# Official: I miss Pride



## Kang-War (Aug 21, 2009)

knee on the ground , Crazy Annoncer , Yeallow card. Good audience and the ring


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## Ground'N'Pound5 (Aug 7, 2009)

true that


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## AceFranklin88 (Apr 21, 2007)

Yea dude.  Makes me very sad.


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## Machida Karate (Nov 30, 2009)

Yeah Pride is the good old days, just think of the calibur now with those rules... Brock would scare me everytime he fought, i would think someone would die one of the times


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## judoka4554 (Jan 8, 2010)

Bas>Goldberg


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## Liddellianenko (Oct 8, 2006)

judoka4554 said:


> Bas*>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>*Goldberg


fixed


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## dudeabides (Sep 30, 2008)

Bas was the color comm. so he'd be better compared to Rogan, while the play by play that Goldberg does his best with puts him in the same boat as Renallo, Quadros, etc. And dammit I miss the Pride FC too, glad I can rewatch but wish it was still on.


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## Hendo (Mar 2, 2007)

imagine GSP with side control pounding people face with is knee


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## 70seven (Mar 5, 2007)

Watch Dream and Sengoku! Its very much like PRIDE. Both need to grow a bit but they're getting there.

Yellow Cards - Check
Crazy announcer - Check
Crazy Pride Lady - Check
Knees to ground oponent - (when both on ground) - Check
Pageantry and long intros - Check
TOURNAMENTS - CHECK !!!!!!

I miss Pride but come on, Dream is there for people like us !


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## evilappendix (Jan 4, 2007)

70seven said:


> Watch Dream and Sengoku! Its very much like PRIDE. Both need to grow a bit but they're getting there.
> 
> Yellow Cards - Check
> Crazy announcer - Check
> ...


Yeah Dream rocks. Aren't they supposed to be co promoting with Strikeforce soon?


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## BobbyCooper (Oct 26, 2009)

evilappendix said:


> Yeah Dream rocks. Aren't they supposed to be co promoting with Strikeforce soon?


they already do aren't they? Watch Dynamite!


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## kantowrestler (Jun 6, 2009)

*Copromotion*

Bigger shows are coming soon my friends, lets keep watching!


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## khoveraki (Jun 28, 2009)

evilappendix said:


> Yeah Dream rocks. Aren't they supposed to be co promoting with Strikeforce soon?


YEAH! They're promising amazing matchups like Aoki vs Thompson and Barnett vs Fedor.


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## kantowrestler (Jun 6, 2009)

*Fedor VS Barnett*

Yeah hopefully Barnett can lay off the roids this time!


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## khoveraki (Jun 28, 2009)

kantowrestler said:


> Yeah hopefully Barnett can lay off the roids this time!



I don't think he'll have to, the fight will likely be in Japan I think.


If I was fighting Fedor I'd be on MASSIVE amounts of roids!


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## kantowrestler (Jun 6, 2009)

*Roids*

Like that would help against Fedor!


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## Damone (Oct 1, 2006)

Watched the 2004 GP not that long ago.

Sigh, I miss fights like Sergei vs Nogueira.


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## khoveraki (Jun 28, 2009)

Damone said:


> Watched the 2004 GP not that long ago.
> 
> Sigh, I miss fights like Sergei vs Nogueira.




Sergei is like the #1 unsung hero of MMA. That dude has fought so many people.



Pride had amazing fights like Hector Lombard vs Mousasi and Sergei vs Nog and Cro Cop vs Randleman, fights that today's UFC fan would never understand the important of.


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## Drogo (Nov 19, 2006)

Pride had some good things (the yellow card system is something I'd love to see again) but I don't miss their love for mismatches. A lot of "waste of time" fights.


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## swpthleg (Dec 31, 2006)

Every time a fight goes to the ground for a minute or two, or the fighters dance around and don't throw any punches for 3 seconds, it feels weird and great that I'm not hearing booing.

I LOVE PRIDE CROWDS!!


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## Bonnar426 (Jul 18, 2006)

You know what really sucks! I started getting into Pride a few months before it went out of business. So yeah, I missed out.


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## Damone (Oct 1, 2006)

khoveraki said:


> Sergei is like the #1 unsung hero of MMA. That dude has fought so many people.
> 
> 
> 
> Pride had amazing fights like Hector Lombard vs Mousasi and Sergei vs Nog and Cro Cop vs Randleman, fights that today's UFC fan would never understand the important of.


