Kiyoshi Tamura vs Tsuyoshi Kohsaka (RINGS - 1/23/1999)

For a 9-minute match, this was really good. Kohsaka really shows his quality as a grappler in this match and has Tamura on the backfoot throughout. Tamura has his moments of course, but can't seem to figure out Kohsaka as he has superior counterwork as evidenced by the finish, where he catches Tamura with a beautiful Judo throw and quickly gets him with the juji-gatame. Some nice striking as well where Tamura is able to hurt Kohsaka the most by throwing some wicked knees and palm strikes. This match was also a great example of how to work a realistic match with intricate grappling and realistic matwork and still make it exciting. The finish is probably one of my favorites of all time because it is very simple yet beautiful.  ****3/4