PRIDE
Encyclopedia
Pride Fighting Championships (PRIDE or Pride FC) was the biggest mixed martial arts
(MMA) organization in the world. Its inaugural event was held at the Tokyo Dome
on October 11, 1997. Pride has held more than sixty mixed martial arts events. As one of the most popular MMA organizations in the world during its ten years of operation, Pride broadcast to about 40 countries worldwide. Pride also held the largest live MMA event audience record of over 70,000 people at the Pride and K-1
co-production, Shockwave/Dynamite
, held in August 2002, as well as the audience record of over 67,450 people at the Pride Final Conflict 2003
.
In March 2007, Dream Stage Entertainment
sold Pride to Lorenzo Fertitta
and Frank Fertitta III
, co-owners of Zuffa, which owns the Ultimate Fighting Championship
(UFC). While remaining legally separate entities with separate managements, the two promotions were set to cooperate in a manner akin to the AFL-NFL merger
. However, such an arrangement did not materialize, and in October 2007, Pride Worldwide's Japanese staff was laid off, marking the end of the organization as an active fight promoter. As a result many of the Pride staff left to form a new organization alongside K-1
parent company Fighting and Entertainment Group
. This new organization, founded in February 2008, is named Dream
.
pro-wrestler Nobuhiko Takada
with Rickson Gracie
, the purported champion of the Gracie family
of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
practitioners. The event, held at the Tokyo Dome on October 11, 1997, attracted 47,000 fans, as well as Japanese mass media
attention. The success of the first event enabled its promoters to hold a regular series of mixed martial arts events, and a year later in 1998, promote a rematch between Takada and Gracie. With K-1
enjoying popularity in Japan, Pride began to compete with monthly showings on Fuji Television
, as well as pay per view on the newly formed satellite television channel SKY PerfecTV.
In 2000, Pride hosted the first ever Pride Grand Prix, a two-part openweight tournament held to find the "world's best fighter". The tournament was held over the course of two events, with sixteen fighters competing in an opening round
, and the eight winners returning three months later for the final round
. The second round of the tournament marked the first time Pride was broadcast in the United States, and featured American fighter Mark Coleman
winning the tournament by defeating Igor Vovchanchyn
in the final round.
In August 2002, Pride teamed up with Japan's leading kickboxing and fight promotion, K-1
, and held the world's biggest fight event, Shockwave
(known as Pride/K-1 Dynamite!! in Japan), which attracted 91,108 fans.
On January 13, 2003, the Pride MMA production was thrown into turmoil when DSE President Naoto Morishita was found dead hanging by his neck in his hotel room, apparently after his mistress told him she wanted to end their affair. Speculation loomed whether this could possibly be the real reason, as trouble with tax authorities and the yakuza
have also been speculated to play a role. Nobuyuki Sakakibara later assumed the presidency.
In 2003 Pride introduced the Bushido series of events, which focused mainly, but not exclusively, on the lighter weight classes of lightweights and welterweights. The Bushido series also stressed a faster pace, with bouts consisting of only one ten minute round and one five minute round, as well as quicker referee intervention of stalling tactics, using the new "yellow card" system of purse deduction.
Also in 2003, Pride returned to the tournament format, with a middleweight grand prix spanning two events, Total Elimination 2003
and Final Conflict 2003
. The format would be expanded to three events in 2004, adding Critical Countdown 2004
as the second round. Pride would go on to hold annual tournaments, a Heavyweight tournament in 2004, Middleweight in 2005, and Openweight in 2006.
In 2006 DSE announced it would showcase Pride alongside the Ultimate Fighting Championship, North America's largest MMA event, and would be integrating their fighters, including Wanderlei Silva
and Kazuyuki Fujita
, at a UFC MMA show in November. However, Dana White
, speaking on behalf of Zuffa then commented that the announced bout between Chuck Liddell
and Wanderlei Silva
was unlikely to happen because "the Japanese are very hard to do business with". This statement was likely due to the failure of previous attempts between Zuffa and DSE to organize a fighter exchange agreement. Specifically after entering Liddell in Pride's 2003 middleweight tournament, which was also with the intention of Liddell eventually fighting Silva, which fell through when Liddell lost in the semi-finals to Quinton Jackson
(Jackson subsequently lost to Silva by technical knockout in the finals.)
Pride continued to enjoy success, holding roughly ten events per year, and even out-drawing rival K-1 at the annual New Year's Eve show Pride Shockwave 2005
. On October 21, 2006, Pride held its first MMA event in USA, Pride 32: The Real Deal
took place in front of an audience of 11,727 at the Thomas & Mack Center
in Las Vegas, Nevada
, and was the first Pride event to be held outside of Japan.
On June 5, 2006, Fuji Network
announced that they were terminating their television contract with Pride Fighting Championships effective immediately due to a breach of contract by DSE. This left Pride with only SKY PerfecTV, a pay-per-view
carrier, as a television outlet in Japan, and the loss of the substantial revenues from the Fuji deal threatened its sustainability. DSE was surrounded by speculation in the Japanese media, especially in Japanese tabloid Shukan Gendai, that it may be a front for the notorious yakuza
crime organization. DSE responded to the loss by stating they will continue with their schedule as currently planned, including an event in Las Vegas, Nevada
, Pride 32: The Real Deal
which took place on October 21, 2006, Pride's second event outside of Japan.
In late 2006, DSE hinted at plans for Mike Tyson
to fight in the organizations New Year's Eve show
. Tyson would face a Pride fighter under boxing
rules. Since Tyson is not allowed to fight in Japan because of his criminal record, Pride wanted to stage the fight in an alternate country, possibly Macau, China. The fight would be broadcast live on large television screens in the Saitama Super Arena
, where the regular mixed martial arts
bouts were held. The fight did not occur, however.
On November 29, 2006, Pride announced the discontinuation of its Bushido events, with the intention of integrating the matches from lighter weight classes, mainly featured in Bushido, into regular Pride events. Pride also announced that future Grand Prix tournaments would take place on a four year weight class cycle, with one Grand Prix per year. The first expected one, a Lightweight Grand Prix, ended up being cancelled.
Inc. magnate Lorenzo Fertitta, co-owner of Zuffa and its subsidiary MMA production Ultimate Fighting Championship, had made a deal to acquire all assets of Pride Fighting Championships from Dream Stage Entertainment after Pride 34: Kamikaze
in a deal reportedly worth under USD$70 million, though the figure was not publicly disclosed. Managing the assets under the newly created Pride FC Worldwide Holdings, LLC, including their video library and the contracts of the fighters currently on the Pride roster, the new management company had originally planned to continue to promote Pride events in Japan and keep to its previously announced schedule. Lorenzo Fertitta announced they planned to operate Pride separately from Zuffa's two MMA brands, the UFC and WEC
, planned on having occasional crossover shows and matches, pitting fighters from Pride against fighters "from the UFC," using the metaphor of the AFL-NFL merger
to compare the situation.
Subsequent remarks by Zuffa spokesperson Dana White however cast doubt as to what the new owners would actually do with Pride. After the sale officially closed on May 25, 2007, White remarked that he planned on bringing Pride's biggest names into UFC competition instead of keeping them in Pride and that they were still deciding on what to do with Pride itself. In later comments made in August 2007, White expressed doubt that Zuffa can resurrect Pride in Japan, claiming, "I've [or, we] pulled everything out of the trick box that I can and I can't get a TV deal over there with Pride. I don't think they want us there. I don't think they want me there."
On October 4, 2007, Pride Worldwide closed its Japanese office, laying off 20 people who were working there since the closing of DSE.
Past fights from Pride are shown on Best of Pride Fighting Championships. The program premiered January 15, 2010 on Spike TV
. The program's host is Kenda Perez
.
When two rounds of a Grand Prix took place on the same night, Grand Prix bouts consisted of two rounds, the first lasting ten minutes and the second lasting five. Intermissions between each round remained two minutes long.
on parts of their body or to wear a gi
top, gi pants, wrestling shoes, kneepads, elbow pads, or ankle supports at their own discretion, though each was checked by the referee before the fight.
In the event that a fighter is injured by illegal actions, then at the discretion of the referee and ring doctor, the round would attempt to be resumed after enough time has been given to the fighter to recover. If the match could not be continued due to the severity of the injury then the fighter who perpetrated the action was disqualified.
, as introduced by the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board, and adopted by the Nevada State Athletic Commission in order to receive state sanctioning.
Pride's rules differed from the Unified Rules of Combat in the following ways:
At the announcement on March 27, 2007 that the Fertittas are purchasing Pride, it was stated that all future Pride events (after Pride 34) would be held under Unified Rules, eliminating 10 minute opening rounds, ground knees, stomps and more, though there were no more Pride events held to use these rules.
entitled Pride, composed by Yasuharu Takanashi
. In addition to their main, "numbered" events, Pride have staged other series of events for different purposes.
s held by Pride. In addition to a money prize, a championship belt was given to the winner of each tournament, though this belt only denoted the tournament winner and would never be defended. However, Pride's Shockwave 2005
event crowned not only the welterweight and lightweight tournament champions, but also Pride's inaugural welterweight and lightweight champions. Of note is the amount of past and future champion
s that would participate in these tournaments.
In 2000, Pride held their first grand prix. With no weight limits, it is now considered to be their first openweight grand prix. Held across two events, Pride Grand Prix 2000 Opening Round
featured first round bouts and Pride Grand Prix 2000 Finals
featured the quarter finals, semi finals and final.
