When Pancrase started up in 1993 their rules allowed punches to the body but only open handed slaps to the face.  Fighters were also allowed to break submission holds with rope escapes.  These, along with yellow cards for rules infractions and knockdowns resulted in a lost point.  Five of these in one match (there were no rounds in those days) meant a loss.  Eventually a combination of these rules and more skilled fighters meant more and more fights were going to decisions, depriving fans of exciting finishes.  This and the runaway success of Pride resulted in a major rule change in 1999.  Today Pancrase fights are basically fought under the same rules as Pride, except preliminary bouts take place over two, five minute rounds while more important fights, and title matches have a limit of three rounds.

This event sold out the Ryogoku Kokugikan (Sumo Hall) in Tokyo, attracting an enthusiastic crowd of 10, 500; by far the biggest Pancrase has drawn in years.  MMA purists might like to attribute this to a welcome upturn in the fortunes of a serious, straightforward sports promotion but that would be way off the mark.  It was down to the significance of the group’s tenth anniversary and professional wrestling.

Regular Pancrase shows, even with its biggest stars like Kondo, Kikuta and Ikuhisa ‘The Punk’ Minowa struggle to attract a third of the crowds this show pulled.  Incidentally, Minowa bills himself as a pro wrestler despite never having done a worked match in his life.  In Japan Pancrase, Pride and even K-1 are all considered part of the pro wrestling world.  They just happen not to fix their matches – well it seems to happen now and again and certainly has done in the past, but as a general rule they’re as on the level as any other individual sport.  Besides the lure of the anniversary, these people turned up to see the latest installment in the ever so slightly odd feud between Pancrase and New Japan Pro Wrestling.

Given the shaky state of puroresu, and New Japan majority shareholder Antonio Inoki’s (yes it’s that super-chinned nut job again) remorseless obsession with real fights it was inevitable that NJPW would hook up with an MMA group for some interpromotional shenanigans and try to replicate the success of 1995’s NJPW vs. UWF-I (shoot style pro wrestling group headed up by current Pride figurehead Nobuhiko Takada) feud.  Still, the ultra-serious Pancrase and try-anything-once NJPW are odd bedfellows.  Things really kicked off in late 2002 with the boneheaded offering up of pro wrestling legend Jushin Liger as a human sacrifice on a Pancrase show.  Liger, mask and all, was predictably pasted by Pancrase legend Minoru Suzuki.  Still, the show pulled in a good crowd and tons of media interest.  A few more matches here and there, terrifying talk of a Liger-Suzuki rematch and Suzuki’s debut as a New Japan wrestler kept things ticking over until this event.

Besides the Pancrase-NJPW three match series – a meaningless opener, a mid-card submissions only match and a marquee main event, the rest of the show was based on that old MMA staple – Host Country, or in this case, Promotion vs. the World, with the world consisting of two Americans (a Pancrase regular and a former Olympian), two Brazilians (a Chute Boxe fighter and the latest off the Gracie production line) and an Australian with a daft name who used to be a computer engineer.

(Please note: This is a slightly re-edited version of a piece originally written in 2004 as a review for a pro wrestling website so has a number of references to that world as well as MMA)

The Fights:
Pancrase vs. New Japan: Osami Shibuya vs. Toru Yano
Pancrase vs. World: Kazuo Misaki vs. Ricardo Almeida
Pancrase vs. World: Yuki Sasaki vs. Heath Sims
Pancrase vs. World: Akihiro Gono vs. Nilson Da Castro
Pancrase vs. New Japan: Minoru Suzuki vs.Takashi Iizuka (Catch Wrestling)
Pancrase vs. World: Kiuma Kunioku vs. Crosley Gracie
Pancrase vs. World: Sanae Kikuta vs. Elvis Sinosic
Pancrase vs. New Japan and Vacant Open-Weight King of Pancrase: Josh Barnett vs. Yuki Kondo

Osami Shibuya  vs.  Toru Yano
The Pancrase vs. New Japan series got off to a great start for the home side as the vastly experienced Osami Shibuya choked out tubby novice Toru Yano 2:25 into the second of a scheduled three rounds.

