Pride FC in the 1990s


In the last three years of the 1990s, Pride Fighting Championships reinvented Mixed Martial Arts in Japan and abroad.  Big money, big names and big events turned Pride FC brought the seemingly dead genre back and helped it reach the success in sees today.


Why does this belong on a blog about pro-wrestling?


Pro-wrestling made Pride.  In these first eight events offered up by Pride you'll see some legendary fighters, some fighters who would become legendary and a large number of pro-wrestlers.  After the repeated attempts to build a shoot-style promotion, Pride FC became the solution.  It most certainly had fixed fights, rampant drug abuse and the no athletic commissions making sure everything was legit.  They offered the kind of colorful cards that UFC and other American companies could not and still do not.


Look through the cards and you will notice approximately 15 men who had been, would be or dabbled in pro-wrestling (from the WWF and New Japan to UWFi and RINGS).


**Explanation of my rating system - I devised a odd little system to evaluate fights.  I based my ratings on entertainment value, skill displayed, energy displayed and finish.  This tends to mean that slugfests and high-paced mat battles rate higher than lay n' pray snoozers and "squash matches".  I also tried to include how the majority of the fight looked in two parts.  Part 1 - standing, on the ground or a combination.  Part 2 - striking, hooking or a combination**




Pride 1
Date of Event: 10/11/97 1. Kazunari Murakami vs. John Dixon - **1/2 (Combo/Combo)
2. Gary Goodridge vs. Oleg Taktarov - **3/4 (Standing/Striking)
3. Renzo Gracie vs. Akira Shoji - **1/2 (Combo/Combo)
4. Koji Kitao vs. Nathan Jones - **1/2 (Combo/Combo)
5. Bronko Citakic vs. Ralph White - *3/4 (Standing/Striking)
6. Dan Severn vs. Kimo - *1/2 (Standing/Striking)
7. Rickson Gracie vs. Nobuhiko Takada - *** (Combo/Combo)





Pride 2
Date of Event: 3/15/98 1. Royler Gracie vs. Yuhi Sano - ** (Ground/Hooking)
2. Akira Shoji vs. Juan Mott - *** (Combo/Striking)
3. William Roosmallen vs. Ralph White (Kickboxing Match)
4. Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Vernon White - **** (Ground/Hooking)
5. Renzo Gracie vs. Sanae Kikuta - *1/4 (Ground/Combo)
6. Tasis Petrides vs. George Randolph (Kickboxing Match)
7. Marco Ruas vs. Gary Goodridge - *** (Ground/Combo)
8. Mark Kerr vs. Bronko Cikatic - ** (Standing/Striking)



Pride 3
Date of Event: 6/24/98 1. Daijiro Matsui vs. Akira Shoji - ***1/2 (Combo/Striking)
2. Daiju Takase vs. Emmanuel Yarborough - **1/2 (Combo/Striking)
3. Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Carlos Newton - ****1/2 (Ground/Hooking)
4. Gary Goodridge vs. Amir - ***1/4 (Ground/Combo)
5. Mark Kerr vs. Pedro Otavio - ** (Ground/Combo)
6. Nobuhiko Takada vs. Kyle Sturgeon - *** (Combo/Combo)












Pride 4
Date of Event: 10/11/98 1. Igor Vovchanchyn vs. Gary Goodridge - **3/4 (Combo/Striking)
2. Akira Shoji vs. Wallid Ismael - **3/4 (Combo/Striking)
3. Sanae Kikuta vs. Daijiro Matsui - ** (Ground/Striking)
4. Allan Goes vs. Kazushi Sakuraba - ***1/2 (Ground/Combo)
5. Satoshi Honma vs. Yuhi Sano - **1/2 (Standing/Striking)
6. Alexander Otsuka vs. Marco Ruas - **3/4 (Ground/Striking)
7. Mark Kerr vs. Hugo Duarte - *1/2 (Ground/Striking)
8. Rickson Gracie vs. Nobuhiko Takada - ***1/4 (Combo/Striking)







Pride 5
Date of Event: 4/29/99 1. Eagan Inoue vs. Minoru Toyonaga - **1/2 (Combo/Striking)
2. Francisco Bueno vs. Satoshi Honma - ** (Standing/Striking)
3. Igor Vovchanchyn vs. Akira Shoji - *** (Combo/Striking)
4. Enson Inoue vs. Soichi Nishida - **3/4 (Ground/Combo)
- Rickson-Royler exhibition
5. Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Vitor Belfort - ***3/4 (Combo/Striking)
6. Nobuhiko Takada vs. Mark Coleman - ***1/4 (Ground/Combo)





Pride 6
Date of Event: 7/4/99 1. Carl Malenko vs. Eagan Inoue - **1/2 (Ground/Striking)
2. Carlos Newton vs. Daijiro Matsui - ****3/4 (Combo/Combo)
3. Igor Vovchanchyn vs. Carlos Baretto - ** (Combo/Striking)
4. Hiroki Kurosawa vs. Nobuoki Kokuta (Full Contact Karate)
5. Akira Shoji vs. Guy Mezger - *** (Combo/Striking)
6. Naoya Ogawa vs. Gary Goodridge - ***1/4 (Ground/Combo)
7. Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Ebenezer Fontes Braga - ***3/4 (Combo/Striking)
8. Mark Kerr vs. Nobuhiko Takada - *** (Combo/Combo)



Pride 7
Date of Event: 9/12/99 1. Daijiro Matsui vs. Bob Schrjiber - **3/4 (Ground/Combo)
2. Vanderlei Silva vs. Carl Malenko - **3/4 (Ground/Striking)
3. Enson Inoue vs. Tuli Kulihappai - **1/2 (Ground/Hooking)
4. Maurice Smith vs. Bronko Cikatic - ** (Combo/Striking)
5. Akira Shoji vs. Larry Parker - ***1/4 (Combo/Striking)
6. Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Anthony Macias - **** (Combo/Combo)
7. Mark Kerr vs. Igor Vovchanchyn - ** (Combo/Striking)



Pride 8
Date of Event: 11/21/99
1. Vanderlei Silva vs. Daijiro Matsui - ***1/2 (Combo/Striking)
2. Frank Trigg vs. Fabiano Iha - ***1/2 (Combo/Combo)
3. Allan Goes vs. Carl Malenko - **1/2 (Ground/Combo)
4. Mark Coleman vs. Ricardo Morias - ** (Ground/Striking)
5. Igor Vovchanchyn vs. Francisco Bueno - **3/4 (Standing/Striking)
6. Tom Erickson vs. Gary Goodridge - **1/2 (Ground/Striking)
7. Renzo Gracie vs. Alexander Otsuka - *** (Ground/Combo)
8. Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Royler Gracie - ***1/4 (Combo/Striking)