The relentless heavyweight champion Fedor Emilianenko added a notch to his near-perfect MMA record with his second round submission victory over Pride 2000 Grand Prix champ Mark Coleman Saturday at “Pride 32: The Real Deal” in Las Vegas’ Thomas and Mack Center.  

Emilianenko’s return comes after an extended layoff due to hand surgery for a lingering injury that left arguably the most complete and successful MMA fighter in the sport out of Pride’s 2006 Open Weight Grand Prix tournament. The injury did not appear to have any bearing on the fight as the pudgier Emilianenko spent much of the fight pummeling his chiseled opponent’s face with punches that echoed throughout the venue and left Coleman’s eyes swollen shut. 

Coleman drove forward persistently with takedown attempts as many predicted, and the wrestling pedigree that characterized his performance allowed him to plant Emilianenko on his back in the second round, but the game Emilianenko ended the fight shortly after with an armbar at 1:15 of the round. When the pair stood to have Emilianenko’s hand raised in victory, Coleman’s two daughters entered the ring to hug and cry alongside their beaten and bloodied father. The image was one of the more unsettling and visual painful in MMA.  

“The Real Deal” marked Pride’s first foray into America and featured all the bells and whistles of a typical Japanese show: bright lights, the signature victory music, and a choreographed routine from the ring girls. A noteworthy difference, however, was the lack of knees, kicks, and stomps to the head of a downed opponent, a rule deemed illegal by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. Despite this major divergence, “The Real Deal” showcased much of the organization’s top talent, many of whom had previously not fought on American soil. 

In the fight prior to the main event, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua secured a brutal kneebar to win over Coleman’s protégé and Hammer House teammate Kevin Randleman at 2:35 of the first round. The former Ohio State wrestler came out quickly with a double-leg takedown and Rua spun into a heel hook. Kneeling and with his back to Rua, Randleman absorbed the pain, screaming and grimacing but not tapping as Rua switched between various foot locks. Randleman nearly escaped, but Rua maneuvered for the kneebar. Randleman tried to ride through the submission as he had done with the heel hook, but once Rua pulled Randleman’s knee behind his armpit and pushed his hips forward, Randleman had no option left other than to tap. It was an impressive win for the Chute Boxe veteran. 

Olympic judo champion Pawel Nastula handled himself well before succumbing to a submission at the hands of Open Weight Grand Prix runner-up Josh Barnett in their fight. The two started off clinched and exchanging knee strikes before Nastula threw Barnett to the floor. Nastula stayed cautious on top with sporadic strikes, eliciting the crowd’s disapproval. Once again Nastula clinched and tripped Barnett to the ground. Just prior to the bell, Barnett spun for a kneebar that he locked tightly; a replay of the incident showed Nastula grimacing in pain as Barnett cranked on the submission after the bell. 

The next round showed Nastula get the better of Barnett standing as well, throwing hard combinations that dazed Barnett and opened a window for a takedown. Nastula again began working from side control, but in a flash Barnett swept Nastula and secured an ankle lock that forced Nastula to tap at 3:04 of the round. 

With Mark Hunt unable to compete due to visa issues, the 398-pound Eric “Butterbean” Esch outweighed replacement Sean O’Haire by nearly 125 pounds. The athletically devoid action lasted only 29 seconds with O’Haire landing a sloppy high kick—the only offense he would get in the bout—and Butterbean following up with short, strong right hands that finished the fight on their feet and sent O’Haire to the mat. 

In what was one of the more evenly matched bouts of the night, Dan Henderson scored a unanimous decision win over Vitor Belfort. Henderson moved up from his usual 183-pound weight class to fight the 205-pound Belfort. Despite Belfort’s excellent sweeps in the first and third round, Henderson scored decisive takedowns, controlled the action in the clinch, and got the best of the striking. Contrastingly, Belfort failed to show the aggression that defined the early part of his career and instead seemed content to eat punches and move ineffectively for much of the three rounds. Two judges scored the bout 30-27 and one scored it 30-26 all for Henderson. 

The outspoken Phil Baroni scored the second submission win of his career with a kimura on Japan’s Yosuke Nishijima. Baroni wanted no part of the accomplished pro-boxer Nishijima standing and immediately shot for a double leg takedown that flowed into side control for the Long Island native. From here, Baroni displayed his comparatively strong ground game with kimura and arm triangle attempts. Baroni trapped his opponent’s arm a la Hughes-Penn II, but nothing came of it and he passed into north-south before returning to side control and the kimura. Though Nishijima refused to tap, the ref had seen enough and stopped the fight in favor of Baroni at 3:20 of the first round. 

Travis Galbraith stepped in as a late replacement for Marvin Eastman in what would turn out to be one of the night’s most complete displays of mixed martial arts against Kazuhiro Nakamura. Nakamura started the action with a shattering left hook that sent Galbraith to the mat, but Galbraith kept his composure and made solid attempts at an armbar and a kneebar from his guard before reversing Nakamura to his back. The two traded on their feet for a moment before a stunning judo throw by Nakamura occurred just before the bell. Galbraith started the second round very aggressively until Nakamura neutralized his offense with a takedown from the clinch. Nakamura stood back up and allowed Galbraith to do the same, but Galbraith’s reckless aggressiveness left his head and body open for a knee strike that dropped him. A few punches later, Nakamura earned the win by TKO at 1:16 of the round. 

The night’s opener was quick and violent as Militech Fighting Systems’ Robbie Lawler sealed Joey Villasenor’s fate with a high kick and flying knee as Villasenor shot for a takedown. Lawler flexed in his trademark fashion as Villasenor fell backward before following up with quick strikes to cement his victory at 0:22 of the first round.

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