Pride Fighting Championship
It was the Japanese organisation that was once considered the biggest in MMA. Fans of Pride fondly remember the extravagant spectacles of Pride events which included such things as pyrotechnics and Lenne Hardt screaming fighters’ names in her unique voice.
Pride boasted a who’s who of fighters in its heyday, including Fedor Emelianenko, Mirko ‘Cro-Cop’ Filipovic, Wanderlei Silva, Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson, Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua, Dan Henderson and Antonio Rodrigo Noguiera, just to name a few.
For nine years, Pride appeared to be riding on cloud nine. The majority of its events attracted upwards of 50,000 spectators and it had a broadcast deal with one of the biggest Japanese television networks, Fuji TV.
Things came crashing down for Pride in 2006, however, after an article published by a prominent magazine accused Pride of being heavily backed by Japanese organised crime figures, better known as Yakuza. This resulted in the cancellation of the broadcast deal by Fuji TV, which was the biggest source of revenue and exposure for Pride.
Less than one year later Pride was bought by the Fertitta brothers and absorbed into the UFC and the :as Vegas-based organisation has been the largest ever since.
