Matches
Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic vs. Mark Coleman
Quinton “Rampage” Jackson vs. Murilo “Ninja” Rua
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. Alistair Overeem
Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Aliev Makhmud
Sergei Kharitonov vs. Mu Bae Choi
Kazuhiro Nakamura vs. Stefan Leko
Igor Vovchanchyn vs. Yoshiki Takahashi
Mauricio “Shogun” Rua vs. Hiromitsu Kanehara
Fabricio Werdum vs. Tom Erikson
Mario Sperry vs. Hirotaka Yokoi

Fabricio Werdum (BRA) v Tom Erikson (USA)

Erikson spent the early part of the match showing his wrestling experience with good takedowns and sprawls. Werdum came back with a flurry of punches and later earned the submission victory with a rear naked choke.

Hiromitsu Kanehara (JAP) v Mauricio Shogun (BRA)

Shogun dominated and devastated Kanehara in a brutal match. Shogun forced the referee to stop the fight after landing several stomps on Kanehara’s head and several powerful soccer kicks finding the same mark. A must-see match!

Igor Vovchanchyn (UKR) v Yoshiki Takahashi (JAP)

After a minute of feeling each other out, Vovchanchyn knocked out Takahsashi with his first accurate punch. The match is short but worth watching to witness the unbelievable knockout punch.

Kazuhiro Nakamura (JAP) v Stefan Leko (GER)

The fight started at a fast paced but Leko was taken down and pummelled in the corner by Nakamura, forcing a stoppage within a minute.

Kharitonov put on a good professional performance against Mu Bae. Kharitonov was avoiding sloppy punches from Mu Bae and answering back with ppunches of his own. Mu Bae’s performance was slow and sluggish and Kharitonov took advantage with a flurry of punches then finally ending the match with a kick.

Kiyoshi Tamura (JAP) v Aliev Makhmud (AZE)

This was an aggressive fight but each man was cancelling the other out and there were few clinical strikes finding their mark. The fight was stopped for several minutes after Makhmud fell victim to an unintentional low blow from Tamura. Makhmud came back into the fight with a good left hook but minutes later the fight ended in bizarre circumstances as Makhmud stopped fighting and his corner reluctantly threw in the towel. Makhmud seemed to still be suffering from the low blow.

Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (BRA) v Alistair Overeem (HOL)

This fight had a decent first round but I expected more from both fighters to be honest. In the final seconds of the second round, Overeem was lucky to be saved by the bell when Nogueira was hammering him with punches while on the floor. The third round started with Nogueira surely leading on points after the first two rounds. Overeem started the round at a quick pace but ran out of energy and Nogueira levelled him with combinations of right and left hands but Overeem somehow made it to the bell...although the decision the judges had to make was an obvious one.

The DVD presented a good video package of highlights from Jackson and Rua’s previous fights and showed interviews from both fighters. The first half of the opening round was a back and forth match but Jackson brought the crowd to life when he slammed Ninja on his head. This was the first time I had seen Ninja in action and for the most part, despite the aforementioned slam, I was impressed with the way he neutralised Jackson at times during the opening round.

Jackson spent a lot of the second round in control of the fight. A throw from Ninja seemed to be reversed into a DDT of sorts by Jackson in the final round. As the fight ended I thought it was a difficult fight to call. Obviously the judges agreed with me as it went to a split decision. Jackson, declared the winner, offered Ninja his winner’s trophy as he clearly felt Ninja was the winner. As Jackson was leaving the ring, Mauricio Shogun (the man who mercilessly demolished Hiromitsu Kanehara earlier in the show) challenged Jackson and the challenge was accepted but Jackson said he would not fight him on short notice and said he wanted to make sure he prepared himself properly.

Coleman commented during the pre-fight interview that Cro Cop had the power to knock anyone out and Cro Cop happily backed up his opponent’s comments by doing just that to Coleman inside of four minutes. A left hook, uppercut, left hook was all that was needed to drop Coleman in the event‘s final fight.

Summary: Quite often Pride events provide one or two matches that are worth the DVD price alone but Fists of Fury failed to do this. There are still plenty of reasons to buy this DVD, including some entertaining special features but don’t expect to see any classic matches like previous Pride events have provided. Cro Cop’s knockout of Coleman was dramatic and Vovchanchyn’s power when laying out Takahashi was unbelievable. Rampage and Ninja was good in parts and Shogun’s massacre of Kanehara, while short, was brutal and vicious and is a must see for any sadistic MMA fans.