PRIDE FC - Legendary

The atmosphere was always electric at every event, like nothing I've ever seen (still wish I would've had the chance to attend one in person). The crowd hanging on every move, whether the fight was standing or went to the ground. The immediately identifiable theme music that led off each event. The pageantry and introductions of the fighters at the beginning of their cards was truly captivating. The 90-minute (!) war between Royce Gracie and Kazushi Sakuraba. Fedor's rise and reign of dominance, as well as Wanderlei Silva's unmatched title defenses and newly discovered talent like Takanori Gomi and Mauricio 'Shogun' Rua. There are just too many memorable moments to mention.

This was THE MMA event every fan wanted to see. From devastating KO's and all-out wars/grudge matches, to incredible submissions never seen before, each PRIDE FC event delivered the goods and then some. Everything was an eye-opening experience for the viewer, from the extravagant entrances and intros done by outstanding ring announcer Lenne Hardt, to the informative and exciting fight commentary (including the legendary Bas Rutten), to its dedicated and rapid fan base, PRIDE events had it all.

PRIDE FC hosted its inaugural event in 1997 at the Tokyo Dome and would eventually hold over 60 MMA cards in Japan. They signed the most skilled and diverse fighters from every corner of the globe, whose expertise covered every discipline imaginable - including jiu-jitsu, muay thai, wrestling (freestyle, catch, greco), boxing, kickboxing, judo, sambo, etc.

Their PRIDE GP (Grand Prix) tournaments were legendary (and of course their traditional New Year's Eve cards, the Bushido series, and the numerous title fights!) and made superstars with each passing event. And then there were the fighters themselves, now household names in the world of mixed martial arts, who became legends during PRIDE's 10-year run: Fedor Emelianenko, the Gracies - Royce, Rickson, Royler, Ryan, Renzo, Rodrigo, 'Big Nog', 'Cro Cop, Wanderlei Silva, Igor Vovchanchyn, Kazushi Sakuraba, Mark Coleman, Josh Barnett, Dan Henderson, 'Rampage' Jackson, 'Shogun', 'Ninja', Ricardo Arona, Anderson Silva, Takanori Gomi, Murilo Bustamante, 'Minowa', Sergei Kharitonov, Aleksander Emelianenko, Gary Goodridge, Heath Herring, Mark Hunt, Hidehiko Yoshida, Semmy Schilt, Gegard Mousasi, Amar Suloev, Kevin Randleman, Kazuyuki Fujita, Fabricio Werdum, Alistair Overeem, Mark Kerr, Enson Inoue, Carlos Newton, 'Lil Nog', Akihiron Gono, Yuki Kondo, Hayato 'Mach' Sakurai, 'Hellboy' Hansen, Kazuo Misaki, Kazahiro Nakamura, Luiz Azeredo...and many more.

I'll be posting more of these fighters, their fights and PRIDE events in general, but for the time being here is an excellent retrospective of the greatest MMA organization in the history of the sport - long live PRIDE!