**spoiler** Josh vs. Mirko

[( o Y o )]

Gif of the ending

http://natura-parket.com/mirko/crocop/barnett2.gifhttp://natura-parket.com/mirko/crocop/img/pride28-crocop-vs-barnett.gif

[Titan]

Shame it ended that way. They both were on fire.

[( o Y o )]

It REALLY is a sad ending to such a huge match up.

Props to Mirko for immediately offering a rematch.

[Titan]

This was as huge an anticlimax as Fedor vs Noguiera. I hope we get to see the rematch soon. They should hit that one up on the NYE card.

[( o Y o )]

I wonder if DSE would be so kind to a Pancrase fighter considering this 45 seconds cost hem $200,000

[Titan]

That's a pretty decent paycheck. We'll see what they come up with for NYE where all these events will compete.

[( o Y o )]

It was reported DSE paid US$100k to to Josh, and the same to Pancrase.

Hopefully Pancrase will offer a discount next time to force the issue. lol

[Grant Ellis]

Hopefully Josh will be ok to go on NYE.
It is a matchup I would want to see.

[Grant Ellis]

Oh, and I do like Mirko as a fighter, but hitting Josh after he tapped and kicking him in the face after the ref started breaking it up was a little crazy on his behalf.... I understand it; I just don't agree with it. Mirko was just ready to go to work, it's not really his fault he was so aggressive.

I thought Barnett looked really good in the opening, going right after Mirko, getting the clinch, and throwing the knees...

Do you think Mirko slipped because of Barnett's height?

[K DUB SHINE]

It was reported DSE paid US$100k to to Josh, and the same to Pancrase.

Hopefully Pancrase will offer a discount next time to force the issue. lol
Thought they paid New Japan, you have to negotiate with them seeing as Josh is under their contract. He's even under a "regular" contract which they usually don't for foreign wrestlers.

[Titan]

Do you think Mirko slipped because of Barnett's height?
Barnett was brave and ducked under the kick. Kick was hard so when Mirko tried to recoil, he'd already kicked "through" and couldn't. I think that's what got him out of balance. This fight would've been really interesting had not the freak "submission" occured. :-)

[MZN]

Is there news about what exactly happened to Barnett's shoulder?

I agree that the start was really promising but these anticlimaxes suck. Considering the money pride had to pay for Barnett I think it will make them hesitant to do this again but eh lighting doesn't strike the same guy twice :).

[( o Y o )]

Thought they paid New Japan, you have to negotiate with them seeing as Josh is under their contract. He's even under a "regular" contract which they usually don't for foreign wrestlers.

Ah, I think you may actually be correct. Post pbp is never the best time for details. lol

[Max Minimum]

Do you Mirko knew he was tapping - I don't from seeing that. The only late blow looks like the kick. In that gif I can't tell if it's a strike or a quick push to get out from under him. How'd it come off seeing it on tv?

[( o Y o )]

I am not sure if Mirko knew or not...I`d want to assume not. There is talk now that perhaps Josh bit Mirko while tapping due to th pain in his arm........I`ll have to watch it agin before commenting on that though.

[kaakun]

I am not sure if Mirko knew or not...I`d want to assume not. There is talk now that perhaps Josh bit Mirko while tapping due to th pain in his arm........I`ll have to watch it agin before commenting on that though.

Just checked out the replay, and you can't really see if Josh bit Mirko. But, it seems as if he may have while tapping as if to let Mirko know that he can't continue. Mirko looks at his left shoulder before throwing those last punches.

After the bell rang, Mirko's had a look of "wtf?" and pointed at his own shoulder as if he wanted to say "he was biting me!"

Regardless, both of them handled the result professionally. I'd personally like to see a rematch.

[ANdYX]

I am not sure if Mirko knew or not...I`d want to assume not. There is talk now that perhaps Josh bit Mirko while tapping due to th pain in his arm........I`ll have to watch it agin before commenting on that though.
Intresting. I watched the fight some times know, and it could be true.Josh is tapping, and suddenly Mirko reactes like WTF and hita Josh sometimes and kicks him off. Then he points at his shoulder, where Joshs head was.

[FieldingMellish]

Thought they paid New Japan, you have to negotiate with them seeing as Josh is under their contract. He's even under a "regular" contract which they usually don't for foreign wrestlers.

I'm certain that's the case.

Barnett hasn't actually fought for Pancrase in a while. His fight with Kondo something like 14 months ago and since then he's fought on Inoki's NYE Disaster and Romanex.

Pancrase seem pretty lax about their titles generally. Weren't they still billing Semmy Schilt as their Open Weight KOP almost 3 years after he last fought for them? They had Barnett-Kondo on their 10th anniversary show and while that was a huge success they lost control of their oldest title in the process.

As for Barnett's contract, it's very unusual since he's the only salaried American and he also has a hand in booking (very unusual for such an inexperienced foreigner), training people like Shinsuke Nakamura for MMA and performing for NJPW as both pro wrestler and fighter.

It does make me wonder whether his schedule had any bearing on this incident. While it looks like a freak accident I do wonder if he had a pre-existing injury that he thought he could battle through.

A real shame the fight ended that way and I hope if he gets a rematch Barnett has the time off to heal properly first.

[TheDude]

I was a bit disappointed with the way Barnett looked. One of the biggest fights of his career, and he looks a bit out of shape. His body type has a lot to do with that, but if you compare him to the way he looked in the UFC, I have to say its better he gets more time to train.