Surprisingly the game but very limited Yano controlled the pace and won a passive first round.  Yano had a simple strategy – use his 61-pound weight advantage to bull Shibuya (190) into a corner and hold on for dear life.  Both men stood in this position for a while, occasionally firing off fists and knees.  After a while Yano swung Shibuya to the mat for a messy takedown.  Shibuya immediately settled into the guard position and started looking for submission opportunities, particularly a triangle choke.  Yano, in return, lay there and threw a few punches now and again.  Most were weak and easily blocked but he did land a good head and body combination and hit a heavy right-hander just before the round ended.

As the second phase began, Yano tried his charge into the corner technique again.  However Shibuya slipped away from the bigger man, giving him space to throw a few punches to the face.  This set up a nice leg trip takedown for Shibuya.  From there the veteran quickly mounted Yano and threw some half-hearted punches before trying to set up a Kimura armlock.  Yano escaped and actually managed to catch Shibuya in a half guard, earning himself a brief rest.  At this point Shibuya seemed to have had enough.  He routinely passed Yano’s guard, punched him twice and then slapped on a perfect armbar for a beautiful tapout finish.

Kazuo Misaki  vs.  Ricardo Almeida
Ricardo Almeida entered a strong performance on the way to a well deserved majority decision over the talented Misaki.  Two judges went with the American while one, bizarrely, called it a draw.  Ahead in their series with New Japan, Pancrase were now one down against the World.

Early in the first round Almeida scored with a couple of leg kicks but when he tried one too many Misaki caught his leg and dumped him to the mat.  Misaki stayed upright and threw some kicks at Almeida who calmly defended on his back.  Misaki briefly tried some groundwork but Almeida’s great defence forced him back onto his feet.

Eventually Almeida got back up and clinched the Japanese fighter in the corner.  From there he scored a takedown and swiftly took Misaki’s back.  With just a minute to go he sunk his hooks in tightly but Misaki displayed an excellent defence of his own and the American had to be content with throwing some punches to the head.  With a few seconds to go, Almeida tried an armbar but Misaki held him off until the bell rang.  Despite having less time in control of his opponent, Almeida took the round by actually doing some damage.

Early in the second round Almeida tried a takedown.  Misaki blocked it, took an underhook clinch and took the American to the mat.  Misaki then tried to counter Almeida’s tight guard by standing up and dropping back down again, bouncing Almeida off the mat.  This of course didn’t work and Almeida used his powerful legs to force Misaki off him.

Once again Almeida was relaxed on his back and stopped Misaki working effectively.  Back on his feet, Almeida showed off some decent kickboxing skills, landing a lead right hand and a heavy leg kick.  Misaki responded by whacking him with a hard right hander.  Almeida, looking shaken, immediately took Misaki down, giving him a chance to clear his head.  Misaki went for a hopeful triangle choke from the guard but Almeida easily slipped out.  From there Almeida showed off some good Ground n’ Pound technique, landing big punches to the head and body from inside the Japanese fighter’s guard.  Sensing weakness in his increasingly disorganised opponent, Almeida stood up and tried to finish him off with a wild downward stomp to the head.  Luckily for Misaki this missed but Almeida wound up sitting on Misaki and banging away with some very hard punches to the face.  Again Almeida took the round by finishing in a much stronger position and doing far more damage.

The final round was the quietest of the three.  Almeida got an early takedown and scored with some good punches from inside the tiring Misaki’s guard.  Showing increasing confidence Almeida stood up, still trapped in the guard and rained down some hammerfists and double fisted barrages, even throwing some Sakuraba style Mongolian chops at one point.  Misaki flailed away with his legs and caught Almeida, opening up a cut over the right eye.  Almeida responded by whacking Misaki with a few more punches.

From here, the referee ordered a restart and took the chance to check Almeida’s cut.  Fearing a hometown stoppage Almeida began bellowing that he was OK.  The official agreed and the match continued on the mat.  For the rest of the fight Almeida was on top, throwing right-handers from side mount and in Misaki’s guard while the Japansese fighter did little but throw some weak punches from his back.

