Wanderlei Yoshida and Hidehiko Yoshida

[Dr Feelgood]

Just saw the match, so here are my 2 €cents worth.

I'd never been taken by any of Yoshida's previous MMA matches, which screamed "work" or were of an abysmally poor level and, to any extent, proved nothing at all of his abilities. Worse still, Yoshida had seemed extremely uncomfortable through most if not all of those matches, showing little aggression or will to engage, unlike fellow judoka and training partner Kazuhiro Nakamura for example.
I must say that the japanese fighter set a number of those fundamental doubts to rest in my mind with his performance against Wanderlei. He played to his strengths (takedowns -with his added weight advantage-, throws from the clinch and upper body judo subs) and was willing to engage and take hits to be able to do so. In that regard, the japanese press are right to claim that this fight did his credibility a world of good, and he at last looked like an MMA fighter.

Unlike his previous fights (leaving the Royce ref. fiasco aside), there is no doubt in my mind that the match was 100% legit and that Wanderlei did not seem to hold back one iota. Some people think he wasn't aggressive enough standing in the first round. That didn't "strike" me: a conservative approach was the smart strategy considering Yoshida's size, weight and ground skills. Also Wanderlei seems to favour that kind of approach now, at least against opponents whose stand-up (Cro Cop) or sub skills (Yoshida, Saku in their 3rd match) he respects and against whom the aggressive and somewhat sloppier flurries and brawling style would leave him exposed. He took exactly the same approach in the 3rd match with Saku: close muay thai guard, precisely picked and timed striking combos... quite different from their second encounter where he still fought a more aggressive style. His skills have been improving all around, in terms of his boxing technique that has been the case for quite a while now (unlike Chuck Liddell whose technical weakness has been highlighted within his own strongest point: his boxing skills), and his performance with Yoshida on the ground has shown that his BJJ brown belt isn't just an afterthought.

That conservative approach also allowed Yoshida to get the match where he wanted for most of the first round: on the ground. However, that also highlighted another point that Wanderlei seems to have been working on during his injury time: his upper-body strength. One thing that surprised me was that Wanderlei was able to clutch and fend-off Yoshida so well when the japanese was in his guard. Yoshida only got into position to apply front chokes twice in the 1st round, once after a restart (which makes it easier tha in continuous action) and the other time after an excellent judo hipthrow. Both times, Wanderlei powered out without too much difficulty, for the rest of the time, Yohida couldn't get his gi or arms into position due to Wanderlei's defensive guard action. For that reason, I don't think he would fare well on the ground against even more powerful BJJ or wrestler types such as Nog or Fyodor. That's one of the things I think that still point out that Yoshida, despite a very good performance, is too unidimensional to be a big threat: he goes for the same upper body subs over and over again, had he transitioned to something else he might have been able to catch the brazilian out. Also, his ground striking is too weak, which comes as no surprise: Wanderlei was making the most tangible hits even from his back (a la Cro Cop vs Saku).
The second round was all Wanderlei (except a reversal at the very end): he stopped two takedowns with sprawling and blocked a throw attempt.
In my eyes, having ascertained he could hang with Yoshida on the ground in the first round, Wanderlei could be much less conservative in the second (even if he never went for the kill or took unnecessary risks) and simply rack up the points. a rematch would probably be very much more like the second round.

So, this match showed me that Yoshida is a fighter (at last), even though it also showed that he still has many holes in his game, and that Wanderlei now has frighteningly few in his...

[niniendo warrior]

Good views. Had I watch the fight, I might have seen it the same way. Wanderlei is pretty good although there are still some people complaining about the restart on his match with Quinton.

Yoshida has a ways to go and he knows it. He'll be facing Royce again at Shockwave. Time he prove that he didn't pay the ref to beat Gracie.

Honestly, I still don't like Yoshida, although this performance really does wonders for him. Still, this is only one fight and if this kind of performance doesn't reflect on his bout with Royce, it goes down to zero again.

Yoshida is like Royce, they refuse to evolve. They remain stagnant in terms of the array of attacks at their disposal and this doesn't make a champion. I agree that even if Yoshida did great in his fight with Wanderlei, he'll never shine at the top because his judo (?) isn't the answer to everything.

Wanderlei, as you have said, seemed to pick up some BJJ skills. That is good and if ever he faces Randy... he will stand a chance. BUT, I have yet to see how good his skills are on the ground.

[Dr Feelgood]

Wanderlei has just been awarded his BJJ black belt, much to Helio Gracie's ire apparently.
I've no problem with the standing restart against Rampage. It was typical Chute Boxe strategy: get the opponent to work on the ground, defend effectively when needed, take the yellow card and then try and KO your opponent while he's still tired and less focussed come out of his groundwork.
Anderson Silva did exactly the same thing against Carlos Newton. I actually found Wanderlei to be quite aggressive on the ground and he did a good job negating Quinton's GnP.

As for Yoshida, I agree. He needs to study other aspects of the game extensively if he's to become an effective MMA fighter. I'd be better inclined towards the Gracies when it comes to assessing "classical grapplers" because I've got to admit BJJ is better adapted to open rules fighting than judo is.
If Yoshida is serious about becoming an MMA fighter, he still has a long way to go, and should develop progressively... but I doubt PRIDE will give him that luxury.

I'd prefer to see him grapple with someone his own size rather than Royce, like say Mario Sperry. Though it should still be a good grappling contest, the weight and strength factor might mean that Royce has met his Kimura.