I really liked Lombard vs Gono.

And shit, Suloev vs Bustamante was fun stuff, too.

Pride rawked.


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## swpthleg (Dec 31, 2006)

khoveraki said:


> Sergei is like the #1 unsung hero of MMA. That dude has fought so many people.
> 
> 
> 
> Pride had amazing fights like Hector Lombard vs Mousasi and Sergei vs Nog and Cro Cop vs Randleman, fights that today's UFC fan would never understand the important of.


We're trying.

You say "Sergei" like there's not a few Russian guys called Sergei who may have floated in and out of various fight promotions in the last 10 years.

I assume you mean Kharitonov.


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## khoveraki (Jun 28, 2009)

swpthleg said:


> We're trying.
> 
> You say "Sergei" like there's not a few Russian guys called Sergei who may have floated in and out of various fight promotions in the last 10 years.
> 
> I assume you mean Kharitonov.


Kharitonov, he's the only man to beat Overeem at HW. He's beaten Semmy Schilt, Werdum, Pedro Rizzo, KO'd Shogun's brother Ninja... and had tough fights with Big Nog, Monson, Aleks Emelianenko...


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## JimmyJames (Dec 29, 2009)

I dont miss PRIDE all that much. It was just an org, its the fighters that make me watch MMA. Although I do miss a few aspects of Pride that I would like to see in the UFC and other orgs.


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## swpthleg (Dec 31, 2006)

I loved the entrances. Yeah, I know, I fail and am uncool.


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## kantowrestler (Jun 6, 2009)

*PRIDE Checks*

I miss the fact that all these guys were going to Japan cause of the payroll they were getting, something only Affliction tried to match!


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## Freelancer (Jul 5, 2007)

We can still DREAM!

Pride was a true martial arts SHOW. UFC is more like a sporting event. Hidehiko Yoshida in his prime, choking people out with his gi, Kharitonov demolishing dudes with his boxing, Wanderlei on a murder spree,CC with his high kicks... I can't go on I'm gonna cry.


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## BobbyCooper (Oct 26, 2009)

Freelancer said:


> We can still DREAM!
> 
> Pride was a true martial arts SHOW. UFC is more like a sporting event. Hidehiko Yoshida in his prime, choking people out with his gi, Kharitonov demolishing dudes with his boxing, Wanderlei on a murder spree,CC with his high kicks... I can't go on I'm gonna cry.


The UFC isn't just a sporting event. If you wanna argue that, you can also say that PRIDE was more like the WWE with all the Entrances, announcement girl and all that stuff ( even through I love exactly this )  

I think the UFC like they are now, is a lot better like PRIDE ever has been. For example just take only a look at the current champs the UFC represents. The whole UFC book is so well written, all these outstanding characters wich are holding belts at the moment raise01: In my eyes PRIDE never reached this stage! Include the contenders as well.


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## Freelancer (Jul 5, 2007)

BobbyCooper said:


> The UFC isn't just a sporting event. If you wanna argue that, you can also say that PRIDE was more like the WWE with all the Entrances, announcement girl and all that stuff ( even through I love exactly this )
> 
> I think the UFC like they are now, is a lot better like PRIDE ever has been. For example just take only a look at the current champs the UFC represents. The whole UFC book is so well written, all these outstanding characters wich are holding belts at the moment raise01: In my eyes PRIDE never reached this stage! Include the contenders as well.


I'm not sure I follow. You can't argue that PRIDE was like WWE because it had great fighters and more than great matches. The show aspect was a plus not the main thing. UFC has great fighters and great matches but it lacks the show aspect. The entrances are poorly done, the intros are ridiculous compared to PRIDE, fighters can't wear shoes or gi's etc. If UFC would had those things it would be awesome!


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## BobbyCooper (Oct 26, 2009)

Freelancer said:


> I'm not sure I follow. You can't argue that PRIDE was like WWE because it had great fighters and more than great matches. The show aspect was a plus not the main thing. UFC has great fighters and great matches but it lacks the show aspect. The entrances are poorly done, the intros are ridiculous compared to PRIDE, fighters can't wear shoes or gi's etc. If UFC would had those things it would be awesome!


No no I didn't said that! Pride was more like the WWE because of the Entrances and all that Japanese stuff around it not because of the fighters or the great matches. Don't get me wrong the UFC needs those entrances as well. But because of that the UFC like they are today, is more like a real martial arts event!