Yuki Sasaki  vs.  Heath Sims
The Japanese evened up the Pancrase v. World score in the next fight as Sasaki took a clear unanimous decision over a disappointing former Olympian Heath Sims.  Perhaps Sims’ performance should be excused as he took the fight as a late replacement for Brazilian knockout artist Evangelista ‘Cyborg’ Santos (visa problems) and was facing a good fighter with a significant size advantage.
 
The first round was dull.  Very dull.  Sasaki, 23 pounds heavier at 191 and much taller, seemed content to throw a few kicks to ward off Sims’ slow and obvious takedown attempts.  Sims offered up some weak boxing skills and clumsy leg kicks while Sasaki landed the only vaguely telling blows of the session, a couple of glancing high kicks.

The second round was a vast improvement.  Early on Sasaki rocked the American with a big left hook.  Hurt by the punch, Sims immediately took Sasaki down and the fight hit the mat for the first time.  Unfortunately nothing happened and the referee ordered a well-timed restart.  They traded strikes for a while and Sims was in trouble again.  He landed some shots but Sasaki shook them off and fired back, using kicks, knees and punches to continually rock the smaller man.  To his credit Sims kept going but Sasaki decked him with a decent combination and followed up with punches on the ground.  He couldn’t put Sims away though, and cut and tiring, he survived the round.

The pace slowed again for the final round, with both men looking tired.  Sims opened up with more weak boxing and Sasaki yet again landing a high kick.  Sims did score a takedown but did nothing with his advantage while Sasaki held guard.  Back on their feet, they swapped more sloppy punches and kicks, with Sasaki again landing more and heavier shots.  This time though he never seemed to have Sims in trouble until the closing seconds when he hit a good lead right hand and yet another high kick.  Sims clung on to hear the final bell and dropped a very predictable judge’s decision.

Akihiro Gono  vs.  Nilson Da Castro
Gono recorded a very hollow and very, very painful disqualification win over Castro in just 29 seconds.  That Pancrase were now 2-1 up in the series would surely have been absolutely no comfort to him.

Gono seemed wary of Castro’s  strikes as they circled each other.  And with good reason as the Brazilian unleashed a vicious kick straight to the groin that made a noise like a Chinese firecracker.  The seemingly unintentional but horrific nut shot dropped Gono immediately to the mat in agony.  And that was it.

Minoru Suzuki  vs. Takashi Iizuka
Suzuki took a unanimous decision over two 5-minute rounds in a submission-wrestling contest over the outclassed Iizuka, putting Pancrase in an unbeatable position in their series with New Japan.

It was nice to see Suzuki compete on the 10th Anniversary for the company he did so much to popularise.  It was even nicer to see him in a match where he wouldn’t take yet another painful beating.  They spent the first round on their feet with Suzuki looking disdainful of his fellow New Japan pro wrestler (Suzuki works for New Japan now but his gimmick is that he represents Pancrase).  Little actually happened as neither could take the other down nor do anything else of any significance.  Suzuki did show great balance by staying upright when Iizuka grabbed a single leg.  Other than that the highlight of the first five minutes was Suzuki’s antics – laughing at his opponent and patting him on the head in a truly patronising way.

Suzuki seemed far more serious in the second and a minute into the session he got the first takedown.  He floated past Iizuka’s ensuing half guard, took the mount and then slipped into a side mount, displaying great mat skill and overwhelming confidence.  He soon got bored with this and stood back up.  Iizuka stayed on his back and Suzuki made a few vague attempts to get the mount back.  Clearly this was a distraction as, in one incredibly sudden movement he grabbed Iizuka’s leg and went for a heel hook.  However, before he could sink it in both men rolled under the ropes and the referee ordered a restart.

Suzuki quickly tripped Iizuka to the mat and controlled him as he covered up in the turtle position.  Suzuki tried an armbar but Iizuka defended smartly, forcing Suzuki to go for a rear naked choke.  He was still working for this as the bell rang to signal the end of an intriguing, if not exciting ten minute exhibition of grappling technique.

Kiuma Kunioku  vs.  Crosley Gracie
Crosley Gracie took a unanimous decision over reigning Welterweight King of Pancrase (this match was fought at Middleweight and so was a non-title affair) Kunioku in a very exciting fight, tying up the Pancrase v. The World series at 2-2.  This was a stunningly good professional debut for the relaxed young Gracie, facing a veteran of over 50 professional contests and displaying great skill and confidence.

