(How much longer will Sakuraba hold headline status in Japan?)
As the second round began, Nogueira once again landed a number of devastating knees to Sakuraba’s head, taking even more of the wind out of his sails. They then briefly went to the ground, but were once again stood-up. Both fighters seemed to be trying to save their energy after that, and Nogueira’s eye cut once more began to bleed, seemingly impairing his vision a bit. But the second round ended with a bang as Nogueira attempted a ferocious triangle choke, while simultaneously pounding Sakuraba’s head from above. Despite this effort, Sakuraba broke free once again, and just managed to roll out of the position as the bell rang.
(Minotoro was bruised up, but appears ready for the big time!)
The third and final round of the year began with both fighters deciding to turn things into a boxing match – and a brutal boxing match at that. Both fighters landed furious flurries of punches to the other during the opening minutes, and Sakuraba continued to demonstrate his iron chin by virtually blocking with his head at times. Most people would probably not have predicted that a battle between two such exceptional grapplers as Sakuraba and Nogueira could look so much like a Tough Man contest. But only time would save Sakuraba, and as the last five seconds of the round counted down, Nogueira knocked Sakuraba into the corner with a devastating combo, and began kicking him in the head repeatedly. The bell rang, saving the helpless Sakuraba from a knockout, but not in time to save him from the damage he had received. Sakuraba had blood literally flowing from his mouth, and the decision would be a unanimous one in favor of Nogueira. “Mini-Nog” proved to be the real deal, indeed.
Insidefighting.com would like to thank PRIDE and DSE, once again, for putting together an all-around fabulous show. If Final Conflict and Shockwave 2003 are any indication of what we can expect in the upcoming year, then I think we all have quite a bit to celebrate this evening.
Happy New Year’s once again, to you all!
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