Pride FC - Collision Course

Rating:
Summary: Pride 13 - Collision Course
Review: I have to say that Pride 13 will not disappoint any mixed martial arts fans. There was a lot of action and rarely any dull moments. The matchups were definitely top-notch. The new rules (kicking or kneeing an opponent's head while they are on all fours) definitely affected the outcomes of some of the matches. While it was kind of disheartening to watch some of my favorite fighters lose, there is no doubt that the event itself was exciting. If you are a mixed martial arts fan, I would consider viewing the Pride Fighting Championships. I highly recommend Pride 13 (Collision Course) and Pride 10 (Return of the Warriors), two of the best Pride events.

Rating:
Summary: The fights were so so
Review: Many fighters were caught at a transitional stage in this event. The new rule, which allowed the fighters to kick and knee their opponents when they are on their all fours, really played a big factor to the upsets in this event. This rule is what made Pride as close as it can be to a "no rule" contest. The change gave the strikers a lot of advantage over the grapplers. However, the fights were pretty dull except for the main event.

Rating:
Summary: PRIDE 13 COLLISION COURSE
Review: PRIDE 13 WAS AN EVENT THAT IN MY OPINION WAS WORTH THE COST. VITOR BELFORT SHOWED SOME GRAPPLING SKILL, GUY MEZGER AND EGAN INOUE WENT TOE TO TOE,HEATH HERRING AND SOBOLEV DENIS WAS LOBSIDED, DAN HENDERSON AND RENZO GRACIE WAS A FLUKE, COLEMAN AND ALLAN GOES WAS A JOKE,T. YASUDA AND MR. SATAKE WAS DESCENT,TRA TELLIGMAN VS. IGOR VOVCHANCHYN WAS A STANDING BATTLE, AND SILVA VS. SAKURABA WAS AN INSTANT CLASSIC!!!!!ALL IN ALL THE PRICE OF ADMISSION WAS WELL WORTH IT.

Rating:
Summary: 13 is an unlucky number!
Review: Pride 13...Anybody favored to win in this event lost. That doesn't mean it wasn't one of the best Prides ever. Full of surprises sums it up.
This event is known for the rule change of allowing soccer kicks to a downed opponent's head. It turned out to be a real factor here.
Buy this for the legendary Sakuraba vs Vanderlei Silva 1. Their rematch is in Pride 17 but the first one is a classic.
Dan Henderson vs Renzo Gracie is also a stunner.
You gotta have this one if you consider yourself a fan of MMA at all. This is simply the best there is.

Rating:
Summary: 13 is an unlucky number!
Review: Pride 13...Anybody favored to win in this event lost. That doesn't mean it wasn't one of the best Prides ever. Full of surprises sums it up.
This event is known for the rule change of allowing soccer kicks to a downed opponent's head. It turned out to be a real factor here.
Buy this for the legendary Sakuraba vs Vanderlei Silva 1. Their rematch is in Pride 17 but the first one is a classic.
Dan Henderson vs Renzo Gracie is also a stunner.
You gotta have this one if you consider yourself a fan of MMA at all. This is simply the best there is.

Rating:
Summary: Good Matchups, startling results!
Review: Yes the matchups were good, but the new Pride rules were really the story of this DVD.

Kicking and kneeing a down opponent was now legal in Pride. This would have given Igor Vovchanchyn a KO victory over Mark Kerr in their first encounter. But enough with the what ifs; this Pride was to be the first under these controversial rules.

The new rules really favored the "strikers" and gave the "grapplers" something to think about. These old terms are dated. Every good fighter is well-rounded in grappling and striking skills. Maybe it safe to say that the good strikers really got a kick off these new rules. No pun intended.

The night kicked off with BJJ sensation Vitor Belfort against Pride newcomer Bobby Southworth. We got a glimpse of Belfort's submission skills in this fight. A mismatch, but entertaining.

Next up was to be a grudge match between Enson Inoue and Guy Metzger. In an earlier UFC tournament, these two were to fight, but Enson suffered and injury that prevented this. Words were tossed, as they always are and a grudge was born. Unfortunately for Guy, Enson had retired. So in came older brother Egan Inoue to challenge Metzger. While Egan was the more muscular of the two, Metzger was actually bigger in size. A good striking fight with a solid KO for a finish.

The ever tough Heath Herring was up next against Denis Sobolev. Herring at a young age had taken out perhaps the most dominating wrestler in Tom Erickson. With his stock rising, nothing was to stop Herring this night, not even a tough-guy in Sobolev.

The next fight featured two MMA's classiest fighters. As classy they are, of course they happen to be very good fighters. On one corner we had Renzo Gracie, the most active of the famous Gracie family. His fights were against formidable opponents. With wins over Taktarov, Kikuta, Otsuka, and Maurice Smith, speaks volumes. In the other corner: Dan Henderson. Henderson was/is all business. He is a quite man who just wins. His victories include wins over Goes, Newton, Yvel, Nogueira, Babalu were also impressive. So these two great (in and outside the ring) fighters fought with a sneaky punch resulting in decisive KO. No phantom-punches, it may require the slo-motion of your DVD to really catch the quick right.

An interesting matchup between heavyweight Mark Coleman and middleweight Alan Goes was next. The last the world saw of Coleman was in Pride winning the Grand Prix tournament. His return was anticipated even if was against a smaller opponent. Goes the superb BJJ technician was the first true submissions expert Coleman was to face. The new rules turned this fight into lights-out for the loser. A funny sequence of events follow the stoppage of this fight. It cannot be missed.

The next fight was the Japanese treat fight. We had Masaaki Satake vs. Tadao Yasuda in a fight catered to entertain the Japanese crowd. A match of little to no significance. I did disagree with the decision, though.

Fight 7 was originally the battle between Ken Shamrock and Igor Vovchanchyn. The buzz behind was huge, but Shamrock was forced to step down due to an injury. His "last second" replacement was fellow Lions Den fighter Tre Telligman. Telligman while respected, was on paper no threat to Igor. Tre had fought (valiantly) and lost to many good fighters. Igor was ready to use this fight as a springboard to a highly-anticipated rematch against Mark "the Hammer" Coleman. The biggest shocker in recent MMA history. Really something special!

In the end...the Main Event! The battle between Japanese sensation Kazushi Sakaraba and Vanderlei Silva. Saku was on top of the world. His victories over almost every fighting Gracie and widely regarded as the best middleweight in the world. He had earned his high remarks by exhibiting truly unorthadox fighting. On the other corner was Muay-Thai sensation Vanderlei Silva. The "Axe Murderer" as he is known, Silva had a reputation as bruising striker. Silva didn't want to be another Brazilian to fall to Sakuraba. Sakuraba was eager to take out a powerful striking specialist. This fight best describes the title of the event: Collision Course! A brutal finish to say the least.

The best Pride show maybe since Pride 10 (Return of the Warriors). A great buy, trust me.