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Eddie Bravo Preview's Pride Grand Prix PPV
Reported By: Boxing Insider - 02/01/2005 06:19 PM
Boxinginsider.com: Pride Grand Prix: Mark Hunt will be making his MMA debut at the next Pride show against Yoshida. Yoshida is more experienced in MMA and a very good grappler. Is this a wise move for Hunt's first fight, and do you think Hunt can pull an upset or will Yoshida be able to take it?
Eddie Bravo: All I really know about Hunt is that he is a devastating striker. You can assume that his ground is inferior to Yoshida's -- it's a pretty safe assumption. If you're in Japan you really can't pick your fights so I don't think it was up to Mark Hunt. I don't think it would be a smart decision or a dumb decision. They just make you fight and you either accept the offer or you don't. I don't think he chose Yoshida. If he did for his first MMA fight, that might be a dumb decision but, again, I don't think that's his decision. I don't see Mark Hunt winning this fight. I think Yoshida was really good at closing the distance with Wanderlai Silva and taking him to the ground. I think Yoshida is going to submit Mark Hunt in this fight.
Boxinginsider.com: Sakuraba continues his "Road to Retirement" and looks for revenge against "Nino" Schembri. Was the first fight a fluke or is Nino the real deal? How do you see this match unfolding?
Eddie Bravo: The first fight was the freakiest fight ever. Nino could not take Sakuraba down and was getting tattooed on his feet and then out of nowhere Sakuraba got cocky and started doing his kung fu stuff and he got caught with a knee and he dropped and Nino took advantage of it and just swarmed him.
Was it lucky? He was trying to knee him and he kneed him. I don't know if there was luck or not but he did clearly win and he clearly knocked Sakuraba out.
Can he do it again? I don't know. I think Sakuraba is not going to clown around this time and take this fight a little more seriously. But I don't see Sakuraba submitting Nino. I think that's going to be impossible. Nino's jujitsu is pretty awesome as far as defense goes. I see the fight ending standing. I think Sakuraba is going to keep it up and he's going to take advantage of his striking advantage.
Boxinginsider.com: We were wondering if you could tell us about some of the politics here. Frank Shamrock said that he had a contract offer from Pride but the reason that the contract wasn't signed was because he wanted Sakuraba's name on the contract, which was what they apparently originally offered him. Why is it do you think that there might have been a friction for them not wanting to sign Frank Shamrock versus Sakuraba?
Eddie Bravo: I don't know anything about Frank Shamrock's negotiations or what is going on with the Pride. I have no idea. All I know is I would love to see Sakuraba versus Frank Shamrock. I think that would be a fantastic match-up even though Sakuraba lost a few of his last fights, he's still exciting to watch
Boxinginsider.com: Quinton "Rampage" Jackson is back and will be facing another top-notch fighter in Ricardo Arona. Is Arona's grappling too strong for Rampage or do you think Rampage will be able to overcome it for a victory?
Eddie Bravo: That's a tough fight to call. Arona is very, very strong. He is one of those rare Brazilians that takes wrestlers down and controls wrestlers. He's very strong. But he's not known as a submission specialist. I don't think he's finished anybody he's ever met. He's having trouble making the transition from gi to no-gi, but he's very tough and he's a winner and he wins most of his matches.
This is a hard one to call. Jackson has incredible strength. I think this has the possibility of going to a decision with Arona probably taking the decision. I don't see a submission happening here. If Rampage can keep it up and prevent the takedown, Rampage does have a chance of knocking Arona out but that is unlikely. Arona is very powerful getting the clinch and dragging guys down to the ground, and I think he will do that. I think he will control the match and pull out a close decision.
Boxinginsider.com: The winner of that fight has been rumored to be facing Wanderlai Silva for the Pride championship. Do you think either of them have what it takes to beat Silva?