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## Freelancer (Jul 5, 2007)

What i mind is that there is no diversity in UFC. Every fighter must wear the same outfit. There are no personalities, just sportsmen. In PRIDE everybody had different outfit, so it added to Mixed part in MMA. To me one of the signs of a sporting event is the uniform which everybody has to wear. So ufc reminds of a single martial art rather than a mix of them, which MMA in my opinion is.

Imagine if Machida fought with Karate gi?


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## Mjr (Apr 22, 2007)

Freelancer said:


> We can still DREAM!
> 
> Pride was a true martial arts SHOW. UFC is more like a sporting event. Hidehiko Yoshida in his prime, choking people out with his gi, Kharitonov demolishing dudes with his boxing, Wanderlei on a murder spree,CC with his high kicks... I can't go on I'm gonna cry.


Agree 100% I said in a post earlier, Pride had a magic that the UFC lacks! But I think that may have to do with the audiences. The fighters used to show lots more heart and emotion, both in and outside the ring.


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## BobbyCooper (Oct 26, 2009)

Freelancer said:


> What i mind is that there is no diversity in UFC. Every fighter must wear the same outfit. There are no personalities, just sportsmen. In PRIDE everybody had different outfit, so it added to Mixed part in MMA. To me one of the signs of a sporting event is the uniform which everybody has to wear. So ufc reminds of a single martial art rather than a mix of them, which MMA in my opinion is.
> 
> Imagine if Machida fought with Karate gi?


Yea I understand what you mean, but then we would go back to the old days. The UFC tries to build this Sport to a real Sport like Boxing, like K-1 and so on. And I think that this contains that every fighter should have the same outfit. It would wake up to many critics again if any fighter would do what they want. 

PS: I would love to see Machida in a GI :thumb02: but I guess it would only give him disadvantages as a stand up fighter. On the ground it would help him maybe like it does for Akiyama. But Lyoto never wore a GI in an MMA fight, only on his several Karate Tournaments, so I guess he wound't wear one even if he was allowed to.


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## swpthleg (Dec 31, 2006)

I'd have to disagree on the point that there are no personalities in MMA.

I'd be excited as hell if Machida (or GSP even) fought in a gi, but it is too significant a disadvantage.


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## Freelancer (Jul 5, 2007)

swpthleg said:


> I*'d have to disagree on the point that there are no personalities in MMA*.
> 
> I'd be excited as hell if Machida (or GSP even) fought in a gi, but it is too significant a disadvantage.


I said there are no personalities in UFC.


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## Damone (Oct 1, 2006)

I still want Nog vs Barnett 3.

Their 2 fights were freakin' awesome.

The UFC LW division is just so bland to me. You got Penn and then everyone else. Thankfully, there's Gomi.


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## swpthleg (Dec 31, 2006)

Freelancer said:


> I said there are no personalities in UFC.


Oh, you're right. I'm sorry.

We need some. IDK why Silva doesn't bust out some of his Pride antics, ie sweet dance moves.

Also, I seem to remember GSP having a sweet backspin and backflip. 

As his English improves, he's getting funnier. I'm hopeful.


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## kantowrestler (Jun 6, 2009)

*Personality*

Yeah hopefully that will continue to improve in the UFC!


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## DahStoryTella (Jul 11, 2009)

MMA heads are very much like hiphop heads, damn.

Old, bitter people who can't accept a new generation because it's wack in their mind.

Hahaaaaaa..

(Not saying all of them are bitter and old, but you get my point.)


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## Cartheron (Sep 5, 2007)

Pride intro best intro.


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## Bonnar426 (Jul 18, 2006)

Cartheron said:


> Pride intro best intro.







Damn, I couldn't load it! Okay, just click on this link! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8a-CM5zuzE


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## wukkadb (Jan 1, 2007)

I've been watching a lot of PRIDE lately, it's been awesome. I've basically started at Pride 20 and watched up to Pride 28. Some great match ups in the Pride 20's, oh man.


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## kantowrestler (Jun 6, 2009)

*Pride 20*

Can you find anything earlier?


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## swpthleg (Dec 31, 2006)

I imagine that a significant portion, if not all PRIDE fights, are available on YouTube, or on DVD.


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## kantowrestler (Jun 6, 2009)

*Pride 1*

I'd like to see those first PRIDE fights that were on the very first PRIDE show!


