Rampage Jackson Power Bomb and Finish

Here is Quentin "Rampage" Jackson in his second official pro MMA fight which took place on 5/13/00 at the Huntington Beach Underground Pancrase Organization against Marco Bermudez.

While Bermudez never fought again, he sure does have a cool story. After the fight Rampage would lose a decision to Marvin Eastman before rattling off 8 straight and establish himself as the explosive power phenom he was at the peak of his powers.

Masakazu Imanari versus Mun Hwan Yang

Here is leg lock specialist Masakazu "Ashikan Judan" Imanari fighting Mun Hwan Yang at Deep Cage Impact 2015 which took place on 8/29/15 in Tokyo, Japan.

Imanari (35-16) has submission wins over Jorge Gurgel, Mike Thomas Brown, Yoshihiro Maeda and Nam Phan. He next fights against Juri Ohara (20-11) at Deep 78 Impact on 3/18/17.

Rutten v. Fuke

Here is Bas Rutten fighting Takaku Fuke at Pancrase - Hybrid Wrestlers 2 which took place on 10/23/93 in Nagoya, Japan.

Video of the Day - Minowaman v. Tanner

Here is former UFC middleweight champion Evan Tanner fighting Ikuhisa "Minowaman" Minowa in Pancrase - 1998 NeoBlood Tournament Opening Round which took place on 7/7/98 in Tokyo, Japan.

Evan Tanner (32-8) passed away after a trip to the dessert west of Palo Verde, California. Tanner would go on to win the Neo Blood tournament and enter the UFC where he became a champion. Fighting from heavyweight to 185 he has career wins over Justin McCulley, Heath Herring, Paul Buentello, Phil Baroni, Robbie Lawler and David Terrell.

Video of the Day - Hirayama v. Dos Anjos

Here is Rafeal Dos Anjos fighting Takaichi Hirayama at Pancrase Shining 5 which took place on 6/1/08 in Tokyo, Japan.

Dos Anjos (23-7, 12-5 UFC) has won three straight bouts, next fighting Anthony Pettis (18-2, 5-1 UFC) for the LW title at UFC 185.

Video of the Day - Shamrock v. Hume

Here is Ken Shamrock fighting Matt Hume in Pancrase - Road to the Championship 4 which took place on 7/6/94 under modified submission rules.

Hume would go on to TKO MMA pioneers Eric Paulsen and UFC HOF'er Pat Miletich in his career. Hume is currently an MMA trainer to various fighters including Demetrious Johnson.

Ken was developing the legendary Lion's Den at the time and his popularity was growing with every fight. He would earn submission wins over MMA pioneers Bas Rutten, Masakatsu Funaki, Dan Severn and Maurice Smith in his UFC HOF career.

Video of the Day - Smith v. Shamrock

Here is Maurice Smith fighting Ken Shamrock at Pancrase - King of Pancrase Opening Round which took place on Fridady, December 16, 1994 in Tokyo, Japan.

Shamrock was coming off a submission win over Alex Cook in his preliminary bout earlier that night. The next day, he would submit Masakatsu Funaki then take a decision over Manabu Yamada to claim the King of Pancrase championship.

Video of the Day - O'Grady v. Kitaoka

Here is Dom O'Grady (15-6) fighting Satoru Kitaoka (32-12) at Pancrase 252 which took place on 9/29/13 in Yokohama, Japan.

Video of the Day - Pearson v. Kanehara

Here is Masanori Kanehara (23-10) fighting Joe Pearson (48-18) at Pancrase 252 which took place on 9/29/13 in Yokohama, Japan.

Kanehara is riding a 6 fight win streak, and has career wins over UFC veterans Chan Sung Jung, Michihiro Omigawa and Kid Yamamoto.

Pearson has 39 career submission victories, 20 via triangle, while competing primarily in the midwest fight circuit. He has submission wins over Yoshiro Maeda (30-13), Jay Estrada (23-9) and John Strawn (38-12).

Bas "El Guapo" Rutten - MMA Legend

Like many, the first time I discovered how great Bas Rutten (28-4) was came after watching his performance in UFC. Bas Rutten has had a long and storied history. He initially decided to get into martial arts after seeing Bruce Lee in Enter the Dragon. He started in Tae Kwon Do and then Kyokushin Karate. In his twenties, Bas started doing Muay Thai, and started his career with 14 straight KO victories.

Bas' next stop was in the Pancrase organization. His lack of ground game were pretty much the only reason he suffered his four losses, all before 1995. After honing the ground game, Bas was able to win the King of Pancrase three times. He won over Frank Shamrock, Minouru Suzuki and Masakatsu Funaki.