Eddie Bravo: I think fresh they both have a chance of beating Silva. Jackson lost to Silva in the first match but Quint Jackson was very exhausted from fighting Chuck Liddell. Fresh, I think Rampage can take out Wanderlai, there's a possibility of that. Again, Arona can get the clinch on Wanderlai, avoid his strikes, and drag him to the ground and grind and a decision out. But Wanderlai is very dangerous, once he gets off, once he gets his rhythm going, gets some knees in, and gets some big right hands in and some left left hooks in, it is very hard to withstand that kind of punishment. Yes Arona and Rampage do have a shot at Wanderlai and winning.
Boxinginsider.com: Sem Schilt will also be facing Sergei Kharitonov in the second round of the Grand Prix. Who do you see winning this one?
Eddie Bravo: That is a tough one to call. Sergei is very well rounded and a very large guy, very tall, not 7 feet tall like Semmy but I think Sergei has the ability to knock out Sem Schilt standing, even with the huge reach disadvantage. Sergei is a good striker, but if he gets into any trouble with Sem Schilt, his ground skills are very good. He has got a good submission game, and if he can take Sem Schilt down he can possibly finish him. Who knows? Maybe Sem Schilt keeps it up and lands the serious jab and front kick that he is known for. He could possibly take out Sergei standing too. Tough one to call.
Boxinginsider.com: Giant Silva will be facing Naoya Ogawa in the second-round match. Do you think Silva has got what it takes to put Ogawa away or will this be an easy victory for Ogawa?
Eddie Bravo: This will be an easy victory Ogawa. He's way too tough for Giant Silva. Giant Silva is too green in this sport. He is not a master of any of the three elements you need to be successful. He's not a good wrestler, he's not a good jujitsu player and he's not a good striker. He's just a big, giant, strong guy. Ogawa is a fantastic judo player -- great balance, tough as nails, pretty good hands. I think he's going to be way too much for Giant Silva. I see this fight ending in a couple of minutes.
Boxinginsider.com: Kevin Randleman will be facing Fedor Emelianenko in a second-round elimination match. Both of these men have had a rough past couple of weeks with Fedor being in a car accident and Randleman suffering the sudden loss of his father. Will both guys be able to pull out their A game for this match?
Eddie Bravo: I think so. I think Randleman will be on a mission. He will want to win it for his father. Fedor, depending how bad his injuries were from the car accident, I don't think he's going to be rattled from it mentally, but physically, if there's something wrong with him physically, that could hinder him. Fedor is my favorite to win the whole Grand Prix, so I don't see Kevin Randleman winning this fight unless he lands another one of those crazy left hooks like he did on Cro Cop. That's his only shot. Fedor is just way too good in all phases of the game. He's the toughest guy on the planet right now.
Boxinginsider.com: Who do you see as the favorite to win the tournament now that the field has been narrowed down?
Eddie Bravo: Like I said before, I think Fedor is going to win it all. I am pulling for Nogueira. Nogueira is my favorite fighter but I don't think his game has evolved enough since the last time they fought to beat Fedor. He's still playing the same guard that Fedor neutralized and that will be the deciding factor if they end up fighting each other again.
Boxinginsider.com: Both Pride and the UFC have pay per views the same weekend. How are both these pay per views going to be different and why should fans want one or the other or both?
Eddie Bravo: Fans should get both. This is an MMA fantasy weekend. Are you kidding? UFC and Pride in the same weekend. This is huge. What more can you ask for? … King of the Cage on Sunday? That would be awesome. This is great. It's not a problem. Dip into your college fund and buy both those pay per views. Get some friends together and have a party. This is an awesome weekend. This is not a bad thing. It is a fantastic weekend.
Boxinginsider.com: So Eddie, I understand that you have new website out. Do you want to tell us about that?
Eddie Bravo: www.thetwister.tv.. I just got it up; I've got three of my favorite techniques up there. Just giving it away for free. I know I'm an idiot, but I'm very nice when it comes to techniques. I like to share. It's got the 10th Planet jujitsu 7-minute promo so you can download that. It's like an infomercial on my school. It's very entertaining. It also has a couple of other cool things like school address, directions to the school, schedule class times -- that kind of stuff.
Boxinginsider.com: Thank you very much Eddie Bravo.
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