This review was commissioned by Eric T. over on my Ko-fi account.
As with so much in this era of RINGS, this match exists in the shadow of Tamura/Han. This one does in a more direct way. The original planned final for this tournament, one meant to crown the first ever RINGS Openweight Champion, was originally slated to be a rematch of last year’s Mega Battle final with Tamura/Han IV. However, Volk Han injured his knee fighting finalist Mikhail Ilyukhin in the semi-finals of the tournament, thus bringing us to this fight instead.
The shadow Han/Tamura casts over this is quite strong. Ilyukhin is Volk’s teammate in RINGS Russia, and Volk accompanies him to the ring for this bout. Right before the bell too, it’s Volk whispering the last bits of advice to Ilyukhin before the fight starts in earnest. In basically every way, the narrative at hand tell us that Ilyukhin is a proxy for Han against Tamura.
With both Han and Ilyukhin being practiced in sambo and working as teammates together, it makes sense that there’s stylistic and strategic overlap here. Ilyukhin utilizes many of the same holds Han’s deployed against Tamura in the past including the signature cross heel hold and those attempts to pick the arm right out of its socket. However, Ilyukhin lacks (both in and out of kayfabe) the ability to make that kind of magic work against Tamura.
It is, of course, incredibly important that this isn’t really a Tamura/Han match though. And it’s the differences that make it interesting. While Ilyukhin lacks Han’s innate talent and ability, he also does not share Volk’s weaknesses. Ilyukhin has a much sturdier midsection, for example, which makes him far less susceptible to Tamura’s gut and rib kicks. A few strikes that could have easily won Tamura a knockdown on Volk only stun Ilyukhin here.
In general, it’s much harder for Tamura to get a big shot in to take Ilyukhin down, although he does have a much easier time enduring Ilyukhin on the mat. Even with all the rope escapes he gives up, he rarely feels like he’s in the deep waters that he faced against Volk. At this point too, Tamura’s just so goddamn slippery that it’s a real struggle for Ilyukhin to match his speed and agility to get him into position for a submission.
Much of the back half plays out on their feet, and god bless him, Ilyukhin’s failures are so compelling to watch. There’s a real sense of him being way out of his depth, and committing to that idea adds a lot to this match where trying to overcome or hide it might have detracted. I wouldn’t call him some scrub, but there’s a real dopiness about Ilyukhin here. He’s slower and bulkier than Volk, and although he withstands Tamura’s striking better, Tamura’s also a lot more aggressive and successful with them. When those midsection kicks don’t get the job down, Tamura focuses on kicking out the legs to wear down Ilyukhin’s base so that the fight get back onto the mat.
Far from the high drama of the Volk series, this one is much more about making the most of a bad hand. Ilyukhin’s decent in it, but Tamura’s great. So quick and freakishly athletic on the mat while laying in some of the grosses kicks you’ve ever seen. The right man wins and he’s never truly in jeopardy throughout the runtime. All of it worthwhile to see Volk shittalk his own teammate and throw water at him for letting both down at the end.
Rating: ***3/4
