 |
Eddie Bravo: Pride Final Conflict, His DVD, More!
Reported By: Boxing Insider - 02/01/2005 06:25 PM
By Ken Pishna, BoxingInsider.com
BoxingInsider.com: Eddie, Pride just held their big finale for their Grand Prix. What did you think of Final Conflict?
Eddie Bravo: I thought it was a fantastic show, except for the way the tournament ended. That was really anti-climactic. Everything before that was fantastic.
BoxingInsider.com: Were you surprised at all that Murilo Bustamante lost to Nakamura?
Eddie Bravo: I was surprised initially, but when you look back at the fight, he’s fighting a world class Judo guy. He’s taking Murilo down and usually ending up on top. Murilo was on his back a lot and he’s not really known for his guard like Minotauro. If that had been Minotauro, Nakamura would have been in a lot more trouble. For Murilo to win, he needs to be on top. He was on top in the beginning; he had position, but when he mounted, Nakamura just blasted him right off. He should have won it right there. Nakamura is a top Judo guy and those guys are hard to finish, especially if you’re on your back and not known for your guard. So looking back on it, it’s not that surprising.
BoxingInsider.com: Ogawa is also considered a top Judo guy, but he came in and Fedor Emelianenko handled him fairly quickly, basically dominating him. Did it catch you off guard that Fedor submitted Ogawa so quickly?
Eddie Bravo: Yes, yes. I thought that Ogawa would give Fedor more trouble. But the difference between Fedor and Bustamante is Fedor’s got some serious dynamite in both hands. When he throws those bombs, he’s not just jabbing and throwing those lazy rights; he’s bombing! So Ogawa just got swarmed on and he couldn’t handle the heat standing and then when it went to the ground, he ended up mounted. Fedor’s damn good on the ground. He got Mark Coleman in an arm bar from his guard. I don’t remember Bustamante getting anyone in an arm bar from the guard. I’m a huge fan of Fedor’s, especially seeing his guard work. The guy’s got some serious skills. I’m a fan of any MMA fighter that can finish you from all angles on the ground. Without grappling, MMA is just bad kickboxing, so you’ve got to really appreciate the grappling.
BoxingInsider.com: Minotauro Nogueira is generally considered one of those guys that can submit you from all over the place, but he really showed a lot of stand up game at Final Conflict, especially with Kharitonov. Did Nogueira’s stand up surprise you at all?
Eddie Bravo: Well, I was surprised at his stand up in his last fight against Heath Herring. That’s when he really showed how much he’s improved on his striking. I wasn’t that surprised that his stand up looked that good against Sergei. He’s a dangerous striker now; the guy is throwing some heat. In his past fights, it looked like he was an okay striker, but he never really hurt anybody with his striking, except for Kakuta. Now, his stand up is looking scary. He’s constantly evolving.
With Fedor, you could tell that Minotauro wasn’t trying to play that same guard that he did the first time they fought with his feet on the hips and leaving himself wide open. He was playing closed guard; he was tighter. You could tell he worked on his arm drags. He was trying to get to Fedor’s back by arm dragging him over and that’s where the head butt came. Fedor was throwing a punch and at the same time, Nogueira was setting up an arm drag and their heads collided. Even though it ended with that cut, Nogueira showed that he was a lot better in that fight than he was in the first fight. He never really got hit; he got him to the ground and into his guard. He never really got hurt at all.
To me, it looked like he was preparing for Fedor since their last fight. Who knows, maybe by the time Fedor’s cut heals Nogueira could get a little closer. Although, I don’t think he’s ready to beat Fedor just yet, I don’t think he could have beat him that night. Eventually, he might be able to, but then again, Fedor is constantly improving too. Fedor and Nogueira are going to rule the heavyweight division for a while.
BoxingInsider.com: Do you think that either fighter was ahead at the point the fight was stopped?
Eddie Bravo: No, I thought it was even.
BoxingInsider.com: So, would you say that the “no contest” was a pretty good ruling?
Eddie Bravo: Yeah. Nobody won that fight. That was a good call.
BoxingInsider.com: Usually Wanderlei Silva is the main event on most Pride cards, but this time he fought Yuki Kondo on the undercard. I know a lot of people expected a little more resistance from Kondo in that fight, but Wanderlei looked about as ferocious as I can remember seeing him.