Despite weighing in at 179 pounds each Gracie looked to be much bigger than Kunioku as they started the fight with some busy exchanges of punches.  After landing a solid leg kick Gracie tied Kunioku up and took him into the corner where he started working for a takedown as they swapped knees and short punches.  Soon they were back in the middle of the ring they were kickboxing again until Gracie scored a nice double leg takedown.  With two minutes left in the round Gracie was held tightly in Kunioku’s guard.  He tried to pass and threw some fast punches until Kunioku pushed him away with his feet.  From the standing position he kicked down at Kunioku before laying in some punches and once more landing in Kunioku’s guard. He managed to pass this time and established a side mount.  Kunioku responded by reversing Gracie just as time ran out.  Gracie did just enough to take the round, and looked very good in doing so against such a smart, experienced fighter.

Gracie landed a hard right hook in the opening moments of the second and, after an exchange of leg kicks, hit a sweet right leg kick / left hook combo.  Kunioku punched back, landing a good combination before trying for a takedown.  Gracie parried this and Kunioku whipped in a hard kick to the body before Gracie staggered him with a very fast left hand.  Kunioku backpedalled out of trouble and both men ended up on the mat where Gracie took the mount.  Oddly, he was slow in following up and gave Kunioku enough time to recover.  For the rest of the session they stayed like this with Gracie throwing flurries of punches at Kunioku’s face.  The veteran covered up very well though and few got through.  Late in the round, he tried to reverse Gracie but the younger man maintained control and rattled off a few more shots before the bell rang.

With Gracie taking the first two rounds Kunioku came out aggressively for the third, landing a strong leg kick and good punch that left Gracie looking briefly disorganised.  He fired back and went for a single leg takedown before they fell into a clinch, giving him time to sort himself out.  Kunioku then bashed Gracie with a short punch and his mouthpiece came out.  Once this was replaced, Gracie landed a perfect right cross that opened up a big cut over Kunioku’s right eye.

After a lengthy stoppage to check the cut, both men came out swinging, with Kunioku feeling Gracie’s power and once again, the Japanese fighter was backpedalling out of trouble.  After some fumbled grappling and a missed high kick by Gracie they started boxing again, with the debutant looking sharper.  Even when Kunioku landed punches, including a good looking right cross, Gracie took it well.  For the last couple of minutes they kept the fight standing, with each man landing the odd good punch and Kunioku scoring with some leg kicks.  Kunioku may have sneaked the last round, despite the cut, as he landed more strikes than his opponent did, but when the bell rang it was clear Gracie deserved the win.

Sanae Kikuta  vs.  Elvis Sinosic
The home team took the Pancrase vs. World series 3-2 when Kikuta scored a unanimous decision over Sinosic in a match which featured some fascinating groundwork and submission skills from both men.

Sinosic is a good fighter with excellent ground skills but on his feet he looks ridiculous, all giraffe limbs and bumbling striking technique.  He opened the fight throwing a clumsy kick which Kikuta caught and dumped Sinosic with an immediate takedown.  Sinosic’s response to a few punches was to try to sneak an armbar from the guard but Kikuta was too smart.  Working patiently Kikuta passed the guard and took side mount, before switching beautifully into the full mount.

With a couple of minutes left Kikuta remained patient from the dominant position.  After one failed side choke, he simply waited for another chance.  He seemed to have it the second time and gave up the mount, lying beside Sinosic to apply the hold properly.  It briefly looked as if Elvis would have to tap but he stayed calm and somehow escaped.  After a brief struggle where Sinosic showed Kikuta his back they finished up in Elvis’ loose guard and the Australian, who picked up a cut somewhere in all this, again started working for an armbar.  Kikuta though defended very well and survived a decent Sinosic upkick as the round ended.

