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The following is a complete PRIDE 12 show report for those who haven't read the results or want to try to save yourself some time by reading this instead of every big PRIDE match thread. This is a compilation of around 15 different live show reports, so a lot of credit should be given to a lot of people. I'm very impressed in the way that the Internet has been able to cover this show. Thank you, everyone.
PRIDE 12 Saitama, Chiinama Super Arena (26,882)
1. Guy Mezger defeated Alexander Otsuka in the 1st round in 1 minute, 54 seconds by referee stoppage. Fast action, with Mezger getting the upper hand by counter punching. Mezger hit a nice, solid right hook on Otsuka and the referee stopped the fight.
2. Carlos Newton defeated Johil de Oliviera by a 3-0 judge's decision. Newton dominated the entire match on ground, was North-South position in last 30 seconds.
3. Ricco Rodriguez defeated John Marsh by a 3-0 judge's decision. In the 1st round, Ricco tried a high kick but fell down. Both guys continued to stand up throughout the fight. Ricco tried a take down, and then a second one. At the end of the first round, it was pretty even. At the beginning of the 2nd round, both guys were very tired. Ricco tried to get side position on Marsh, but both guys got stood up. Ricco tried another take down. Ricco tried a neck lock, but Marsh was able to fend off the move.
4. Ricardo Almeida defeated Akira Shoji by a 4-0 judge's decision. Shoji tried a jumping knee, but Almeida caught him. Almeida tried a high kick, but hit a low kick instead and was able to take Shoji down. Shoji then tried to put Almeida in a half-guard position. Almeida escaped out of the half-guard, and started an exchange standing up. However, both guys were tired. Almeida tried to take Shoji down, but Shoji stopped it. Shoji was finally able to take Almeida down. Shoji tried a cartwheel guard escape, but it didn't work. At the beginning of the 2nd round, Almeida hit a nice low kick on Shoji. However, Almeida connected to Shoji in the nuts by accident and the fight had to be temporarily delayed. Almeida was issued a yellow card. The fight was started again, and Almeida connected with a good punch to Shoji's nose. Shoji's nose started bleeding, and the doctor had to check it out. The fight continued. Shoji took Almeida down, but both guys went up standing. Almeida hit some good short-range punches. Almeida hit a solid low-kick on the ground on Shoji. 4-0 decision.
5. Heath Herring defeated Enson Inoue in the 1st round in 4 minutes, 31 seconds when the referee stopped the fight. Inoue and Herring started striking each other. Herring was able to finally get on top of Enson on the ground. Herring tried to put Enson in a chicken-wing style arm lock. Inoue escaped out of it by striking from the bottom (on the mat). Both guys got up, but then got back down and Herring was positioned in Inoue's guard. Herring really nailed Inoue hard with some good shots. Herring was able to get Inoue in a side-mount and started to throw knees at Inoue. The referee stopped the fight. Inoue was pissed that the referee stopped the fight, saying that the stoppage was not necessary and too early. The referee in the fight said that Herring was giving Inoue knees to the head and thought that Inoue was tapping. However, Inoue did not tap during the fight. After the fight, Inoue grabbed the microphone and said that the fight shouldn't have been stopped, but that it was the referee's decision. Inoue said that it was his last fight as a Japanese samurai... or in other words, he was proclaiming retirement.
6. Vanderlei Silva defeated Dan Henderson by a 6-0 judge's decision. Silva was able to take Henderson down and start striking. However, Henderson put Silva in his guard. Silva started to kick Henderson, as Henderson was butt-scooting on the mat. Silva continued to kick Henderson in the legs when the referee ordered a stand-up. Both guys started to clinch each other when Silva started bleeding from the eye. Henderson took Silva down to the mat and punched a lot, opening up the cut that Silva was suffering from. Silva started to bleed heavily. The referee temporarily stopped the fight to check on Silva's cut, but the fight resumed. A re-start was ordered, with Henderson in Silva's guard. Henderson stood up, and both fighters were back on their feet. Silva knocked Henderson down and unfortunately, knee'd Henderson to the head while he was on the ground. This got Silva a yellow card from the referee. Henderson went to his corner to have ice applied to his head, while the doctors continued to work on Silva's cuts. The match was re-started, and Silva knocked Henderson down, but missed with a kick. Henderson caught Silva and put him in his guard, but Silva continued to throw strikes. Silva stood up and Henderson did some more butt-scooting on the mat. Silva then mounted Henderson and that was the end of the first round. Second round started with both guys clinching, but Henderson able to take Silva down. Dan put the guard on Silva, and Silva stood up and yet more butt-scooting from Henderson. Both guys stood up and Silva was able to knock Dan to the mat with a punch, but Henderson did more butt-scooting. The referee stood the guys up. Silva got caught in Henderson's guard again, and both fighters received yellow cards. Silva got caught in a half-guard of Henderson's. Silva started to punch Henderson's head real hard, and Silva was able to get a mount position on Henderson. Silva just started laying in the shots to Henderson, but Henderson was able to get to the ropes. This caused the referee to do a re-start, and Silva continued to hold Henderson's head down and hit some big right strikes. The bell rang, and Vandelei Silva won on a 6-0 decision.
