Sherdog.com Preview: PRIDE “Shockwave” ’05 Part II
Ricardo Arona vs. Wanderlei Silva
Dec 30, 2005
PRIDE Middleweight Championship
ARONA: Brazilian jiu-jitsu stylist Ricardo Arona (Pictures) won the 2001 Abu Dhabi Submission Wrestling Absolute and under 98kg class division championships, and the 2000 Abu Dhabi under 98kg division championship.
“The Brazilian Tiger” was the RINGS King of Kings 2001 Middleweight
champion and trains with Murilo Bustamante (Pictures), Ricardo Liborio (Pictures), Mario Sperry (Pictures), Antonio Rodrigo
Nogueira (Pictures), Antonio Rogerio
Nogueira (Pictures) and the rest of the Brazilian Top
Team. He carries a record of 12-3 in MMA and makes his 10th
appearance (7-2) in the ring of the PFC.
Ricardo began his MMA career fighting in the RINGS organization in 2000. He missed the ’99 King of Kings tournament and took part in the first Millennium Combine event against Andrei Kopylov. Ricardo pounded Andrei from rear-mount and battered him, but he could not put the sambo stylist away.
Ricardo submitted Hiromitsu Kanehara (Pictures) in the RINGS World Title Series and defeated Horn for a second time on the RINGS 10th Anniversary show. The four-man tournament which included Arona, Horn, Christopher Haseman and Ruas Vale Tudo fighter Gustavo Machado (Pictures) would wrap up in August of 2001. “Ximu” Machado advanced to the final but was stunned by strikes in less than 90 seconds, giving Arona the RINGS middleweight title.
Ricardo debuted in the PFC at PRIDE 16 and fought a back-and-forth battle with Lion’s Den fighter Guy Mezger. Early on, Ricardo appeared rough around the edges and couldn’t take Mezger down without a great deal of effort. Mezger punched through Arona’s ground game and landed a beautiful kick in the throat in the second round. Arona looked rejuvenated in the third round and pulled out the split decision win.
At PRIDE 20, Arona looked like he had worked a lot of the kinks out of his game and handed Dan Henderson (Pictures) a rare loss. He faced Murilo Rua (Pictures) at Pride 23, taking another decision, but injuries kept Arona from fighting for the next year and half. He returned to the ring in June of ‘04 in the Middleweight Grand Prix but was slammed unconscious by Quinton Jackson (Pictures).
At PRIDE 28, Ricardo faced relatively unknown Russian Top Team fighter Sergei Ignatev and choked him out late in the first round. Ricardo took a decision over American grappling wonder boy Dean Lister (Pictures) in the opening round of the ‘05 Middleweight Grand Prix.
Then in June of this year, Arona fought an opponent he’d waited years to face. He finally stood across the ring from MMA legend Kazushi Sakuraba (Pictures). Ricardo made the most of the experience, pounding the Japanese hopeful unmercifully and handing him his first loss since 2003.
The much-anticipated “Final Conflict” show for the PFC Middleweight Grand Prix belt was next. Arona battled Wanderlei Silva (Pictures) in the semis and won by unanimous decision, dominating the reigning champ. The final bout did not fall in his favor as he faced the next generation of Chute Boxe: Mauricio Rua (Pictures). Rua wasted little time bringing the fight to Arona and pounded “The Brazilian Tiger” unconscious in less than three minutes.
SILVA: Wanderlei Silva (Pictures) is a Muay Thai fighter and Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt out of the Chute Boxe Academy. He is the current PFC middleweight champion and the winner of the 2003 PFC Middleweight Grand Prix. “The Axe Murderer,” as he’s known, won the IVC 6 superfight title and is a UFC, MECA and Brazilian Vale Tudo veteran with a record of 29-5-1-1. He is making his 25th appearance (20-2-1-1) in the ring of the PFC.
Silva began fighting MMA in Brazil at local shows in 1996. He battled fellow Brazilians and American imports like Mike Van Arsdale (Pictures), Adrian Serrano (Pictures) and Eugene Jackson. Wanderlei suffered his first loss by cut stoppage in an absolute war against Artur Mariano at IVC 2.
He made three appearances in the UFC (1-2) including a loss by knockout to Vitor Belfort (Pictures) in Ultimate Brazil and a loss by decision to former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Tito Ortiz (Pictures) at UFC 25/Japan 3.
In 2000 he made a semi-permanent move to PRIDE and has battled the organization’s top competition. He has punished Kazushi Sakuraba (Pictures) on three occasions and was scheduled to meet him a fourth time. Lion’s Den fighter Guy Mezger was knocked out (with help from a head butt) at PRIDE 10 and we missed out on what could’ve been an absolute war at PRIDE 11. Silva accidentally hit Gilbert Yvel (Pictures) in the groin and the Dutchman couldn’t continue.
