Posted March 27, 20178 yr comment_5793475 Nobuhiko Takada vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara - UWF 7/8/85 I'm hard pressed to believe that Maeda and Yamazaki both had more great matches in the Original UWF than Takada. Takada has looked really good in all his outings at the spirited young lion. Here it is the uptempo stand up game of Takada against grind it out style of Fujiwara. It is very basic, but very compelling because these are the two best sellers in Original UWF. I loved how Takada sold every legbar with cries of agony and throwing axe kicks to break the hold. While Fujiwara sold every takedown as a deadlift with tons of struggle. In the stand up, Takada would just send a barrage of really nice looking kicks at Fujiwara usually aimed at knotting up the thigh. Fujiwara with patience would counterwrestle by grabbing the leg and wrestling to the ground. I thought Fujiwara selling of the leg was great as was Takada's fire with these kicks very energizing. Takada feels like a dangerous underdog but he never goes for a headshot so eventually Fujiwara is able to switch from a legbar to a double wristlock to win. Very basic, but very effective. Missing about the beginning 4 minutes. ***3/4
June 27Jun 27 comment_6031879 About a third of the match was clipped and it probably wasn't a big loss, as the matwork wasn't that great to begin with, despite the solid approach from Fujiwara. I loved how Takada got tired of Fujiwara's antics and started kicking him like crazy, which damaged his leg in the long run and helped the later comeback. The leg selling was alright, but not consistent at all times. Clever finish, as Fujiwara got the win by outsmarting Takada with an unexpected hold, despite the underdog's toughness ***
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