamrock said in an interview with Black belt magazine. " the fight against Gracie was a big moment for me. Even though i lost, i'm very happy with my performance. I believe i'm among the best fighters in the world, and i wanna prove it at Pancrase in september against Suzuki. He's a hell of a fighter and a tough customer, even back when we wrestled one another at Fujiwara-Gumi in 91, but i feel very good about my chances."

Suzuki, who is 3-0 since Pancrase started, scoring impressive wins over olympic judoka Hidehiko Yoshida and especially in his last fight against Bas Rutten, relishes on the thought of fighting Shamrock.

"No doubt, upon attending the UFC tournament, Shamrock has proven himself to be a top level fighter." Suzuki-san said. "It's gonna be a really tough fight, but i've been training extensively with Masa (Funaki) and the guys at PancraseISM dojo for this fight, so i'm more prepared than ever!"


Speaking of Masakatsu Funaki, the other co-founder will be in action once again following his win over Kazushi Sakuraba. And his opponent will be none other than Bas Rutten, who lost to Suzuki at Hybrid Wrestlers 3. Rutten has been training a lot with his trainee Leon van dijk and Ken Shamrock, taping fights featuring submission grapplers and practicing those moves in the gym. He personally requested Funaki as his opponent to test his new groundfighting skills.

"Funaki is considered one of the top 3 ground grapplers in Pancrase, along with Suzuki and Rickson Gracie." Rutten explained. "Plus, he also has a similar style to Suzuki, so if i can submit this guy with my new grappling moves, then i know for sure that i can beat Suzuki."

Other fights on the card will feature Kazushi Sakuraba taking on the very impressive youngster Alexander Otsuka in the latter's main card debut and Vernon "Tiger" White taking on youngster Daijiro Matsui.

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in the third biggest fight of the night, Tsuyoshi Kohsaka faces off against Kyoshi Tamura (who signed full time for Pancrase following a falling out with pro wrestling promotion UWFI). The two youngsters are coming off big wins, and both are looking to improve their records.

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finally, a battle that promises to be a standup war as Maurice Smith makes his full time debut for Pancrase against Satoshi Honma. Smith, who lost to Kiyoshi Tamura while replacing Vernon White on short notice following his falling out with K-1, is looking for his first win in Pancrase, while Honma is trying to get back on the win column.

In the prelims, 19-year old Yuki kondo will face Judoka Jutaro Nakao, while Sanae Kikuta will face Jason Delucia as both men are looking for their first win.

Kazuyuki Fujita is not available due to representing Japan at the amateur wrestling world championships, while Hidehiko Yoshida and Naoya Ogawa are busy competing in the world judo championships.
 

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NEW TALENT COMING IN SOON?

At the same press conference, Sakakibara-san also announced that, in the incoming weeks, some new fighters will be coming to Pancrase in future shows.

"We are looking to bring in new fighters to the promotion." Sakakibara-san confirmed. "We feel that we are starting to run out of all our current available matchups, and so, we've reached out to fighters from around japan and the world in order to deliver fresh new faces and matchups to our future cards."

This news adds even more fuel to the fire concerning the rumours of Pancrase organising their own UFC-style invitational tournament, and it wouldn't be surprising if many of those fighters were scouted by Sakakibara, Suzuki and Funaki during their july trips to Vale Tudo Japan and the second UFC tournament in Denver. It'd be interesting to see the likes of Marco Ruas and Oleg Taktarov, for example, face off against the Pancrase fighters.

 

 

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PANCRASE: HYBRID WRESTLERS 4

Live from Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium

September 18th, 1994

FULL FIGHT AND PREDICTIONS CARD:



1 round, 30 minutes

Minoru Suzuki vs Ken Shamrock

1 round, 15 minutes

Masakatsu Funaki vs "El Guapo" Bas Rutten

1 round, 15 minutes

Tsuyoshi Kohsaka vs Kiyoshi Tamura

1 round, 15 minutes

Kazushi Sakuraba vs Alexander Otsuka

1 round, 15 minutes

Vernon "Tiger" White vs Daijiro Matsui

1 round, 15 minutes
Maurice Smith vs Satoshi Honma



Prelims

1 round, 15 minutes
Yuki Kondo vs Jutaro Nakao

1 round, 15 minutes
Jason Delucia vs Sanae Kikuta

 