When he came to the UFC he captured the heavyweight crown over Kevin Randleman in a very controversial decision. His previous UFC bout was a slug it out victory over Tsuyoshi "TK" Kohsaka. Bas' other notable victories are over Yoshiki Takahashi, 3X stoppages of Jason Delucia, Guy Mezger, 2 subs of Maurice Smith, Manabu Yamada and various wins over other Japanese veterens. Watch out for the liver shot!




*The old Pancrase rules allowed for palm strikes to the head while standing and no strikes on the ground.

Masakatsu Funaki - MMA Legend

Masakatsu Funaki (39-13) is one of the original pioneers of mixed martial arts, even though many in the United States have never heard of him. He along with Minoru Suzuki started the Pancrase organization. It was one of the first mixed martial arts organizations, debuting after Shooto, but before the UFC.

Funaki won the King of Pancrase title on two occasions being the first fighter to do so. During his illustrious career, Funaki defeated top fighters Bas Rutten, Ken Shamrock, Frank Shamrock, Guy Mezger, Jason Delucia, Semmy Schilt, Minoru Suzuki, Yuki Kondo, Vernon White and various others. Masakatsu beat Ikuhisa Minowa at Dream 6 with an inverted heel hook in his last match.

He is credited with increasing the popularity of mixed martial arts in Japan when he triumphed over Bas Rutten with a toe-hold. In addition to his success in MMA, Funaki is a legendary Japanese pro wrestler.

Masakatsu Funaki vs Minoru Suzuki

Bas Rutten vs Masakatsu Funaki

Video of the Day - Shamrock v. White

Here is Frank Shamrock fighting Vernon White in Pancrase - Eyes of the Beast 7 on 12/14/95 in Sapporo, Japan. Frank recently announced his retirement from competition.

Video of the Day - Duran v. Funaki

Here is an odd MMA v. Boxing exhibitionn fight pitting Japanese MMA superstar Masakatsu Funaki against former boxing champ Roberto Duran. The rules included an 8 second ground period and limited clinching. There are rumors as to the authenticity of the match.

Funaki(39-13) is a founding member of Pancrase and MMA legend with career wins over Guy Mezger, Frank Shamrock, Bas Rutten and kickboxing legend Semmy Schilt.

Duran(103-16) is a boxing legend, most famous for his trilogy of bouts with Sugar Ray Leonard.

Video of the Day - Kitaoka v. Daley

Here is Paul Daley fighting Sataoru Kitaoka in Pancrase: Blow 6 from 8/27/06. Paul Daley is rumored to fight Josh Koschek at UFC 113.

Video of the Day - dos Anjos v. Hirayama

Here is Rafeal dos Anjos v. Takaichi Hirayama from Pancrase - Shining 5 which took place on 6/1/08. Dos Anjos fights next at UFC 103.

Frank Shamrock - MMA Legend

By MMA Blaster

Frank Shamrock (23-8) has had a long MMA career that has had its ups (11 fight win streak, 5-0 UFC) and downs (3 losses in a row). Frank has held belts in the UFC, Pancrase, Strikeforce (current MW champ), WEC and the WKC submission grappling championship (over Dan Henderson). He was initially trained under his brother Ken Shamrock, but has since moved on to his own gym and has trained some of the best in the world. Unfortunately, his IFL team was disbanded as part of their "revamping" period.



Frank started his career in Pancrase on December 16, 1994, were he beat Bas Rutten (28-4) in his first ever MMA bout. He eventually won the King of Pancrase belt from Minoru Suzuki (28-20) and posted victories over Takafumi Ito (33-26), legend Masakatsu Funaki (38-12), Vernon White (25-32) and other veteren Japanese fighters in Pancrase.

Frank Shamrock entered the UFC winning the Middleweight belt (now LHW) over wrestling olympic gold medalist Kevin Jackson (4-2) with an arm bar in 16 seconds. He then slammed undefeated Igor Zinoviev (4-1) into retirement in 22 seconds in his first title defense. He subbed Jeremy Horn (79-16) with a kneebar and beatdown John Lober in his next two defenses. Shamrock defended the belt once more in one of the best fights in MMA history against Tito Ortiz (15-5).

After a disagreement with the UFC, Frank left and fought once in K1 beating Elvis Sinosic. In 2003 Frank came back to win the WEC light heavyweight title in 1:47 with an armbar over Brian Pardoe (12-9). Since his comeback in 2006, Frank looked impressive in his wins against Phil Baroni (10-8) and quick KO of Cesar Gracie. Shamrock did not look very good in his DQ loss to Renzo Gracie.

Highlight Video:




Gif of Frank Shamrock v. Phil Baroni at Strikeforce/Elite XC