Pancrase Brave Tour: Kondo Subs Ritch, Eyes July Match with Silva
Masa Fukui Jun 23, 2004
Japanese star Yuki Kondo
scored a submission victory over American Shannon Ritch Tuesday night in
Tokyo, finishing the veteran via kneebar 1:01 of round one. After
the opening bell, Ritch ran to the middle of the ring, where he
threw a left inside low kick then tried to throw knees from the
Thai clinch. Kondo defended well, but Ritch connected with a right
hand and kept moving forward.
Eventually, Ritch took Kondo down to the mat, where the reigning light heavyweight King of Panrase looked to land a triangle choke from the bottom. At this point Ritch already seemed tired, using 60-percent of his energy in the fight's first 40 seconds.
Ritch's corner was less than helpful and by the time he caught his
breath Kondo had already targeted Ritch's right leg. Kondo switch
the position and attacked immediately with a kneebar. Unable to
escape, Ritch tapped and fight was over.
"I don’t have any damage at all from today’s fight," said the victorious Kondo. "But I’m not satisfied at all. I am ashamed of myself about tonight's fight. I'd give [myself] 20 points out of 100. I may win if I fight (Wanderlei) Silva with today’s condition, but I may lose. I need to improve little bit of everything. I won’t be satisfied where I am."
Also on the card, American Nathan Marquardt fought to a majority draw with GRABAKA-trained Eiji Ishikawa (29-28, 28-28, 28-28). Afterwards, both fighters requested a rematch. "One more time. Let me fight him again," appealed Marquardt in Japanese. To which Ishikawa replied, “Let’s do it again, and next time, I’ll make him sleep."
In other action, Izuru Takeuchi drew Osami Shibuya over three rounds. Akihiro Gono caught Tsuyoshi Kurihara with a punch, knocking him out 2:15 of round one. Katsuya Inoue scored a technical knockout 3:53 of round one over Hikaru Sato.
Koji Oishi needed nearly two full rounds before grounding-and-pounding his way to a referee stoppage over Masakazu Kuramochi 4:13 of the second period. Mitsuhisa Sunabe was disqualified after illegally headbutting Masashi Kameda 3:52 of the opening round. Ken Orihashi's technical knockout victory over Iro Zeki is under review, after Orihashi continued to attack Zeki after the referee had stopped the contest at the 4:18 mark of round one.
Eventually, Ritch took Kondo down to the mat, where the reigning light heavyweight King of Panrase looked to land a triangle choke from the bottom. At this point Ritch already seemed tired, using 60-percent of his energy in the fight's first 40 seconds.
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"I don’t have any damage at all from today’s fight," said the victorious Kondo. "But I’m not satisfied at all. I am ashamed of myself about tonight's fight. I'd give [myself] 20 points out of 100. I may win if I fight (Wanderlei) Silva with today’s condition, but I may lose. I need to improve little bit of everything. I won’t be satisfied where I am."
Also on the card, American Nathan Marquardt fought to a majority draw with GRABAKA-trained Eiji Ishikawa (29-28, 28-28, 28-28). Afterwards, both fighters requested a rematch. "One more time. Let me fight him again," appealed Marquardt in Japanese. To which Ishikawa replied, “Let’s do it again, and next time, I’ll make him sleep."
In other action, Izuru Takeuchi drew Osami Shibuya over three rounds. Akihiro Gono caught Tsuyoshi Kurihara with a punch, knocking him out 2:15 of round one. Katsuya Inoue scored a technical knockout 3:53 of round one over Hikaru Sato.
Koji Oishi needed nearly two full rounds before grounding-and-pounding his way to a referee stoppage over Masakazu Kuramochi 4:13 of the second period. Mitsuhisa Sunabe was disqualified after illegally headbutting Masashi Kameda 3:52 of the opening round. Ken Orihashi's technical knockout victory over Iro Zeki is under review, after Orihashi continued to attack Zeki after the referee had stopped the contest at the 4:18 mark of round one.
