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Post by elliott on Dec 3, 2017 22:46:59 GMT -5
Kiyoshi Tamura vs Mikhail Ilioukhine (RINGS - 1/21/1998)
This match is so fucking great. Tamura is Tamura - one of the greatest ever. Ilioiukhine is amazing in this. Not only hanging with Tamura on the mat, but showing us the sort of freaky, tricked out weirdo mat work that earned Volk Han as his cornerman. This is probably the least pimped Tamura in RINGS match but it is as great as all the rest. Mind blowing shit.
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Post by microstatistics on Jan 13, 2018 21:20:56 GMT -5
Maybe a Top 5 career match for Tamura. Outstanding mat exchanges and Volk Han in Ilioukhine's corner providing advice was an awesome touch. Lovely build to the finish with Tamura's striking ability and slightly superior cardio coming into play. Need to rewatch but should make my list.
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Post by Cap on Jul 22, 2018 17:19:41 GMT -5
Third
Thanks to Elliot for recommending this when I picked his brain for some Shoot stuff to get into. I really dug this match a lot. It felt like a weird extension of the Han/Tamura feud in a way. Mik is a beast when he gets a hold of Tamura, but he is not nearly the athlete that Han is so he can't quite keep the pace. This match is laid out beautifully though, Mik's grappling vs Tamura's athleticism and striking. I also really enjoy how fatigue comes into this match and plays such a role in it later on. This is a long shot for my list. Maybe it will get one more match near the end to make sure I have a strong feel for how I feel about shoot matches, but this is definitely a great match that should be discussed.
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Post by superstarsleeze on Jan 20, 2019 17:26:35 GMT -5
There is another touted Misha match against Kohsaka that fell flat for me. I liked this a lot more than that. Typical RINGS match Tamura falls behind and makes a great comeback. Easy but highly effective story. I liked how he used stand up to guard against the the takedown then converted that into offense. Great match but won't make my list.
Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Mikhail Ilioukhine - RINGS 1/21/98 Mega-Battle Tournament Final
A lot of people liked that Kohsaka vs Ilioukhine match but I thought it was just very good and again I feel like I am step below most other people on this match. There is something about Misha that does nothing for me. He is a stocky, powerful brute and he does not have much charm. He is actually able to impose his will on Tamura early and often. He forced at least three if not four rope breaks before Tamura scored a knockdown. It is not that Tamura looked lost, but he just couldnt get anything going. Misha was getting standing wristlocks and armbars and turning them into cross armbreakers. This fight was more about Tamura's stand up. In the RINGS, I have watched it seems more like a grappling promotion, but Tamura was committed to the stand up game. It almost cost him on a couple occasions. The first go around Miswa caught the foot and Tamura went for a wild back heel kick and lost his balance. Misha closed in with a deep guillotine choke. Tamura eventually did make in-roads. First with a Judy Martin like Kick of Fear, then a legsweep and then a finally a head kick that sent the stocky Russian down. That became the story of the match Tamura trying to avoid the submission and just knock the Russian off his feet. They do my least favorite spot in wrestling: the bundle of leglocks. At least these two apply it properly with the anklecrosses but still it feels like they are just hugging one and another's legs. Upon stand up, Tamura gets him in the clinch and just starts rocking him with the knees. The end feels nigh. Misha gets some token offense, but Tamura knocks him down again and submits him with a cross armbreaker to win the Mega Battle Tournament.
Definitely a great standup vs wrestling match and showed how stand up could be effectively used to defend against the takedown and then be converted into offense. Tamura is a wizard of spinning around in submissions and because he only sells in certain moments when he does register pain or scramble for the ropes you know it is a big deal. Tamura just wore down the stocky Russian with a lot of kicks and it seemed like Misha blowed up on his own. Tamura took it. I saw a great match, but not an extraordinary one. ****
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Post by jetlag on May 3, 2019 3:20:33 GMT -5
Some pretty high end shootstyle mat exchanges in this contest, which shouldn't come as a surprise considering it's super athlete Tamura vs. A whacky Sambo artist. Match got really great whenever Ilioukhine was outgrappling Tamura and forced him to come up with something. Ilioukhine avoiding losing points when he was knocked off his feet hinted at the Tamura as a surperior striker story, which is not his strongest suit, and selling that shit wasn't Ilioukhine's strongest suit either. I was slightly disappointed by how easily Tamura won this one considering how awesome the earlier sections were. Borderline great match.
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Post by elliott on Sept 26, 2021 16:54:11 GMT -5
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Post by mvz on Sept 27, 2021 8:53:16 GMT -5
Thanks my friend, I will check it out!
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Post by elliott on Sept 27, 2021 10:26:03 GMT -5
Yessir! I noticed you've been watching a lot of shootstyle lately and this is one that I think falls under the radar a little bit!
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Post by mvz on Sept 28, 2021 18:46:17 GMT -5
Yep this was really cool, Tamura really is in a class by himself on the mat. Appreciated the storytelling with Tamura’s endurance and comeback, it made total sense. Volk Han as a corner man was a nice pro wrestling touch.
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Post by silverwidow on Aug 10, 2023 15:13:30 GMT -5
Wish I'd seen this before the deadline; it would've made it. But anyway, if you want some more evidence that Tamura is in the convo of best ever, watch this. This is his utter peak.
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