UFC 15.5: Ultimate Japan 12/21/1997

UFC 15.5: Ultimate Japan

Yokohama Arena, Yokohama, Japan

12/21/1997 5,000 in Attendance

WELCOME! We have ventured from our lovely KINGDOM once again out into the world to meet the challenge that is the Ultimate Fighting Championship! Like our excursion to KRS-PRIDE in the past, this event is critical for understanding the story of KINGDOM Pro-Wrestling, the shoot-style decline, and MMA in Japan. Our earlier battle against Tank Abbott's army was just a tease for what was coming next: a clash between KINGDOM's commander Anjo Yoji and Tank Abbott in a hyped Heavyweight tournament. However, the real story at this show is the ascendance of Kazushi Sakuraba and how UFC officiating almost ruined that historic moment. It's time to enter... the octagon!

This event is coming at you from the Yokohama Arena in Yokohama, Japan! The Yokohama Arena was opened in 1989 and was designed by the Takenaka Corporation. This design was based on the famous Madison Square Garden building in New York City and remains a popular venue for concerts and sporting events to this very day. The attendance was around 5,000 (the round number indicates its probably inflated) which is less than a third of the buildings maximum capacity of 17,000. This was the first event that the UFC hosted in Japan, and it was intended to become its own promotion promoted in conjunction with other fight sports companies (I am going to assume SHOOTO was one of them cuz the commentators keep mentioning one of the judges is from SHOOTO). These plans however fizzled out, but the UFC would later work for a period with PRIDE sending over fighters like Chuck Liddel in the mid-2000s (this relationship would also sour) before outright purchasing PRIDE in 2007 (RIP).

Yokohama Bridge

Yokohama Bay

Our commentators tonight are Jeff Blatnick and Mike Goldberg, and let me tell you this commentary absolutely killed me on this watch with its constant factual errors and weird comments. They seem like they mean well but it is just not good at times (they say Saku mostly fought in Pancrase at some point which made me laugh out loud). While its to hide the small crowd, the blacked out arena with the old UFC octagon in the center is a great image and sets up the feel for the coming fights.

We are right into it as our first bout of the night is Tank Abbott, the pit fighter from Huntington Beach, California going up against our main man Yoji Anjo from Tokyo, Japan representing KINGDOM. “Tank Abbott lives a No Holds Barred life.” The commentators also mention Abbott's street fighting record as 250-0 with 245 of those wins by knockout (MMA is fake as fuck lmao). OH SHIT AND HERE'S YOJI ANJO! Goddamn his theme is so sick, when he's walking down it just feels like an asswhoopin' is about to go down. The whole crew, including our friend and distant leader Nobuhiko Takada, is here in Anjo's corner for coaching and support. LOL the commentators say that Anjo has a record of 14-2 in KINGDOM and they play it off as completely for real! They also mention how Abbott's buddies lost to Anjo's teammates, and how both are “bosses” of their respective crews.

Before this fight even begins you can hear John McCarthy bossing the fighters around and generally being shit as he is known to be (seriously I can hear him over Bruce Buffer for christ's sake). Anjo Yoji gets announced as being 14-2 in MMA which is sikk as fuck despite its lack of being “real” in the way the UFC purports itself to be. As expected, Abbott gets Anjo on the fence early, takes him down, and sits up in guard and punches himself out so we get stuck up on the cage right as this fight starts. Anjo is eating some shots but he's holding up well and is working his legs up Abbott's body for an armbar. Blatnick, really outdoing his many other silly comments on commentary, says that KINGDOM only has open palm strikes which is wholly false, and incredibly silly given that KINGDOM's claim to fame is being that one shoot-style promotion that allowed closed fist striking.

An armbar attempt was made! 

