On this day in 1999, a former two-time UFC heavyweight tournament winner continued his ascent in Japan.
Following this year’s International Fight Week, Mark Kerr is now in the UFC’s Hall of Fame after entering the Pioneer wing.
The MMA legend is set to be portrayed by Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson in an upcoming movie that takes its title from his nickname of ‘The Smashing Machine’.
Kerr suffered some setbacks during his career in PRIDE but when he first arrived in the promotion, the American quickly emerged as one of the top fighters in the promotion.
At PRIDE 6 on July 4, he looked to avenge one of his legendary teammates’ most controversial losses by taking on one of the biggest Japanese stars.
Mark Kerr submitted Nobuhiko Takada to avenge Mark Coleman’s controversial defeat
At PRIDE 5, Nobuhiko Takada submitted Mark Coleman in the second round in what has become an iconic fight for the wrong reasons.
Coleman has previously suggested that the fight was a ‘work’, or fixed, which is a theory that fans have held for a long time after he tapped out to a heel hook.
As a former pro wrestling star, Takada was involved in several controversial fights, with Mark Kerr recently stating on the JAXXON podcast that the Japanese star’s fight with Rickson Gracie was also a work to try and build the promotion and create stars.
By the time that Kerr and Takada faced off at PRIDE 6, the American made sure to leave no room for debate over whether the result was predetermined or not.
The Japanese fighter had some success on the feet, and was able to get back up following several successful takedowns from his opponent.
However, after Kerr secured his third and final takedown of the fight, he started to control the fight from top position before locking in a kimura submission.
Takada tried to fight out of the submission but it only got worse, leaving him clutching his arm and writhing in pain after tapping out.
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Mark Kerr claims that it was an unspoken rule in Japan that you didn’t acknowledge fixed fights
While the outcomes certainly helped to grow the status of PRIDE, the talk surrounding matchups being fixed remains a huge cloud over the promotion’s legacy.
For a long time, fighters didn’t speak about this publicly but the likes of Mark Kerr have changed this, even if there are still details and rumors that haven’t been cleared up.
During his appearance on the JAXXON podcast, Kerr claimed that it was an unspoken rule that you didn’t speak about the true nature of ‘worked’ fights.
“Oh, I know there was and again, it’s one of those unwritten rules, like if it was a work, you’re never going to f—— mention it. Ever. It was crazy because over there in Japan, you didn’t know you f—– up until they went, ‘Oh, you f—– up.’
“It was like these unwritten rules that existed, they’re called ‘implied rules,’ right? You’re supposed to know that gravity, if you jump off a 50-story building, it’s going to kill you. You didn’t know that? Like, what the f—.”