D241 -But wait! Gomi wasn't in his prime when BJ humiliated the shit out of him in Rumble on the Rock! Oh that's right, neither was BJ!
BJ Penn would've owned his division in Pride.
I wonder how orcus feels about that :P
MrColdCock -Virtually every single pride fan was a UFC fan first and foremost. Die hard UFC fans at that. How often does something like that happen, ever? Tells you how special pride was. Too bad so many new fans never got to experience it as it happened.
This times 1000
We already loved UFC/NHB/MMA......Pride took it to another level
Amazes me how the UFC is this MMA juggernaut, yet it has NEVER had attendances like that of 10-15 years ago like Pride had.
Pride was never as good as everyone insisted it was before the acquisition. Back then, people acted as if the UFC was clearly the inferior org, when in reality they were much closer to being equal than anything else.
Tilla - Amazes me how the UFC is this MMA juggernaut, yet it has NEVER had attendances like that of 10-15 years ago like Pride had.
This is a great point that gets overlooked regarding the context of how significant this is.
Today's UFC is #1 about money before anything else. Pride then wasn't as big as UFC now, however with that being said, Pride would sell out Saitama Arena at 90 THOUSAND paying fans, and this was before The Ultimate Fighter.
And it's stupid to talk down on Pride, as well as it's stupid to talk down UFC. UFC DID come before Pride. Even though Pride had more top fighters and won the match ups that swayed who had the better talent, I think it's fair to say that with SEG UFC being created, that was a big catapult in JMMA/Prides success.
| Pride FC - Shockwave | Dynamite! | 08/28/2002 | Tokyo National Stadium | Tokyo, Japan | 91,107 |
| Information | |
|---|---|
| Promotion | Ultimate Fighting Championship |
| Date | May 27, 2006 |
| Venue | Staples Center |
| City | Los Angeles, California,USA |
| Attendance | 14,802 (10,347 paid) |
UFC made a really big deal about fighting at the Staples Center. It was monumental for them.
For me, at the time I didn't realize that as being a big deal for UFC. When UFC made such a big fuss about it, that is when I realized how much bigger Pride had been. Staples center arena/attendance wasn't impressive compared to what I had already seen at Pride.
The UFC is definitely lacking in production when compared to Pride. Imagine the NFL without tailgating, the unique stadiums like Lambeau, the props fans wear, NFL Films and historical recollections of great teams and players. That's atmosphere. That's production value. The UFC is slowly getting better, but still every arena and how feels the same, and it's by design, and that's a mistake IMO.
The UFC should consider more outdoor shows and large arena events, baseball parks, etc. I would even suggest - and this would NEVER happen - ring-based fights mixed in. Look at Fenway Park and the green monster. It's different, teams adapt though.
I miss Pride.
Im enjoying current UFC due to having all the best fighters and being able to watch the Fox, FX cards on reg TV, etc.
Still miss many things about Pride though I also think there's a bit of nostaglia factor that is overating it a bit too.
I think we're far enough along now to be able to squash the myth that every Pride fighter failed in the UFC or whatever the UFC blow hards wanted to believe when CC and Shogun lost to Gonzaga and Forrest initially and being that we kept on seeing newer generations of UFC figters from the time Pride folded.
There's never any consensus on looking back at anyone anyhow on this board.
Boy am I sick of these threads. I'm going to make a thread about who would win between a prime Batman vs. a prime Spiderman because the comparison is just as illogical and pointless. 
JStrongMMA - Boy am I sick of these threads. I'm going to make a thread about who would win between a prime Batman vs. a prime Spiderman because the comparison is just as illogical and pointless.
I don't think the difference between the UFC and pride is as great as the difference between batman and Spider-Man.
That might be prime king of the cage vs prime pride IMO.