Dan Henderson (Pictures) gave Silva one of his best challenges to date at PRIDE 12 where the combatants fought to a decision. After that bout, some felt Silva’s camp allowed him to take it easy and pad his record with Japanese opponents.
Wanderlei battled Mirko Filipovic (Pictures) to a draw at PRIDE 20 under modified MMA rules. Had it been full MMA, Silva would’ve mauled the then-inexperienced “Cro Cop.” After defeating Sakuraba for a third time, he beat both judo Olympian Hidehiko Yoshida (Pictures) and American wrestler Quinton Jackson (Pictures) in one night at the “Final Conflict” ’03 show.
Wanderlei continued his winning ways, knocking out his next three opponents (Ikuhisa Minowa (Pictures), Yuki Kondo (Pictures) and Jackson for a second time) before the proposed fourth match with Sakuraba. But just days before, Sakuraba (a 185 pound submission wrestler) dropped out due to injury and Mark Hunt (Pictures) (a 250-lb. kickboxer) stepped in.
Silva, being a true warrior, took the bout anyway and lost a questionable split decision. The Middleweight Grand Prix tournament began in April of this year and Silva was dealt a rematch with Yoshida in the opening round. The judo champion proved to be an even more formidable opponent than the first time they met in the ring. Silva won a split decision and went on to face Yoshida disciple Kazuhiro Nakamura (Pictures).
Kazuhiro gave Silva a battle but he made a poor decision and got caught in transition, allowing himself to be struck repeatedly and it ended his climb toward the middleweight tournament title. The “Final Conflict” ’05 show brought the challenge of Ricardo Arona (Pictures). Silva seemed off his game and was controlled by “The Brazilian Tiger.” He lost a decision and claims his performance this New Year’s Eve will redeem his poor showing in the tournament.
MY PICK: Silva. As one who considers Wanderlei the top of the light heavyweight division, I’m going to have to assume Silva’s focus was split in preparation for the bout with Arona (given it was a tournament bout). Wanderlei did not look like Wanderlei in that fight. He was beaten to the punch, caught off balance, overpowered and overwhelmed. It was difficult to watch. Not to diminish Arona’s abilities, he’s a serious contender, but had Silva brought the fire “Shogun” had in his belly, Arona would’ve been out of the picture early. I expect to see that fire this time. I feel it will be Silva by KO in the first round.
ARONA: Brazilian jiu-jitsu stylist Ricardo Arona (Pictures) won the 2001 Abu Dhabi Submission Wrestling Absolute and under 98kg class division championships, and the 2000 Abu Dhabi under 98kg division championship.
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Ricardo began his MMA career fighting in the RINGS organization in 2000. He missed the ’99 King of Kings tournament and took part in the first Millennium Combine event against Andrei Kopylov. Ricardo pounded Andrei from rear-mount and battered him, but he could not put the sambo stylist away.
Arona won by decision and returned to Millennium Combine 3 to beat
PFC veteran Jeremy Horn
(Pictures) by decision as well. Then
he ran into Fedor
Emelianenko (Pictures). Fedor frustrated Arona,
countering his skills on the ground and won via decision.
Interesting to note, Arona, a takedown master, scored just two
clean takedowns in the entire bout.
Ricardo submitted Hiromitsu Kanehara (Pictures) in the RINGS World Title Series and defeated Horn for a second time on the RINGS 10th Anniversary show. The four-man tournament which included Arona, Horn, Christopher Haseman and Ruas Vale Tudo fighter Gustavo Machado (Pictures) would wrap up in August of 2001. “Ximu” Machado advanced to the final but was stunned by strikes in less than 90 seconds, giving Arona the RINGS middleweight title.
Ricardo debuted in the PFC at PRIDE 16 and fought a back-and-forth battle with Lion’s Den fighter Guy Mezger. Early on, Ricardo appeared rough around the edges and couldn’t take Mezger down without a great deal of effort. Mezger punched through Arona’s ground game and landed a beautiful kick in the throat in the second round. Arona looked rejuvenated in the third round and pulled out the split decision win.
At PRIDE 20, Arona looked like he had worked a lot of the kinks out of his game and handed Dan Henderson (Pictures) a rare loss. He faced Murilo Rua (Pictures) at Pride 23, taking another decision, but injuries kept Arona from fighting for the next year and half. He returned to the ring in June of ‘04 in the Middleweight Grand Prix but was slammed unconscious by Quinton Jackson (Pictures).
