PRIDE 34: Kamikaze - MMA Results - Monson vs. Fujita

PRIDE 34: Kamikaze was held on April 8th, and would go down in history as the last show held by the once-legendary Dream Stage Entertainment. As most MMA fans now know, the company had lost their television deal and were in deep financial trouble. Then along came the Fertitta brothers (owners of the UFC) to snatch up their primary competition and create an even more global market for their product.

The crowd at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan was greatly hyped up for this card (even though they are always far more subdued than an American crowd). So without further delay, let’s take a look at what happened.

Yoshihiro Nakao vs. Edson Drago - Nakao got the submission victory at 9:51 of the first round when he got Drago with a neck crank.

Eric “Butterbean” Esch vs. Zuluzinho - Esch got a submission victory at 2:35 in the first round when he locked in a keylock on Zuluzinho.

Makoto Takimoto vs. Zelg Galesic - Galesic was a big favorite, but he wasn’t able to keep the fight standing, and Takimoto was clearly better on the ground. Takimoto submitted his opponent at 5:40 of the first round with a kimura.

Gilbert Yvel vs. Akira Shoji - A last-minute replacement match, this one looked to go in Shoji’s favor at the beginning, but Yvel got on top of his opponent at 3:04 of the first round and got the TKO victory.

Don Frye vs. James Thompson - A fight that many felt should have been stopped earlier. Frye took control and rocked Thompson early, but he gassed and the massively-built “Colossus” began to severely beat him. At the 6:23 mark, the ref finally stopped the mach and awarded Thompson the TKO victory.

An intermission follows the match, and fans are treated to a real surprise when they return. It seems that Kazushi Sakuraba is coming back to Pride after leaving for the Hero’s promotion. In the near future, he will be facing his old pro-wrestling rival Kiyoshi Tamura, who was also in the ring. Everyone took the opportunity to thank outgoing president of DSE, Mr. Sakakibara, for all his hard work and dedication.

Shinya Aoki vs. Brian Lo-A-Njoe - In a mismatch, Aoki got the submission win at 1:33 of the first round with an armbar.

Ricardo Arona vs. Sokoudjou - Arona went for a takedown. Sokoudjou defended, stood his opponent up, then knocked him loopy with an uppercut. Seconds later, it was all over. That’s another impressive TKO win for Sokoudjou (which came at 1:59 of the first round).

Kazuyuki Fujita vs. Jeff Monson - This was being somewhat hyped as a PRIDE vs. UFC match. Much like in real life, the UFC won the contest. Monson got his opponent’s back and submitted him with a rear naked choke at 6:47 of the first round.

The DSE era may be over, but now we’ll get to see what happens when the masterminds behind the UFC take over. Should be exciting to watch. This is a great time to be a MMA fan.

PRIDE 34: Kamikaze - MMA Results - Monson vs. Fujita