This fight between these two humongous men took place at the very first PRIDE event ever on October 11, 1997 in Tokyo, Japan.
Nathan Jones is a professional wrestler from Australian as well as strongman and power lifter who stood 6’9” and weighed 345lbs. While his opponent, the massive former sumo wrestler Koji Kitao wasn’t a little guy either and stood 6’7” tall and weigh 350lbs himself. That’s 700lbs of meat colliding in the ring!
Now upon first glance you would think Nathan Jones would just run through this guy. While both are similar in size and stature, Jones appears to be in much better shape and looks to be much more stronger and athletic. However, it doesn’t appear like he has an extensive fighting or martial arts background and his opponent’s background in sumo wrestling is at least something to go on.
Sumo wrestling probably isn’t the best background for MMA but it is enough to get the job done in this one. Jones does okay at the beginning, throwing out a couple fancy kicks before attempting a guillotine choke but as the commentators point out his technique is way off.
From there the sumo wrestler Kitao takes him down and you can tell right away he has much more grappling knowledge than his opponent. It doesn’t take long for him to get a hold of a submission as he quickly taps out his opponent with a keylock (Americana).
“>
ABOUT NATHAN JONES:
Nathan Jones (born 21 August 1969) is an Australian actor, powerlifting champion, strongman and retired professional wrestler. He held the WWA World Heavyweight Championship once in World Wrestling All-Stars, and aligned himself with The Undertaker in World Wrestling Entertainment. [Source: Wiki]
ABOUT KOJI KITAO:
Kōji Kitao (born August 12, 1963) is a former sumo wrestler and professional wrestler, born in Mie, Japan. He was sumo’s 60th yokozuna, and the only yokozuna in sumo history not to win a top division tournament championship. He was forced to leave sumo at the end of 1987 after a falling-out with his stable master Tatsunami, and became a professional wrestler in 1990. [Source: Wiki]
