PRIDE 11 Predictions

[Hookah Smokin Caterpillar]

A lot of this is going on in other forums, so I decided to start one here. Since discussion isn't as much as when I used to lurk these here boards. I'm in BJJ now so I have a right to post damnit! =)

Anyway, lets get this thread going:

Main Event; Kazushi Sakuraba x Shannon "The Cannon" Ritch
This won't be a work I hope since neither man really needs a work. Sak will look weak in the MMA world if he does a work against a guy who lost by flying arm bar in a couple of seconds [or so i heard]. So the deal is, Sak will toy with him and win. However! I have an upset feeling I don't know what it is. I always have one, but they never come true. Either way, Sak by arm bar.

7th Fight; Naoya Ogawa x Masaki Satake
I don't mind works since I'm a big fan of professional wrestling, but I wish both worlds would be seperated. I don't know if Satake's last fight was a work, but if it is then Pride does HORRIBLE ones. Not in the sense that it wasn't believable, but in the sense that it was just an anti-climatic shitty match that in my opinion was the worst match of the night [didn't see the Vitor match, it could have been worse]. Either way, Ogawa will win work or not because Satake is not a good MMAer, a decent K1er, and Ogawa is awesome at Judo and is like a good deal bigger then Satake. Ogawa by KO.

6th Fight; Nobuhiko Takada x Igor Vovchanchyn
This probably won't be a work considering its supposedly Takada's last match. Takada isn't bad, but Vovchanchyn isn't good; he's amazing. I still hate Vov because I don't like his style, but he's as dominant a fighter as I can think of. Takada will lose by throwing the towel but if he wins his retirement match by work, then the Internet is going to explode with rage.

5th Fight; Alexander Otsuka x Mike Bourke
I don't know much about Bourke, so I won't say anything in case hes a good fighter. I'm going with the Diet Butcher here becuase I'm a big fan of BattlArts Pro Wrestling. Plus he's a tough Mofo and pretty talented as well. He hung with Vov better then Enson did surprisngly. Alex by Sub or TKO.

4th Fight; Akira Shoji x Herman Renting
I never heard of Herman so it could be just a mismatch (?). Going with Akira by sub.

3rd Fight; Yoshiaki Yatsu x Gary Goodridge
This is a work, Yatsu is a pro-wrestler [an old one] and Goodridge could kill him. No one would risk that so I think this will be a work which really really sucks. Gary should win if its real, but if its a work then Yatsu.

2nd Fight; Gilbert Yvel x Vanderlei Silva
If it was up to EVERYONE on here, this would be the main event, but its not. I'm going with Yvel here because he's just DANGEROUS in the stand up and reminds me of a kickboxing Sak in the moves he does [a flying knee anyone?]. In the clinch although Silva is better, he's not bigger so I don't think that it matters. On the ground its Silva, but he's not going to dominate there either. So Yvel by TKO well into the 8th or 9th minute. Should be a great fight.

1st Fight; Tom Erikson x Heath Herring
Yawn, boring GnP win by Erikson, may mount and actually win by punches like some old school Don Frye, other then that, this will probably suck.

What do you guys think?

[Hawk]

I've got to go along with all your predictions except one.I feel Silva will beat Yvel. Like you, I hope they keep the works to a minimum. If Takada-Igor is for real, Takada is liable to get hurt. If its straight, this match makes little sense to me.
Hawk

[Ronin]

Takada will train hard for this, look better than expected, get the living crap kicked out of him, and retire a hero.

The Japanese love the underdog, esp. when he's a charismatic wrestler.

[yusul]

Hookah: i agree with all your picks, especially Silva-Yvel. anyone who can KO big daddy that quick is packing some badass power.

I know I'll get a lot of crap for saying this, but I think Shannon has a good chance of winning. The reason why I say this is because.... Sak beat 3 gracies, so in MY opinion he knows enough BJJ to the point where he can defend against a bjj fighter ( defend against the takedown, then tower over a bjj butt scooter) So unless you are really skilled and really experienced in fighting, not only with using bjj, but also really knowing your own jj game (rickson) it would be very difficult to defeat Mr. Sak. In that case, I think a non-bjj fighter that is aggressive and comes out of his corner with a "sticking and stay on top" attitude could do some damage to Mr. Sak. And Shannon fits that description. Think about it. How many times have you seen Sak fight from his back?

[Hookah Smokin Caterpillar]

Good point Josh, I was thinking upset too for some reason thats beyond me; but now you bring a point. I think that its unrealistic anyway to think that Shannon will win, but imagine what would happen. Why is this the main event anyway, because Sak's in it? There's something fish...

thanks bro

[pigpen]

I wouldn't be so sure that the Goodridge/Yatsu match will be a work. Sure he's old, but he's probably tough as nails, too.

I also think Sak will win, but I root for the underdog.

Yvel/Silva I think is the toughest to call, so I'm going to go with Sylvel.

Erikson with the GnP.

Igor will take it, but I hope Takada's been training hard.

Shoji over what's his name.

And Ogawa, though Satake might, might knock him out.

[pigpen]

Oh yeah. Otsuka vs. Bourke.

Bourke was in a few KOTCs. Got knocked out with the first strike thrown in KOTC 1, but avenged his loss in 3. I heard he won in the other KOTC but haven't seen them. Basically a tough guy but...

so is Otsuka who has faced way tougher competition than Bourke and has survived.

My vote goes to Otsuka.

[Bau13]

Ogawa by KO over Satake? you said hes a judo guy...how would he KO a K-1 fighter??

About Yvels KO on Big daddy... he just caught big daddy..plain and simple...if you get caught that clean....doesn't matter how much power..you would probably go down...remember when that fat guy got ko'd by Frye's jab!?! (then again that guy sucked!)

Silva is a way better striker than big daddy...a good MT kickboxer...he wont go down to a high kick unless he was real tired or something...I think.....

Could go either way by KO ...

[Marcus]

Josh,

Have you seen Shannon Ritch fight? Sak could beat him in a grappling match, boxing match, kickboxing, NHB, pancrace, arm-wrestling or thumb war. A guy I used to train with beat Shannon in his first fight ever. Sak will dominate, and toy with Ritch while doing so. Barring a total fluke or work, there is no question in this fight.

Marcus,
I have not seen Shannon fight, but if you say it, then it must be true.

[pigpen]

LOL at Marcus!

I don't know. I heard that Shannon is pretty crafty when it comes to thumb wars.