www Bout Review USA
>>>OCTAGONSIDE
Text by Shu HIRATA
Photography by Hideto IDA

Quick Report - D.O.G. IV 12/11/2005: 'Rani Yahya All Over the Headlines!'


Rani Yahya actually didn't make weight.
He was about 3 kilos (6.62lbs) over but Taiyo Nakahara's decision saved the Main Event of D.O.G. IV.

Nakahara couldn't say no when he knew that, inside Differ Ariake, his fans were waiting to erupt, besides, Yahya not being able to make the weight could also mean that he was not in proper condition. So Nakahara said OK to the weight issue and the fight was on.

But it took less than two minutes for Yahya to finish Nakahara off.
Immediately off the bell Yahya shoots in, Nakahara sprawls, gets the top position and goes for a kimura but a very composed Yahya slowly pulls his arm out. From this moment on, what happened was like magic.

Nakahra tried kimura from the bottom but that was it. Yahya (top) slowly but surely dominated the fight.

Yahya reverses the position takes the side mount then moves to a north-south position. From there Yahya slowly tightens his arms wrapped around Nakahara's neck area, and the next moment, Nakahara was out, completely unconscious. The finishing move is called, the North South Choke.
Nakahara's fans, filling in this live house built on artificial land, lost their words.

After the fight, Yahya, for the first time, to the Japanese media, revealed that he is training with Rickson Gracie. Rickson was on Yahya's corner at this year's ADCC World Championships so Yahya's relationship with the master of Gracie Jiu-jitsu was a known fact among fans in this country. For Japanese fans and MMA media, however, this was a big deal.

The next morning, every sports newspaper in Japan had Rickson, disciple, and Yahya in their headlines.

Yahya, who is now 7-0, showed his confidence, "As long as I can fight in my own pace, I always go for tapout or KO win."
When he was asked of the unusual finishing choke Yahya replied, "The finishing move is nothing special. That's not exactly my favorite move. I've got many moves on the ground. I am always looking for a chance to finish the fight, by tapout or KO, either way."

Welterweight Interim King of Pancrase Katsuya Inoue took the microphone after the fight "Next, I want to fight (Koji) Oishi in a Pancrase show and then fight in the bigger stage of cage fighting."
Of course, what Inoue meant was that he wants to fight in the UFC. Inoue faced Daisuke "13" Hanazawa from the MMA Dojo Cobra-kai. Hanazawa broke his nose in a hard battle against Eddie Alvarez in MFC 5 a little over a month ago but took control early with punches and strong grappling technique.

Hanazawa (bottom) ran out of gass in the third and from there, it was all Inoue. (top)

Hanazawa pressured Inoue with jabs. Inoue, in the standing battle, was like target practice. His nose started to bleed ferociously. Hanazawa even executed two beautiful throws but Inoue regained his composure in the second round, and in the third, took over the fight when Hanazawa gassed out completely. In addition, taking knee shots to the head in the turtle position was something new to Hanazawa and that took hits toll also. For the majority of the third, Inoue took the top position, and dropped punches. Hanazawa came back at the very end of the third with combinations but it was just way too late.

The fans expected the exchanging of hard fists between two super-heavyweights but the battle of ex-sumo wrestler Wakashoryu and 350-pound Soichi Nishida ended up in a very boring spectacle, in the end, the fans did nothing but boo both fighters.
Basically, Wakashoryu, by using his sumo technique such as slapping and grabbing the opponent's neck to push forward, just smothered Nishida against the fence for the entire two rounds.

The referee had to break the action numerous times and by the second round, every time the referee stepped in, fans reacted, perhaps started to participate in the entire show with a loud booing session. The referee steps in, and the fans boo. Wakashoryu, after the fight, was in a self-question mode, "I can push forward but afterwards, there is no mawashi (belt). It's a lack of practice. I still have got a long way to go."

Other Photos & Offcial Results >>

 
Copyright ©Bout Review USA All Rights Reserved.
All text and graphic material on this site is copyrighted and may not be resold or reproduced without the written permission of Muscle Brain's Co., Ltd. and / or Bout Review USA.