How come PRIDE was able to attract so many HWs?

[I Am Legion]

Not only pay.

A guy that gets beaten to make a living usually like getting his props.

As shady as some stuff were in Pride (no better than UFC), at least the fighters, not the promotion was the center of the attention.

They were the show, not a stupid guy yelling "it's time", a ref trying to grab all the attention and two bald clowns.

I have to disagree here....PRIDE was always about the event...way more theatrics, screaming lady, fireworks, trophies, confetti, circus matches.. I loved it

 

[machinaexdeus]

I rustled some noob jimmies there, jesus christ.

Pride was a joke, no drug testing, freak show fights, just a full on mess. The UFC makes stars today, sure.. but nothing like Pride did. Pairing up Wandy, Fedor, etc with random Japanese people to smash.

It's funny how you forum kids believe you can't be a real MMA fan unless you liked pride. I was around in that era, lots were, and it doesn't make you less of an MMA fan to view that era as a god dam joke.

You made a blanket statement, you were besmirched. Your more nuanced addendum makes for more of a discussion point. The rest of your post sounds needy.

 

[EckY]

... AND they went out of business.

Which had nothing to do with any of what he posted, PRIDE were still hugely popular and making a lot of money when they went out of business, there domestic network TV ratings blow away anything UFC has ever got on FOX, it was all down to the Yakuza scandal, nothing to do with how much they paid or the fights they put on.

 

[clayj]

They were paying a lot of money, it was the Yakuza's money laundering scheme, so there was a lot of cash (literal cash, paper money) that was being thrown at the fighters. They were paid in briefcases of cash, not checks.

At the time MMA was for all intents and purposes banned in the USA and the UFC was going under .... PRIDE was where you had to go.

 

[Rex Kwon Do]

Not only pay.

A guy that gets beaten to make a living usually like getting his props.

As shady as some stuff were in Pride (no better than UFC), at least the fighters, not the promotion was the center of the attention.

They were the show, not a stupid guy yelling "it's time", a ref trying to grab all the attention and two bald clowns.

What a stupid criticism. The PRIDE announcer woman was ridiculous, way more over-the-top than Buffer. She had her trademark bullshit just like Buffer has his.

As far as commentators, Bas was just as big of a personality as Rogan if not more. He even made little videos to introduce fights and shit. Certainly just as obtrusive as Rogan. As far as Dana being more visible than Sakakibara, well, yes...but big deal? Don't you like watching his "Embedded" videos and post-fight press conferences? I do.

 

[kikikhan]

I also remember there being a ton of guys that couldn't throw a strike. I did love the style matchups, but there was a newness back then that is gone now because its more true MMA now. Considering also that most of those old PRIDE guys are in UFC now, and UFC top 3 would beat any PRIDE top 3 from then says something....but PRIDE did have moreHWs

That doesn't matter. I actually preffer diversity to everybody fighting the same way and pointfighting the same way.

Modern MMA is very boring to me and I don't care whether everybody knows every technique or not. It's not like it's hard to learn MMA today. All thanks to old timers.

Sapp didn't know how to strike "properly" yet he still beat the great Hoost 2x in K-1, he would eat him alive in MMA.


I rather have 100 HWs (with martial arts credentials too),who are raw in overall skills than recycling 20 wellrounded HWs for 10 years.

PRIDE had everything.

 

[StankyPecker]

You made a blanket statement, you were besmirched. Your more nuanced addendum makes for more of a discussion point. The rest of your post sounds needy.

jimmies rustled.

What's with nerds on the internet, they don't like the way a discussion is going, get into an e-fight, then believe they can use some broad vocabulary for a moral victory.

 

[Truebeliever]

Because all except three sucked. Sorry, but that's just the truth.

 

[HP_Nut]

Pride had the best HW division, it wasn't even close. For much of Pride's "prime", the UFC's top 2 HWs were Sylvia & Arlovski. Both guys at their prime were great HWs, top 5, but in no way, shape, or form, can anyone convince me the UFC had the best HWs at that time. Fact is, Pride at the time paid the most, & the talent goes where the money is

Arlovski left the UFC on a 3 fight win streak, & was 9-2 in his last 11 UFC fights. After leaving the UFC on a 3 fight win streak, he won his next 2 fights against UFC calibre fighters (Roy Nelson & Rothwell). Then he fought Fedor & got KTFO, in a great fight. He was prime Arlovski, not over the hill, & ranked #2 by most sites before the Fedor fight.

Sylvia was 6-2 in his last 8 UFC fights, & his very last fight in the UFC, was a UFC HW title fight. He was still in his prime when he left, & ranked top 5 by most MMA sites. He got destroyed by Fedor.