The concept was brought back in 2003, with a middleweight grand prix. Held across two cards, Total Elimination 2003
featured the first round of the Grand Prix and Final Conflict 2003
featured the semi finals and final. Subsequent middleweight, heavyweight and openweight grands prix have taken place across three events when, in 2004, Critical Countdown
was introduced for second round bouts. Both Critical Countdown and Final Conflict have a mix of grand prix and non-grand prix matches.
In 2007, it was announced that Pride will hold only one grand prix a year and it will rotate between each of their four established weight classes.
Of special note, the 2000 Finals
held a 90 minute contest between Kazushi Sakuraba
and Royce Gracie
. Gracie had requested that there be no judging and no limit to the number of rounds. Sakuraba agreed to fight under these rules, and the contest went to a total of 90 minutes of fighting, after which Gracie's corner threw in the towel due to damage to Gracie's legs. Sakuraba advanced to the next round, fighting a fifteen minute first round against eventual runner up Igor Vovchanchyn
, after which Sakuraba's corner threw in the towel citing his exhaustion.
In 2005, Pride Bushido staged welterweight and lightweight grands prix. Two eight-man brackets were set up and the quarter finals and semi finals were held at Pride Bushido 9
, along with an alternate bout in each bracket. The finals were held at Pride Shockwave 2005
, with the winners subsequently being crowned as champions for their division. A sixteen-man welterweight grand prix was held in 2006.
The titleholders below were those who held the titles on April 8, 2007, the date of the last Pride FC promoted show.
(Last Pride FC Heavyweight Champion & Pride FC 2004 Heavyweight Grand Prix Champion, Undefeated in Pride) Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira
(First Pride FC Heavyweight Champion, Pride FC Heavyweight Interim Champion & Pride FC 2004 Heavyweight Grand Prix Runner-up) Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipović (Pride FC 2006 Openweight Grand Prix Champion & Pride FC 2005 Heavyweight Title Challenger) Mark Coleman
(Pride FC 2000 Openweight Grand Prix Champion & Former UFC Heavyweight Champion) Josh Barnett
(Pride FC 2006 Openweight Grand Prix Runner-up) Igor Vovchanchyn
(Pride FC 2000 Openweight Grand Prix Runner-up) Mark Hunt
(Pride FC 2006 Heavyweight Title Challenger) Kevin Randleman
(Former UFC Heavyweight Champion)
(First Pride FC Middleweight Champion & Pride FC 2003 Middleweight Grand Prix Champion, Most Wins, Fights, & Knockouts in Pride History) Mauricio "Shogun" Rua (Pride FC 2005 Middleweight Grand Prix Champion) Quinton "Rampage" Jackson (Pride FC 2003 Middleweight Grand Prix Runner-up) Kazushi Sakuraba
(Pride FC 2000 Openweight Grand Prix Semi-Finalist, Pride FC 2001 Middleweight Title Runner-up and Pride FC 2003 Middleweight Title Challenger) Ricardo Arona
(Pride FC 2005 Middleweight Grand Prix Runner-up) Kiyoshi Tamura
(Pride FC 2002 Middleweight Title Challenger) Royce Gracie
(UFC 1, 2 and 4 Tournaments Champion) Alistair Overeem
(Former DREAM
and Strikeforce
Heavyweight Champion)
(Pride FC 2005 Welterweight Grand Prix Champion & Pride FC 2007 Middleweight Grand Prix Champion) Kazuo Misaki
(Pride FC 2006 Welterweight Grand Prix Champion) Murilo Bustamante
(Pride FC 2005 Welterweight Grand Prix Runner-up & Former UFC Middleweight Champion) Denis Kang
(Pride FC 2006 Welterweight Grand Prix Runner-up) Paulo Filho
(Former WEC
Middleweight Champion & Pride FC 2006 Welterweight Grand Prix Finalist: Replaced due to injury by Kazuo Misaki) Ikuhisa Minowa
(Pride FC 2005 Welterweight Grand Prix Semi-Finalist) Akihiro Gono
(Pride FC 2005 & 2006 Welterweight Grand Prix Semi-Finalist) Carlos Newton
(Former UFC Welterweight Champion)
(Only Pride FC Lightweight Champion & Pride FC 2005 Lightweight Grand Prix Champion) Hayato Sakurai
(Pride FC 2005 Lightweight Grand Prix Runner-up) Marcus Aurélio
(Pride FC 2006 Lightweight Title Challenger) Joachim Hansen (Pride FC 2005 Lightweight Grand Prix Semi-Finalist, Former Shooto
Welterweight Champion and Former DREAM
Lightweight Champion) Luiz Azeredo
(Pride FC 2005 Lightweight Grand Prix Semi-Finalist) Shinya Aoki
(Former DREAM
Lightweight Champion & Former Shooto
Middleweight Champion) Jens Pulver
(Former UFC Lightweight Champion) Tatsuya Kawajiri
(Former Shooto
Welterweight Champion)
Mixed martial arts
Mixed Martial Arts is a full contact combat sport that allows the use of both striking and grappling techniques, both standing and on the ground, including boxing, wrestling, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, muay Thai, kickboxing, karate, judo and other styles. The roots of modern mixed martial arts can be...
(MMA) organization in the world. Its inaugural event was held at the Tokyo Dome
Tokyo Dome
Tokyo Dome is a 55,000-seat baseball stadium located in Bunkyo Ward of Tokyo, Japan.The stadium opened for business on March 17, 1988. It was built on the site of the Velodrome which was next door to the site of the predecessor ballpark, Kōrakuen Stadium...
on October 11, 1997. Pride has held more than sixty mixed martial arts events. As one of the most popular MMA organizations in the world during its ten years of operation, Pride broadcast to about 40 countries worldwide. Pride also held the largest live MMA event audience record of over 70,000 people at the Pride and K-1
K-1
K-1 is a defunct world-wide kickboxing promotion based in Tokyo, Japan founded by Kazuyoshi Ishii, a formerKyokushin karate practitioner. K-1 combines stand up techniques from Muay Thai, Karate, Taekwondo, Savate, San Shou, kickboxing, western-style boxing, and other martial arts...
co-production, Shockwave/Dynamite
PRIDE Shockwave
PRIDE Shockwave was a mixed martial arts and kickboxing event co-promoted by the PRIDE Fighting Championships and K-1 promotions on August 28, 2002. It was held at the Tokyo National Stadium in Tokyo, Japan. This event holds the Pride FC attendance record with 91,107 spectators...
, held in August 2002, as well as the audience record of over 67,450 people at the Pride Final Conflict 2003
PRIDE Final Conflict 2003
Pride Final Conflict 2003 was a mixed martial arts event held by Pride Fighting Championships. It took place at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan on November 9, 2003 and had over 67,450 people in the audience. This event was host to the semi-finals and finals of the 2003 Pride Middleweight Grand...
.
In March 2007, Dream Stage Entertainment
Dream Stage Entertainment
Dream Stage Entertainment was a Japanese company that promoted various wrestling and mixed martial arts events, most notably mixed martial arts Pride Fighting Championship and Hustle professional wrestling events....
sold Pride to Lorenzo Fertitta
Lorenzo Fertitta
Lorenzo Joseph Fertitta is an American businessman, casino executive, sports promoter and entrepreneur. Fertitta resides in Las Vegas with his wife Teresa and three children.- Education :...
and Frank Fertitta III
Frank Fertitta III
Frank J. Fertitta III is current CEO of Station Casinos. He is also an owner of Zuffa LLC, which is the entity that runs the Ultimate Fighting Championship . Fertitta resides in Las Vegas with his wife Jill and three children.-Education:...
, co-owners of Zuffa, which owns the Ultimate Fighting Championship
Ultimate Fighting Championship
The Ultimate Fighting Championship is the largest mixed martial arts promotion company in the world that hosts most of the top-ranked fighters in the sport...
(UFC). While remaining legally separate entities with separate managements, the two promotions were set to cooperate in a manner akin to the AFL-NFL merger
AFL-NFL Merger
The AFL–NFL merger of 1970 was the merger of the two major professional American football leagues in the United States at the time: the National Football League and the American Football League...
. However, such an arrangement did not materialize, and in October 2007, Pride Worldwide's Japanese staff was laid off, marking the end of the organization as an active fight promoter. As a result many of the Pride staff left to form a new organization alongside K-1
K-1
K-1 is a defunct world-wide kickboxing promotion based in Tokyo, Japan founded by Kazuyoshi Ishii, a formerKyokushin karate practitioner. K-1 combines stand up techniques from Muay Thai, Karate, Taekwondo, Savate, San Shou, kickboxing, western-style boxing, and other martial arts...
parent company Fighting and Entertainment Group
Fighting and Entertainment Group
Fighting and Entertainment Group is the leading Japanese combat sport promoter. Its current president is Sadaharu Tanikawa and it is the parent company behind the mixed martial arts series Dream and formerly, the largest kickboxing promotion in the world, K-1.On December 31, 2010 after the Dream...
. This new organization, founded in February 2008, is named Dream
DREAM (mixed martial arts)
Dream is a mixed martial arts organization promoted by former PRIDE FC executives and K-1 promoter Fighting and Entertainment Group. DREAM replaced FEG's previous-run mixed martial arts fight series, Hero's. The series retains many of the stylistic flourishes and personnel from Pride FC...
.
