Beyond the Fight 04.25.08: Icarus of the East Pt. 1 - The Calm Before the Storm

Posted by Sergio G. Hernandez on 04.25.2008

Before SpikeTV, before The Ultimate Fighter, and even before Dana White, Pride Fighting Championships was where fights fans looked to when they wanted to see the best of the best. This, the first of a three part series, takes a look at Pride FC's final days, from leader in MMA to Zuffa acquisition.

It's been over a year but you still read about it.

You'll read about it on the Sherdog boards, at Five Ounces, or on the 411 MMA comments section.

You'll read about how either it was the greatest thing ever; where the best in the world faced off against one another in packed arenas of 30, 40, or 50,000 spectators. Or you'll read about how it was completely overrated; complete with mismatches, fighter favoritism, and non-title matches

It was either a shooting star that brilliantly flashed for a short time before it burned out or a product of hype, pushed forward by those who exhibited a sort of anti-xenophobia.

However you remember Pride Fighting Championships, one thing is certain: you will never forget it.

This week's Beyond the Fight begins a three-part series where I discuss the last days of Pride FC. This week's column will take a look at Pride's last year of normalcy, starting with the Final Conflict event held in August of 2005.

This was a huge event for the Japanese promotion. Not only were the semi-finals and finals of the best 205 pound Grand Prix tournament but arguably the best collection of fighters ever being held that night, the card also featured the most anticipated heavyweight match-up in the history of MMA.

Wanderlei Silva would take on Ricardo Arona and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua would face Alistair Overeem with the winners facing off against each other. Those four fighters navigated through a sea of fighters which included Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, Igor Vovchanchyn, current UFC Light Heavyweight champion Quinton Jackson, and MMA living legend Kazushi Sakuraba.

And in the co-main event, Mirko "CroCop" Filipovic would challenge the undisputed Pride FC Heavyweight champion, Fedor "The Last Emperor" Emelianenko, unbeaten in nearly five years while facing top competition.

The event was, in a word, amazing. Arona controlled Silva en route to a decision victory and even laughed in Silva's face as the final bell sounded, having full knowledge that he had ended Silva's five-year unbeaten streak at middleweight. Rua survived an early onslaught from Overeem and made his way into the finals where he completely decimated the Brazilian Top Team product via hammerstrikes and immediately shot up to a number one or two ranking on many MMA pundits' top ten lists in his weight class.

The heavyweight bout did not disappoint. Twenty minutes of nail-biting, edge-of-your-chair action between two of the world's best ended with Emelianenko getting his hand raised. His face was battered and bruised, proof that even the Russian Cyborg, was not immune to CroCop's striking proficiency. In that victory, Emelianenko also provided the blueprint for beating the kickboxer: press the action and never let him get comfortable. Gabriel Gonzaga and Cheick Kongo utilized this tactic in the UFC, giving Filipovic a 1-2 record inside the Octagon.

The event was an enormous success and left fans wanting more.

Pride FC delivered.

The next card they put together was arguably the greatest mixed martial arts event of all time: Bushido 9. Go to any MMA message board and ask what the best events ever are or ask what DVDs should be added to a collection and I guarantee you nearly everyone's answer will include Bushido 9.

The card featured five past or future world champions, not including organizations such as Shooto or DEEP. Throw those organizations into the mix and the list of champions grows even more.

Paulo Filho, Dan Henderson, Takanori Gomi, Tatsuya Kawajiri, Murilo Bustamante, Yves Edwards, Joachim Hansen were just a few of the fighters on the card. Fourteen bouts total with only five going to decision and even some of those (Hansen/Edwards) were great fights.

This card was the beginning of Pride's lightweight and welterweight tournaments to crown a 161 pound and a 183 pound champion, which would be decided at Shockwave 2005.

Pride FC's next event, Starting Over/Fully Loaded, featured the main event of Filipovic taking on former UFC Heavyweight champion Josh Barnett in a rematch from the bout a full year prior in which Barnett suffered a freak shoulder injury. Filipovic dominated his way back into the win column and looked to be en route to a rematch with Pride's heavyweight king. The co-main event featured Mr. Pride himself, Kazushi Sakuraba, flashing KOing Ken Shamrock.

The stage was set for Pride's annual New Year's Eve show where they and rival kickboxing promotion K-1 would stack their cards in hoping of winning the all-important ratings war in Japan. Pride, for their part, stacked the card with a who's who of MMA: Emelianenko, Silva, Arona, Filipovic, Gomi, Henderson, and Sakuraba among others.

Gomi and Henderson won their respective weight class's championship belts and Silva retained his Middleweight title with a split decision victory of Arona. What was most surprising about the results was Mark Hunt, former K-1 World Grand Prix champion, defeating Filipovic via split decision. It just seemed that CroCop could not dish out enough punishment in 20 minutes to topple the Samoan.

2005 was definitely a banner year for the premier Japanese fighting organization and arguably the premier fighting organization in the world. 2006, however, would have a rocky start.

Pride's fight event of 2006, Dreamers/Unbreakable, lacked marquee names or stellar match-ups. Antonio Rodgrio Nogueira and Barnett made appearances against overmatched opposition and "Shogun" Rua returned to the ring for the first time since his 2005 Grand Prix win against an aging Mark Coleman, who many felt was no match for the Brazilian. In what came as a shock to many, a takedown attempt by Coleman inadvertently led to Rua dislocating his elbow. The ensuing madness in the ring between the Hammer House team and Chute Box blurred the lines between MMA and pro wrestling.

While Dreamers/Unbreakable somewhat floundered, Pride's Bushido brand kept putting on amazing shows. Bushido 10 followed the incredible Bushido event seven months prior and did not disappoint. It's perhaps best known for its shocking main event for Marcus Aurelio, in a non-title bout, choked Takanori Gomi unconscious. These amazing cards, however, didn't prove a draw and the Bushido brand was struggling financially.

To garner more interest, Pride FC had already announced a new Grand Prix for 2006. It wouldn't be for heavyweights. It wouldn't be for light heavyweights. It wouldn't even be for welter- or lightweights. No, it would be for them all. Pride was holding an open-weight tournament to crown the "best fighter in the world." Immediately, talk of Silva taking on Emelianenko or Gomi fighting "Shogun" was on the tip of every MMA fan's tongue.

What actually transpired was less than exciting. For all intents and purposes, it was a heavyweight tournament save for some 205ers who had previously competed at heavyweight and a couple of 185ers thrown in for good measure.

The promise of an open-weight tournament was greater than the result and fans were expectedly somewhat disappointed.

But that was the least of Pride FC's problems.


Next week, the scandal that will eventually destroy Pride FC hits and nothing will ever be the same.