Ask any MMA fans about the legendary fight between Don Frye and Yoshihiro Takayama. They will regale you with tales of the bout from PRIDE in Japan, remarking at the incredible opening moments that enveloped everything they love about fighting.
PRIDE Fighting Championship had taken over Japan by the turn of the millennium. Fans were tuning out of professional wrestling as this MMA promotion became the talk of the entire country.
It made stars out of fighters like Fedor Emelianenko, Wanderlei Silva and Mirko Cro Cop, while allowing fighters with a history in professional wrestling like Don Frye and Yoshihiro Takayama to make an even bigger name for themselves.
In fact, Don Frye and Yoshihiro Takayama had arguably the biggest fight in the company’s history. Mixing MMA and pro wrestling into one package, they wowed fans all around the world, allegedly drawing bigger higher viewing figures than the World Cup in Japan that year.
The absolute brawl they had is arguably the greatest MMA fight in history, with the story behind the fight being equally as entertaining and thought-provoking.
Both Fighters Had A Background In Professional Wrestling
Despite being legends in the MMA world, both Don Frye and Yoshihiro Takayama were known for their exploits in professional wrestling.
Takayama started his career with the shoot-style wrestling promotion Union of Wrestling Forces International, more commonly known as the UWFI.
He was seen as a top wrestler in the promotion, which valued real-world fighting skills over professional wrestling ability. Takayama was a big part of the multiple invasion angles UWFI took part in, including battles with stars of NJPW and WAR.
The Japanese star would find his way to All Japan Pro Wrestling when UWFI shut down in 1996. He also spent time in New Japan Pro Wrestling and was part of Mitsuharu Misawa’s exodus of AJPW to form NOAH in 2000.
During these runs, he became one of just two men to hold the IWGP Heavyweight, GHC Heavyweight and Triple Crown championships. It was an incredible achievement that put Yoshihiro Takayama among the greatest wrestlers in Japanese history.
Meanwhile, Don Frye had a much shorter but still notable stint in professional wrestling. After he made a name for himself in the early days of the UFC, Antonio Inoki brought Don Frye to Japan as Inoki-ism did its best to kill NJPW dead.
Learn more about how Inoki-ism almost killed New Japan Pro Wrestling
Don Frye was trained by Brad Rheingans and Curt Hennig and was quickly pushed as one of the top heels in the promotion by Inoki. Early on in his career he won a tournament, earning him the opportunity to wrestle the NJPW founder in Antonio Inoki’s last match.
Despite a lack of experience, Frye challenged twice (unsuccessfully) for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. He wrestled full-time for the promotion until 2002, making occasional appearances between his fights in PRIDE Fighting Championship from that point on.
PRIDE is where Yoshihiro Takayama ended up in 2001 after leaving All Japan. His MMA career did not start out well, losing his first three fights in a row. Despite that, he was given a match against Don Frye at Pride 21, with the American fresh off a victory over WWE legend Ken Shamrock.
This was because Mark Coleman was supposed to face Don Frye but pulled out just two weeks before the fight due to a neck injury.
This match between Frye and Takayama would end up going down in history as the greatest fight of all time.
Don Fyre vs Yoshihiro Takayama Was A Clash Between Titans
There is no need to go into intrinsic detail or expert analysis for this fight. That is not what Don Frye vs Yoshihiro Takayama is about.
The two men just ran at each other and start punching each other in the face.
And it is amazing.
It was pure professional wrestling. There was no staking the other out, not letting them get close as each fighter waited to take their spot.
They just ran at each other and started throwing punches.
137 hits to the face were recorded. The pair find themselves in the corner, with Takayama hitting a big knee to the gut before unleashing a slingshot suplex to bring Frye down.
If you’re having trouble picturing it, just think of the Rock em, Sock em robot toy. Thats a very apt description of the carnage at Pride 21.
Eventually, they settle down and the fight looks to be on the downturn. Then they say “screw that” and charge again, laying more flying fists into each other’s face.
Takayama had all manner of facial bones broken, while it is a miracle that Don Frye escaped relatively unharmed (although both their brains were certainly pounded into jelly by this fight).
The bout ends when Don Frye manages to mount Yoshihiro Takayama, with the referee stopping the fight after the rained-down hammer blows right into the Japanese star’s skull.
You couldn’t have booked a better pro wrestling match if you tried, and this one was absolutely real.
Now, watching the fight, you probably think that Don Frye looks in fantastic shape but is a fairly normal-sized man, next to Yoshihiro Takayama.
However, he was six foot one and around 242lbs during the fight. He was pure muscle and a huge figure that would intimidate almost any man on the planet.
Unluckily for the American, the six-foot-seven Takayama was not just any man. He burst into the fight with the same lack of fear and respect for his own health as Don Frye, which gave us this incredible fight.
The fight was as exciting as it was brutal. It has been said that the rest of the card was a dull affair, so the pair agreed to leave it all out in the ring in the name of entertainment. That doesn’t mean they weren’t trying to knock each other out, mind.
This is where the fight blurred the lines between pro wrestling and fighting. They were trying to entertain the crowd, but also wanted to win. Saying that, PRIDE did have an issue with fixed fights, as Mark Coleman knows too well.
The match has gone down in folklore and has become a myth unto itself. Don’t be surprised if in the years to come, Japanese children speak of Don Frye vs Yoshihiro Takayama in the same breath as mythical battles like David vs Goliath, both in their significance and majesty.
Dave Meltzer, who was an early reporter in the MMA scene, was a huge fan of this fight. He said watching it was one of the greatest moments of his life, comparing it to the birth of his children.
If that doesn’t show you how good the fight is, then I don’t know what will!
When asked about the best moments of his life on Twitter, Dave Meltzer replied, “Mine was my kids being born and getting awards, sex with people who shall be left unnamed and Frye vs. Takayama”.
Don Frye Had A Huge Amount Of Respect For Takayama
After the fight, the two men showed great respect to one another. Nobody else in the world knew what it was like being in that battle, and it is a feeling that will remain with them for the rest of their life.
Don Frye left the ring with a huge amount of respect for his opponent. In the years since he has spoken about the Japanese sense of honour and gave Takayama all the credit for an incredible piece of history.
“They’re noble over there, their whole sense is bushido — you know, the way of the warrior. So, you know, they don’t have hard feelings. They respect a fighter and what the fighter brings.” Don Frye said in the Manliest UFC Fighter Ever documentary.
“It was all Yoshihiro Takayama-san. It was all him. I broke—I think I broke his cheekbone, his nose, maybe the occipital bone too, I’m not sure. But, you know, I got real lucky. I didn’t suffer an injury like that in that fight. I got real lucky.”
When Yoshihiro Takayama suffered an injury that left him paralysed from the neck down, his old opponent Don Frye was one of the first people at his bedside.
He visited the former World Champion, bringing a signed Don Frye action figure with him. He also published a message for Takayama, calling him a warrior while calling the Don Frye vs Yoshihiro Takayama fight “the greatest fight the world has ever seen”.
“Takayama-san, God gave me the greatest opponent anybody could ever ask for, you. You made the greatest fight the world has ever seen. […] You are the warrior we all look to be.”
Both men are now retired, although only Takayama’s was forced by injury. As we near a quarter of a century since the incredible PRIDE fight, it is clear that both men will go down in history in a way nobody will ever forget.
