...OH, ONE MORE THING - PLEASE BOOKMARK US & VISIT DAILY!
By Brian Sweet, MMATorch DVD Review Specialist
Hello again and welcome back to DVD World. My name is Brian Sweet and it is my pleasure to present this week's review of "Pride.33: The Second Coming." As always, please feel free to drop me a line at HYPERLINK "mailto:bs2647@gmail.com" bs2647@gmail.com if you have a request for a specific event to be reviewed or questions regarding anything having to do with MMA or DVDs. I may be able to point you in the right direction if you are having problems completing your collection. Without further ado, lets get down to business and have a look at this week's selection.
Pride.33 - The Second Coming
February 24, 2007
Thomas and mack Center
Las Vegas, Nev.
SERGEI KHARITONOV VS. MIKE RUSSOW
This heavyweight brawl was put together at the last minute. Sergei was reportedly supposed to fight with Gilbert Yvel, but Yvel was denied a license to fight in Nevada due to his previous transgressions. In typical Pride fashion, Russow was brought in as a last minute replacement. This fight didn't serve as a number one contender eliminator, but it did supply Kharitonov with an opportunity to make another appearance in the winner's circle. Russow proved to be a very game opponent and the fight was quite exciting. Let's have a look.
THE FIGHT
Round 1: Russow comes out and shoots immediately but the Russian has none of it and shakes him off. Russow lands a jab before Sergei throws out an inside leg kick that lands hard. Russow works a one two combo but misses as Sergei evades well. Kharitonov walks in but Russow rushes him, clinches, and works the double underhooks. Russow executes an inside trip takedown, but Sergei rolls through and gets back to his feet as Russow takes a single leg. Russow drops the leg and looks for underhooks again, but Sergei wisely backs away. Both men reset and Russow just misses a straight right that probably would have ended the fight. Mike works the straight right again, but Sergei dodges the punch as Russow rushes in for the clinch again. Sergei shows good balance and avoids the takedown before both men separate again. Kharitonov has his timing down now as Russow again leads with a straight right but eats a right uppercut for his effort. Both men trade jabs as Russow again leads with a straight right that hits nothing but air. Sergei looks to land another leg kick, but Russow grabs his heel and trips the Russian. Russow finally gets the fight on the ground and lands in side mount. Russow transitions to full mount and Sergei gives up his back which Russow takes. Sergei spins out, and looks to establish top control but Russow is game and holds onto a leg. Both men scramble and Russow ends up in Sergei's guard. Russow postures up and throws out a straight right that Kharitonov grabs, and works into an armbar. Russow taps quickly, but claims he was simply positioning his hand. Sergei is declared the victor as Russow states his case to Mario Yamasaki. The instant replay shows Russow tapping clear as day.
AFTERMATH
Sergei Kharitonov:
Kharitonov was considered a top contender for the Pride heavyweight crown a few years prior to this fight. He racked up nine wins in a row during the start of his career and even making it to the semi-finals of the Pride 2004 Heavyweight Grand Prix tournament before dropping a decision to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. During the tournament, Sergei destroyed Murilo Rua and obliterated Semmy Schilt in brutal fashion. He would go on to post four more consecutive wins in Pride after the Nogueira loss before suffering his first back-to-back losses to Alistair Overeem and Aleksander Emelianenko. Included in the four fight win streak, Sergei picked up victories over Pedro Rizzo and Fabricio Wedum. The Russow fight not only put Sergei back in the win column, but set him up with a rematch against Alistair at k-1 Hero's. He would then compete in Dream, losing once to Jeff Monson. Kharitonov is always fun to watch because he has very heavy hands and can hang with most guys on the ground. His fight with Nogueira was a masterpiece of sorts and helped catapult Sergei into the top echelon of Pride heavyweights. Without a doubt, Kharitonov possesses massive potential to be a top contender in any organization he fights for and hopefully he will end up in the UFC shortly.
Mike Russow:
Russow rebounded in a big way after this fight and won his next eight fights in a row. Russow finally got the call from the UFC and earned a hard fought victory over Justin McCully at UFC 102. Technically, Russow has been fighting now for over ten years, but there is a gap on his record between 1998 and 2006. He got serious about fighting nearly one year to the day of the Kharitonov fight. As of late, Mike has earned quality wins over Roman Zentsov and Jason Guida aside from the McCully win. He certainly has a bright future ahead of him in the UFc due to his outstanding submission game and could become a major player with one or two more wins over top opposition. There is no word yet on his next opponent, that I am aware of, but whoever it is should be sure to bring their "A" game.
UP NEXT: Alistair "Ubereem" Overeem vs. Mauricio "Shogun" Rua
DON'T GO YET... WE SUGGEST THESE MMATORCH ARTICLES, TOO!
Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
STAFF COLUMNISTS: Shawn Ennis - Jason Amadi
Frank Hyden - Rich Hansen
Chris Park - Matt Pelkey
Interested in joining MMATorch's writing team? Send idea for a theme to your column (for Specialist section) or area of interest (i.e. TV Reporter) along with a sample of writing to mmatorch@gmail.com.