The second round started surprisingly as Elvis, awful stance and all, dropped Kikuta with a very hard leg kick.  From there he used his height well to land a few punches from the standing position until Kikuta tripped him and they were both on the ground once again.  Both men then engaged in a fascinating exchange of mat skills, swapping positions and exhibiting their excellent defensive techniques.  Eventually Kikuta ended up with a side mount from which he tried to set up a couple of submissions that Sinosic easily blocked.  After rattling off a few punches, Kikuta finally trapped Elvis’ arm but the bell rang before he could capitalize on his position.

As the last round started both men looked tired.  Sinosic missed a slovenly high kick and Kikuta quickly took him down.  The Japanese veteran remained standing though and scored with some good punches to Sinosic’s face from that position while trying to pass his guard.  About halfway through the round he attempted a Kimura and came close but yet again Elvis squirmed free.  Even when Kikuta deftly switched his attention to a keylock, Sinosic was skilled enough to avoid the danger.  As time ran out Kikuta kept trying for the arm but simply couldn’t put the Australian away.  As the fight ended, Sinosic clambered on top of Kikuta and gave him a hug – the first time he’d been on top all night – in a nice display of sportsmanship and respect.  Sinosic had lost every round and was well aware of it.

Josh Barnett  vs.  Yuki Kondo
In an excellent main event, and one of the most entertaining one-sided fights I’ve ever watched, Barnett choked out the former titleholder to claim the vacant King of Pancrase belt 4:26 into the third and final round.

At 251 pounds, Barnett had exactly 60 pounds on his much shorter opponent.  In this day and age it’s completely ridiculous, probably even dangerous to allow such a huge size difference between top competitors but this is Japan where such things simply aren’t taken as seriously.  Throw in the fact that the Open-Weight King of Pancrase means far more than any of the K. O. P’s in proper weight divisions, that Kondo is the company’s biggest star, and it’s easy to see why such considerations are ignored.

The fight started with Barnett working knees to Kondo’s body from a classic Muay Thai clinch but Kondo, displaying his usual fire and courage forced him to back off with a hard uppercut.  Barnett shook it off, trapped Kondo in the corner, clinched and went back to the knees.  Again Kondo hit back, this time with knees of his own and a few nicely placed body punches.  Barnett swung a huge left hook that looked capable of taking Kondo’s head off but Yuki ducked and threw another knee.  Despite Kondo’s efforts, it was already obvious that Barnett’s huge advantage in strength and power was allowing him to dictate the pace of the fight.  After swapping shoulder strikes and a couple of comments that made them both smile Barnett stepped back and returned to the Muay Thai clinch.  Kondo somehow slipped out of that one and rattled off a few knees and body shots of his own.  Still, Barnett was clearly winning, landing more frequently and with much harder shots.  With a minute to go they swapped a few more punches and the round ended with Barnett pounding away at Kondo’s body.

As the second round opened, Barnett whacked Kondo with three hard right hands, followed with a heavy left.  He then faked going for the clinch and ducked down for a double leg takedown.  Kondo showed excellent awareness and balance to stay on his feet and they both ended up back in the corner.  Kondo then tried to grab a guillotine and drop to the mat, pulling Barnett with him.  Huge mistake.  Barnett simply dropped down on top of Kondo, got the mount and started bashing him up on the ground.  Kondo did manage to block most of the punches but enough were getting through to cause some real damage.  Barnett easily blocked Kondo’s repeated attempts to bridge out of trouble as he used his size perfectly to maintain control.  Barnett neatly faked for an armbar attempt but then slipped back into position to throw more punches and the odd hammer fist.

Eventually Kondo escaped and amazingly seemed to rock Barnett with a flurry of punches before once again being taken down.  With Kondo on his back, Barnett just missed a massive stomp to the head and then dropped back into the mount, throwing some hard shots to head and body.  As the end of an excellent round drew close Barnett started smothering Kondo and laying in yet more punches and hammer fists.  By now it was pretty obvious that Kondo had very little chance of winning, yet his stubborn defiance of the inevitable kept the fight extremely exciting.