Fight of the night: 

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https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vTeVTchrzIQ

 

 

Pancrase: Hybrid Wrestlers 4

Spetember 18th, 1994

 


Live from Yokohama cultural gymnasium

Prelims results

Sanae Kikuta beat Jason Delucia by unanimous decision after 15 minutes. Kiluta got rocked early on, and delucia did some good stuff on the ground, but the judoka took back control and never let go, getting the easy UD win.


Yuki Kondo beat Jutaro Nakao by unanimous decision after 15 minutes. In a battle taking place on the ground, the judoka Nakao met his match against the 19-year old PancraseISM graduate, and Kondo would edge out the win with his 2 takedowns.


MAIN CARD RESULTS

1 round, 15 minutes

Maurice Smith vs Satoshi Honma

Smith is looking for his forst pancrase win, while Honma looks to get back on the win column by beating the former UFC semi-finalist. They circle each other until Smith does a push kick, usiing his size advantage over hinma to trap him in clinches. Honma hit a few shots on the taller kickboxer, but Smitb was clearly the better fighter, connecting with some great shots.

Smith then countered an incoming midkick with a spinning kick right on the liver of Honma!

AND HONMA GOES DOWN IN THE CORNER!

AND SMITH SOCCER KICKS HIM AND STOMPS HIM TO OBLIVION!

Referee Yuji Shimada stops the fight! Maurice Smith wins by TKO!

Maurice Smith beats Satoshi Honma by TKO at 4:21



1 round, 15 minutes
Vernon "tiger" White vs Daijiro Matsui

Many peopel expect White to win it easily against the inexperienced Matsui. At first, it seemed like it would be aformality, with Matsui looking rather uncomfortable fighting while standingup, with whote hitting some nice shots on the young japanese fighter.

However, imagine the surprise of everyone when Matsui grabbed White and, after a bunch of knees and dirty boxing, took down white with an inside leg trip! White certainly didn't expect that, for matsui passed to mount and layed down some hammer fists on his face.

White would regain his sense, however, and scramble his way to a dominatn position on top. But matsui didn't give up, though, for he managed to scramble his way back up!

The yokohama crowd let their appreciation of Matsui's spirited effort be loud and clear, and they started cheering for him agains the american white. Matsui continued matching White's grappling accumen move for move, always managing to scramble to better positions after getting taken down by White.

White was clearly the one who scored, though, wtih his takedowns and putting Matsui constantly into dangerous predicaments, but his inability to finish him off and the japanese wrestler's own grappling skills were starting to get on his nerves.

Things got a bit worse for white as we reached the 10 minute mark when matsui rocked him with some good, short combinations! However, he managed to clinch Matsui long enough to regain his senses and try to go for a takedown. However, Matsui showed good sprawl and got White on his knees beneath him. A few knee strikes to the head from Matsui didn't do much damage, and White would eventually forces Matsui on his back and get side control, where he tried locking in a kimura...

AND HE GETS IT!

BUT NO WAY! MATSUI POPS HIS ARM FREE!

White couldn't properly lock the kimura in! Just what will it take to beat this guy?

It took matsui going for a leg lock for White to finally have Matsui where he wanted him! Matsui misses with his leg lock attmept and gives up his back to White, who applies a body triangle

AND HE'S GOT THE REAR NAKED CHOKE...

AND MATSUI IS FLATTENED! HE HA SNO CHOICE BUT TO TAP!!

Vernon Tiger White finally finishes off Daijiro Matsui in an unexpectedly competitive fight! While he lost, Matsui certainly looked good to the japanese crowd with his never say die attitude and taking the fight to the tiger!

Vernon "Tiger" White defeated Daijiro Matsui by submission via rear naked choke at 12:54


After the match, Matsui addresses the Yokohama crowd and thanks them for thei support, while White praises Matsui for his toughness and wrestling skills before reiterating his challenge to Minoru Suzuki.



