[2006-07-29-ZERO-ONE] Masato Tanaka vs Ryuji Sai

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Childs]

I was extremely surprised at how much I enjoyed this. In boxing, some of your most dramatic fights come because one guy has suffered a bad cut or broken his hand. The injured fighter becomes more desperate to finish, and the opponent often gains steam as well, figuring if he can just weather a few storms, victory is on the table. This match really captured that dynamic, with Tanaka's greater weapons seeming increasingly compromised by his right arm and right leg being shot to shit. Yes, they worked a lot of nearfalls, but these carried real tension because the work had sold me on how fucked up Tanaka was and how close Sai felt to an upset. When Tanaka survived to knock Sai out at the end, he came off as a tough motherfucker instead of another macho dude reeling off spots. A little bit of slack work in the middle will keep this out of the upper reaches, but it was really a pleasant discovery.