7. Kazuyuki Fujita defeated Gilbert Yvel by a 6-0 judge's decision. Fujita attempted to take Yvel down in the corner. Fujita got the take down, and was able to get a side mount going. Fujita attempted to mount Yvel, but couldn't do it. Fujita got a half-guard on Yvel. Fujita tried a choke on Yvel, but Yvel escaped. Fujita attempted the choke again, but this time tried an armbar. Fujita attempted a keylock hold, but went back to a choke. None of the attempts were successful. At the start of Round 2, Fujita got a takedown on Yvel. Fujita then lifted Yvel off the mat and slammed Yvel to the mat hard, hoping to take the wind out of Yvel. Fujita put Yvel in a half-guard. The referee stood both guys up due to inactivity. Yvel received a yellow card from the referee for not being aggressive enough. Yvel tried a kick to Fujita's head, but Fujita got out of the way of the kick and was able to take Yvel down. 6-0 decision.
8. Igor Vovchanchin defeated Mark Kerr by a 3-0 judge's decision. Kerr initially tried to take down Vovchanchin. However, Kerr got his takedown and Igor put Kerr in the guard. Kerr tried a neck crank but was unsuccessful. Kerr tried to get Igor in a side-mount, but nothing was happening there. Both guys got stood up, but it went right back to the ground and Igor got a few punches in. Both guys received yellow cards from the referee for a lack of aggressiveness. Kerr and Igor were both tired. After the end of the first round, the Japanese fans were booing because the first round sucked. At the start of round 2, Kerr took Vovchanchin down to the mat. However, when Kerr was in the process of taking Igor down, Igor nailed him with a knee and started throwing punches to Kerr, from the bottom on the mat. Kerr started to nail Igor with some big punches. Vovchanchin received yet another yellow card from the referee for not being aggressive enough. This woke Igor up, as he started to nail Kerr with some big punches and a kick to Kerr's head. Kerr went down. With Kerr on all fours and Igor behind him, Kerr tried to get an armlock on Igor. Kerr escaped his bad positioning and took Igor down to the mat. Both men were very tired at this point. Kerr got a side-mount on Igor and was able to get Igor in a half-guard. The end of the 2nd round. The judges ruled that there must be a 5 minute overtime session to determine a winner - it was too close to call. At the start of the overtime session, Vovchanchin nailed Kerr with punches and Kerr dropped to the mat, in a turtle position. Kerr got up, but Igor took him back down. At this point, Kerr was starting to bleed and was just getting pounded with a flurry of stiff shots. Kerr was able to counter by putting Igor in his own guard, but this was more or less a measure by Kerr to buy himself some time so he could recover from Vovchanchin's previous onslaught. Igor nailed Kerr in the chin with a big punch, and from the bottom of the mat positioning, Igor continued to punch Kerr. The overtime session was over, and Igor won by a judgment/decision.
9. Kazushi Sakuraba defeated Ryan Gracie by a 3-0 judge's decision in a shortened, 10-minute fight. Before the show started, Ryan Gracie's camp had told PRIDE officials that the main event match could only be a 1 round, 10 minute contest because of a "upper right arm" injury that Ryan had suffered during a practice/training session in Japan a few days before the fight. Kazushi Sakuraba made his way to the ring wearing a mask and a Santa hat, along with a Santa bag of perceived Christmas goodies. Before the fight started, Renzo Gracie got on the microphone and said that Ryan is fighting because the Gracies do not listen to doctors' orders. Ryan showed up with his right shoulder completely taped up. As for the match, Ryan started to be the aggressor on Sakuraba, but it only resulted in both guys clinching each other in the ropes. The referee broke it up, and again both guys went against the ropes. This time, however, Sakuraba started to crank on Ryan's head. Ryan got to his knees, but both guys got back up to their feet. Sakuraba got on top of Ryan on the mat, with Ryan on his knees in a turtle position defending himself. Both guys got back on their feet. Sakuraba tried an armbar, but was unsuccessful. Sakuraba, on top again, starting punching Ryan on the side of his ribs while Ryan was in the turtle position. With around 30 seconds left, Ryan (who was on his back) was desparately trying to defend Sakuraba's attempts at a submission. The bell rang and time was up. Sakuraba won a unanimous decision.
