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[2000-03-11-Rikidozan Memorial] Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Satoru Sayama


soup23

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TM in the gui distracted me throughout this. I suppose this was here for a novelty look but the actual action didn’t do much for me at all. It mainly consisted of Sayama throwing wild kicks and Fujiwara taking him down with leg submissions. Rinse and repeat and this sub 10 minute match felt like it would never end at points. Eventually, Fujiwara does gain the submission victory. *3/4

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  • 4 weeks later...

I agree that Sayama's gear distracted from this as a viewing experience, but it also seemed to distract him. Notice how many times he had to stop and re-tie or adjust something. Fujiwara looked great and like the same Fujiwara he has always been, and I saw moments of that from Sayama, but his ring attire held him back. Too bad. This is worth 7 minutes of your time, but I do think these two had a better match in them at this point.

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  • 1 month later...
  • 3 weeks later...
  • 3 months later...

Sayama was showcasing his Seikendo philosophy here. The point of which was to do fighting in any situation, hence I think the GI was made to resemble an office suit. I remember Sayama and someone else also did a demonstration at an RJPW show wearing actual office suits and MMA gloves. Anyways, this match is never not fun, even though this was short. Fujiwara just does so much cool stuff taking Sayama down by his gi and all that, and Sayama's contempt was amusing, not like he was selling, but as if he was thinking "Stop grabbing me! I wanna do spin kicks!"

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  • 3 months later...

I enjoyed Sayama wrestling in a gi just for the silliness. I think the gear was these guys trying to ape MMA fights, since it wasn't really out of the question for guys to wear gis to fights in this period (see Sakuraba/Gracie). I think they were going for a more realistic version of the 80's matches, which is to say that this is a glorified squash with the striker who is clueless on the mat (Sayama) getting destroyed by the veteran grappler (Fujiwara). That might not sound like the most engaging match layout, but Fujiwara, even at this stage, is one of the most entertaining guys out there in picking apart opponents and fat man Sayama is pretty fun to watch as well. Nice companion piece to their 80's matches.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Yeah, this was fun enough. Fujiwara utilizing the gi against dad Sayama plays up to his old man wiliness. He lets Sayama show off a bit with his flourishes before getting a takedown and forcing Sayama to the ropes -- at one point, getting a cheat body shot before letting go in true Fujiwara fashion. I like that Sayama pulled out one of his classic knee drops but Fujiwara stays on the leg and finishes him off with the leglock. Third time's the charm.

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Sayama wrestling Fujiwara in a gi reminds of Sakuraba fighting Royce in that long 90 minute+ fight in PRIDE. Sayama is also wearing a black belt and I'm just scrambling to figure out what is he a black belt in. I know he was fundamental in Shooto's founding, but I still don't know what the black belt is all about...

 

I guess Sayama wearing the gi is an indication he's a karate fighter as he throws some kicks and those awkward punches karate fighters throw, but lacks takedown defense and is taken down fairly easily by Fujiwara here.

 

It would have been great if Fujiwara pulled the technique Sakuraba would pull against Royce 2 months later in his fight against Royce and would have used Sayama's gi against him such folding him up with it and controlling him with it.

 

Unfortunately this doesn't go on for long and it doesn't seem to be going anywhere aside from Fujiwara's endless leglock attempts on Sayama.

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  • GSR changed the title to [2000-03-11-Rikidozan Memorial] Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Satoru Sayama

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