Almost 9 minutes go by before the fight is brought back up to the feet and Tank Abbott is so gassed out. Anjo gets a nice leg kick and Abbott completely leans over to catch his breath, but Anjo misses the opportunity to finish this so he ends up getting taken down again. We are back up against the cage with Abbott in Anjo's guard. Despite getting punched now and again, Yoji Anjo is looking for an armbar as Abbott sticks his big arm right out there. The match is stopped at the 12 minute mark then we'll have 3 minutes of overtime!

Poor Anjo ;(

Kick him in the head please!

Another armbar attempt!

Hiromitsu Kanehara is giving Anjo advice as this fight starts again, and these guys come to the center but they are tepid to start. Anjo just can't take advantage of the super tired Tank Abbott and is taken down by a double leg against the cage. We are back in the same situation again and the fight stays like this until the end. Blatnick commends Yoji Anjo on his performance (lol) despite his unanimous decision loss to Tank Abbott. UH OH, Tank Abbott hurt his hand and seems skeptical of coming back later so this was all for not!

Anjo, more like Sad-jo ;_;

It is our second semi-final fight in the heavyweight tournament and its Conan Silvera from the Carlson Gracie team against KINGDOM's Kazushi Sakuraba. Silvera is a Brazilian fighting out of Miami under Carlson Gracie with a record of 29-1 and a black belt in BJJ so this dude had a pedigree coming into this fight that the UFC goons of KINGDOM that Saku has faced previously did not. IT'S KAZUSHI SAKURABA and his fantastic theme. The commentators talk up his submissions and his recent win over Paul Herrera of the Abbott Fighting Army, but again make the error of saying Saku has only competed in open strike bouts (UFC lies!). “When asked about his MMA record... he said I have lots of wins and lots of losses,” and this answer leaves the commentators perplexed because they don't understand humor and humility (again par for the course with the UFC). OK before this starts Saku is listed at 203 here for this fight but is obviously in the 180 range which brings up the question: why is Sakuraba fighting in a heavyweight tournament? Answer: Kanehara got hurt and Saku was the last minute replacement and lied about his weight. Instead of like... checking it out or anything they let him fight so lets stop chatting and get to this fight!

THIS FIGHT IS ON, well not before Mike Goldberg makes some silly orientalist comment about “how Japanese fans will only yell when a submission is being applied” as the crowd literally is yelling and is so hyped for our friend Kazushi Sakuraba (sorry for all the UFC hate this is usually a very positive place but not today!). WOW Sakuraba takes Silvera down with a nice takedown from wayyyyyyy far away and Saku stands up and looks to be almost putting on a sharpshooter (this motherfucker I love him). “[He] never trains in striking, although he is surprisingly good at that!” Saku eats an upkick but only after landing a big punch down onto Silvera's head. 

Big John's ass is in the way of the camera for about 70% of these fights

Sakuraba is able to flip out of a Kimura and stands, eats a few minor shots, and drops down for a takedown. WAIT Big John just stopped this?!?! “He was out, end of the fight.” Immediately the crowd begins to protest, and Kanehara screams out “He's fine!” McCarthy was standing WAY too close to the fighters, and couldn't tell that Sakuraba was just shooting for a takedown. Sakuraba as one can imagine is super pissed, tries to take the mic, and throws his mouthpiece. The commentators try to defend this horrendous decision but their voices are being drowned out by the riotous crowd. You can hear Sakuraba finally get the mic and the crowd chants in support. This went down as one of the worst calls in MMA history, and if it had stuck and wasn't rescinded right after, it could have severely hurt the career of the young Sakuraba.

How did he not see this was a shoot to a single leg?!

Let us forget that annoyance for a moment because our next fight is to crown the first UFC Light Heavyweight champion! Frank Shamrock, the Pancrase veteran (the guy on this card who as actually fought there!), is making his UFC debut against Kevin Jackson, the 1992 gold medalist in the 82kg weight class in Freestyle Wrestling and recent winner of a UFC Light Heavyweight tournament. Shamrock wins with a nice armbar on Jackson in like 20 seconds lmao. Goldberg also made some comment about Frank Shamrock not being good at striking which just left me going hmmmmmmm??? Jackson extended his arm and was no match for Shamrock's incredible submission skills. Oh, Frank Shamrock also has an alliance with Maurice Smith who is defending his Heavyweight belt later so maybe that bodes well for him against Couture.

