from a grounded position, Takayama survived to the second round, where he was finally put down by an arm triangle choke. At PRIDE 18, he faced superheavyweight kickboxing champion Semmy Schilt in a valiant effort, but he was knocked out in short by his large opponent. However, Takayama would confirm the critics right at PRIDE 21 as a last time replacement. Although the event initially featured a hoped rematch between Ultimate Fighting Championship veterans Mark Coleman and Don Frye, the former was forced to pull out due to a serious neck injury, driving Takayama to accept to fill in two weeks before the bout. Frye and Takayama faced off in what many PRIDE fans consider to be a classic. As soon as the fight started, both contenders assumed an identical, aggressive hockey punching-like strategy and turned the match into a brutal slugfest, each one holding the other's head with the left hand and unloading savage unblocked punches to the face with the right. Takayama managed to deliver a belly-to-belly suplex, and land a heavy knee, but Frye got up and both continued striking as previously. Later, after two minutes more of punching, the American finally overpowered Takayama and pounded him with hammerfists from the mount, leading the referee to stop the match. Despite its untechnical nature, the fight was critically acclaimed and become one of the most talked about MMA matches ever. It appeared at number one on Fox Sports Network's "Best Damn 50 Beatdowns and was considered by critics "one of the greatest fights of all-time", "one of the finest moments in MMA history," and "the fiercest brawl in the history of the sport". After Takayama's retirement by paralysis in 2018, Frye published a message for him referring the fight, stating: "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." At Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye 2002, Takayama fought the 350-pound Bob Sapp. The fight was one-sided, with Sapp using his superior strength and size to mount Takayama and perform an armbar for the tap out. At U-Spirits Again 2013, Takayama would have his last fight against Hikaru Sato, where he would win after delivering a suplex that knocked Sato out, giving Takayama his first and only mixed martial arts win. Though this fight has been disputed as