Origins
Pride Fighting Championships was initially conceived in 1997 by Kakutougi Revolution Spirits to match popular JapaneseJapanese people
The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...
pro-wrestler Nobuhiko Takada
Nobuhiko Takada
Nobuhiko Takada is a Japanese mixed martial arts fighter and professional wrestler. He is best known for helping to popularize shoot-style professional wrestling, as one of the biggest stars of the Universal Wrestling Federation and Union of Wrestling Force International in the '80s and '90s. He...
with Rickson Gracie
Rickson Gracie
Rickson Gracie is a Brazilian 8th degree black and red belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and a retired mixed martial artist. He is a member of the Gracie family: the son of Hélio Gracie, brother to Rorion and Relson Gracie, and half-brother to Rolker, Royce, Robin and Royler Gracie.-Biography:Rickson...
, the purported champion of the Gracie family
Gracie family
The Gracie family is a prominent sporting family from Brazil known for their founding of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu . They have been successful in combat sport competitions including mixed martial arts, vale tudo and submission wrestling events...
of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is a martial art, combat sport, and a self defense system that focuses on grappling and especially ground fighting...
practitioners. The event, held at the Tokyo Dome on October 11, 1997, attracted 47,000 fans, as well as Japanese mass media
Mass media
Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...
attention. The success of the first event enabled its promoters to hold a regular series of mixed martial arts events, and a year later in 1998, promote a rematch between Takada and Gracie. With K-1
K-1
K-1 is a defunct world-wide kickboxing promotion based in Tokyo, Japan founded by Kazuyoshi Ishii, a formerKyokushin karate practitioner. K-1 combines stand up techniques from Muay Thai, Karate, Taekwondo, Savate, San Shou, kickboxing, western-style boxing, and other martial arts...
enjoying popularity in Japan, Pride began to compete with monthly showings on Fuji Television
Fuji Television
is a Japanese television station based in Daiba, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, also known as or CX, based on the station's callsign "JOCX-DTV". It is the flagship station of the Fuji News Network and the ....
, as well as pay per view on the newly formed satellite television channel SKY PerfecTV.
In 2000, Pride hosted the first ever Pride Grand Prix, a two-part openweight tournament held to find the "world's best fighter". The tournament was held over the course of two events, with sixteen fighters competing in an opening round
PRIDE Grand Prix 2000 Opening Round
The Pride Grand Prix 2000 Opening Round was a mixed martial arts event held by the Pride Fighting Championships. It took place at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan on January 30, 2000. The event began the Pride Openweight tournament of 2000.-Results:...
, and the eight winners returning three months later for the final round
PRIDE Grand Prix 2000 Finals
The Pride Grand Prix 2000 Finals was a mixed martial arts event held by the Pride Fighting Championships. It took place at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan on May 1, 2000. The event concluded the Pride open-weight tournament of 2000. It is famous for containing one of the most anticipated matches...
. The second round of the tournament marked the first time Pride was broadcast in the United States, and featured American fighter Mark Coleman
Mark Coleman
Mark Coleman is an American mixed martial artist, professional wrestler, former NCAA collegiate wrestler and former Olympic amateur wrestler. In MMA, he was the UFC 10 and UFC 11 tournament champion, the first Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight champion, and the Pride Fighting...
winning the tournament by defeating Igor Vovchanchyn
Igor Vovchanchyn
Igor Yaroslavovich "Ice Cold" Vovchanchyn is a retired Ukrainian mixed martial artist and kickboxer. He won seven mixed martial arts tournaments, as well as acquiring a 37 fight unbeaten streak, and reaching the final of the Pride Grand Prix 2000....
in the final round.
In August 2002, Pride teamed up with Japan's leading kickboxing and fight promotion, K-1
K-1
K-1 is a defunct world-wide kickboxing promotion based in Tokyo, Japan founded by Kazuyoshi Ishii, a formerKyokushin karate practitioner. K-1 combines stand up techniques from Muay Thai, Karate, Taekwondo, Savate, San Shou, kickboxing, western-style boxing, and other martial arts...
, and held the world's biggest fight event, Shockwave
PRIDE Shockwave
PRIDE Shockwave was a mixed martial arts and kickboxing event co-promoted by the PRIDE Fighting Championships and K-1 promotions on August 28, 2002. It was held at the Tokyo National Stadium in Tokyo, Japan. This event holds the Pride FC attendance record with 91,107 spectators...
(known as Pride/K-1 Dynamite!! in Japan), which attracted 91,108 fans.
On January 13, 2003, the Pride MMA production was thrown into turmoil when DSE President Naoto Morishita was found dead hanging by his neck in his hotel room, apparently after his mistress told him she wanted to end their affair. Speculation loomed whether this could possibly be the real reason, as trouble with tax authorities and the yakuza
Yakuza
, also known as , are members of traditional organized crime syndicates in Japan. The Japanese police, and media by request of the police, call them bōryokudan , literally "violence group", while the yakuza call themselves "ninkyō dantai" , "chivalrous organizations". The yakuza are notoriously...
have also been speculated to play a role. Nobuyuki Sakakibara later assumed the presidency.
In 2003 Pride introduced the Bushido series of events, which focused mainly, but not exclusively, on the lighter weight classes of lightweights and welterweights. The Bushido series also stressed a faster pace, with bouts consisting of only one ten minute round and one five minute round, as well as quicker referee intervention of stalling tactics, using the new "yellow card" system of purse deduction.
Also in 2003, Pride returned to the tournament format, with a middleweight grand prix spanning two events, Total Elimination 2003
PRIDE Total Elimination 2003
PRIDE Total Elimination 2003 was a mixed martial arts event held by PRIDE Fighting Championships. It took place at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan on August 10, 2003. This event was host to the quarterfinals of the 2003 PRIDE Middleweight Grand Prix tournament...
and Final Conflict 2003
PRIDE Final Conflict 2003
Pride Final Conflict 2003 was a mixed martial arts event held by Pride Fighting Championships. It took place at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan on November 9, 2003 and had over 67,450 people in the audience. This event was host to the semi-finals and finals of the 2003 Pride Middleweight Grand...
. The format would be expanded to three events in 2004, adding Critical Countdown 2004
PRIDE Critical Countdown 2004
Pride Critical Countdown 2004 was a mixed martial arts event held by Pride Fighting Championships. It took place on June 20th, 2004, at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.-Background:...
as the second round. Pride would go on to hold annual tournaments, a Heavyweight tournament in 2004, Middleweight in 2005, and Openweight in 2006.
Wanderlei Silva
Wanderlei César da Silva , nicknamed "The Axe Murderer", is a Brazilian mixed martial artist, who has competed in Japan's Pride Fighting Championships and the American based Ultimate Fighting Championship . Silva is known for his aggressive fighting style with the majority of his fights ending in...
and Kazuyuki Fujita
Kazuyuki Fujita
is a Japanese professional wrestler, mixed martial artist and a former amateur wrestler. He has fought in mixed martial arts promotions including PRIDE, K-1 and currently fighting in Sengoku....
, at a UFC MMA show in November. However, Dana White
Dana White
Dana White is the current President of the Ultimate Fighting Championship , a mixed martial arts organization based in the United States.- Biography :...
, speaking on behalf of Zuffa then commented that the announced bout between Chuck Liddell
Chuck Liddell
Charles David "Chuck" Liddell is a retired American mixed martial artist and former Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight champion. Liddell has an extensive striking background in Kempo, Koei-Kan karate and kickboxing, as well as a grappling background in collegiate wrestling.As of his...
and Wanderlei Silva
Wanderlei Silva
Wanderlei César da Silva , nicknamed "The Axe Murderer", is a Brazilian mixed martial artist, who has competed in Japan's Pride Fighting Championships and the American based Ultimate Fighting Championship . Silva is known for his aggressive fighting style with the majority of his fights ending in...
was unlikely to happen because "the Japanese are very hard to do business with". This statement was likely due to the failure of previous attempts between Zuffa and DSE to organize a fighter exchange agreement. Specifically after entering Liddell in Pride's 2003 middleweight tournament, which was also with the intention of Liddell eventually fighting Silva, which fell through when Liddell lost in the semi-finals to Quinton Jackson
Quinton Jackson
Quinton Ramone Jackson ;, also known as Rampage Jackson, is an American mixed martial artist and actor. He is a former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion. Jackson rose to prominence in Japan's Pride Fighting Championships where he was noted for his powerful body slams including a knockout victory over...
(Jackson subsequently lost to Silva by technical knockout in the finals.)
Pride continued to enjoy success, holding roughly ten events per year, and even out-drawing rival K-1 at the annual New Year's Eve show Pride Shockwave 2005
PRIDE Shockwave 2005
Pride Shockwave 2005 was a mixed martial arts event held by the Pride Fighting Championships at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan on December 31, 2005. In Japan, the event was called "Otoko Matsuri 2005 – Itadaki"...
. On October 21, 2006, Pride held its first MMA event in USA, Pride 32: The Real Deal
PRIDE 32
Pride 32: The Real Deal was a mixed martial arts event and was held by the Pride Fighting Championships. The event took place on October 21, 2006, at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.-Background:...
took place in front of an audience of 11,727 at the Thomas & Mack Center
Thomas & Mack Center
The Thomas & Mack Center is an arena, located on the campus of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. For ring events, the capacity is 19,522, for basketball, the capacity is 18,776.-History:...
in Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
, and was the first Pride event to be held outside of Japan.