After a quick exchange of strikes to open the third round Barnett got a takedown.  Kondo grimly hung on with a half guard until turning and managing to scramble to his feet but Barnett was still hugging his back like an insecure girlfriend.  They were now in a standing position.  But not for long.  That crazy pro wrestling fan Barnett decided it’d be cool to try a rolling German Suplex, so he did, blasting Kondo twice with two suplexes so perfect they could have come straight out of a Chris Benoit – Kurt Angle match, much to the crowd’s delight.  Of course, as any sceptical dad will tell you ‘they know how to fall’.  Well, Kondo certainly did as he quickly scrambled to his feet, grabbed Barnett and hit a great looking knee to the face.  In response Barnett took Kondo back down and threw some more punches, one of which opened up a cut over the left eye.  With the usually reserved Pancrase audience rabidly chanting ‘Kondo, Kondo’ Barnett decided it’d be fun to shout “I’m gonna fucking kill you” as he seemed to try and do just that.  A few seconds, and some heavy shots later, Barnett repeated his promise and Kondo responded to the punches by desperately trying to escape.  This was Kondo’s second big mistake of the night as Barnett clung onto his back and very quickly, very expertly applied a rear naked choke for the tap out with just 34 seconds left in the fight.

After his win, Barnett started maniacally waving a New Japan banner, before parading around the ring with Kondo and hugging everyone in sight.  Barnett seemed genuinely moved to be declared the 10th Open Weight K. O. P., joining such MMA legends as Ken Shamrock and Bas Rutten.  He then made a tearful acceptance speech, some of it in his faltering Japanese and started blubbing once more in a post-show interview where he called the night’s work “my greatest fight ever.”  He also called Kondo the “greatest fighter I’ve ever fought”, high praise from a man who’s been in there with Randy Couture and Pedro Rizzo.

The Fighters: (This section has been fully updated and is correct as of June 2005)

A Pancrase regular since 1995, Osami Shibuya has fought over 70 times, posting a mediocre 33-30-14 record.  He has faced practically every Pancrase regular of the past decade.  He started the hard way, winning just nine of his first 25 outings and fighting 23 times in 1997-98.  Since the Yano fight he has gone 4-2-1 including a win over Art Santore and being choked out by David Terrell.  Still in his twenties, Shibuya’s long and prolific career seems to be winding down as he fought ‘just’ 5 times in 2004 and has not fought in the last 6 months.

Toru Yano, a young New Japan heavyweight and decorated amateur wrestler was making his MMA debut.  He has not fought since but was the subject of a long running comedy angle in New Japan where he was continually drunk.

Ricardo Almeida, a top instructor at Renzo Gracie’s New York Academy, has a 8-2 MMA record.  The powerfully built New Jersey native debuted with a decision win at Pride 12 over Akira Shoji.  Following a mixed three fight run with UFC – he was DQ’d for booting Matt Lindland in the head while he was on the mat, choked out Eugene Jackson and was then stopped by the dangerous Andrey Semenov – he moved on to Pancrase where he is undefeated, and holds the Middleweight title.  He has choked out Osami Shibuya and Nathan Marquardt (to win the belt in November 2003) and decisioned Ikuhisa Minowa and Yuki Sasaki.  In his last fight he out pointed Ryo Chonan at Pride: Bushido 3 in May 2004.  Since then Almeida, who’s always been more into the spiritual and teaching aspect of martial arts has announced his retirement from active competition.

Kazuo Misaki debuted in 2001 and currently boasts a 14-4-2 record, no small achievement in the ultra-busy, ultra-competitive world of undercard Pancrase.  He has knocked out Pancrase veteran Takaku Fuke, decisioned Kousei Kubota and stopped Kiuma Kunioku on a cut.  He seems to have problems against Gaijin, dropping a decision to Chris Lytle, having his arm broken in a fight with the very talented Nathan Marquardt and drawing with Jake Shields.  He overcame this ‘Gaijin Curse’ at Pride: Bushido 3, impressing everyone by outpointing highly regarded Brazilian veteran Jorge ‘Macaco’ Patino at Pride: Bushido 3 in a cracking fight.  Since then Misaki has beaten Ed Herman and Flavio Luiz Moura and dropped a decision in a second fight with Marquhardt.

2000 Olympics Greco-Roman competitor and Team Quest team mate of the awe inspiring Randy Couture, Heath Sims made his MMA debut in 2002 and is currently 5-3-2.  Since this show, he has fought 4 more times in Pancrase and twice for Couture and Matt Lindland’s Sportfight promotion.  The ever-improving Sims is 3-1-2 since this event, picking up wins over Takafumi Ito and most recently, Steve Berger.