TONIGHT'S SUPER FIGHT is between Vitor Belfort and Judo master Joe “The Ghetto Man” Charles (who comes out to Metallica, fuck ya). The commentators talk about it being youth vs experience, and they call Belfort a phenom a lot. Belfort is the one who clinches Charles into the cage to start, and manages a nice trip. WOW Belfort is in full mount, Charles tries to get out and gets caught in a keylock. WOOOOW hes out of that and rolls over onto Belfort but he loses top position quickly. After some ground work, Belfort is able to get the back and is trying to work for a rear naked choke but Joe Charles is keeping his chin down and is turning into it to avoid the full pressure. Charles is looking for an ankle lock but Belfort slips out then gets a cross armbar for the win. The commentators are shocked Vitor Belfort didn't strike at all that round, but its really not surprising when he is trained in BJJ at such a high level lol.

Big John in the way once again!

HEY! It is the final of the Heavyweight tournament which is a rematch between Kazushi Sakuraba against Conan Silvera. Luckily we get a rematch after that terrible call that the commentators are still trying to defend even though the UFC commissioning body declared it a no contest.

Saku and the boyz

Sakuraba is brought down by Silvera early after battling for a takedown and Saku is realllllly working hard for a kimura but can't quite get it. Silvera has Sakuraba's back, but Saku is able to stand up after extending his legs and then takes down Silvera who is being neutralized completely. Kazushi Sakuraba scampers up and grabs a BIG armbar for the win! The crowd is pumped for this and the KINGDOM crew comes in and lifts up Saku in celebration. Kazushi Sakuraba famously said after this big win “In fact, professional wrestling is strong.” Yes it is friend! The streak against Gracie and Gracie-adjacent fighters has begun as the KINGDOM theme booms through the arena as the KINGDOM guys throw Sakuraba in the air to big cheers.

FRIENDS! Fellow shoot-style fans and MMA weirdos. This Maurice Smith vs Randy Couture bout is a snoozer! 2 rounds and 2 overtime periods where very little happens. Couture dominates the whole bout and is able to land some nice knees to Smith's head on the ground, but this is punctuated by long periods of not much else. Maurice Smith doesn't get much offense in till the very last round but it is not enough to win the match. Randy Couture is the new Heavyweight champion after a majority decision and that's pretty cool. Couture improves so much by the time he returns to Japan in a few years time in RINGS, and puts on much more enjoyable performances there so I recommend looking there for good Couture in Japan stuff!

TK sighting! 

These knees gave Couture the edge for the win

Despite its UFC-ness and Big John McCarthy being an unsavory goon throughout, I found this to be fairly enjoyable watch that is elevated by its historical importance into something everyone should take a look at at least once. Sakuraba's clear domination of a black belt BJJ practitioner who is 29-1 in MMA was a sign of things to come, but also signaled the end for KINGDOM as everyone in the group clearly wanted their turn in MMA which was EXPLODING in popularity in Japan. Shoot-style was what brought them together, but the MMA dream of being “legit” was too strong not to resist. If you have had a taste of those big shoot crowds from the early 90s and experienced its sharp decline; seeing these kind of ticket sales in PRIDE and other companies must have been mouthwatering. Our lovely shoot KINGDOM is about to dissolve into time, often forgotten and understudied despite its key place in MMA and shoot-style history, but don't be sad. We have one more commercial release from KINGDOM Pro-Wrestling to watch, and we will all have a great time together!

I'll leave you with these pics of Sakuraba celebrating!

LOL at bandaged Yoji Anjo