 

[machinaexdeus]

jimmies rustled.

What's with nerds on the internet, they don't like the way a discussion is going, get into an e-fight, then believe they can use some broad vocabulary for a moral victory.

This was a discussion?

 

[kikikhan]

I rustled some noob jimmies there, jesus christ.

Pride was a joke, no drug testing, freak show fights, just a full on mess. The UFC makes stars today, sure.. but nothing like Pride did. Pairing up Wandy, Fedor, etc with random Japanese people to smash.

It's funny how you forum kids believe you can't be a real MMA fan unless you liked pride. I was around in that era, lots were, and it doesn't make you less of an MMA fan to view that era as a god dam joke.

You are a joke.

 

[Insaniteus]

Pride had a large HW division because it was one of their only divisions at all. For most of its existence Pride only had HW and LHW, and then LW showed up eventually. They were just adding MW when they went under. When you only have a couple weight classes, it's much easier to load them up with talent.

Also, Pride had many single-discipline big guys that fought. These types of fighters would get annihilated in 2015. The truth is that most large professional athletes who train and reach the top levels end up being leaner, and capable of making 205 if they try (Cormier, Cain, Fedor, Couture, Cro Cop, all capable of making 205). It is rare for guys as large as Lesnar or Overeem to not end up being slow plodding empty-gas-tank husks of flesh like a Silvia. Even top 10 fighters Overeem, Bigfoot, Hunt, and Browne all gas pretty bad as the fight goes on, getting schooled by smaller superior athletes like Cain or Werdum.

 

[RollingStop]

No they were fights by fighters who don't need weight class protection. I don't care if Sapp bearhugs Anderson Silva to death, he still beats him in a fight.

Anderson would beat Bob Sapp.

 

[Mr Jay]

I rustled some noob jimmies there, jesus christ.

Pride was a joke, no drug testing, freak show fights, just a full on mess. The UFC makes stars today, sure.. but nothing like Pride did. Pairing up Wandy, Fedor, etc with random Japanese people to smash.

It's funny how you forum kids believe you can't be a real MMA fan unless you liked pride. I was around in that era, lots were, and it doesn't make you less of an MMA fan to view that era as a god dam joke.

The joke here is probably the number of accounts you have created and have had banned on this site.

 

[StankyPecker]

This was a discussion?

Do you see how not a single person is agreeing with the bull shit you've posted in this thread, have any more big words boi?

 

[Wand4Life]

Because all except three sucked. Sorry, but that's just the truth.

Hahahahaha.
That's the biggest load of hilarious shit I've read all week.

 

[StankyPecker]

The joke here is probably the number of accounts you have created and have had banned on this site.

This is my first, but it's looking like it may not be the last.

 

[Lucifer Alpha]

Not only pay.

A guy that gets beaten to make a living usually like getting his props.

As shady as some stuff were in Pride (no better than UFC), at least the fighters, not the promotion was the center of the attention.

They were the show, not a stupid guy yelling "it's time", a ref trying to grab all the attention and two bald clowns.

Pride only did two shows in America and people were already sick of Jerry Millen.

 

[SpidermanISGOAT]

I rustled some noob jimmies there, jesus christ.

Pride was a joke, no drug testing, freak show fights, just a full on mess. The UFC makes stars today, sure.. but nothing like Pride did. Pairing up Wandy, Fedor, etc with random Japanese people to smash.

It's funny how you forum kids believe you can't be a real MMA fan unless you liked pride. I was around in that era, lots were, and it doesn't make you less of an MMA fan to view that era as a god dam joke.

You got to be trolling. It is a given that the UFC is better than PRIDE but it wasen't always. PRIDE was better from the late 90's until it was bought out by the UFC in 2007. So many of the top fighters came from PRIDE.

Anyhow the reason PRIDE attracted so many HW is because

*the pay
*tournaments
*open weight tournaments
*relaxed drug testing for steroids
*No weight limit for HW (nobody had to make 265) so you got really big guys coming in
*And PRIDE was more active in seeking out fighters from various other areas
*Special rules/style matches and more relaxed rules

The UFC has more rules when it comes to fighting, has weight limit for HW, does not have tournaments, does not have open weight tournaments, and does not have relaxed drug testing for steroids. The UFC overall surely pays better than PRIDE but part of the appeal of PRIDE was the prize money which attracted a lot of big HW from other areas of combat.

If the UFC could have less rules, and tournaments I am sure they would since it makes tons of money and Dana and Ferrita's love to make money.

 

[K1MMA]

UFC was always known for not treating fighters correctly, so fighters mostly avoided them, until they finally bought out every piece of competition.