On June 5, 2006, Fuji Network
Fuji Television
is a Japanese television station based in Daiba, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, also known as or CX, based on the station's callsign "JOCX-DTV". It is the flagship station of the Fuji News Network and the ....
announced that they were terminating their television contract with Pride Fighting Championships effective immediately due to a breach of contract by DSE. This left Pride with only SKY PerfecTV, a pay-per-view
Pay-per-view
Pay-per-view provides a service by which a television audience can purchase events to view via private telecast. The broadcaster shows the event at the same time to everyone ordering it...
carrier, as a television outlet in Japan, and the loss of the substantial revenues from the Fuji deal threatened its sustainability. DSE was surrounded by speculation in the Japanese media, especially in Japanese tabloid Shukan Gendai, that it may be a front for the notorious yakuza
Yakuza
, also known as , are members of traditional organized crime syndicates in Japan. The Japanese police, and media by request of the police, call them bōryokudan , literally "violence group", while the yakuza call themselves "ninkyō dantai" , "chivalrous organizations". The yakuza are notoriously...
crime organization. DSE responded to the loss by stating they will continue with their schedule as currently planned, including an event in Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
, Pride 32: The Real Deal
PRIDE 32
Pride 32: The Real Deal was a mixed martial arts event and was held by the Pride Fighting Championships. The event took place on October 21, 2006, at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.-Background:...
which took place on October 21, 2006, Pride's second event outside of Japan.
In late 2006, DSE hinted at plans for Mike Tyson
Mike Tyson
Michael Gerard "Mike" Tyson is a retired American boxer. Tyson is a former undisputed heavyweight champion of the world and holds the record as the youngest boxer to win the WBC, WBA and IBF world heavyweight titles, he was 20 years, 4 months and 22 days old...
to fight in the organizations New Year's Eve show
PRIDE Shockwave 2006
Pride Shockwave 2006 was a mixed martial arts event held by Pride Fighting Championships on December 31, 2006. In Japan, this event was called...
. Tyson would face a Pride fighter under boxing
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
rules. Since Tyson is not allowed to fight in Japan because of his criminal record, Pride wanted to stage the fight in an alternate country, possibly Macau, China. The fight would be broadcast live on large television screens in the Saitama Super Arena
Saitama Super Arena
is a multi-purpose indoor arena located in Chūō-ku, Saitama City, Saitama, Japan. Its spectator capacity is 37,000 at maximum settings.This main arena capacity is between 19,000-22,500 when events such as basketball, volleyball, tennis, ice hockey, gymnastics, boxing, mixed martial arts and...
, where the regular mixed martial arts
Mixed martial arts
Mixed Martial Arts is a full contact combat sport that allows the use of both striking and grappling techniques, both standing and on the ground, including boxing, wrestling, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, muay Thai, kickboxing, karate, judo and other styles. The roots of modern mixed martial arts can be...
bouts were held. The fight did not occur, however.
On November 29, 2006, Pride announced the discontinuation of its Bushido events, with the intention of integrating the matches from lighter weight classes, mainly featured in Bushido, into regular Pride events. Pride also announced that future Grand Prix tournaments would take place on a four year weight class cycle, with one Grand Prix per year. The first expected one, a Lightweight Grand Prix, ended up being cancelled.
Pride Worldwide era
On Tuesday, March 27, 2007, Nobuyuki Sakakibara announced that Station CasinosStation Casinos
Station Casinos Inc. is a gaming company based in the Las Vegas suburb of Summerlin, Nevada, founded by Frank Fertitta Jr.Station Casinos along with Boyd Gaming, Cannery Casino Resorts, American Casino & Entertainment Properties, and Herbst Gaming, dominate the Locals market in Las Vegas.The...
Inc. magnate Lorenzo Fertitta, co-owner of Zuffa and its subsidiary MMA production Ultimate Fighting Championship, had made a deal to acquire all assets of Pride Fighting Championships from Dream Stage Entertainment after Pride 34: Kamikaze
PRIDE 34
Pride 34: Kamikaze was a mixed martial arts event held by Pride Fighting Championships on April 8, 2007 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.-Background:...
in a deal reportedly worth under USD$70 million, though the figure was not publicly disclosed. Managing the assets under the newly created Pride FC Worldwide Holdings, LLC, including their video library and the contracts of the fighters currently on the Pride roster, the new management company had originally planned to continue to promote Pride events in Japan and keep to its previously announced schedule. Lorenzo Fertitta announced they planned to operate Pride separately from Zuffa's two MMA brands, the UFC and WEC
World Extreme Cagefighting
World Extreme Cagefighting was an American mixed martial arts promotion. It was purchased by Zuffa, LLC, the parent company of Ultimate Fighting Championship , in 2006. In its final incarnation, it was made up of 3 weight classes: 135, 145 and 155 lbs. To accommodate the smaller...
, planned on having occasional crossover shows and matches, pitting fighters from Pride against fighters "from the UFC," using the metaphor of the AFL-NFL merger
AFL-NFL Merger
The AFL–NFL merger of 1970 was the merger of the two major professional American football leagues in the United States at the time: the National Football League and the American Football League...
to compare the situation.
Subsequent remarks by Zuffa spokesperson Dana White however cast doubt as to what the new owners would actually do with Pride. After the sale officially closed on May 25, 2007, White remarked that he planned on bringing Pride's biggest names into UFC competition instead of keeping them in Pride and that they were still deciding on what to do with Pride itself. In later comments made in August 2007, White expressed doubt that Zuffa can resurrect Pride in Japan, claiming, "I've [or, we] pulled everything out of the trick box that I can and I can't get a TV deal over there with Pride. I don't think they want us there. I don't think they want me there."
On October 4, 2007, Pride Worldwide closed its Japanese office, laying off 20 people who were working there since the closing of DSE.
Multimedia
The final Pride events have been released on DVD under the Pride Worldwide label.Past fights from Pride are shown on Best of Pride Fighting Championships. The program premiered January 15, 2010 on Spike TV
Spike TV
Spike is an American cable television channel. It launched on March 7, 1983 as The Nashville Network , a joint venture of WSM, Inc...
. The program's host is Kenda Perez
Kenda Perez
Kenda Perez is a Mexican American model and host. She is currently the host of Best of Pride Fighting Championships which is set to return for its second season in January 2012 on Fuel TV. Perez also hosts a weekly online MMA show on The Bleacher Report website.-Personal:Kenda Perez was born in...
.
Rules
Pride's rules differed between main Pride events and Bushido events. It was announced on November 29, 2006 that Bushido events would be discontinued.Match length
Pride matches consisted of three rounds; the first lasted ten minutes and the second and third each lasted five minutes. Intermissions between each round were two minutes long. In Pride events held in the United States, NSAC Unified MMA rules were used: non-title matches consisted of three five-minute rounds and title matches consisted of five five-minute rounds, both with 60-second intermissions between rounds.When two rounds of a Grand Prix took place on the same night, Grand Prix bouts consisted of two rounds, the first lasting ten minutes and the second lasting five. Intermissions between each round remained two minutes long.
Weight classes
- Pride Fighting Championships does not divide their fighters based on weight divisions per se. A fighter may be booked to fight an opponent of any weight. Weight divisions are used for championship bouts and for Grands Prix to decide a best fighter at a given weight class.
- Heavyweight (more than 93 kg / 205 lb)
- Middleweight (less than or equal to 93 kg / 205 lb)
- Welterweight (less than or equal to 83 kg / 183 lb)
- Lightweight (less than or equal to 73 kg / 161 lb)
Ring
Pride used a five-roped square ring with sides 7 m in length (approximately 23 ft).Attire
Pride allowed fighters latitude in their choice of attire but open finger gloves, a mouthguard and a protective cup were mandatory. Fighters were allowed to use tapeAdhesive tape
Adhesive tape is one of many varieties of backing materials coated with an adhesive. Several types of adhesives can be used.-Types:Pressure sensitive tape...
on parts of their body or to wear a gi
Keikogi
or dōgi is a uniform for training, used in martial arts derived from Japan, or budō. . The prototype for the modern keikogi emerged in the late 19th century. The keikogi was developed by judo founder Kano Jigoro...
top, gi pants, wrestling shoes, kneepads, elbow pads, or ankle supports at their own discretion, though each was checked by the referee before the fight.
Victory
Matches could be won via:- Submission
- A fighter taps either his opponent or the mat three times.
- A fighter may also verbally submit.
- Knockout
- A fighter falls from a legal blow and is either unconscious or unable to immediately continue.
- Technical Knockout
- Referee Stoppage (the referee stops the match after seeing that one fighter is completely dominant to the point of endangering his opponent).
- Doctor Stoppage (the referee stops the match in the event that a fighter is injured via a legal blow and the ring doctor determines that he cannot continue).
- Forfeited Match (a fighter's corner throws in the towel).
- Decision
- If the match reaches its time limit then the outcome of the bout is determined by the three judges. The fight is scored in its entirety and not round-by-round. (In Pride events staged in the United States, however, the fights were scored round by round.) After the third round, each judge must decide a winner. Matches cannot end in a draw. A decision is made according to the following criteria in this order of priority:
-
- the effort made to finish the fight via KO or submission
- damage given to the opponent
- standing combinations and ground control
- takedowns and takedown defense
- aggressiveness
- weight (in the case that the weight difference is 10 kg/22 lb or more)
- If a fight was stopped on advice of the ring doctor after an accidental but illegal action, e.g. a clash of heads, and the contest is in its second or third round, the match will be decided by the judges using the same criteria.
- Disqualification
- A "warning" will be given in the form of a yellow card or a green cardGreen CardGreen card may refer to:* Permanent residence , known informally as a green card* Green Card , a 1990 movie whose title refers to the American document above...
(The green card gives a 10% deduction of a fighter's purse) when a fighter commits an illegal action or does not follow the referee's instruction. Three warnings will result in a disqualification. - A fighter will be disqualified if a match is stopped on advice of the ring doctor as a result of his deliberate illegal actions.