PRIDE 12 Saitama, Chiinama Super Arena (26,882)
1. Guy Mezger defeated Alexander Otsuka in the 1st round in 1 minute, 54 seconds by referee stoppage. Fast action, with Mezger getting the upper hand by counter punching. Mezger hit a nice, solid right hook on Otsuka and the referee stopped the fight.
2. Carlos Newton defeated Johil de Oliviera by a 3-0 judge's decision. Newton dominated the entire match on ground, was North-South position in last 30 seconds.
3. Ricco Rodriguez defeated John Marsh by a 3-0 judge's decision. In the 1st round, Ricco tried a high kick but fell down. Both guys continued to stand up throughout the fight. Ricco tried a take down, and then a second one. At the end of the first round, it was pretty even. At the beginning of the 2nd round, both guys were very tired. Ricco tried to get side position on Marsh, but both guys got stood up. Ricco tried another take down. Ricco tried a neck lock, but Marsh was able to fend off the move.
4. Ricardo Almeida defeated Akira Shoji by a 4-0 judge's decision. Shoji tried a jumping knee, but Almeida caught him. Almeida tried a high kick, but hit a low kick instead and was able to take Shoji down. Shoji then tried to put Almeida in a half-guard position. Almeida escaped out of the half-guard, and started an exchange standing up. However, both guys were tired. Almeida tried to take Shoji down, but Shoji stopped it. Shoji was finally able to take Almeida down. Shoji tried a cartwheel guard escape, but it didn't work. At the beginning of the 2nd round, Almeida hit a nice low kick on Shoji. However, Almeida connected to Shoji in the nuts by accident and the fight had to be temporarily delayed. Almeida was issued a yellow card. The fight was started again, and Almeida connected with a good punch to Shoji's nose. Shoji's nose started bleeding, and the doctor had to check it out. The fight continued. Shoji took Almeida down, but both guys went up standing. Almeida hit some good short-range punches. Almeida hit a solid low-kick on the ground on Shoji. 4-0 decision.
5. Heath Herring defeated Enson Inoue in the 1st round in 4 minutes, 31 seconds when the referee stopped the fight. Inoue and Herring started striking each other. Herring was able to finally get on top of Enson on the ground. Herring tried to put Enson in a chicken-wing style arm lock. Inoue escaped out of it by striking from the bottom (on the mat). Both guys got up, but then got back down and Herring was positioned in Inoue's guard. Herring really nailed Inoue hard with some good shots. Herring was able to get Inoue in a side-mount and started to throw knees at Inoue. The referee stopped the fight. Inoue was pissed that the referee stopped the fight, saying that the stoppage was not necessary and too early. The referee in the fight said that Herring was giving Inoue knees to the head and thought that Inoue was tapping. However, Inoue did not tap during the fight. After the fight, Inoue grabbed the microphone and said that the fight shouldn't have been stopped, but that it was the referee's decision. Inoue said that it was his last fight as a Japanese samurai... or in other words, he was proclaiming retirement.
6. Vanderlei Silva defeated Dan Henderson by a 6-0 judge's decision. Silva was able to take Henderson down and start striking. However, Henderson put Silva in his guard. Silva started to kick Henderson, as Henderson was butt-scooting on the mat. Silva continued to kick Henderson in the legs when the referee ordered a stand-up. Both guys started to clinch each other when Silva started bleeding from the eye. Henderson took Silva down to the mat and punched a lot, opening up the cut that Silva was suffering from. Silva started to bleed heavily. The referee temporarily stopped the fight to check on Silva's cut, but the fight resumed. A re-start was ordered, with Henderson in Silva's guard. Henderson stood up, and both fighters were back on their feet. Silva knocked Henderson down and unfortunately, knee'd Henderson to the head while he was on the ground. This got Silva a yellow card from the referee. Henderson went to his corner to have ice applied to his head, while the doctors continued to work on Silva's cuts. The match was re-started, and Silva knocked Henderson down, but missed with a kick. Henderson caught Silva and put him in his guard, but Silva continued to throw strikes. Silva stood up and Henderson did some more butt-scooting on the mat. Silva then mounted Henderson and that was the end of the first round. Second round started with both guys clinching, but Henderson able to take Silva down. Dan put the guard on Silva, and Silva stood up and yet more butt-scooting from Henderson. Both guys stood up and Silva was able to knock Dan to the mat with a punch, but Henderson did more butt-scooting. The referee stood the guys up. Silva got caught in Henderson's guard again, and both fighters received yellow cards. Silva got caught in a half-guard of Henderson's. Silva started to punch Henderson's head real hard, and Silva was able to get a mount position on Henderson. Silva just started laying in the shots to Henderson, but Henderson was able to get to the ropes. This caused the referee to do a re-start, and Silva continued to hold Henderson's head down and hit some big right strikes. The bell rang, and Vandelei Silva won on a 6-0 decision.