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## KillingRoad89 (Jul 28, 2009)

its sad to hear that they were going to have a grand prix containing ufc and pride fighters. until the whole yakuza thing became apparent. then they had to shut it down.


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## kantowrestler (Jun 6, 2009)

*Grand Prix*

Wait, were they really going to have a UFC/PRIDE copromotion?


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## swpthleg (Dec 31, 2006)

kantowrestler said:


> Wait, were they really going to have a UFC/PRIDE copromotion?


If I'm understanding KillingRoad's fairly easy to understand post correctly, that was the case.


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## kantowrestler (Jun 6, 2009)

*Timeline*

Was that before or after the ZUFFA buyout?


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## KillingRoad89 (Jul 28, 2009)

It was afteri think . they had a big plan to keep Pride going. But after the yakuza ties it was game over.


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## kantowrestler (Jun 6, 2009)

*Yakuza*

Yeah the Japanese general population just didn't want anything to do with it after that.


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## Mjr (Apr 22, 2007)

kantowrestler said:


> Yeah the Japanese general population just didn't want anything to do with it after that.







I hope no one has a problem with me reposting this!

It deserves it, such an amazing video and it captures Pride so well. Credit to whoever else posted this earlier so I could watch it. Make sure you watch it full screen and click the HQ button.


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## IronMan (May 15, 2006)

KillingRoad89 said:


> It was afteri think . they had a big plan to keep Pride going. But after the yakuza ties it was game over.


It's way more complicated than that.

The Yakuza had been involved in Pride essentially since its inception, and everyone knew it (including the Fertittas, when they bought the company).

The entire history of the organization is incredibly shady. The "suicide" of Naoto Morishita and the rise of Sakakibara, who was a little too friendly with a lot of Yakuza leaders, and seems (to a lot of people, myself included) to have basically become a puppet for the Yakuza.

Really, though, the only thing that we don't know was the exact extent of Yakuza involvement in Pride, but it was always clear (whether from watching managers like Ken Imai take over the contracts of major fighters, or watching guys like Sakakibara set up control of the organization) that the Yakuza had some hand in dealing with the behind-the-scenes stuff in Pride.

As far as why it wasn't carried on by the Fertittas, there are a few reasons that are (simply) better than the observation that there was mob involvement (I mean, the Fertitta family has a history, too, though that tends to be blown out of proportion a little bit). Firstly, taking in the entirety of the Pride roster would have been impossible for the UFC, as Pride was losing tons of money (indicated by the fact that the UFC bought the organization for a reported $70 million, which is basically pocket change). Operating costs were not worth potential benefits.

Secondly, there were a number of lawsuits filed about how the UFC would operate Pride should it keep the organization running. Sakakibara filed one of these lawsuits, though (from what I understand) there are many, filed by a handful of parties.

That said, it was an organization that put on many of the best shows MMA has seen so far, and it has a lot to teach western fans.

The institution of the yellow card is one thing that could be huge in western MMA that we don't seem to talk about very much. And then there are the fights themselves, and I could ramble on for days about them, but I'll just say that there's nothing better than a great war with a story behind it, and Pride made those happen.



kantowrestler said:


> Yeah the Japanese general population just didn't want anything to do with it after that.


This is just wrong.

The Japanese know how many of their business are built into syndicates that deal with organized crime. The way that Japanese syndicates operate is totally different from the way American gangs do, much more like the business-based gangs of the 1920s.

They deal with illegal enterprises, but many of the syndicates are respected by the Japanese.

Moreover, it's hard to say that the Japanese "general population" didn't know about the Yakuza influence before. The Yakuza have a long history in professional wrestling in Japan, and the connection between Japanese professional wrestling and MMA is pretty fuzzy from a fans standpoint.

The notion that Pride had a negative public image in Japan is kind of ridiculous. They weren't that popular because they weren't putting on huge shows, but they had always known about the operational stuff in the same way they know about the Yakuza's involvement in local liquor stores.

Towards the end of Pride, they were not drawing the same kinds of crowds they should have been, and were paying their fighters larger amounts of money than they could reasonably afford, so they were headed towards bankruptcy. It wasn't that they had an illegal business, it's that they didn't maintain the quality of the product and kept the fighters salaries pretty damn high.


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## Darkwraith (Jun 4, 2008)

Fascinating synopses of the history of gang involvement with Pride. It is a story of a company paying out more moeny than they were bringing in. It was probably a way to "clean" some money for them as well. 


