Just heard the Pride theme today and it still captivates me. Amazing. Anyone lucky enough to attend an event at Saitama or Tokyodome?
1 Like
I was at the OWGP Finals.
Unreal event.
3 Likes
i saw rampage jackson at a gas station once (california)
2 Likes
A good friend of mine (former UG/OGer) lives / works in Japan and used to go to every NYE show.
The stories he used to tell.
Though I think getting to hear Lenne Hardt was always his favorite.
1 Like
Wiggy - A good friend of mine (former UG/OGer) lives / works in Japan and used to go to every NYE show.The stories he used to tell.
Though I think getting to hear Lenne Hardt was always his favorite.
That’s awesome
I went to a Rizin a few years ago. Crocop fought and Rickson was there cornering Kron. Lenne hardt was announcing as well, definitely felt like Pride. I was in heaven
1 Like
EckY - I was at the OWGP Finals.Unreal event.
You damn bastard…
I always thought that I would go to one of the events one day. Then 2007 rolled around and said ‘fuck your dreams’. Or was that Dana White…?
Pride Grand Prix 2005
With my Bro. One of my fondest memories.
The best Fighting event I saw Live.
2 Likes
I went to Pride, K1, Deep, Shooto, Outsiders, Astra, and some other smaller gangster events. I still have some of the Pride and K1 photo books they handed out to the press and VIP seat holders. Pride and K1 was like a combo rock show and fighting event. It would go from getting so loud you couldn't hear the person next to you to dead silent, so much so, you could hear the cornermen giving their fighters instructions. It was an experience I will never forget.
I didn’t start going to the events live until we stopped doing PrideCast (Live amateur Pride color commentary VIA PalTalk).
1 Like
Hody - I went to Pride, K1, Deep, Shooto, Outsiders, Astra, and some other smaller gangster events. I still have some of the Pride and K1 photo books they handed out to the press and VIP seat holders. Pride and K1 was like a combo rock show and fighting event. It would go from getting so loud you couldn't hear the person next to you to dead silent, so much so, you could hear the cornermen giving their fighters instructions. It was an experience I will never forget.I didn’t start going to the events live until we stopped doing PrideCast (Live amateur Pride color commentary VIA PalTalk).
I remember that. I used to listen in on PrideCast. Good times. Thanks for doing it way back then.
I never made it to a Japan show but I was really happy to go to the first US show.
Orcus went to scream at fedor
1 Like
Wiggy - A good friend of mine (former UG/OGer) lives / works in Japan and used to go to every NYE show.The stories he used to tell.
Though I think getting to hear Lenne Hardt was always his favorite.
Get him back here to tell some stories dammit!
1 Like
Almost went with Dan Henderson and crew when they had this thing where you could pay to go with them as a fan. Brother convinced me to save my money. So regret that I didn't do it.
<blockquote>Fern 10th Planet - <span id='userPost64808846' class='User-329677'><blockquote>Wiggy - A good friend of mine (former UG/OGer) lives / works in Japan and used to go to every NYE show.<br /><br />The stories he used to tell.<br /><br />Though I think getting to hear Lenne Hardt was always his favorite.</blockquote><p>Get him back here to tell some stories dammit!</p></span></blockquote><br />I have a couple of stories I can share. Pride and K1: When the popular and/or handsome fighters were announced the girls went crazy. IE...Kid Vs Masato in K1. The girls would all stand up and scream out the name of their favorite fighter. You could also see them all lined up outside the stadium hoping to meet their favorite fighter. They would also find out which hotel they were staying at and hang out in the lobby waiting for them. There were certain fighter's that were infamous for hooking up with fans on the regular.<br /><br />One of the gangster events: Gangster style MMA events starting becoming popular a couple years after the decline of Pride. I believe Maeda was one of the 1st if not the 1st person to throw such an event. Regional gangsters and even some Yakuza would enter in these events for bragging rights. There were several of these events and for the most part it was kickboxing with limited ground. Some events had submissions but most did not - mostly ground and pound. They wore MMA gloves, cups, and mouthpieces. Some event would have shin protectors and elbow pads. I think the only time I saw headgear was for the kids. <br /><br />These events would be a good 6-8 hours. They would have 30-40 fights plus some type of intermission show. At one event, there were two gangsters in the audience getting into a fight. The MC got on the mic and told them, if they wanted to fight, do it in the ring, cause there were kids in the audience. These events usually were in a cage with VIP chairs in certain areas and then standing room around the cage. In the back and upper balcony were seated areas.<br /><br />The 2 gangsters disappeared and showed up a couple of fight later in the cage. They fought it out and shook hands in the end. The gangster events were fun because they didn't care about points or stalling. It was non-stop action. Most were not the most technical fighters but they had heart. It was always exciting to watch.<br /><br />I was photographing one gangster event because one of my friends was fighting in it. Two guys in the audience got mad cause they said I was blocking their view. Once of them tried ot pull me down from the outside ring corner by my pants so I twisted my leg and kinda kicked his hand away. He started yelling at me and getting all hyped up and his buddy pulled him back. Every so often I could see him glaring at me. During one of the short intermissions, I went up to talk to Enson. That guy saw me talking to him and never bothered me again for the rest of the event. I don't think I even told Enson about that guy until after the event.