Eddie Bravo: Well, in most fights Yuki Kondo likes to stand. He’s usually fighting against guys that are trying to take him to the ground because he’s a dangerous striker as well. He came after Wanderlei and was throwing, but Wanderlei was standing in there throwing his wild strikes as well and Wanderlei hits hard. Once he knocked Kondo down and started head stomping him on the ground… that’s shear brutality there. Some people were complaining because Wanderlei was holding the ropes. If you’re holding the ropes to stall the fight, I have a problem with that; but if your holding the ropes to kick someone’s ass, then they should allow that.
BoxingInsider.com: The way that ended, with Wanderlei stomping on Kondo’s head like 5 or 6 times, that obviously looks very brutal. Do you think it’s really as bad as it looks? Is it really that dangerous to allow stomps?
Eddie Bravo: You know what? I’ve never been stomped in the face before. [laughs] I don’t know how dangerous it is. They need to do some research on that. But it looks great! Listen, we’re not watching fights to see peaceful endings… we want to see the brutality. People watch NASCAR to see the crashes. People watch hockey to see the fights. Anytime there’s that bench-clearing brawl in baseball, that’s on the ESPN highlights. We’re f***ing animals. We want to see that shit. The more brutal, the better. We’re not watching MMA because it’s similar to golf. We’re watching it because it satisfies our animal instincts to see who the dominant male is.
BoxingInsider.com: You’ve competed at the highest levels in grappling; have you ever given any thought to entering MMA?
Eddie Bravo: You know, I think about it all the time, but I usually think about how I’m not going to do it. [laughs] There’s just too much involved to be an MMA fighter. I’m a musician. I still have a few good years left and I’m still trying to push my music. I’d rather be on stage than in the cage. If I decided to be an MMA fighter, I would have not time for music. That means that I would have to add 3 or 4 days of kickboxing a week, 3 or 4 days of wrestling, and then get on this crazy diet all the time. That’s another job. So if I decided to change my life to that, then that means I decided to give up on music.
I would way rather make it in music than be an MMA fighter. I don’t care if I’m a better boxer. I don’t care if I’m a better wrestler. All I care about is grappling. I could do it, but it would be all work. It wouldn’t be fun. But if someone did offer me some solid cash… it would have to be worth it. If I could walk out with some cash, like $30,000 or something, then I could by some more recording equipment, but I’m not going to do it for like $5,000. I would do it for some big money and that’s it. I would rather watch it and help fighters that are devoting their entire lives to MMA get better at their grappling. All my grappling is MMA based.
BoxingInsider.com: Now, I’ve also heard that you have a new DVD out. Is that an instructional DVD or what is it?
Eddie Bravo: No. It’s a collection of my fights throughout my jiujitsu career. It starts out when I suck as a blue belt, like three guys in a high school gym shot with a handicam. It takes you all the way up through the Abu Dhabi trials and then the very end is my fight with Royler. So, it takes you through my whole career.
BoxingInsider.com: Where can people get the DVD?
Eddie Bravo: You can just jump on my website, http://www.twister.tv/.
BoxingInsider.com: Do you have any plans to do any instructionals as well?
Eddie Bravo: Yes. That’s all going to happen by the end of the year.
BoxingInsider.com: And your also working on a book, is that right?
Eddie Bravo: Yes. That will be out by the end of the year as well. It’s an instructional jiujitsu book, kind of like the Gracies have. But those were all on minor labels. This is going to be the first jiujitsu book on a major label. I’m on McGraw-Hill. This is going to be huge.
BoxingInsider.com: Will your book focus mostly on no-gi techniques?
Eddie Bravo: It will be all no-gi, so will the DVD. I’ll never teach with a gi. I trained for 10 years with a gi, so I can fight with a gi, but I just think it’s more fun no-gi and I want to do what’s the most fun.
Eddie Bravo is a regular contributor to BoxingInsider.com. You can check out his web site and order his DVD at http://www.twister.tv/.
JewelryGuy.com - Factory Direct gold & Diamond Jewelry, Rings, Earrings, Bracelets - Find The Perfect Gift!!
Ken Shamrock's Lion's Den Clothing - T Shirts, Skull caps, Sweatshirts, and More! Check out the NEW Lion's Den University Shirts! (>>)
WrestlingDotCom.com - Pro Wrestling News & More!
|
|
 |
|
Poll script here |
|