I would *LOVE *to see the yellow card in the UFC. :thumbsup:


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## UFC on VHS (Dec 16, 2008)

I was one of those unfortunate fans who REALLY started watching Pride FC right at the end. I remember the first time I heard of it my bro handed me a DVD and it was killer. Right when I started getting into itand searching on the internet it was over. No joke when I first heard of Pride i was probobly purchased within 4 months. I was just to busy watching Ken Shamrock bitch at Tito Ortiz to notice....

So today I had the day off work and I thought I would really look into it. I always watched videos here and there on the internet but never did I look into it as far at this Doc did.

http://mixedmartialartvideos.com/pride-decade-documentary-video/

I watched the whole thing today and im pissed I missed out on Pride.

One question though why did they sell Pride to Zuffa? Were the owners of Pride greedy and wanted money? Financial issues? 

Is it true that the owner was found dead hanging in a hotel room?


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## Bonnar426 (Jul 18, 2006)

UFCFAN18 said:


> I was one of those unfortunate fans who REALLY started watching Pride FC right at the end. I remember the first time I heard of it my bro handed me a DVD and it was killer. Right when I started getting into itand searching on the internet it was over. No joke when I first heard of Pride i was probobly purchased within 4 months. I was just to busy watching Ken Shamrock bitch at Tito Ortiz to notice....
> 
> So today I had the day off work and I thought I would really look into it. I always watched videos here and there on the internet but never did I look into it as far at this Doc did.
> 
> ...


I feel your pain dude! I started getting into Pride right around the time Cro Cop won the 2006 Grand Prix!




> One question though why did they sell Pride to Zuffa? Were the owners of Pride greedy and wanted money? Financial issues?


I guess they thought Zuffa would have been able to keep it alive. We all know how that one turned out! Speaking of which, I remember there was somebody else that wanted to purchase PRIDE! I forget his name but I do remember Sakabara wanted nothing to do with him!


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## IronMan (May 15, 2006)

UFCFAN18 said:


> One question though why did they sell Pride to Zuffa? Were the owners of Pride greedy and wanted money? Financial issues?


The incredibly low buyout price suggests financial issues, as do the problems with paying fighter contracts.



> Is it true that the owner was found dead hanging in a hotel room?


Naoto Morishita, who was the President of Pride at the time, died in February of 2003, when he was found hanged in his hotel room.

The death is generally considered a suicide, but the circumstances are suspicious.


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## UFC on VHS (Dec 16, 2008)

Bonnar426 said:


> I feel your pain dude! I started getting into Pride right around the time Cro Cop won the 2006 Grand Prix!


Yeah it's to bad but back at that time I wasn't HUGE into MMA like I am now and I was quiet happy with TUF and Matt Hughes, Tim Sylvia and Chuck Liddell etc. I mean how the hell would I even know? I had never seen anything on TV about Pride and that was back when I first got the internet.



IronMan said:


> It's way more complicated than that.
> 
> The Yakuza had been involved in Pride essentially since its inception, and everyone knew it (including the Fertittas, when they bought the company).
> 
> ...


Good post.

It's just to bad I wonder what the MMA world would be like if Pride was still around. I thought I remembered someone telling me that the owners death was somehow involved with Yakuza and it was actually murder, but hey how the hell would any of us ever know.


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## IronMan (May 15, 2006)

UFCFAN18 said:


> It's just to bad I wonder what the MMA world would be like if Pride was still around. I thought I remembered someone telling me that the owners death was somehow involved with Yakuza and it was actually murder, but hey how the hell would any of us ever know.


Again, I said this in an above post, he was the President of Pride, not the owner. Naoto Morishita had a role similar to that of Dana White (though I think Dana does more behind the scenes than Morishita did, because he's a major stockholder in the company).

The circumstances of his death are suspicious, but suicide is what's on the record.

There's speculation that Morishita was killed because the Yakuza wanted to replace him with someone more friendly to their involvement (i.e. Sakakibara), and Sakakibara certainly was friendly to the Yakuza, but just because it worked out well for the Yakuza doesn't necessarily mean they killed the guy.


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## swpthleg (Dec 31, 2006)

I caught enough Pride fights on Ion to fall in love with it, then about a year later it went under. 

I'm happy enough watching the fights on links here or YouTube, but it's bittersweet.


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