1 round, 15 minutes

Kazushi Sakuraba vs Alexander Otsuka


Sakuraba is looking to get back on the win column after his loss to Masakatsu Funaki, while Otsuka makes his main card debut after impressing in the prelims with his wrestling.

Right at the bell, Otsuka shows he is not afraid of Sakuraba by shooting for his leges. A good sprawl by saku left Otsuka on his knees, but he covers himself well from Saku's knees and ends up forcing Saku on his back!

Saku pulls him tightly in guard, though, and immediately filps him over to get side control. A kimura attempt was denied by Otsuka, who used his size advantage to flip saku and force him into half guard. Small ground and pound to do some damage, but Sakuraba was in no trouble, for he managed to get back up.

Sakuraba then scores some beautiful single leg trips on Otsuka, but couldn't get a submission on him, for Otsuka used his size to scramble his way out multiple times.

This is where Saku did an interesting strategic change. He deliberately kept on his feet for the rest of the fight, hitting otsuka with short combinations and kicks to his legs and mid-section, and everytime Otsuka tried to grapple or take him down, he sprawled his way to openings for knees and uppercuts. It seems Saku took some boxing lessons for his fight preparation!

Otsuka knew that his standup game is subpar, but it was doubly furstrating for the young fighter to have his takedown and grappling attempts be canceled by the former wrestling standout Sakuraba. The latter pulled off a masterful audible, usiing whatever tools he had in his relatively limited standup game to score points and hit Otsuka and using his excellent grappling defense to force Otsuka open for counter strikes.

In a way, he's doing the exact strategy Funaki used to beat him at Hybrid Wrestlers 3!

And thus, as time expired, all three judges gave Sakuraba the unanimous decision victory

Kazushi Sakuraba beats Alexander Otsuka by unanimous decision after 15 minutes.

After the match, Saku hugged and bowed down to Otsuka and praised his wrestling skills. Meanwhile, Otsuka leaves the ring with a long look on his face. No doubt, the young wrestler has learned valuable lessons in that fight.


1 round, 15 minutes
Kiyoshi Tamura vs Tsuyoshi Kohsaka

The crowd came alive for this one, as TK started to grow on the local japanese fans, while Tamura, already popular due to his success in UWFI, switches to Pancrase full time after leaving UWFI due to creative differences.

Tamura knows that Kohsaka is a 4th degree black belt in Judo, and he starts the match tentaively, content with just sending some hard kicks to Kohsaka's legs that gets checked by the Judoka.

Another leg kick gets caugh by TK though, and Tamura hops on one leg

OH WAIT, TAMURA ATTEMPTS AN ENZIGURI!

The crowd goes wild as Kohsaka was actually hit by that Enziguri attempt!

But Kohsaka still managed to mount Tamura on the ground and starts punishing Tamura for his petulance with groudn and pound.

BUT WAIT, TAMURA'S GOT HIS LEGS WRAPPED AROUND KOHSAKA'S LEFT ARM!

But Kohsaka drops his entire body on Tamura, forcing him to let go of that triangle armbar attempt and into full guard. Kohsaka goign to work now, moving to side control and goign for a kimura, but Tamura scrambles and gets underneath Kohsaka. Knees followed from kohsaka onto Tamura's head, but Tamura scrambles and gets back up.

Tamura now catching kohsaka with a great mid-kick, then he ducks under a straight right and takes down kohsaka and gets on mount.

Kohsaka pushes him away with his legs, though, and Tamura hits his legs with kicks standings up. kohsaka scorss with defensive kicks, but Tamura attmepting a flying stomp! He misses, but still ends up in side control as Kohsaka was unable to secure his legs!

Tamura now with some knees to the body and attmeptimg a kimura of his own, but Kohsaka pops his arm free and and scrambles away into a mount. Kohsaka with some ground and pound to set up an armbar now, but Tamura gets up and pops free, getting back up again

Short combinations ending with kicks followed from Tamura, and he even gets into kohsaka's face with some grappling into the ropes! However, Kohsaka would bring him back down with a judo hip throw, but he would fial to get side control, and now Tamura's grabbed his leg.

