I've decided to start at the beginning and try to watch all the Pride events in order. I know this has been done before on here by timessquare (in fact that's part of what inspired me), but enough people on the board seem interested in talking about old Pride fights I thought it might be worth another go around.
Where I'm coming from: I got into MMA around UFC 83, so I missed Pride in its live form, but as someone kind of obsessed with the sport at this point I've become familiar with its history, so obviously I know how some of the more famous Pride fights ended even if I haven't seen them all. That said, there are a ton of more obscure fights I haven't seen yet, and I sometimes don't feel like I have a firm sense of the overall chronology. Hoping this will aid in that.
I've now watched Pride 1-3 and here are some thoughts so far:
- What's the deal with the grappling matches where there's almost no striking, or at least no striking for, say, the first 20 minutes? Was that ever part of the official rules, or was it something between the fighters? Was it really a "fight"?
- I'm kind of surprised by how phenomenally boring the first two Renzo Gracie Pride fights were. Part of the reason I decided to start doing this is because I've been having trouble sleeping normal person hours and I wanted something to fill my time with. Turns out watching 30 minutes of grappling that ends in a draw is better than sleeping pills (not to mention the 50+ minutes fight with Kikuta)
- I guess I'd heard of Branko Cikatic before, but holy shit that guy is fucking insane. Was he like that in K1 too?
- Speaking of Cikatic fights, whatever happened to Ralph White? I see he came back for another kickboxing fight, but how'd his career pan out? His name is the dreaded red link on Wikipedia.
- I know Pride had its fair share of freakshow fights, and I've seen some of them online, but watching the Takase vs. Yarborough fight in the context of other actual real fights somehow made the weirdness of it leap out more.
- Pedro Otavio was really fucking weird.
- Takada vs. Sturgeon was a work, right, so it felt weird that Quadros and Rutten do their play by play as though it's legit. Did they know it was worked? It seems obvious looking at it, even as early as Sturgeon's weak "high kick."
atrocityexhibit - I've decided to start at the beginning and try to watch all the Pride events in order. I know this has been done before on here by timessquare (in fact that's part of what inspired me), but enough people on the board seem interested in talking about old Pride fights I thought it might be worth another go around.I think I read that some of the commentary was done after the fact..
Where I'm coming from: I got into MMA around UFC 83, so I missed Pride in its live form, but as someone kind of obsessed with the sport at this point I've become familiar with its history, so obviously I know how some of the more famous Pride fights ended even if I haven't seen them all. That said, there are a ton of more obscure fights I haven't seen yet, and I sometimes don't feel like I have a firm sense of the overall chronology. Hoping this will aid in that.
I've now watched Pride 1-3 and here are some thoughts so far:
- What's the deal with the grappling matches where there's almost no striking, or at least no striking for, say, the first 20 minutes? Was that ever part of the official rules, or was it something between the fighters? Was it really a "fight"?
- I'm kind of surprised by how phenomenally boring the first two Renzo Gracie Pride fights were. Part of the reason I decided to start doing this is because I've been having trouble sleeping normal person hours and I wanted something to fill my time with. Turns out watching 30 minutes of grappling that ends in a draw is better than sleeping pills (not to mention the 50+ minutes fight with Kikuta)
- I guess I'd heard of Branko Cikatic before, but holy shit that guy is fucking insane. Was he like that in K1 too?
- Speaking of Cikatic fights, whatever happened to Ralph White? I see he came back for another kickboxing fight, but how'd his career pan out? His name is the dreaded red link on Wikipedia.
- I know Pride had its fair share of freakshow fights, and I've seen some of them online, but watching the Takase vs. Yarborough fight in the context of other actual real fights somehow made the weirdness of it leap out more.
- Pedro Otavio was really fucking weird.
- Takada vs. Sturgeon was a work, right, so it felt weird that Quadros and Rutten do their play by play as though it's legit. Did they know it was worked? It seems obvious looking at it, even as early as Sturgeon's weak "high kick."
I got into MMA well after the PRIDE events.. I really wish I had seen them live or at least watched them all in order..
Haven't seen those in forever. I like this thread idea 
Started doing this before my computer broke
TTT
Did this as well a few years back when I was living in San Diego. The first few as you said were HARD to stay awake during but once Saku debuts it gets much better..
The commentary for Pride 1 - 9 (or so) was all taped after the fact. There is an awesome Quadros blooper they left in there had me rolling. I wish I could remember which fight in particular buy can't right now.
I think I might just do the same
Where can I get them?
I might have to do this, only got into MMA during TUF 3, but have Pride 1-5 on dvd which I've watched
MrHensonPredictsEm - I think I read that some of the commentary was done after the fact..
I got into MMA well after the PRIDE events.. I really wish I had seen them live or at least watched them all in order..
A lot of the early fights had the commentary added after the fact. There is one fight (Otsuka vs Dirty Bob Schreiber?) where Bas is actually the cornerman. I think he goes so far as to makes a comment about the guy having a good-looking cornerman.
A lot of the early Pride fights were pretty awful, at least up until Saku shows up. But there was some awesome commentary - I think the Kimo/Severn fight Quadros says, "Bas, would you call this an exciting fight?" Bas waits a second and says, "NO."
^ Didn't see Mahoney's post. I think this is the one you're referring to.
Started doing this then stopped at pride 30...currently doing the same but with UFC. I'm watching UFC 39 right now crazy how you can ready see the difference and the chuck Liddell era begin
Anyone notice btw rogan hangin from liddells nuts during the 37.5 fight lmao
I did this a few years back.
Really cool to see how certain fighters developed, like how much Akira Shoji improved from one fight to the next.
Were Sakuraba's flying stomps to the head of Vitor Belfort in Pride 5 actually legal? It seems like kicking the head of a downed opponent wasn't allowed yet at this stage of Pride, or maybe I'm missing something...
It's really weird watching the worked Takada fights. The one with Coleman was definitely better done than the first one, but still Coleman is clearly pulling his punches. It's weird to listen to Quadros and Rutten comment on it. Did they really not know what was going on, or was doing the commentary as thought it were legit part of their gig?
Pride never die.
The first pride event I ever saw was Pride 10 on VHS in early 2001, which IMO is still one of the greatest events ever.
Vitor, Vanderlei, Mezger, Ken Shamrock, Fujita, Mark Kerr, and an epic battle between Sakuraba and Renzo w/ the craziest ending ever.
The first few events are definitely worth a watch but really nothing phenomenal outside of a few matches.
You've got a great journey ahead of you, kinda like listening to the Beatles albums for the first time, lol.
Have fun!
^ It's an interesting comparison actually. It's really a lot like someone who's listened to the Beatles greatest hits album before but is just now hearing every album in full, with all the great tracks that never became big hits.
I never knew how fun Daijiro Matsui would be, for example, until I just started at the beginning and went from there.
So...Coleman's 2 second win over Fujita in the Grand Prix Finals: quickest "TKO" ever?