- The application of oilLubricantA lubricant is a substance introduced to reduce friction between moving surfaces. It may also have the function of transporting foreign particles and of distributing heat...
, ointment, sprayAerosol sprayAerosol spray is a type of dispensing system which creates an aerosol mist of liquid particles. This is used with a can or bottle that contains a liquid under pressure. When the container's valve is opened, the liquid is forced out of a small hole and emerges as an aerosol or mist...
, VaselinePetroleum jellyPetroleum jelly, petrolatum, white petrolatum or soft paraffin, CAS number 8009-03-8, is a semi-solid mixture of hydrocarbons , originally promoted as a topical ointment for its healing properties...
, massaging cream, hair cream, or any other substances to any part of the fighter's body before and during the fights is prohibited. The discovery of any of these substances will result in a disqualification.
- A "warning" will be given in the form of a yellow card or a green card
- No Contest
- In the event that both sides commit a violation of the rules, the bout will be declared a "No Contest."
- If a fight is stopped on advice of the ring doctor after an accidental but illegal action, i.e. a clash of heads, the match will be declared a no contest in the first round only.
- Disqualification
Fouls
Pride Fighting Championships considered the following to be fouls:- Head buttingHeadbuttA headbutt is a strike with the head, typically involving the use of robust parts of the cranium as areas of impact. Effective headbutting revolves around striking a sensitive area with a less sensitive area, such as striking the nose of an opponent with the forehead...
. (Beginning at Pride 12) - Eye gougingEye-gougingEye-gouging is the act of pressing or tearing the eye using the fingers, other bodyparts, or instruments. Eye-gouging involves a very high risk of eye injury, such as permanent eye loss. It is disallowed in combat sports, but some self-defense systems teach it...
. - Hair pulling.
- Biting.
- Fish hookingFish-hookingFish-hooking is the act of inserting a finger or fingers of one or both hands into the mouth, nostrils or other orifices of a person, and pulling away from the centerline of the body; in most cases with the intention of pulling, tearing, or lacerating the surrounding tissue. Forceful fish-hooking...
. - Any attacks to the groinGroin attackA groin attack is an attempt to cause pain to the groin area of one's opponent. The technique can be quickly debilitating, due to the large number of sensitive nerve endings in the penis and testicles of males, as well as the highly innervated vulva of females. A sufficiently powerful blow may...
- Strikes to the back of the head, which includes the occipital region and the spine. The sides of the head and the area around the ears are not considered to be the back of the head. (see Rabbit punchRabbit punchA rabbit punch is a blow to the neck or to the base of the skull. It is considered especially dangerous because it can damage the cervical vertebrae and subsequently the spinal cord, which may lead to serious spinal cord injury or even death.-Boxing:...
) - Small joint manipulationSmall joint manipulationSmall joint manipulation, in grappling, refers to twisting, pulling or bending fingers or toes to cause joint locks in the various joints in those appendages...
(control of four or more fingers/toes is necessary). - Elbow strikesElbow (strike)An elbow strike is a strike with the point of the elbow, the part of the forearm nearest to the elbow, or the part of the upper arm nearest to the elbow...
to the head and face. - Intentionally throwing your opponent out of the ring.
- Running out of the ring.
- Purposely holding the ropes. Fighters cannot purposely hang an arm or leg on the ropes and it will result in an immediate warning.
In the event that a fighter is injured by illegal actions, then at the discretion of the referee and ring doctor, the round would attempt to be resumed after enough time has been given to the fighter to recover. If the match could not be continued due to the severity of the injury then the fighter who perpetrated the action was disqualified.
Match conduct
- If both fighters are on the verge of falling out of the ring or become entangled in the ropes, the referee would stop the action. The fighters must immediately stop their movements and then be repositioned in the center of the ring in the same relative position. Once they were comfortably repositioned, they would resume at the referee's instruction.
- Referees can give a fighter a penalty cardPenalty cardA penalty card is used in many sports as a means of warning, reprimanding or penalising a player, coach or team official. Penalty cards are most commonly used by referees or umpires to indicate that a player has committed an offense. The referee will hold the card above his or her head while...
for lack of activity. Every card, including warning cards, are a 10% deduction of a fighter's purse, this method was aimed to prevent inaction.
Matches between fighters of different weight classes
Pride made special provision for fights between fighters of different weight classes or fighters with a large weight difference in the same weight class. The lighter fighter was given a choice on whether to permit knees or kicks to the face when in the "four points" position in the following cases:- If both fighters are in the middleweight class and there is a weight difference of 10 kg/22 lb or more between the fighters.
- If the match is between a middleweight and heavyweight and there is a weight difference of 10 kg/22 lb or more between the fighters.
- If both fighters are in the heavyweight class and there is a weight difference of 15 kg/33 lb or more between the fighters.
Pride Bushido
There were a few minor differences from main Pride events.- Bouts on Pride Bushido events consisted of two rounds; the first lasting ten minutes and the second lasting five. Intermissions between each round are two minutes in length.
- Bushido "Challenge Matches" consist of two rounds lasting five minutes each. Intermissions between each round are two minutes in length.
- In Bushido, red cards were issued in a similar way that yellow cards are used in Pride FC. A red card results in a 10% deduction of the fighter's fight purse. Red cards could be given out in an unlimited number without disqualification. If fighters committed the following actions, they shall be given a red card by officials:
- Stalling or failure to initiate any offensive attack
- making no attempt to finalize the match or damage the opponent
- holding the opponent's body with the arms and legs to produce a stalemate
Differences from the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts
Some states' athletic commissions require mixed martial arts events to modify rules to match the Mixed Martial Arts Unified Rules of CombatMixed martial arts rules
Most rule sets for mixed martial arts competitions have evolved since the early days of vale tudo. As the knowledge about fighting techniques spread among fighters and spectators, it became clear that the original minimalist rule systems needed to be amended...
, as introduced by the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board, and adopted by the Nevada State Athletic Commission in order to receive state sanctioning.
Pride's rules differed from the Unified Rules of Combat in the following ways:
- Pride allows kicking and kneeingKnee (strike)A knee strike is a strike with the knee, either with the kneecap or the surrounding area. Kneeing is a disallowed practice in many combat sports, especially to the head of a downed opponent...
the head of a downed opponentDowned opponentA downed opponent is a combatant that is on the ground, as compared to a combatant that is in a standing position. This commonly implies that the downed combatant is lying on the ground, but can technically refer to any position in which anything except the soles of the combatants feet are...
. This is considered a foul in the Unified Rules, which only allows kicks and knees to the head of a standing opponent. - Pride allows a fighter to stompStomp (strike)A stomp is a downwards strike with the heel of the foot from the stand-up position, and is usually directed at the head or body of a downed opponent...
the head of a downed opponent. This is considered a foul in the Unified Rules. - Pride allows a fighter to spike (piledriverPiledriver (professional wrestling)A piledriver is a professional wrestling driver move in which the wrestler grabs his opponent, turns him upside-down, and drops into a sitting or kneeling position, driving the opponent head-first into the mat. The most common piledrivers are the basic belly-to-back, or Texas piledriver, and the...
) an opponent onto the canvas on his head or neck. This is considered a foul in the Unified Rules. - Pride does not allow elbow strikesElbow (strike)An elbow strike is a strike with the point of the elbow, the part of the forearm nearest to the elbow, or the part of the upper arm nearest to the elbow...
to the head of an opponent. The Unified rules allows elbows provided they are not striking directly down with the point of the elbow. - Pride's matches include a ten minute first round, with two minute rest periods. The Unified rules allow rounds no longer than five minutes, with rest periods not exceeding one minute.
- Pride's matches are not judged on the ten point must system, rather judges score the whole fight. The Unified rules call for all matches to be judged using the ten point must system.
At the announcement on March 27, 2007 that the Fertittas are purchasing Pride, it was stated that all future Pride events (after Pride 34) would be held under Unified Rules, eliminating 10 minute opening rounds, ground knees, stomps and more, though there were no more Pride events held to use these rules.
Pride events
Events typically begin with the theme musicTheme music
Theme music is a piece that is often written specifically for a radio program, television program, video game or movie, and usually played during the title sequence and/or end credits...
entitled Pride, composed by Yasuharu Takanashi
Yasuharu Takanashi
is a Japanese composer. Composition credits include Hell Girl soundtracks, Battle Vixens, Kon'nichiwa Anne: Before Green Gables, New Fist of the North Star, Genseishin Justirisers, Toward the Terra and Naruto titles such as Naruto: Shippūden, Naruto: Shippūden the Movie, Naruto Shippūden 2: Bonds,...
. In addition to their main, "numbered" events, Pride have staged other series of events for different purposes.
Pride Grand Prix
The Pride GP (Grand Prix) is the name for a series of tournamentTournament
A tournament is a competition involving a relatively large number of competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses:...
s held by Pride. In addition to a money prize, a championship belt was given to the winner of each tournament, though this belt only denoted the tournament winner and would never be defended. However, Pride's Shockwave 2005
PRIDE Shockwave 2005
Pride Shockwave 2005 was a mixed martial arts event held by the Pride Fighting Championships at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan on December 31, 2005. In Japan, the event was called "Otoko Matsuri 2005 – Itadaki"...
event crowned not only the welterweight and lightweight tournament champions, but also Pride's inaugural welterweight and lightweight champions. Of note is the amount of past and future champion
Champion
A champion is the victor in a challenge, contest or competition.There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional / provincial, state, national, continental and world championships, and even further divisions at one or more of these levels, as in soccer. Their champions...
s that would participate in these tournaments.