1 Like
de braco -Orcus went to scream at fedor
I remember that. It was embarrassing how angry orcas was at Fedor.
1 Like
Fern 10th Planet -Wiggy - A good friend of mine (former UG/OGer) lives / works in Japan and used to go to every NYE show.The stories he used to tell.
Though I think getting to hear Lenne Hardt was always his favorite.
Get him back here to tell some stories dammit!
Let’s try this again since the edit function messed things up.
I have a couple of stories I can share. Pride and K1: When the popular and/or handsome fighters were announced the girls went crazy. IE…Kid Vs Masato in K1. The girls would all stand up and scream out the name of their favorite fighter. You could also see them all lined up outside the stadium hoping to meet their favorite fighter. They would also find out which hotel they were staying at and hang out in the lobby waiting for them. There were certain fighter’s that were infamous for hooking up with fans on the regular.
One of the gangster events: Gangster style MMA events starting becoming popular a couple years after the decline of Pride. I believe Maeda was one of the 1st if not the 1st person to throw such an event. Regional gangsters and even some Yakuza would enter in these events for bragging rights. There were several of these events and for the most part it was kickboxing with limited ground. Some events had submissions but most did not - mostly ground and pound. They wore MMA gloves, cups, and mouthpieces. Some evenst would have shin protectors and elbow pads. I think the only time I saw headgear was for the kids.
These events would be a good 6-8 hours. They would have 30-40 fights plus some type of intermission show. At one event, there were two gangsters in the audience getting into a fight. The MC got on the mic and told them, if they wanted to fight, do it in the ring, cause there were kids in the audience. These events usually were in a cage with VIP chairs in certain areas and then standing room around the cage. In the back and upper balcony were seated areas.
The 2 gangsters disappeared and showed up a couple of fights later in the cage. They fought it out and shook hands in the end. The gangster events were fun because they didn’t care about points or stalling. It was non-stop action. Most were not the most technical fighters but they had heart. It was always exciting to watch.
I was photographing one gangster event because one of my friends was fighting in it. Two guys in the audience got mad cause they said I was blocking their view. Once of them tried to pull me down from the outside ring corner by my pants so I twisted my leg and kinda kicked his hand away. He started yelling at me and getting all hyped up and his buddy pulled him back. Every so often I could see him glaring at me. During one of the short intermissions, I went up to talk to Enson. That guy saw me talking to him and never bothered me again for the rest of the event. I don’t think I even told Enson about that guy until after the event.
1 Like
Deepy -Hody - I went to Pride, K1, Deep, Shooto, Outsiders, Astra, and some other smaller gangster events. I still have some of the Pride and K1 photo books they handed out to the press and VIP seat holders. Pride and K1 was like a combo rock show and fighting event. It would go from getting so loud you couldn't hear the person next to you to dead silent, so much so, you could hear the cornermen giving their fighters instructions. It was an experience I will never forget.I didn’t start going to the events live until we stopped doing PrideCast (Live amateur Pride color commentary VIA PalTalk).
I remember that. I used to listen in on PrideCast. Good times. Thanks for doing it way back then.
Thanks 4 listening. We enjoyed doing it. It was one of the few ways hardcore MMA fans could find out what was happening live. For those that don’t know – this was when you had to have some type of hook up in Japan and have them video tape the event and mail it to you or go to Sherdog to read their play-by-plays.
saw Pride in Vegas
1 Like
twice