Sherdog.com Preview: PRIDE 30 “Fully Loaded” Under Card
James Thompson vs. Alexandru Lungu
Oct 19, 2005
THOMPSON: James “The Colossus” Thompson lives up to his name
at 6’ 5” and 265 pounds. Thompson is 9-2 in MMA as a member of Team
Trojan. He gained serious attention when he faced CWFC heavyweight
champion and former Greco Roman wrestling Champion Tengiz Tedoradze at Ultimate
Combat 10.
Tedoradze is a Yorkshire, England transplant originally from the Soviet state of Georgia and was voted the top heavyweight fighter in the UK leading up to their fight. The Russian wrestler dominated “The Colossus” with ground-and-pound tactics and handed Thompson his first loss.
Showing his true heat and determination, Thompson battled UFC
triple-crown champion (eight-man tournament winner, super fight
winner, Ultimate Ultimate tournament of champions winner) Dan Severn (Pictures) on the Ultimate Combat 11 show
three months later.
Thompson controlled the action standing and on the mat and exuded the confidence of a champion in the ring. Severn found himself on his back, taking heavy strikes. “The Beast” fought back and tagged “The Colossus” but the outcome was never in doubt.
Thompson’s PFC debut was next and at PRIDE 28 he met Aleksander Emelianenko (Pictures). Though he vibrated with rage during the announcements and charged out of the corner like a freight train, the exchange lasted a mere 12 seconds and the bout was called (prematurely in my opinion).
Emelianenko dropped the Brit but an impression was left on the Japanese crowd. “The Colossus” picked up a win at the Urban Destruction show and then reappeared at PRIDE Bushido 8. Henry Miller (Pictures) was a game opponent and the two combatants delivered and exciting 90 seconds but “Sentoryu” was vanquished with strikes early in the first round. Then in September, Thompson scored a quick stoppage at Cage Rage 13.
LUNGU: Romanian Alexandru Lungu is an accomplished judo competitor with more than 30 championship titles to his credit. He defeated French judoka and Olympic gold medal winner David Douillet on two occasions, once in ’96 and again in ’99. This will be Lungu’s MMA debut but he has supposedly been training for the sport for two years.
In addition to judo, Lungu won a World Sambo championship and a Romanian national wrestling title. He is also linked to another international judo competitor turned MMA fighter in a very odd way.
K-1 MMA and RINGS veteran David Khakhaleichivili was supposed to face Lungu in a judo match in ’96. Khakhaleichivili was the defending Olympic gold medalist and favored to win the bout, but David showed up at the wrong place for the weigh-in and had to forfeit. He was even delayed when arriving at the proper location by a bomb threat in the Olympic village. Ridiculous but true.
MY PICK: Lungu is by far the more decorated athlete and it would be interesting to see if Thompson could get out from under him if grounded. But I doubt Alexandru has been training seriously for this very long and he may be overwhelmed. Lungu is an incredibly large man at 6’ 1” and around 365 pounds. We don’t even know if he’s even been punched in the face. I give Thompson the edge and if he keeps it on the feet where it is safe, he could have another first round KO.
Tedoradze is a Yorkshire, England transplant originally from the Soviet state of Georgia and was voted the top heavyweight fighter in the UK leading up to their fight. The Russian wrestler dominated “The Colossus” with ground-and-pound tactics and handed Thompson his first loss.
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Thompson controlled the action standing and on the mat and exuded the confidence of a champion in the ring. Severn found himself on his back, taking heavy strikes. “The Beast” fought back and tagged “The Colossus” but the outcome was never in doubt.
As the bout went on, Thompson’s dominance increased and though the
savvy veteran showed his meddle prolonging the match, the youthful
Brit would not be denied his victory. James took a unanimous
decision win, claimed the Ultimate Combat World heavyweight
championship and was courted by the Pride top brass to boot.
Thompson’s PFC debut was next and at PRIDE 28 he met Aleksander Emelianenko (Pictures). Though he vibrated with rage during the announcements and charged out of the corner like a freight train, the exchange lasted a mere 12 seconds and the bout was called (prematurely in my opinion).
Emelianenko dropped the Brit but an impression was left on the Japanese crowd. “The Colossus” picked up a win at the Urban Destruction show and then reappeared at PRIDE Bushido 8. Henry Miller (Pictures) was a game opponent and the two combatants delivered and exciting 90 seconds but “Sentoryu” was vanquished with strikes early in the first round. Then in September, Thompson scored a quick stoppage at Cage Rage 13.
LUNGU: Romanian Alexandru Lungu is an accomplished judo competitor with more than 30 championship titles to his credit. He defeated French judoka and Olympic gold medal winner David Douillet on two occasions, once in ’96 and again in ’99. This will be Lungu’s MMA debut but he has supposedly been training for the sport for two years.
In addition to judo, Lungu won a World Sambo championship and a Romanian national wrestling title. He is also linked to another international judo competitor turned MMA fighter in a very odd way.
K-1 MMA and RINGS veteran David Khakhaleichivili was supposed to face Lungu in a judo match in ’96. Khakhaleichivili was the defending Olympic gold medalist and favored to win the bout, but David showed up at the wrong place for the weigh-in and had to forfeit. He was even delayed when arriving at the proper location by a bomb threat in the Olympic village. Ridiculous but true.
MY PICK: Lungu is by far the more decorated athlete and it would be interesting to see if Thompson could get out from under him if grounded. But I doubt Alexandru has been training seriously for this very long and he may be overwhelmed. Lungu is an incredibly large man at 6’ 1” and around 365 pounds. We don’t even know if he’s even been punched in the face. I give Thompson the edge and if he keeps it on the feet where it is safe, he could have another first round KO.