In 2000, Pride held their first grand prix. With no weight limits, it is now considered to be their first openweight grand prix. Held across two events, Pride Grand Prix 2000 Opening Round
PRIDE Grand Prix 2000 Opening Round
The Pride Grand Prix 2000 Opening Round was a mixed martial arts event held by the Pride Fighting Championships. It took place at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan on January 30, 2000. The event began the Pride Openweight tournament of 2000.-Results:...
featured first round bouts and Pride Grand Prix 2000 Finals
PRIDE Grand Prix 2000 Finals
The Pride Grand Prix 2000 Finals was a mixed martial arts event held by the Pride Fighting Championships. It took place at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan on May 1, 2000. The event concluded the Pride open-weight tournament of 2000. It is famous for containing one of the most anticipated matches...
featured the quarter finals, semi finals and final.
The concept was brought back in 2003, with a middleweight grand prix. Held across two cards, Total Elimination 2003
PRIDE Total Elimination 2003
PRIDE Total Elimination 2003 was a mixed martial arts event held by PRIDE Fighting Championships. It took place at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan on August 10, 2003. This event was host to the quarterfinals of the 2003 PRIDE Middleweight Grand Prix tournament...
featured the first round of the Grand Prix and Final Conflict 2003
PRIDE Final Conflict 2003
Pride Final Conflict 2003 was a mixed martial arts event held by Pride Fighting Championships. It took place at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan on November 9, 2003 and had over 67,450 people in the audience. This event was host to the semi-finals and finals of the 2003 Pride Middleweight Grand...
featured the semi finals and final. Subsequent middleweight, heavyweight and openweight grands prix have taken place across three events when, in 2004, Critical Countdown
PRIDE Critical Countdown 2004
Pride Critical Countdown 2004 was a mixed martial arts event held by Pride Fighting Championships. It took place on June 20th, 2004, at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.-Background:...
was introduced for second round bouts. Both Critical Countdown and Final Conflict have a mix of grand prix and non-grand prix matches.
In 2007, it was announced that Pride will hold only one grand prix a year and it will rotate between each of their four established weight classes.
Format
Tournament dates with only one round would adhere to normal Pride or Pride Bushido rules. For tournament dates that held two rounds, a fight would have a 10 minute first round, followed by a 2 minute rest period for the fighters, and then a 5 minute last round.Exceptions
Of special note, the 2000 Finals
PRIDE Grand Prix 2000 Finals
The Pride Grand Prix 2000 Finals was a mixed martial arts event held by the Pride Fighting Championships. It took place at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan on May 1, 2000. The event concluded the Pride open-weight tournament of 2000. It is famous for containing one of the most anticipated matches...
held a 90 minute contest between Kazushi Sakuraba
Kazushi Sakuraba
is a Japanese professional mixed martial artist and former professional wrestler. He has competed in pro-wrestling for New Japan Pro Wrestling, UWFi and Kingdom Pro Wrestling. He has fought in MMA competition in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, PRIDE Fighting Championships, K-1 Hero's and Dream...
and Royce Gracie
Royce Gracie
Royce Gracie is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist, a UFC Hall of Famer and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner. A legend and pioneer in the sport of mixed martial arts, he is widely considered to be the most influential figure in the history of modern MMA.Gracie gained fame for his...
. Gracie had requested that there be no judging and no limit to the number of rounds. Sakuraba agreed to fight under these rules, and the contest went to a total of 90 minutes of fighting, after which Gracie's corner threw in the towel due to damage to Gracie's legs. Sakuraba advanced to the next round, fighting a fifteen minute first round against eventual runner up Igor Vovchanchyn
Igor Vovchanchyn
Igor Yaroslavovich "Ice Cold" Vovchanchyn is a retired Ukrainian mixed martial artist and kickboxer. He won seven mixed martial arts tournaments, as well as acquiring a 37 fight unbeaten streak, and reaching the final of the Pride Grand Prix 2000....
, after which Sakuraba's corner threw in the towel citing his exhaustion.
Pride Bushido
With Pride's numbered shows and Grands Prix focused on heavier fighters, in October 2003, Pride started a series of events entitled "Bushido". With the focus on lighter combatants, two weight classes, lightweight and welterweight, were formed at 73 and 83 kg respectively. After Pride Bushido 13, it was announced that the series would end and these weight classes would transfer to main Pride shows.In 2005, Pride Bushido staged welterweight and lightweight grands prix. Two eight-man brackets were set up and the quarter finals and semi finals were held at Pride Bushido 9
PRIDE Bushido 9
Pride Bushido 9 was a mixed martial arts event held by Pride Fighting Championships. This event held the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds of the first ever Welterweight tournament and Lightweight tournament. It took place at the Ariake Coliseum in Tokyo, Japan on September 25, 2005. Under Bushido...
, along with an alternate bout in each bracket. The finals were held at Pride Shockwave 2005
PRIDE Shockwave 2005
Pride Shockwave 2005 was a mixed martial arts event held by the Pride Fighting Championships at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan on December 31, 2005. In Japan, the event was called "Otoko Matsuri 2005 – Itadaki"...
, with the winners subsequently being crowned as champions for their division. A sixteen-man welterweight grand prix was held in 2006.
Pride The Best
In 2002, Pride launched The Best, a series of shows featuring up-and-coming fighters, using an eight-sided roped ring. However, after the third show in October 2002, the series was discontinued. The concept was later refined into the Pride BUSHIDO events.Final champions
When Zuffa LLC bought Pride, it moved to unify the Pride middleweight and welterweight titles with its own light-heavyweight (205 lbs) and middleweight (185 lbs) titles. Dan Henderson, who held both the Pride middleweight and welterweight belts at the time of the Zuffa buy-out, was beaten in two unification bouts, first to Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson in September 2007 and then to middleweight Anderson Silva in March 2008.The titleholders below were those who held the titles on April 8, 2007, the date of the last Pride FC promoted show.
Weight divisions
| Division | Weight limit | Champion | Since | Title Defenses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heavyweight Heavyweight (MMA) The heavyweight division in mixed martial arts generally groups fighters between .Although many ambiguities exist within the lower weight classes regarding division naming and weight limits, the Heavyweight division is, for the most part, uniform... |
no limit |  Fedor EmelianenkoFedor Emelianenko Fedor Vladimirovich Emelianenko) is a Russian heavyweight mixed martial artist. He has won numerous tournaments and accolades in multiple sports, most notably the Pride 2004 Grand Prix and the World Combat Sambo championship on four occasions, as well as medaling in the Russian national Judo... |
March 16, 2003 PRIDE 25 Pride 25: Body Blow was a mixed martial arts event held by Pride Fighting Championships. It took place at the Yokohama Arena in Yokohama, Japan on March 16, 2003.- Kazuhiro Nakamura vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira:... |
3 |
| Middleweight Middleweight (MMA) The middleweight division in mixed martial arts can refer to a number of different weight classes:*UFC's & Strikeforce's middleweight division, which groups competitors within 171 to 185 lb... |
below 205 lb (93 kg; 14.6 st) |  Dan HendersonDan Henderson Daniel Jeffery Henderson, is an American mixed martial artist and former Olympic wrestler, who competes as a middleweight and light heavyweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He is the former Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion and was the last Welterweight and Middleweight champion... |
February 24, 2007 PRIDE 33 Pride 33: The Second Coming was a mixed martial arts event held by Pride Fighting Championships on February 24, 2007 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.-Background:... |
0 |
| Welterweight Welterweight (MMA) The welterweight division in mixed martial arts can refer to a number of different weight classes:*The UFC's & Strikeforce's welterweight division, which groups competitors within 156 to 170 lb... |
below 183 lb (83 kg; 13.1 st) | Dan Henderson Dan Henderson Daniel Jeffery Henderson, is an American mixed martial artist and former Olympic wrestler, who competes as a middleweight and light heavyweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He is the former Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion and was the last Welterweight and Middleweight champion... |
December 31, 2005 PRIDE Shockwave 2005 Pride Shockwave 2005 was a mixed martial arts event held by the Pride Fighting Championships at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan on December 31, 2005. In Japan, the event was called "Otoko Matsuri 2005 – Itadaki"... |
0 |
| Lightweight Lightweight (MMA) The lightweight division in mixed martial arts can refer to a number of different weight classes:* The UFC & Strikeforce lightweight division with upper limit at 155 lb... |
below 161 lb (73 kg; 11.5 st) |  Takanori GomiTakanori Gomi , is a Japanese mixed martial artist currently fighting in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Gomi is a former Shooto Welterweight Champion and was the last and only Pride Lightweight Champion. He is also a four-time All Japan Combat Wrestling champion. During his time in Pride he was considered... |
December 31, 2005 PRIDE Shockwave 2005 Pride Shockwave 2005 was a mixed martial arts event held by the Pride Fighting Championships at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan on December 31, 2005. In Japan, the event was called "Otoko Matsuri 2005 – Itadaki"... |
1 |
Tournaments
An asterisk (*) indicates that the tournament was also a title fight.| Year/Weight Division | Champion | Finalist | Event | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 Openweight | Mark Coleman Mark Coleman Mark Coleman is an American mixed martial artist, professional wrestler, former NCAA collegiate wrestler and former Olympic amateur wrestler. In MMA, he was the UFC 10 and UFC 11 tournament champion, the first Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight champion, and the Pride Fighting... |