HE'S GOING FOR A LEG LOCK...

kohsaka attempts to ground and pound his way out...

BUT TAMURA LOCKED IN THE LEGLOCK TIGHT!!

AND KOHSAKA TAPS!!!



Kiyoshi Tamura starts his full-time real fighting career with a massive bang as he submits Tsuyoshi Kohsaka, the 4th degree judo black belt!


An exciting, back and forth ground fighting classic! It might as well have stolen the show, for the crowd gave a massive round of applause for the two young fighters and the show they just put on!

Kiyoshi Tamura defeats Tsuyoshi Kohsaka by submission via leglock at 8:56



1 round, 15 minutes

Masakatsu Funaki vs "El Guapo" Bas Rutten

Rutten comes in first to a nice applause and with his signature jump over the top rope, but Funaki comes to the ring to a hero's welcome in Yokohama!



A big staredown between Funaki and Rutten while Yuji Shimada gave his final instructions!



The bell rings, and both fighters circle around each other, trying to find and opening. Rutten was more aggressive, pampering Funaki with combinations and crisp jabs and low kicks. Funaki then grapples Rutten into the ropes, but Rutten turns him around and hits some knees to the ribs and some body pu ches. Rutten attempts for a takedown, but Funaki holds firm and turn rutten into the nearby corner. Both fighters exchange body blows and knees, but other than that, no action was taken, and Yuji Shimada brought the fighters back at center.

A cheeky high kick attempt by Rutten was ducked under by Funaki, who backs off into another rope-a-dope, catching Rutten charging at him and grappling him into the ropes before delivering a BELLY-TO-BELLY SUPLEX to send him on the mat!

Funaki with side control now, looking to mount Rutten, BUT RUTTEN HAS HIM IN A GUILLOTINE CHOKE...

BUT FUNAKI POPS HIS HEAD FREE!

That was a close call!

Funaki attempts to target Rutten's arm, but Rutten showed his improved submission defense by scrambling his way to side control!

Rutten then hits some knees to Funaki's face from side control, but Funaki attempts to grab his free leg. Rutten saw it coming, though, and scrambkes to north-south position and ATTEMPTS A LEGLOCK...

But funaki lifts his upper body and cancels ths action!

Funaki hits some hammer fists on Rutten's shoulder, which paid off, for Ruttten let go of his leglock attempt and Funaki gets back in side control!

Some hammer punches that were easily dealt with from Funaki, and then some stalling, which led to Shimada to bring both fighters back up.

An exchange of strikes follows, with Rutten getting the better of Funaki. Funaki gets rocked by a push kick on the face and he wobbles backwards!

However, before Rutten could finish him off, Funaki grabbed his waist and punched his body with uppercuts. Rutten was having none of it, however, and takes down Funaki!

Ruttne attempts some ground and pound, but Funaki deals with it well, and he tries scrambling his way out, but ends up underneath Rutten. Big knees on the head! Rutten then tries turning around to mount Funaki's back, but Funaki saw it coming, and GRABBED HIS ARM FOR A KIMURA FROM GUARD!!

But Rutten defens himself well and is now on his feet, folding Funaki into a small ball and hitting some ground punches on his face. Funaki eventually lost his grip on Rutten's arm and is now on the defensive, Rutten kicking his legs, then simply walks away, inviting him to standup.

The crowd is loving this back and forth fight. Funaki then ducks under a big hook from Rutten and grapples him into the ropes, delibering another belly-to-belly and getting side control.

Rutten scrambles to get out of the way, but Funaki was first to it, and he forces Rutten to expose his back

HE GOT HIS ARMS UNDER RUTTEN'S CHIN...

HE GOT IT! THE REAR NAKED CHOKE!

RUTTEN TRIES TO ESCAPE, BUT HE GETS FLATTENED! RUTTEN TAPS!!

The yokohama crowd erupts in cheers as Masakatsu Funaki submits Bas Rutten! What a battle!

