Saturday, February 20, 2010

An Epic War in the MMA Ring – My Favorite

I think my favorite “war” in MMA has to be this one – Don Frye versus Yoshihiro Takayama at PRIDE 21. Watch!

This is one of those bouts that makes your draw jop! See, I can’t even spell after watching this – jaw drop!

Frye and Takayama went straight at each other, toe to toe, and never quit. I sincerely believe that neither one would have quit if it came down to it.

One tender moment, if there can be said to be one here, was when Frye looked down on his vanquished foe after securing the TKO victory and patted his former enemy with respect. I think the war was over between them at that moment.

What is your all-time favorite MMA war?

3 comments:

MARKS said...

I actually like Frye vs Shamrock. Ken virtually tore Frye ankle and knee apart with the heel hook but frye didnt tap. That was a war!

wim said...

Another blast from the past. :-)
I hadn't seen this one anymore in a long time. It sure was an all-out war. That said, there was no longer much strategy or tactics involved, just wailing away at eachother. No defense, no combinations, nothing. Frye could have lost just as well as Takayama. If on of my students fouhgt like this, I'd be angry at him afterwards.
Nothing but utmost respect for their warrior spirit, but the technical skills kind of went out the window after the firs ttwo seconds. :-)

If you want to see a really intense muay Thai fight that stays technical, google rob Kaman vs Ernesto Hoost. Almost non-stop action from the first till the last round.

Thanks for the flashback!

Wim

Anonymous said...

Agree with Wim here, there was minimal skill on show here. Top marks for all-out war, sure. Frye seemed to get into similar situations in other fights, the one against James Thompson was another. This showed that Thompson has barely any punching power despite his size, he just couldn't finish Frye off.

A recent war that had more than just grab and hit skill on show was Guida v Sanchez. Two fighters throwing very heavy strikes and not giving an inch.