Team Grabaka’s Yuki Sasaki began his career with Shooto before making the switch to Pancrase and has an average record of 17-11-1.  His most impressive victories are over the talented but inconsistent Ronald Jhun, Osami Shibuya and oddball Alex Stiebling.  Sasaki has won just four of his last ten fights – dropping decisions to Ikuhisa Minowa, Rodrigo Gracie, Ricardo Almeida, Fabio Leopoldo and Gustavo Machado and being KO’ed by Daisuke Watanabe and David Terrell.

A Chute Boxe teammate of terrifying Pride superstar Wanderlei Silva, 33 year old Nilson da Castro has been competing in Brazilian MMA, on-and-off, for a decade and sports a 10-7 record.  He fought five times in 2003, posting a dismal 1-4 tally, which includes a very clear unanimous decision loss in a rematch with Akihiro Gono in November.  He then dropped two more decisions, in Brazil, to Carlos Baruch and Gustavo Machado.  He has won his last two fights though, KO’ing Daisuke Watanabe and decisioning Keiichiro Yamamiya.

Widely underrated light heavyweight Akihiro Gono, now 22-10-7, made his MMA debut in 1994. A Shooto regular before moving to Pancrase he has beaten tough UFC competitor Ivan Salaverry and Pancrase regulars Keiichiro Yamamiya and Kousei Kubota. Gono has also drawn with some very good fighters ・Pride star Murilo ‘Ninja’ Rua, Dustin Denes, Osami Shibuya and Team Quest member Chael Sonnen. He has lost to Egan Inoue, Matt Hughes and Yuki Kondo. He is 5-1 since this show, gaining revenge on de Castro and knocking out Daisuke Watanabe before being wasted by Mauricio 全hogun・Rua at Pride:Bushido 2. He’s since picked up two stoppage wins but has been concentrating more on kickboxing. Most recently, he earned a clear decision win over Crosley Gracie at Pride: Bushido 7.

Original Pancrase headliner Minoru Suzuki has an MMA tally of 27-20-0. However, the company’s brutal schedule and a long series of concussions have destroyed his fighting career. Perhaps the most exciting of the initial wave of Pancrase fighters, a man who holds wins over Ken Shamrock (one is widely acknowledged as more than a little iffy but another was a legitimate submission win), Maurice Smith, Matt Hume, Guy Mezger, Kousei Kubota and John Lober is now irretrievably damaged goods. His last significant win came way back in 1998, over Lober. He has competed infrequently since then, posting a 4-6 record. Even this is misleading though, since his victories have come aginst aging Pancrase mid carder Takaku Fuke, Sean Daugherty (whose only other fight was a loss in the dark ages at UFC 2) and ridiculously overmatched professional wrestlers El Solar (an ancient Mexican) and Japanese legend Jushin Liger (aged 39 and fighting for the very first time). That last bit of sillyness was Suzuki’s last MMA fight, in November 2002. Thankfully, Suzuki seems to be retired now and has gone back to his roots working for New Japan Pro Wrestling, where he held the IWGP Tag Titles with the infamous Yoshihiro Takayama. Suzuki is a talented, if erratic puroresu performer equally capable of having a great match where he fully utilises his unique style or being involved in long drawn out matches that could cure the severest insomnia.

Talented puroresu veteran Takashi Iizuka has no professional MMA experience.

Osaka born Kiuma Kunioku holds a career record of 30-18-7.  The promotion’s current Welterweight Champion debuted in 1996 and has fought exclusively for Pancrase ever since.  In this time, despite being consistently outweighed, he has racked up wins over the likes of Guy Mezger, Frank Shamrock, John Lober, Masakatsu Funaki, Yuki Kondo, ‘Neo Samurai’ Genki Sudo, Pride regular Daiju Takase, and Nathan Marquhardt.  Kunioku has also drawn with UFC veterans Shonie Carter and Sean Sherk  His losses have generally come against bigger, talented fighters like Evan Tanner, Kondo, Mezger, Marquhardt and heavyweights Pete Williams and Bas Rutten.  Kunioku has lost three of his last four and has not fought in more than a year.