Masakatsu Funaki defeats Bas Rutten by submission via rear naked choke at 10:36

After the fight, Funaki and Rutten hugged each other, and the former would grab the mic and praise Rutten for a tough fight and note that his ground skills have definitely improved. He then thanks the Yokohama crowd for supporting him and Pancrase tonight, and he then officialy requests a rematch against Ken Shamrock!

Rutten, meanwhile, may have lost, but he could leave with his head held high, for he showed big improvements in his ground game. He knows, however, that he needs to do more than that to reach the level of top grapplers like funaki.



And now, its time for the main event!

1 round, 30 minutes

Minoru Suzuki vs Ken Shamrock

Two big ovations for both Shamrock and Suzuki as they made their way to the ring. Shamrock wore yellow trunks with black wrestling shoes and was accompanied by both his lions den stidents Vernon "Tiger" White, Jason Delucia and kickboxer Guy Mezger, but also his brother Frank Shamrock, who is rumoured to be making his real fighting debut soon!

Meanwhile, Minoru Suzuki came out in his traditional getup of black trunks, wrestling shoes and towel over his head, while being accompanied by Masakatsu Funaki, Yuki Kondo and Daijiro Matsui.


After the introductions, Suzuki and Shamrock had a massive staredown that hyped up the crowd for this one!

The bell rang and both fighters psyched each other up with sudden movements and one-two combos.

The first blood was drawn by shamrock, for he scores with a nasty right hook on Suzuki, which prompted the jaapnese wrestler to grapple him. Shamrock would use his size advantage to force Suzuki into the corner and rain his body with knees before taking him down with a belly-to-belly suplex!

It wouldn't be long before suzuki would scramble on top of Shamrock, though, and the two fighters would be busy exchanging ground passes between each other, trying to get a better position. Suzuki gets Shamrock under eath him in turtle position, but before he could land some knees, Shamrock carried him back up, getting hold of Suzuki's legs and delivering a big slam!

Shamrock now on mount, and he does some ground and pound. Suzuki tried a defensive kimura, but Shamrock would run away in reflex, getting btoh guys back up.

Now, it was Suzuki who was aggressive, for he scored many single leg takedowns on the larger Shamrock and smothered him with his side control and his grappling in the ropes.

While in the corner, Suzuki attempted a slam of his pwn, but Shamrock holds a firm base, and he would takd down Suzuki with another belly-to-belly suplex, getting side control and kneeing him in the face from that position.

Suzuki scrambled out fo this predicament and attmepted a leglock!

But shamrock saw it coming, and Suzuki exposes his back!

SHAMROCK GETS A BODY TRIANGLE...SUZUKI'S IN DEEP TROUBLE!

SHAMROCK GETS A REAR NAKED CHOKE!

AND SUZUKI IS FLATTENED! HE TAPS OUT!!

a huge win for 2-time UFC runner-up Ken Shamrock, who submits Minoru Suzuki and hands the oancrase co-founder his first career loss!

As the lion's den dojo celebrates in the ring, Shamrock hugs suzuki and lifts his arm in sportsmanship, to the approval of the crowd.


Ken Shamrock defeats Minoru Suzuki by submission via rear naked choke at 12:43

After the fight, Suzuki thanks the crowd for supporting him and Pancrase. Shamrock, meanwhile, thanked his sponsors and coaches, and praises Suzuki for his toughness and incredible skills.

He then says that everybody here knows who he wants to fight next, looking directly at Funaki when he said that. A big staredown between Funaki and Shamrock ensues as the crowd goes wild!



Looks like the main event for hybrid wrestlers 5 is already set!



Full Fight results:


Ken Shamrock defeats Minoru Suzuki by submission via rear naked choke at 12:43

Masakatsu Funaki defeats Bas Rutten by submission via rear naked choke at 10:36

Kiyoshi Tamura defeats Tsuyoshi Kohsaka by submission via leglock at 8:56

Kazushi Sakuraba beats Alexander Otsuka by unanimous decision after 15 minutes.

Vernon "Tiger" White defeated Daijiro Matsui by submission via rear naked choke at 12:54


Maurice Smith beats Satoshi Honma by TKO at 4:21


PRELIMS


Yuki Kondo beat Jutaro Nakao by unanimous decision after 15 minutes.

