[1996-03-23-UWFi Challenge '96-High Tension] Kiyoshi Tamura vs Kazushi Sakuraba

[Control21]

Only about four minutes long, which is shorter compared to their match earlier in March and the one they would later have in May. Just like the other two, there's some beautiful matwork here and Kazushi Sakuraba does a good job of keeping pace with Tamura. Also like the first match, Tamura thinks quicker than Sakuraba and this causes Sakuraba some trouble despite being able to get a dominant position on Tamura a few times. Unlike the first match, Sakuraba does a better job defending Tamura's kicks and seems more confident in throwing his own, but this doesn't deter Tamura. Sakuraba gets a full mount on Tamura towards the end, but Tamura sweeps him. Sakuraba turtles up and appears to think he is safe. He quickly realizes he is in trouble though as Tamura begins to search for his ankle, and he turns around to try and defend himself but the familiar feeling of panic sets in as he realizes Tamura has caught him once again and he taps quite quickly. He doesn't have time to panic like he did in the first match, which is a nice touch because anyone familiar with submission grappling will tell you that the feeling you are fucked can last milliseconds before your brain tells you your shit is getting fucked up. It's a nice setup for their match in May, which I think is the best out of the three. There is some discussion about whether this match is a shoot or a worked shoot. It could have been, but either way, I think it's notable for this board's purposes. ***3/4 or maybe a generous ****.