PRIDE FC brought many things to the table in the late ‘90s until their end in the late 2000’s. Legendary names, tens of thousands of screaming fans, elite matchups as well as entertainment. All in one night you could see a sumo wrestler, “Krazy Horse” Bennett later in the night and a prime Wanderlei Silva in the main event.
You truly never knew what to expect and because of that we salute PRIDE and vow that PRIDE never dies. For any fans new to the fight game and never got to experience the spectacle that was PRIDE FC or the die-hards who need to relive it, here’s a short list of fights that separated PRIDE from everybody else.
Chuck Liddell vs Alistair Overeem – PRIDE Total Elimination 2003: With the pride of the UFC on their backs, Chuck Liddell and Dana White invaded the 2003 PRIDE Grand Prix looking to prove that a win over Wanderlei Silva would prove UFC dominance. Only problem was he had to fight to get to Silva, starting with Alistair Overeem.
Full fight here: https://ufcfightpass.com/video/34257
Rampage Jackson vs Ricardo Arona – PRIDE Critical Countdown 2004: Muscle doesn’t usually beat BJJ just when it does it’s spectacular.
Full fight here: https://ufcfightpass.com/video/30861
Takanori Gomi vs Tatsuya Kawajiri – PRIDE Bushido 9: With almost a Robbie Lawler-esque fighting style, no fight featuring Takanori Gomi is a fight to be missed, one of the most entertaining was when “The Fireball Kid” took on Tatsuya Kawajiri.
Full fight here: https://ufcfightpass.com/video/33047
Charles Bennett vs Yoshiro Maeda – PRIDE Bushido 7: When “Felony” Bennett fights, they’re worth watching three times each. Once to observe as a fan, once to try and put yourself in Bennett’s mind and once to try to put yourself in his opponent’s mind.
Full fight here: https://ufcfightpass.com/video/34007
Kazushi Sakuraba vs Royce Gracie – PRIDE Grand Prix 2000 Finals: A fight so monumental it has it’s own Wikipedia page. Everybody from Sakuraba to the commentary team to the fans knew the deck was stacked against Sakuraba and with no time limit, neither man willing to lose, Saku and Royce fought for well over 90 minutes.
Full fight here: https://ufcfightpass.com/video/32799
Big Nog vs Mirko Cro Cop – PRIDE Final Conflict 2003: Would Cro Cop remain undefeated and add another insane knockout to his highlight reel or would Big Nog add another limb to his collection? The only thing everybody in the building knew was that there would be a finish one way or another.
Full fight here: https://ufcfightpass.com/video/30276
Fedor Emelianenko vs Mark Coleman – PRIDE 32: If at first you don’t succeed, go back out there, try your hardest but end up with the same result. That was the Mark Coleman reality after his rematch against Fedor.
Full fight here: https://ufcfightpass.com/video/30496
Mark Hunt vs Dan Bobish – PRIDE 28: Nothing seemed to be going right for Mark Hunt until the fight found its way back to the feet and Hunt delivered a tree trunk of a leg to the stomach and salvaged the night.
Full fight here: https://ufcfightpass.com/video/31468
Giant Silva vs Henry Sentoryu – PRIDE Total Elimination 2004: Entertainment comes first at PRIDE FC. No better example of that than when Giant Silva took on Henry Sentoryu… And won by submission. Only in PRIDE.
Full fight here: https://ufcfightpass.com/video/34152
Fabricio Werdum vs Alistair Overeem – PRIDE Total Elimination Absolute: The first fight in the trilogy that spanned over three different promotions was a PRIDE FC classic in Osaka.
Full fight here: https://ufcfightpass.com/video/34139
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