Customer Reviews

Pride: Bushido 10

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This was one of the best shows in the Pride Bushido series. Probably the only fight I was not thrilled with was the Paulo Fihlo vs. Ninja Rua fight, and even that one wasn't too bad.
Lots of big stars on this card. Many spectacular finishes. Definitely check this one out.

Ah, Bushido. You have to love the concept. Take the normal Pride fight, with all its spectacle, hype, noise, and international flavor, tweak the rules to encourage even more aggression from the contestants, and throw in some very clever matchmaking. That's "the way of the warrior." It didn't always work, but more often than not, it did, and some of the cards in this series were just plain spectacular. BUSHIDO 10 is one of those cards. It featured a star-studded lineup, mostly veterans of Pride and Bushido, but sprinkled here and there with some talented newcomers eager to prove themselves. The bouts are:

Yves Edwards vs. Seichi Ikemoto: Modestly entertaining fight between the superslick Edwards and the surprisingly effective EMO kid, Ikemoto.

Mitsuhiro Ishida vs. Paul Rodriguez: Don't get up to get that beer, this one don't last long. The prefight interview blurbs were longer.

Kenji Arai - Jens Pulver: There are some fighters that simply cannot be boring. They don't know how and aren't interested in learning. Pulver is such a fighter, and apparently so is Arai, who entered the ring with cornrowed braids and purple Speedos that read "Jesus Walks." Not sure if Jesus would appreciate what these two warriors did to each other, but I did. This was an all-out war with an absolutely brutal finish.

Dennis Kang - Mark Weir: What started as a spectacular punching duel between two very heavy hitters ends up in a painful ground-and-pound battle. Not a great fight, but some great highlights.

Luiz Azeredo vs. Joachim Hansen: Two super-aggressive, technically superb, extremely well-rounded fighters combine for an all-action classic with a "don't blink" capper. All this fight was lacking was the theme to "Rocky." Those who can decipher the meanings behind tattoos will love Hansen's tats.

Paulo Filho vs. Murilo "Ninja" Rua: The two biggest MMA schools in Brazil are the Brazilian Top Team and the Chute Boxe Academy, and they like each other about as much as the Hatfields liked the McCoys. Filho is BTT, Rua Chute Boxe, so this had the makeup of a real grudge-match classic. Unfortunately, it was more a methodical, one-sided beating than a fight.

Akihiro Gono vs. Dae Won Kim: Gono was a colorful 4-fight vet of Pride, Kim a judoka making his debut. Not a classic, but an excellent example of the styles-make-fights principle, Gono's "playing possum" style vs. the aggressive attack of Kim.

Phil "NYBA" Baroni vs. Yuki Kondo: Heavy-punching Phil Baroni's career had flatlined in the UFC; he came to Pride for a restart and found it, rattling off two victories in his first three fights. Fight four was against Kondo, who was looking to ressusitate his own career with a win against the resurgent New Yorker. Don't blink or you'll miss the outcome. Wow.

Ikuhisa "the Punk" Minowa vs. Giant Silva: I love watching the charismatic, n'er-a-dull-moment wrestler-banger Minowa...but not against Paulo "Giant" Silva, a 7' tall, 300+ pound superheavyweight with more gimmick-appeal than talent. There is something decidedly heatbreaking about Silva; his efforts to prove himself more than a sideshow attraction, even when successful, make me feel less like I'm watching a sport and more like I've done something vaguely shameful.

Dan Henderson vs. Kazuo Misaki: In his first defense of his Pride welterweight title, "Hendo" took his Greco-Roman wrestling, superb submission defence and brutal right hand against the extremely determined and decidedly unintimidated Misaki. Somebody got a hard-won victory here.

Marcus Aurelio vs. Takanori Gomi: The super-entertaining Gomi was undefeated in
Pride, having a perfect 10 - 0 record and holding the newly-minted lightweight title. Aurelio looked to play the role of spoiler, bringing his dangerous ju-jitsu as a counter to Gomi's blistering one-punch KO power and iron chin. Another "don't blink" fight.

All in all, I'd say this is one of the best Bushido cards I've yet seen. The majority of the fights end inside the distance and there are some highlight-reel knockouts and slick out-of-nowhere submissions, along with an upset or two. The few decisions are scored together and lack controversy. The commentary by Mario Renallo and Frank Trigg (replacing Bas Rutten) is entertaining without being distracting. The only real downer is the Minowa-Silva fight, which was simply pointless, but that isn't enough to slow the momentum of a great show.

Bushido was a sub-promotion of PRIDE FC focusing on the two lighter weights in the promotion: Welterweight (183 lbs.) and Lightweight (161 lbs.). For fans of the lighter guys, it doesn't really get much better. Knockouts abound in this set, as well as a few really nice submissions. Only a few go the distance, the rest stay in the first round. This is another great event by Bushido, and is well worth your time to pick up. However, I will advocate that you wait a few months to pick up Bushido Collection 3, which has 7-10 in it. That means it includes not only this piece of pure epicness, but the most legendary Bushido event of all time: Bushido 9: The Tournament.

Other than the main Bushido 10 event, this DVD also contains various bonus material. The first is a Pre-Fight Press Conference. This segment is close to 7 mins and features short replies from various Bushido participants(Seichi Ikemoto, Yves Edwards, Mitsuhiro Ishida, Paul Rodriguez, Kenji Arai, Jens Pulver, Denis Kang, Mark Weir, Joachim Hansen, Luiz Alzeredo, Murilo Rua, Akihiro Gono, Dae Won Kim, Yuki Kondo, Phil Baroni, Ikuhisa Minowa, Giant Silva, Kazuo Misaki, and Marcus Aurelio). Most of the speakers needed translators.

Other specials include a Pre-Fight Interview which goes for about 12 minutes. Fighters being interviewed include Seichi Ikemoto, Kenji Arai, Ikuhisa Minowa, Yuki Kondo, Denis Kang, Paulo Filho, and Marcus Aurelio. There's a Post-Fight Interview segment that goes for about 5 mins and includes Jens Pulver, Yves Edwards, and a ranting/raving Phil "NYBA" Baroni. Finally there's a Fighter Walk-ins segment which goes for about 4 mins and includes entrances for all the Bushido 10 fighters. Overall a fast-paced and entertaining Bushido event.