 Igor VovchanchynIgor Vovchanchyn Igor Yaroslavovich "Ice Cold" Vovchanchyn is a retired Ukrainian mixed martial artist and kickboxer. He won seven mixed martial arts tournaments, as well as acquiring a 37 fight unbeaten streak, and reaching the final of the Pride Grand Prix 2000.... |
Pride Grand Prix 2000 Finals PRIDE Grand Prix 2000 Finals The Pride Grand Prix 2000 Finals was a mixed martial arts event held by the Pride Fighting Championships. It took place at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan on May 1, 2000. The event concluded the Pride open-weight tournament of 2000. It is famous for containing one of the most anticipated matches... |
|
| 2003 Middleweight |  Wanderlei SilvaWanderlei Silva Wanderlei César da Silva , nicknamed "The Axe Murderer", is a Brazilian mixed martial artist, who has competed in Japan's Pride Fighting Championships and the American based Ultimate Fighting Championship . Silva is known for his aggressive fighting style with the majority of his fights ending in... |
Quinton "Rampage" Jackson |
Pride Final Conflict 2003 PRIDE Final Conflict 2003 Pride Final Conflict 2003 was a mixed martial arts event held by Pride Fighting Championships. It took place at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan on November 9, 2003 and had over 67,450 people in the audience. This event was host to the semi-finals and finals of the 2003 Pride Middleweight Grand... |
|
| 2004 Heavyweight | Fedor Emelianenko Fedor Emelianenko Fedor Vladimirovich Emelianenko) is a Russian heavyweight mixed martial artist. He has won numerous tournaments and accolades in multiple sports, most notably the Pride 2004 Grand Prix and the World Combat Sambo championship on four occasions, as well as medaling in the Russian national Judo... |
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira is a Brazilian mixed martial artist known for his technical mastery of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He competes in the heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, where he is a former UFCInterim Heavyweight Champion... |
Pride Shockwave 2004 PRIDE Shockwave 2004 Pride Shockwave 2004 was a mixed martial arts event held by Pride Fighting Championships. The event took place at the Saitama Super Arena on December 31st, 2004... * |
|
| 2005 Middleweight | Mauricio "Shogun" Rua |
Ricardo Arona Ricardo Arona Ricardo Arona is a Brazilian mixed martial artist and PRIDE FC Middleweight Grand Prix finalist. He has competed in PRIDE Fighting Championships and RINGS in his mixed martial arts career, and is a member of Brazilian Top Team.-Abu Dhabi and RINGS:... |
Pride Final Conflict 2005 PRIDE Final Conflict 2005 Pride Final Conflict 2005 was a mixed martial arts event held by the Pride Fighting Championships. This event featured the much anticipated heavyweight title fight between Fedor Emelianenko and Mirko Cro Cop and also the final round of the 2005 Middleweight Tournament... |
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| 2005 Welterweight | Dan Henderson Dan Henderson Daniel Jeffery Henderson, is an American mixed martial artist and former Olympic wrestler, who competes as a middleweight and light heavyweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He is the former Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion and was the last Welterweight and Middleweight champion... |
Murilo Bustamante Murilo Bustamante Murilo Bustamante |Lion's Den]], Ikuhisa Minowa, Ryuta Sakurai , Dave Menne and undefeated top ranked Middleweight Matt Lindland .-Instructor lineage:Mitsuyo "Count Koma" Maeda → Carlos Gracie, Sr... |
Pride Shockwave 2005 PRIDE Shockwave 2005 Pride Shockwave 2005 was a mixed martial arts event held by the Pride Fighting Championships at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan on December 31, 2005. In Japan, the event was called "Otoko Matsuri 2005 – Itadaki"... * |
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| 2005 Lightweight | Takanori Gomi Takanori Gomi , is a Japanese mixed martial artist currently fighting in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Gomi is a former Shooto Welterweight Champion and was the last and only Pride Lightweight Champion. He is also a four-time All Japan Combat Wrestling champion. During his time in Pride he was considered... |
Hayato Sakurai Hayato Sakurai is a Japanese mixed martial artist. He was born in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. He has a professional MMA record of 35-11-2 as of April 5, 2009. Sakurai has been fighting in mixed martial arts since October 1996 and was at one time considered pound for pound one of the greatest fighters... |
Pride Shockwave 2005 PRIDE Shockwave 2005 Pride Shockwave 2005 was a mixed martial arts event held by the Pride Fighting Championships at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan on December 31, 2005. In Japan, the event was called "Otoko Matsuri 2005 – Itadaki"... * |
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| 2006 Openweight |  Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipović |
Josh Barnett Josh Barnett Joshua Lawrence Barnett is an American mixed martial artist and professional wrestler who currently fights in the heavyweight division of Strikeforce. Barnett has been an accomplished fighter in mixed martial arts, winning the UFC Heavyweight Championship and the King of Pancrase Openweight... |
Pride Final Conflict Absolute PRIDE Final Conflict Absolute Pride Final Conflict Absolute was a mixed martial arts event held by the Pride Fighting Championships. It took place at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan on September 10, 2006.-Background:... |
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| 2006 Welterweight | Kazuo Misaki Kazuo Misaki Kazuo Misaki is a Japanese professional mixed martial artist and former judoka. He was the 2006 Pride Welterweight Grand Prix winner, and is currently competing in Sengoku. He is a long time veteran of Pancrase and has also competed in Strikeforce... |
 Denis KangDenis Kang Denis Kang is a Canadian mixed martial artist of Korean French descent. He was the PRIDE FC welterweight grand prix finalist in which he lost to Kazuo Misaki... |
Pride Bushido 13 PRIDE Bushido 13 Pride Bushido 13 also known as Pride Bushido Survival Finals was a mixed martial arts event held by the Pride Fighting Championships.-Background:This event consisted of the semifinal and final rounds of the Bushido Welterweight Grand Prix.... |
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Notable fighters
The following fighters have won a tournament or Championship titles or was a high contender in Pride. Some have competed in different weight classes.Heavyweight
Fedor EmelianenkoFedor Emelianenko
Fedor Vladimirovich Emelianenko) is a Russian heavyweight mixed martial artist. He has won numerous tournaments and accolades in multiple sports, most notably the Pride 2004 Grand Prix and the World Combat Sambo championship on four occasions, as well as medaling in the Russian national Judo...
(Last Pride FC Heavyweight Champion & Pride FC 2004 Heavyweight Grand Prix Champion, Undefeated in Pride) Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira is a Brazilian mixed martial artist known for his technical mastery of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He competes in the heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, where he is a former UFCInterim Heavyweight Champion...
(First Pride FC Heavyweight Champion, Pride FC Heavyweight Interim Champion & Pride FC 2004 Heavyweight Grand Prix Runner-up) Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipović (Pride FC 2006 Openweight Grand Prix Champion & Pride FC 2005 Heavyweight Title Challenger) Mark Coleman
Mark Coleman
Mark Coleman is an American mixed martial artist, professional wrestler, former NCAA collegiate wrestler and former Olympic amateur wrestler. In MMA, he was the UFC 10 and UFC 11 tournament champion, the first Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight champion, and the Pride Fighting...
(Pride FC 2000 Openweight Grand Prix Champion & Former UFC Heavyweight Champion) Josh Barnett
Josh Barnett
Joshua Lawrence Barnett is an American mixed martial artist and professional wrestler who currently fights in the heavyweight division of Strikeforce. Barnett has been an accomplished fighter in mixed martial arts, winning the UFC Heavyweight Championship and the King of Pancrase Openweight...
(Pride FC 2006 Openweight Grand Prix Runner-up) Igor Vovchanchyn
Igor Vovchanchyn
Igor Yaroslavovich "Ice Cold" Vovchanchyn is a retired Ukrainian mixed martial artist and kickboxer. He won seven mixed martial arts tournaments, as well as acquiring a 37 fight unbeaten streak, and reaching the final of the Pride Grand Prix 2000....
(Pride FC 2000 Openweight Grand Prix Runner-up) Mark Hunt
Mark Hunt
Mark Hunt ; is a New Zealand kickboxer and mixed martial artist of Samoan descent, currently living in Sydney, Australia. Hunt competes in the Ultimate Fighting Championship and is known for his raw strength, iron chin and knockout power. He won the K-1 World Grand Prix 2001 Final...
(Pride FC 2006 Heavyweight Title Challenger) Kevin Randleman
Kevin Randleman
Kevin Christopher Randleman is a retired American mixed martial arts fighter and a former UFC heavyweight champion. Randleman's background is in Collegiate wrestling. Wrestling at 177 pounds, Randleman was a two time Division I NCAA Champion for The Ohio State University...
(Former UFC Heavyweight Champion)
Middleweight
Wanderlei SilvaWanderlei Silva
Wanderlei César da Silva , nicknamed "The Axe Murderer", is a Brazilian mixed martial artist, who has competed in Japan's Pride Fighting Championships and the American based Ultimate Fighting Championship . Silva is known for his aggressive fighting style with the majority of his fights ending in...
(First Pride FC Middleweight Champion & Pride FC 2003 Middleweight Grand Prix Champion, Most Wins, Fights, & Knockouts in Pride History) Mauricio "Shogun" Rua (Pride FC 2005 Middleweight Grand Prix Champion) Quinton "Rampage" Jackson (Pride FC 2003 Middleweight Grand Prix Runner-up) Kazushi Sakuraba
Kazushi Sakuraba
is a Japanese professional mixed martial artist and former professional wrestler. He has competed in pro-wrestling for New Japan Pro Wrestling, UWFi and Kingdom Pro Wrestling. He has fought in MMA competition in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, PRIDE Fighting Championships, K-1 Hero's and Dream...
