Roulon Gardener fights in Pride??

[bushido_man96]

I saw this the other day on a Pride preview. I didn't realize he was fighting professionally now. How has he faired? Is he an entertaining fighter to watch, and has he reached the upper levels of competitivness in the sport yet??

[karate man]

Rulon's first and last fight was against Hidehiko Yoshida around a year or so ago. Yoshida was an olympic gold medalist in Judo, Gardner a gold medalist in Greco. The whole fight was supposed to serve the "Judo vs Wrestling" theme, but nothing of that sort happened. Gardners takedown defense was too good for Yoshida, and Yoshidas guard game was too dangerous for Gardner to want to utilize any of his takedowns. As a result, it was a poor performance where the only thing you saw was a bad boxing match.

Rulon has stated afterwards that since hes a very religious man and that his family didnt like the violence of MMA, its not very likely you'll see him in the ring again.

[bushido_man96]

Ah, I see. Thanks, karate man, and welcome to the forums!