Volk Han vs Dick Vrij (RINGS - 8/21/1992)

Second. Another Han special as he is pushed to the brink before turning water into wine.

Fuuuuuck yes. A dream match that lives up to expectations! It's total kicker v grappler, between the guy who can knock you out from anywhere and the guy who can submit you from anywhere. Vrij will maul a guy with kicks and knees. Han will tie your limbs in knots. Which strategy wins out? On its own this ruled, but I think it's elevated to another level taken in context. Vrij has stopped everyone he's fought up to this point in his RINGS tenure, including Maeda. Han has the loss to Kopylov on his record, but he's submitted everyone else, including Maeda. Neither are undefeated, but there's a clear hierarchy in RINGS. At this point in 1992 Maeda is the king, while these two are the next rung down. The beginning really set this up for how it would play out, with Han leaping right into a kneebar attempt as Vrij frantically tried to grab the ropes. It was an awesome struggle that had the crowd rabid straight away. Some of the little touches were super cool, like Han trying his spinning back fists but doing so with a recklessness we don't usually associate with him. Vrij was not to be fucked with and Han knew it. He wanted to finish things quickly, but he left himself open by fighting fire with fire and he never did it again. I also loved how Vrij hesitated in throwing knees when he had Han in the clinch. Against anybody else in that situation he's letting loose, but he knew Han could just as easily catch that knee, we SAW Han readying to catch that knee, and so Vrij had to be smarter about it. Vrij would only really engage when he was close enough to the ropes to reach out if he needed to, and there was a great bit where Han almost hooked a kneebar only for Vrij to grab the rope and wag his finger like he knew well in advance what was coming. After a knockdown Han, visibly rocked, just dropped to the mat and tried to goad Vrij into joining him, knowing full well that he needed to avoid going toe to toe. It never just told you their respective strengths needed to be feared -- it told you how aware of it they both were. Finish was great as well. Han's used up all his lifelines and Vrij is finding it easier to pick his spots. Han's taking a ton of punishment, one more big shot and he's down for the TKO...but he can still submit you from anywhere. It's just a question of whether he can do it before Vrij hits him with too much. Han was spectacular in this, but I thought Vrij more than held up his end and I really didn't think it was a carry job. You can say Han could have this kind of fight with any muscled-up striker and you'd probably be right, but Vrij had continually improved in RINGS since his debut, and if nothing else his aura was as big a part of this feeling special as Han's. Awesome fight and I really want to find a spot for it somewhere in the bottom 10.