PRIDE 33 Reap

PRIDE pulls a kick ass show out of the jaws of death!! I did not get to see it, because the Jebus hates me, 'cause I pissed him off that one time. Jebus carries a mad grudge, yo. Snow sucks, except when you are skiing. ANYWAY, lots of upsets, shocks and everything else that makes MMA the absolute best sport in the world.
That said, I did get to see some of the fights, thanks to the criminals at YouTube. Some of the fights would have gone much differently had they been in Japan. With no kicks and knees to a downed opponent, it severely limits the ground game, and those who win by using these weapons.

Joachim Hansen def Jason Ireland Submission (Armbar) 2:33 rnd 3
My Pick: Hansen by KO first round

The only surprise here is that Ireland lasted till round three!! Way to go Jay!!

Frank Trigg def Kazuo Misaki Decision
My Pick: Frank Trigg by KO first round
Frank seems to be back, and better than ever.

James Lee def Travis Wiuff Submission (Guillotine Choke) 0:39 rnd 1
My Pick: N/A
Time for Travis to hang up the gloves, or find some new training partners.

Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou def Antonio Rogerio Nogueira KO (Punch) 0:23 rnd 1
My Pick: Minotoro by armbar first round
HUGE upset!!
Look for the message boards to call Sokoudjou the next coming of Fedor. Minotoro got caught with a big left hand. It happens. In 1000 fights Sokoudjou only wins one. Too bad the one was the first one...
FLUKE!!!
Hayato Sakurai def Mac Danzig KO (Punch) 4:01 rnd 2
My Pick: Sakurai by KO first round
No surprise

Sergei Kharitonov def Michael Russow Submission (Armbar) 3:46 rnd 1
My Pick: Sergei by armbar first round.
Yes it is true. I have the sight. Again, I beg of you, don't worship me, just send money.

Mauricio Rua def Alistair Overeem KO (Punches) 3:37 rnd 1
My Pick: Shogun by KO second round
Shogun lands the HUGE right hand inside Overeem's guard to knock him stupid. This is a fight that may have gone the other way had it been in Japan. Overeem had Rua in a position several times to throw knees to his head while they were down... On the other hand Overeem really does

Nick Diaz def Takanori Gomi Submission (Gogoplata) 1:46 rnd 2
My Pick: Gomi by KO second round
Gomi gasses in the very beginning of the first round, leaving his hands down. Not just a little down, but down by his waist. Diaz tees off hitting Gomi with everything and the kitchen sink. Gomi responds by landing a huge right hand that knocks Diaz on his can, and splits open his left eye. Diaz manages to get back up and unload about a thousand unanswered punches. Round ends. Gomi does not seem phased, just really really tired. Second round begins, Gomi lands a left uppercut that splits a NASTY cut open below Nick's right eye. They have the good fight doctor there, and he lets the fight go on. Gomi starts complaining to the ref that Nick is bleeding on him, and first two rows. The fight has become a Gallagher act. Gomi goes for a weak double leg, but manages to take Nick down. Nick then slaps on the fastest gogoplata in history and Gomi taps out. Wow.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWkZeJbAaiQ
Watch it quick before the copyright cops take it down.
Never in a billion years, unless he was fighting Nino Schembri, would I predict that Gomi would loose by gogoplata.

Dan Henderson def Wanderlei Silva KO (Punches) 2:08 rnd 3
My Pick: Silva by KO second round.
Dan manages to pepper Silva for two rounds, and Silva starts to get desperate, and sloppy. In an exchange Silva gets caught and goes out like someone shot him.Dan Henderson is now the PRIDE Welter and Middleweight Champion. Very cool.

This was one fight where Silva had Dan in a front head lock several times. Silva relies heavily on knees to the dome in this position, and could not use this obvious weapon due to stupid Nevada rules banning knees to a downed opponent. In Japan, where they have other silliness, but not that particular silliness, I think that the fight goes much differently. If I were Dan I would accept the rematch, but only if it is in the US.

Neat event, I go five for eight.