7. Kazuyuki Fujita defeated Gilbert Yvel by a 6-0 judge's decision. Fujita attempted to take Yvel down in the corner. Fujita got the take down, and was able to get a side mount going. Fujita attempted to mount Yvel, but couldn't do it. Fujita got a half-guard on Yvel. Fujita tried a choke on Yvel, but Yvel escaped. Fujita attempted the choke again, but this time tried an armbar. Fujita attempted a keylock hold, but went back to a choke. None of the attempts were successful. At the start of Round 2, Fujita got a takedown on Yvel. Fujita then lifted Yvel off the mat and slammed Yvel to the mat hard, hoping to take the wind out of Yvel. Fujita put Yvel in a half-guard. The referee stood both guys up due to inactivity. Yvel received a yellow card from the referee for not being aggressive enough. Yvel tried a kick to Fujita's head, but Fujita got out of the way of the kick and was able to take Yvel down. 6-0 decision.
8. Igor Vovchanchin defeated Mark Kerr by a 3-0 judge's decision. Kerr initially tried to take down Vovchanchin. However, Kerr got his takedown and Igor put Kerr in the guard. Kerr tried a neck crank but was unsuccessful. Kerr tried to get Igor in a side-mount, but nothing was happening there. Both guys got stood up, but it went right back to the ground and Igor got a few punches in. Both guys received yellow cards from the referee for a lack of aggressiveness. Kerr and Igor were both tired. After the end of the first round, the Japanese fans were booing because the first round sucked. At the start of round 2, Kerr took Vovchanchin down to the mat. However, when Kerr was in the process of taking Igor down, Igor nailed him with a knee and started throwing punches to Kerr, from the bottom on the mat. Kerr started to nail Igor with some big punches. Vovchanchin received yet another yellow card from the referee for not being aggressive enough. This woke Igor up, as he started to nail Kerr with some big punches and a kick to Kerr's head. Kerr went down. With Kerr on all fours and Igor behind him, Kerr tried to get an armlock on Igor. Kerr escaped his bad positioning and took Igor down to the mat. Both men were very tired at this point. Kerr got a side-mount on Igor and was able to get Igor in a half-guard. The end of the 2nd round. The judges ruled that there must be a 5 minute overtime session to determine a winner - it was too close to call. At the start of the overtime session, Vovchanchin nailed Kerr with punches and Kerr dropped to the mat, in a turtle position. Kerr got up, but Igor took him back down. At this point, Kerr was starting to bleed and was just getting pounded with a flurry of stiff shots. Kerr was able to counter by putting Igor in his own guard, but this was more or less a measure by Kerr to buy himself some time so he could recover from Vovchanchin's previous onslaught. Igor nailed Kerr in the chin with a big punch, and from the bottom of the mat positioning, Igor continued to punch Kerr. The overtime session was over, and Igor won by a judgment/decision.
9. Kazushi Sakuraba defeated Ryan Gracie by a 3-0 judge's decision in a shortened, 10-minute fight. Before the show started, Ryan Gracie's camp had told PRIDE officials that the main event match could only be a 1 round, 10 minute contest because of a "upper right arm" injury that Ryan had suffered during a practice/training session in Japan a few days before the fight. Kazushi Sakuraba made his way to the ring wearing a mask and a Santa hat, along with a Santa bag of perceived Christmas goodies. Before the fight started, Renzo Gracie got on the microphone and said that Ryan is fighting because the Gracies do not listen to doctors' orders. Ryan showed up with his right shoulder completely taped up. As for the match, Ryan started to be the aggressor on Sakuraba, but it only resulted in both guys clinching each other in the ropes. The referee broke it up, and again both guys went against the ropes. This time, however, Sakuraba started to crank on Ryan's head. Ryan got to his knees, but both guys got back up to their feet. Sakuraba got on top of Ryan on the mat, with Ryan on his knees in a turtle position defending himself. Both guys got back on their feet. Sakuraba tried an armbar, but was unsuccessful. Sakuraba, on top again, starting punching Ryan on the side of his ribs while Ryan was in the turtle position. With around 30 seconds left, Ryan (who was on his back) was desparately trying to defend Sakuraba's attempts at a submission. The bell rang and time was up. Sakuraba won a unanimous decision.
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