At PRIDE 28, Ricardo faced relatively unknown Russian Top Team fighter Sergei Ignatev and choked him out late in the first round. Ricardo took a decision over American grappling wonder boy Dean Lister (Pictures) in the opening round of the ‘05 Middleweight Grand Prix.
Then in June of this year, Arona fought an opponent he’d waited years to face. He finally stood across the ring from MMA legend Kazushi Sakuraba (Pictures). Ricardo made the most of the experience, pounding the Japanese hopeful unmercifully and handing him his first loss since 2003.
The much-anticipated “Final Conflict” show for the PFC Middleweight Grand Prix belt was next. Arona battled Wanderlei Silva (Pictures) in the semis and won by unanimous decision, dominating the reigning champ. The final bout did not fall in his favor as he faced the next generation of Chute Boxe: Mauricio Rua (Pictures). Rua wasted little time bringing the fight to Arona and pounded “The Brazilian Tiger” unconscious in less than three minutes.
SILVA: Wanderlei Silva (Pictures) is a Muay Thai fighter and Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt out of the Chute Boxe Academy. He is the current PFC middleweight champion and the winner of the 2003 PFC Middleweight Grand Prix. “The Axe Murderer,” as he’s known, won the IVC 6 superfight title and is a UFC, MECA and Brazilian Vale Tudo veteran with a record of 29-5-1-1. He is making his 25th appearance (20-2-1-1) in the ring of the PFC.
Silva began fighting MMA in Brazil at local shows in 1996. He battled fellow Brazilians and American imports like Mike Van Arsdale (Pictures), Adrian Serrano (Pictures) and Eugene Jackson. Wanderlei suffered his first loss by cut stoppage in an absolute war against Artur Mariano at IVC 2.
He made three appearances in the UFC (1-2) including a loss by knockout to Vitor Belfort (Pictures) in Ultimate Brazil and a loss by decision to former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Tito Ortiz (Pictures) at UFC 25/Japan 3.
In 2000 he made a semi-permanent move to PRIDE and has battled the organization’s top competition. He has punished Kazushi Sakuraba (Pictures) on three occasions and was scheduled to meet him a fourth time. Lion’s Den fighter Guy Mezger was knocked out (with help from a head butt) at PRIDE 10 and we missed out on what could’ve been an absolute war at PRIDE 11. Silva accidentally hit Gilbert Yvel (Pictures) in the groin and the Dutchman couldn’t continue.
Dan Henderson (Pictures) gave Silva one of his best challenges to date at PRIDE 12 where the combatants fought to a decision. After that bout, some felt Silva’s camp allowed him to take it easy and pad his record with Japanese opponents.
Wanderlei battled Mirko Filipovic (Pictures) to a draw at PRIDE 20 under modified MMA rules. Had it been full MMA, Silva would’ve mauled the then-inexperienced “Cro Cop.” After defeating Sakuraba for a third time, he beat both judo Olympian Hidehiko Yoshida (Pictures) and American wrestler Quinton Jackson (Pictures) in one night at the “Final Conflict” ’03 show.
Wanderlei continued his winning ways, knocking out his next three opponents (Ikuhisa Minowa (Pictures), Yuki Kondo (Pictures) and Jackson for a second time) before the proposed fourth match with Sakuraba. But just days before, Sakuraba (a 185 pound submission wrestler) dropped out due to injury and Mark Hunt (Pictures) (a 250-lb. kickboxer) stepped in.
Silva, being a true warrior, took the bout anyway and lost a questionable split decision. The Middleweight Grand Prix tournament began in April of this year and Silva was dealt a rematch with Yoshida in the opening round. The judo champion proved to be an even more formidable opponent than the first time they met in the ring. Silva won a split decision and went on to face Yoshida disciple Kazuhiro Nakamura (Pictures).
Kazuhiro gave Silva a battle but he made a poor decision and got caught in transition, allowing himself to be struck repeatedly and it ended his climb toward the middleweight tournament title. The “Final Conflict” ’05 show brought the challenge of Ricardo Arona (Pictures). Silva seemed off his game and was controlled by “The Brazilian Tiger.” He lost a decision and claims his performance this New Year’s Eve will redeem his poor showing in the tournament.
MY PICK: Silva. As one who considers Wanderlei the top of the light heavyweight division, I’m going to have to assume Silva’s focus was split in preparation for the bout with Arona (given it was a tournament bout). Wanderlei did not look like Wanderlei in that fight. He was beaten to the punch, caught off balance, overpowered and overwhelmed. It was difficult to watch. Not to diminish Arona’s abilities, he’s a serious contender, but had Silva brought the fire “Shogun” had in his belly, Arona would’ve been out of the picture early. I expect to see that fire this time. I feel it will be Silva by KO in the first round.
