In the early to mid-2000s, the UFC was not the only popular mixed martial arts organization. It may not have even been the best. Located in Japan, the Pride Fighting Championships played host to some of the most legendary fighters and fights in MMA history. Until its buyout by Zuffa in 2006, the argument could be made that Pride was at worst an equal to the UFC, and at best far superior.
For years, fans of MMA had wondered what would happen when Pride stars showed up in the UFC and fight under the American unified rules. Could Wanderlei Silva beat Chuck Liddell? How would Mirko Cro Cop fare against someone like Randy Couture? Would Shogun Rua continue to be the most dominant light heavyweight in the world?
As it turned out, the Pride stars have been made to look fairly ordinary since the organization folded. The elite names in the company have not fared well. It has all come to a head in 2011, where the following Pride fighters have lost and lost decisively in the past three months: longtime top heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko, former top ranked light heavyweight Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, 2006 Pride Grand Prix winner Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic, top ten light heavyweight Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, and former Pride Lightweight Champ Takanori Gomi. It is safe to say that the Pride flame has all but been extinguished.
Although the list there is large, there are still a few other Pride vets to add to the list of legends who are essentially done. Wanderlei Silva, despite a decision win in 2010 against Michael Bisping, is pretty much done. Since joining the UFC, he has gone 2-3 and hasn’t fought since the aforementioned Bisping fight back in February 2010. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira has gone 3-2 since joining the UFC, but the two losses were both devastating knock out losses and he looks like a shell of his former self. Prior to the Frank Mir KO in 2007, Nogueira hadn’t ever been finished in any of his 35 prior fights dating back to 1999. He also hasn’t fought since February 2010, when Cain Velasquez knocked him out in the first round. Even someone with some success like Shogun Rua, the former UFC Light Heavyweight Champ, have had middling results post-Pride.
Of all the former Pride fighters to continue fighting, only three longtime veterans of that organization have had major success the past five years. The first is Dan Henderson. Hendo came into the UFC holding the Pride Middleweight and Welterweight titles simaltaneously. He had a record in Pride of 12-6 and has gone 5-3 since then. His losses were all in title fights, and in the loss to Anderson Silva he became the first person to win a round against the Spider. That Silva loss in 2008 is also the only time he has been finished since 2005 and he currently holds the Strikeforce Light Heavyweight title.
The second fighter is Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. Jackson has gone 7-2 since leaving Pride in 2006 and in 2007 was the first man to knock out longtime UFC Light Heavyweight Champ Chuck Liddell since he did it in Pride in 2003. Rampage was successful in Pride, but has become a bigger star in the UFC and even had a starring role in the A Team remake last year. He is still ranked in the top five at his weight class and could even be challenging for the UFC title again by the end of the year.
The last man is Alistair Overeem, the current Strikeforce Heavyweight Champ. He was only 6-7 in Pride, but has gone 10-1 since 2006. On top of his MMA success, Overeem recently won the K-1 Kickboxing Grand Prix, cementing him as one of the best strikers in combat sports He has the most potential to have the greatest amount of post-Pride success, as heavyweight is one of the weaker weight classes and with his skill level, there are really only a few heavyweights in the world that could really give him problems.
This post is intended to be the beginning of an irregular series of posts over the unforseeable future chronicling Pride. Expect to see pieces about topics such as why Pride fighters have done so poorly over the past several years, great fights and fighters, and maybe even some fantasy matchmaking. Stay tuned for more.
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