Sanae Kikuta beat Jason Delucia by unanimous decision after 15 minutes.


Fight of the night: Kiyoshi Tamura vs Tsuyoshi Kohsaka

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IT'S OFFICIAL: FUNAKI VS SHAMROCK 2 SET FOR HOLIDAY SUMO HALL EXTRAVAGANZA!

 

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This week-end, Pancrase has offcially announced its biggest show yet. On december 16th, the biggest fight in Pancrase's young history will take place at the legendary Sumo Hall in Japan as Masakatsu Funaki and 2-time UFC runner up Ken Shamrock will face off in a highly-anticipated rematch from their first encounter on Pancrase's first ever show, where Funaki shocked japan with a quick kimura win over the world's most dangerous man in september 1993.


The buzz for this rematch in japan is pretty big, with Funaki himself appearing on many talk shows in japan along with fellow pancrase co-founders Minoru Suzuki and Nobuyuki Sakakibara to promote the event. Shamrock, meanwhile, would promote the fight in american magazines such as black belt, and was even the subject of a feature article on Sports Illustrated, of all magazines, showcasing his life and journey in martial arts as well as hyping up the fight against Funaki.


"The fights against Gracie were very important for my career, but this one is personal." Shamrock told Sports Illustrated. 'i never forgot my defeat at the hands of Funaki last year. I've been training really hard for this moment. I am now a more complete fighter, and i'm gonna have my revenge. Funaki better watch out!"

"Shamrock-san will no doubt seek to submit me this time" Funaki said to the japanese magazine Gong. "I've been preparing with Suzuki-san and Kohsaka-san to improve my ground game in order to be ready for Shamrock. I will not gonna go down without a fight, this is what i guarantee!"

Funaki-Shamrock 2 ain't the only eye popping detail of Hybrid Wrestlers 5, for the card will feature no more than 10 main fights plus 2 preliminary bouts! Sakakibara-san and the two co-founders pulled out all the stops for this holiday extravaganza, and many fights are just salivating for many a fight fans in both Japan and the hardcore fans in america!


The semi-main event will see vernon "Tiger" White get his wish granted, for Minoru Suzuki has personally booked a fight between him and the californian after White clamored to fight Suzuki for months. Suzuki needs a win back after losing to Ken Shamrock at Hybrid Wrestlers 4, but White is not a scrub, so he better be careful!

Next up, Bas Rutten returns from his loss against Masakatsu Funaki as he takes on the young sensation Kiyoshi Tamura, who stole the show in a fight of the night performance against Tsuyoshi Kohsaka at Hybrid Wrestlers 4. The dutchman will hope his new ground skills will give him a much needed W.

Speaking of Tsuyoshi Kohsaka, the judo black belt, who really needs a win after falling against Kiyoshi Tamura, will face the surprising young wrestler Daijiro Matsui. Matsui will celebrate his 22nd birthday on decenber 5th, so a win against Kohsaka would be a perfect birthday gift for him!

The two finalists of the all-japan judo championships return to Pancrase. Reigning champion Hidehiko Yoshida will face the rough and tough wrestler Kazuyuki Fujita, who comes back from representing Japan in the amateur Wrestling World Championships, while Naoya Ogawa will face UFC 94 participant Enson Inoue, who returns to Pancrase after losing to Royce Gracie at the UFC tournament.
 

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KING OF PANCRASE TOURNAMENT CONFIRMED, NEW FIGHTERS TO MAKE THEIR DEBUT AT SUMO HALL!


Pancrase CEO Sakakibara also confirmed the long time rumours: for 1995, Pancrase will indeed organise its first ever "King of Pancrase" invitational tournament, and the promotion has signed many fighters from all corners of the world to participate in this tournament to crown the strongest fighter in the world and also crown the sport of "real fighting" its first ever world champion, with the "King of Pancrase" title coming with its own championship belt thatvwill be defended on future Pancrase shows from now on.

