Wanderlei Silva brought PRIDE back to Japan, at least for one night.
The MMA legend looked like a younger version of himself – call him Wanderlei circa 2004 – against Brian Stann on Saturday in the main event of UFC on Fuel TV 8 in Tokyo. Silva knocked out Stann in the second round of what will surely be a Fight of the Year candidate.
About two minutes into the fight after a flurry, Silva dropped his hands, nodded his head and smiled at Stann. The Brazilian, who hasn’t fought in Japan, was ready to put on a show, like he did against Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Mirko Cro Cop and Kazushi Sakuraba in PRIDE a decade ago.
On Friday in this space, I wrote that Silva should go out after this fight – win or lose – because Japan is where his star was born. I’m not going to step back from that argument, because what better way to retire than on the highest of high notes, in front of an adoring crowd with a vicious knockout win over a quality fighter like Stann?
Silva still has it in him. Stann has heavy, heavy hands and somehow the 36-year-old took big shots from him over and over. He was dropped twice in the back-and-forth brawl, but never looked hurt. It was almost like he arrived at the Saitama Super Arena in a time machine.
I don’t think Silva will hang up the gloves, even though he probably should. That’s not in his nature. He longs to put on performances for the fans and, at this juncture of his career, it’s almost like the result of the fight is an afterthought.
As long as the UFC offers him interesting fights against big names who like to stand and slug, Wanderlei is going to stick around. And after Saturday night’s bloody masterpiece, I don’t believe many UFC fans will take fault with that.
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I have absolutely no explanation as to why Mark Hunt is peaking as an MMA fighter at age 38. After his knockout win over Stefan Struve, Hunt has now won four in a row. Before this stretch, he was just 5-7. Absolutely unheard of.
His win over Struve was not pretty. It was a sloppy, entertaining heavyweight fight. But it has serious implications for Hunt. He’s very much a contender for the title now and, honestly, I like his chances against everyone except the very top tier – the Cain Velasquezes and Junior dos Santoses of the world.
As for Struve, he’s very frustrating. He has so much potential, but has not used his 7-foot size to his advantage, almost ever. How about developing a jab? Hunt is more than a foot shorter and he was connecting with punches to Struve’s face at will. The good news is that the Dutchman is just 25 years old. Big guys usually take a little longer to develop in sports. Hopefully for Struve’s sake that’s the case here.
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Takanori Gomi beat Diego Sanchez. That was clear to most people watching, expect of course the ones that matter most – the judges. It wasn’t nearly the highway robbery many made it seem to be though. Gomi, on my extremely unofficial scorecard, won the second and third rounds. But Sanchez finished the third with a flurry and also did some decent things in the second.
Sanchez still just one loss at lightweight in his career, but this one didn’t bring the house down. It’s unfair to judge him on this uneven performance, though. It was in Japan and he came in overweight. Let’s see how he looks back in the U.S. before making a judgment as to whether or not he can be a 155-pound contender. Gomi, meanwhile, comes off pretty good in a loss and he remains a very valuable guy to have when the UFC visits Asia.
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Yushin Okami is slow and relatively unathletic. But he’s so strong and so technical, that he’s one of the top three or four middleweights on the planet right now. Okami controlled Hector Lombard, a judo Olympian, with his grappling and even looked good at times striking, working his jab. There’s nothing flashy about Okami’s style, but he is incredibly consistent and durable, kind of like an old Buick.
I’m not sure what people are expecting from Lombard. His fans think he should be facing Anderson Silva for the title; his haters think he doesn’t belong in the UFC. It’s almost like there’s no middle ground. In actuality, though, all Lombard did Saturday night was lose to one of the best 185-pounders out there. Lombard is still a top-10 fighter at middleweight even if he hasn’t come into the UFC from Bellator like gangbusters.
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Dong Hyun Kim, who beat Siyah Bahadurzada by decision, has lost two fights in his entire career. The first was to Carlos Condit, the former interim welterweight champion. The second was to Demian Maia, who has emerged as a legitimate contender at 170. Let’s not forget that the loss to Maia was due to an injury just minutes into the fight. Kim, like Okami, is not terribly thrilling to watch, but his grappling is suffocating. I’d like to see a rematch against Maia.
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UFC on Fuel TV 8 had a record eight straight decisions. And on a card that was supposed to be non-stop action that was pretty surprising. But the final three fights were awesome. Silva and Stann earned $50,000 “Fight of the Night” bonuses and Hunt took home “Knockout of the Night.” Very well deserved in all categories.
mraimondi@nypost.com