I see all these threads such as RIP Pride and Farewell, Goodbye etc. So, since Fertitta is the new owner does that mean Pride is no more?
Perhaps I've got it wrong but I thought Pride was going to stay and continue to operate under its own rules in Japan.
The only difference being the change in ownership.
Stop being so melodramatic (sp?) you morons!
PRIDE is still here...But it's just not the same anymore...:(
Really...how do you know? Has there been an event since the buy-out?
I'm sure they'll still have the freaks, mismatches and same old roster fighting over and over again. Don't be too upset!
"I'm sure they'll still have the freaks, mismatches and same old roster fighting over and over again. Don't be too upset!"
It's not that...It's the power struggle and soap opera like behind the scenes story that is gone...The East vs West...The Sakakibara vs Dana White through the media back and forth verbal jabs...The Yakuza, the mystique...I dunno, maybe I am the only one, but it just doesn't feel the same to me anymore.
And everything CTSar said...
:(
the rule changes are the critical changes that make pride worse.
EvilMaster is correct. It's been watered down already by rule changes and doing away with yellow cards. They say it's unifying the rules but it's forcing your opinion on what MMA rules should be to another country that doesn't even have political pressure against MMA.
Under the old rules Pride was the purest form of MMA there was that had top level comp. It also set it apart and gave it a uniqueness to the watered down American version of MMA. Variety is good and forcing MMA to all be under one set of rules if fucked up IMO. Think if in the future a boxing comp bought the UFC from Zuffa and changed the rules to where there were no strikes to the face allowed at all on the ground. They would say it is better for the sport and would help it to grow further into the mainstream. That would be the same exact thing Zuffa is doing by forcing they're opinions on MMA rules.
Now think of some of your favorite Pride fights that included stomps, soccer kicks, and knees to the head of a downed fighter. Those fights and the excitement from seeing such techniques are gone and thats fucked up. Now I'm just not going to look forward to Shoguns fights as much as before. He was one of my fav fighters because of his use of techniques now takin away by Zuffa.
Some future Pride fighters are just not going to be the classics they would of been still under the old pride rules.
Pride will still be a top level event and the ring still makes it a more pure MMA event then the UFC. We all know and enough fighters have said the cage can be a serious technique killer. Thats why in Pride the level of grappling technique is higher by jumps and bounds. You just dont see the amount of slick sweeps, reversals, and submissions in the UFC due to the cage.
Both Pride USA events were great. Thats what Zuffa Pride is going to be most likely(knocks on wood).
Pride isn't dead, Zuffa just took some of the life out of it and I cant help to think they'll find some other ways to fuck it up. Americans for the most part fuck up everything Japanese entertainment wise.
its not just the death of pride, its the death of old school MMA. Vake Tudo, early UFC minimal rules fighting which is the true heart of the sport.
Now its what i call modern MMA, which is great and all but it aint what the old school days were like.
They need some t-shirts we can wear so everyone know we are old school and want the old rules again.
What bludhall said is how I feel too.
I came up watching Vale tudo in the mid eighties in brazil, to ufc one onwards. Pride was better than the UFC in many ways. Watched the UFC in the uk and was somewhat bored. Will probably not buy it anymore. Will keep an eye on pride but if it ends up looking like the bore fest which is the modern UFC, may call it a day. Watching poor kickboxing just does no apeal to me, never did.
An old school rules tee-shirt sounds cool. Some of the other Japense shows are still cool.
Damn, I never realised the rules would be changed.
I thought Fertitta was going to continue running Pride in Japan as it's always done, with soccer kicks, stomps and the 10 minute round etc.
My bad.
For all intensive purposes PRIDE is dead.
RIP
RIP