Said new fighters will make their debut on December 16th at Hybrid Wrestlers 5 at Sumo Hall, many of them being former UFC tournament participants. Brazilian vale tudo veteran and UFC 94 semi-finalist Marco Ruas will take on Kazushi Sakuraba in a dark horse contender for fight of the night, while the other semi-finalis of UFC 94, russian Sambo wrestler Oleg Taktarov, will take on judoka Jutaro Nakao. Finally, Maurice Smith will take on fellow kickboxer and Ken Shamrock student Guy Mezger in the latter's real fighting debut, while Shamrock's younger brother Frank will also make his real fighting debut against Alexander Otsuka!

In the prelims, Yuki Kondo will take on Satoshi Honma in Kondo's last fight before he will take a break from the sport in order to graduate from university, while Sanae Kikuta, frssh off a win at Hybrid Wrestlers 4, will face another Judoka in the debuting Akihiro Gono.


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Pancrase: Hybrid Wrestlers 5:  Road to the championship

Full predictions card:


Main event
1 round, 30 minutes
Masakatsu Funaki vs Ken Shamrock


1 round, 15 minutes
Minoru Suzuki vs Vernon "Tiger" White


1 round, 15 minutes
"El Guapo" Bas Rutten vs Kiyoshi Tamura


1 round, 15 minutes
Kazushi Sakuraba vs Marco Ruas


1 round, 15 minutes
Hidehiko Yoshida vs Kazuyuki Fujita


1 round, 15 minutes
Naoya Ogawa vs Enson Inoue

 

1 round, 15 minutes
Maurice Smith vs Guy Mezger

 

1 round, 15 minutes
Tsuyoshi Kohsaka vs Daijiro Matsui


1 round, 15 minutes
Oleg Taktarov vs Jutaro Nakao


1 round, 15 minutes
Frank Shamrock vs Alexander Otsuka



Prelims

Yuki Kondo vs Satoshi Honma

1 round, 15 minutes
Akihiro Gono vs Sanae Kikuta

 

fight of the night:

 

Predictions are welcome!

Edited by kinnikuniverse
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Main event
1 round, 30 minutes
Masakatsu Funaki vs Ken Shamrock


1 round, 15 minutes
Minoru Suzuki vs Vernon "Tiger" White


1 round, 15 minutes
"El Guapo" Bas Rutten vs Kiyoshi Tamura


1 round, 15 minutes
Kazushi Sakuraba vs Marco Ruas


1 round, 15 minutes
Hidehiko Yoshida vs Kazuyuki Fujita


1 round, 15 minutes
Naoya Ogawa vs Enson Inoue

 

1 round, 15 minutes
Maurice Smith vs Guy Mezger

 

1 round, 15 minutes
Tsuyoshi Kohsaka vs Daijiro Matsui


1 round, 15 minutes
Oleg Taktarov vs Jutaro Nakao


1 round, 15 minutes
Frank Shamrock vs Alexander Otsuka



Prelims

Yuki Kondo vs Satoshi Honma

1 round, 15 minutes
Akihiro Gono vs Sanae Kikuta

 

fight of the night: "El Guapo" Bas Rutten vs Kiyoshi Tamura

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Main event
1 round, 30 minutes
Masakatsu Funaki vs Ken Shamrock


1 round, 15 minutes
Minoru Suzuki vs Vernon "Tiger" White


1 round, 15 minutes
"El Guapo" Bas Rutten vs Kiyoshi Tamura


1 round, 15 minutes
Kazushi Sakuraba vs Marco Ruas


1 round, 15 minutes
Hidehiko Yoshida vs Kazuyuki Fujita


1 round, 15 minutes
Naoya Ogawa vs Enson Inoue

 

1 round, 15 minutes
Maurice Smith vs Guy Mezger

 

1 round, 15 minutes
Tsuyoshi Kohsaka vs Daijiro Matsui


1 round, 15 minutes
Oleg Taktarov vs Jutaro Nakao


1 round, 15 minutes
Frank Shamrock vs Alexander Otsuka



Prelims

Yuki Kondo vs Satoshi Honma

1 round, 15 minutes
Akihiro Gono vs Sanae Kikuta

 

fight of the night:

"El Guapo" Bas Rutten vs Kiyoshi Tamura

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