(Pride FC 2000 Openweight Grand Prix Semi-Finalist, Pride FC 2001 Middleweight Title Runner-up and Pride FC 2003 Middleweight Title Challenger) Ricardo Arona
Ricardo Arona
Ricardo Arona is a Brazilian mixed martial artist and PRIDE FC Middleweight Grand Prix finalist. He has competed in PRIDE Fighting Championships and RINGS in his mixed martial arts career, and is a member of Brazilian Top Team.-Abu Dhabi and RINGS:...
(Pride FC 2005 Middleweight Grand Prix Runner-up) Kiyoshi Tamura
Kiyoshi Tamura
is a Japanese middleweight professional wrestler and mixed martial artist.Once a student of legendary Pro Wrestler Akira Maeda, Tamura is known for his skill in catch wrestling as well as his ability to deliver exciting and realistic professional wrestling bouts....
(Pride FC 2002 Middleweight Title Challenger) Royce Gracie
Royce Gracie
Royce Gracie is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist, a UFC Hall of Famer and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner. A legend and pioneer in the sport of mixed martial arts, he is widely considered to be the most influential figure in the history of modern MMA.Gracie gained fame for his...
(UFC 1, 2 and 4 Tournaments Champion) Alistair Overeem
Alistair Overeem
Alistair Cees Overeem is a British born Dutch mixed martial artist and kickboxer, signed to the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He is the former Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion, Dream Interim Heavyweight Champion, K-1 World Grand Prix Champion, and made history by being the only fighter in combat...
(Former DREAM
DREAM (mixed martial arts)
Dream is a mixed martial arts organization promoted by former PRIDE FC executives and K-1 promoter Fighting and Entertainment Group. DREAM replaced FEG's previous-run mixed martial arts fight series, Hero's. The series retains many of the stylistic flourishes and personnel from Pride FC...
and Strikeforce
Strikeforce
Strikeforce is a U.S.-based mixed martial arts and kickboxing organization based in San Jose, California. It is headed by CEO Scott Coker and owned by Zuffa, LLC...
Heavyweight Champion)
Welterweight
Dan HendersonDan Henderson
Daniel Jeffery Henderson, is an American mixed martial artist and former Olympic wrestler, who competes as a middleweight and light heavyweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He is the former Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion and was the last Welterweight and Middleweight champion...
(Pride FC 2005 Welterweight Grand Prix Champion & Pride FC 2007 Middleweight Grand Prix Champion) Kazuo Misaki
Kazuo Misaki
Kazuo Misaki is a Japanese professional mixed martial artist and former judoka. He was the 2006 Pride Welterweight Grand Prix winner, and is currently competing in Sengoku. He is a long time veteran of Pancrase and has also competed in Strikeforce...
(Pride FC 2006 Welterweight Grand Prix Champion) Murilo Bustamante
Murilo Bustamante
Murilo Bustamante |Lion's Den]], Ikuhisa Minowa, Ryuta Sakurai , Dave Menne and undefeated top ranked Middleweight Matt Lindland .-Instructor lineage:Mitsuyo "Count Koma" Maeda → Carlos Gracie, Sr...
(Pride FC 2005 Welterweight Grand Prix Runner-up & Former UFC Middleweight Champion) Denis Kang
Denis Kang
Denis Kang is a Canadian mixed martial artist of Korean French descent. He was the PRIDE FC welterweight grand prix finalist in which he lost to Kazuo Misaki...
(Pride FC 2006 Welterweight Grand Prix Runner-up) Paulo Filho
Paulo Filho
Paulo Fernando de Souza Leite Filho, better known as simply Paulo Filho , is a retired Brazilian mixed martial artist as well as a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Judo practitioner, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil...
(Former WEC
World Extreme Cagefighting
World Extreme Cagefighting was an American mixed martial arts promotion. It was purchased by Zuffa, LLC, the parent company of Ultimate Fighting Championship , in 2006. In its final incarnation, it was made up of 3 weight classes: 135, 145 and 155 lbs. To accommodate the smaller...
Middleweight Champion & Pride FC 2006 Welterweight Grand Prix Finalist: Replaced due to injury by Kazuo Misaki) Ikuhisa Minowa
Ikuhisa Minowa
is a Japanese mixed martial artist and pro wrestler currently competing in Dream as . He was a long time veteran of Pride Fighting Championships and Pancrase and has also competed in other mixed martial arts promotions such as K-1 HERO'S, Cage Rage, UFC, and DEEP. At 5'9" he is notable for taking...
(Pride FC 2005 Welterweight Grand Prix Semi-Finalist) Akihiro Gono
Akihiro Gono
is a Japanese mixed martial artist who currently fights as a welterweight. He is best known for his clever and deceptive fighting style, and for his flashy ring entrances. His fighting style is characterized by skillfully avoiding strikes, using fast counter punches and generally getting the...
(Pride FC 2005 & 2006 Welterweight Grand Prix Semi-Finalist) Carlos Newton
Carlos Newton
Carlos Newton is a Canadian mixed martial artist and former UFC Welterweight Champion. He is considered one of the true pioneers in the sport of Mixed Martial Arts. Known as the "The Ronin", he competed worldwide in the biggest MMA organizations including UFC, Pride FC, IFL, K-1, Shooto and most...
(Former UFC Welterweight Champion)
Lightweight
Takanori GomiTakanori Gomi
, is a Japanese mixed martial artist currently fighting in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Gomi is a former Shooto Welterweight Champion and was the last and only Pride Lightweight Champion. He is also a four-time All Japan Combat Wrestling champion. During his time in Pride he was considered...
(Only Pride FC Lightweight Champion & Pride FC 2005 Lightweight Grand Prix Champion) Hayato Sakurai
Hayato Sakurai
is a Japanese mixed martial artist. He was born in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. He has a professional MMA record of 35-11-2 as of April 5, 2009. Sakurai has been fighting in mixed martial arts since October 1996 and was at one time considered pound for pound one of the greatest fighters...
(Pride FC 2005 Lightweight Grand Prix Runner-up) Marcus Aurélio
Marcus Aurelio
Marcus Aurélio Martins is a Brazilian mixed martial artist. He formerly fought for the PRIDE Fighting Championship and for the Ultimate Fighting Championship...
(Pride FC 2006 Lightweight Title Challenger) Joachim Hansen (Pride FC 2005 Lightweight Grand Prix Semi-Finalist, Former Shooto
Shooto
Shooto is a mixed martial arts organization that is governed by the Shooto Association and the International Shooto Commission. Shooto was originally formed in 1985, as an organization and as a particular fighting system derived from shoot wrestling. Practitioners are referred to as shooters,...
Welterweight Champion and Former DREAM
DREAM (mixed martial arts)
Dream is a mixed martial arts organization promoted by former PRIDE FC executives and K-1 promoter Fighting and Entertainment Group. DREAM replaced FEG's previous-run mixed martial arts fight series, Hero's. The series retains many of the stylistic flourishes and personnel from Pride FC...
Lightweight Champion) Luiz Azeredo
Luiz Azeredo
Luiz Azeredo is a Brazilian Welterweight mixed martial artist, fighting out of the Chute Boxe Academy, Curitiba, Brazil. He has fought in the PRIDE and Cage Rage....
(Pride FC 2005 Lightweight Grand Prix Semi-Finalist) Shinya Aoki
Shinya Aoki
is a Japanese mixed martial artist, grappler, and former police trainee who is noted for being the DREAM Lightweight Champion and former Shooto Middleweight Champion. Aoki holds a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu under Yuki Nakai, as well as a black belt in judo. He is one of the most prominent...
(Former DREAM
DREAM (mixed martial arts)
Dream is a mixed martial arts organization promoted by former PRIDE FC executives and K-1 promoter Fighting and Entertainment Group. DREAM replaced FEG's previous-run mixed martial arts fight series, Hero's. The series retains many of the stylistic flourishes and personnel from Pride FC...
Lightweight Champion & Former Shooto
Shooto
Shooto is a mixed martial arts organization that is governed by the Shooto Association and the International Shooto Commission. Shooto was originally formed in 1985, as an organization and as a particular fighting system derived from shoot wrestling. Practitioners are referred to as shooters,...
Middleweight Champion) Jens Pulver
Jens Pulver
Jens Johnnie Pulver is an American mixed martial artist . He was the first Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight champion and was a coach on the The Ultimate Fighter 5 reality show, which aired on Spike TV. He was formerly signed as a featherweight with World Extreme Cagefighting , which is...
(Former UFC Lightweight Champion) Tatsuya Kawajiri
Tatsuya Kawajiri
Tatsuya Kawajiri is a Japanese mixed martial artist and a former Shooto welterweight champion, currently competing in Dream's lightweight division...
(Former Shooto
Shooto
Shooto is a mixed martial arts organization that is governed by the Shooto Association and the International Shooto Commission. Shooto was originally formed in 1985, as an organization and as a particular fighting system derived from shoot wrestling. Practitioners are referred to as shooters,...
Welterweight Champion)
See also
- Mixed martial artsMixed martial artsMixed Martial Arts is a full contact combat sport that allows the use of both striking and grappling techniques, both standing and on the ground, including boxing, wrestling, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, muay Thai, kickboxing, karate, judo and other styles. The roots of modern mixed martial arts can be...
- List of Pride events
- List of Pride champions
- List of Pride FC fighters
- List of male mixed martial artists
- List of MMA organizations
- Yarennoka