25 year-old Crosley Gracie, highly touted standard bearer for the next generation of MMA’s most famous and most extended family, was making his debut at this event. Gracie is now 2-1. He picked up his second win at Pride: Bushido 5 becoming the first man to submit Hayato ‘Mach' Sakurai. Most recently, he somewhat surprisingly dropped a decision to Akihiro Gono at Pride: Bushido 7.

33 year-old former Light heavyweight King of Pancrase Sanae Kikuta has an excellent record of 24-6-3.  A talented veteran of Pride, Shooto, UFC and Pancrase, Team Grabaka’s elder statesman has defeated Egan Inoue, Minoru Suzuki, Eugene Jackson and Ikuhisa Minowa.  Kikuta tends to come up short against the sports very best though.  He has lost to Renzo Gracie (a terrible fight at Pride 2 that seemed to last weeks), Murilo Bustamante, Antonio Rodrigo Noguiera and, most recently, Yuki Kondo.  Since that decisive KO defeat Kikuta is 2-0, recording wins over Keith Rockel and a character named Ice Man.

Australian Elvis Sinosic, the ‘King of Rock n’ Rumble’ is a colourful Machado BJJ stylist with a mediocre record of 6-7-1.  A veteran of four UFC’s, Sinosic holds a very impressive submission win over Jeremy Horn, suffered a short and nasty loss in a challenge for Tito Ortiz’ Light-Heavyweight belt, another quick loss on a cut to the accomplished Evan Tanner and a punishing battering from Renato ‘Babalu’ Sobral.  His most impressive performance, besides the Horn victory, came in December 2000 when he went the distance with the legendary Frank Shamrock.  Elvis has also drawn with UFC veteran Dave Beneteau and in his only fight since this one, KO’d Roberto Traven.

Yuki Kondo is one of Pancrase’s modern legends and a cracking all-round fighter.  Still only 29, Kondo has competed in over 60 professional fights, posting a record of 43-16-5.  He has fought in Pancrase, Deep and the UFC.  His most notable wins are a knockout of Frank Shamrock, decision victories over Semmy Schilt, Guy Mezger, Pancrase pioneers Minoru Suzuki and Masakatsu Funaki and stoppages of Kiuma Kunioku, Ikuhisa Minowa and Sanae Kikuta.  He has also lost to Mezger, Funaki, Schilt, Kunioku and Vladimir Matyushenko.  In December 2000, he gave the much larger Tito Ortiz a real scare before tapping to a brutal neck crank.  Since this show he has gone 5-3, splitting his time between Pride and Pancrase.  He won four in a row, KO’ing Sanae Kikuta and stopping Mario Sperry before submitting Steve Heath and perennial loser Shannon Ritch.  Quickly, and brutally KO’ed by Wanderlei Silva in August 2004, Kondo rebounded with a clear decision win over another Chute Boxe savage, Evangelista ‘Cyborg’ Santos 3 months later.  Kondo has lost his last two fights – a very debatable decision to Dan Henderson and a thoroughly unarguable one to Igor Vovchanchyn that put him out of this year’s Middleweight Grand Prix.

Former UFC Heavyweight Champion Josh Barnett had the busiest year of his MMA career in 2003, fighting four times despite splitting his time between training and working more or less full time as a New Japan wrestler.  With an excellent 15-2 career record, the former steroid abuser has beaten UFC legends Dan Severn and Randy Couture (with a little help from his anabolic friends) as well as good fighters like Gan McGee, Bobby Hoffman (twice), Semmy Schilt (twice) and Yoshiki Takahashi.  His only loss came over three years ago in a UFC 30 stand-up war with Pedro Rizzo.  In May 2004, he demolished clumsy kickboxer Rene Rooze at the first K-1 MMA event, Romanex.  Five months later his much-anticipated Pride debut fell flat when he suffered a serious shoulder injury against Mirko Cro Cop, losing quickly by submission.  Barnett is on the recovery trail and should be back wrestling and fighting in the next few months.

For more great fight pictures visit www.susumug.com/jp or www.susumug.com