I think between the pride stand and Lorenzo wearing the shirt it's obvious they are planning something, however I wish to make my piece.
It is obvious the Octogon will sell ppvs, no fighter will match that, and Zuffa deserves the lion share of profits untill otherwise. However, there are an increasing amount of fighters who are no longer "relevant" but still exciting to watch when matched up properly. This is what Pride should be used for.
Let Joe Silva make the craziest match ups possible, lets have more spectacle than relevance, instead of worrying about the rankings, lets see some crazy sh*t for once lol. Kimbo has proven that the public will watch spectacle when given modivation, so lets bring back some crazyness I want to see some PRIDE
They should get Sakuraba and let him work a fight where he gets an amazing sub.
let em all hit the juice for a couple months and bring back the soccer kick!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
thats the problem, I think they should do a Pride show just to mix it up, a great way to showcase the top guys who aren't a real title threat at the moment in exciting matchups or do catchweight bouts. Instead of doing 12 or 13 UFCs a year y not do 10 ufcs,and 2 or 3 prides. Kind of like when WWE did the ECW ONE NIGHT STAND ppv (i know pro wrestling comparasion) it would be good they could let some of their "stars" who want ppv points headline a pride show first to see what their actual drawing power is, instead of the octogons appeal.
I would love to see a PRIDE show done, but I doubt they will actually do it. Who knows though!
I think they could have alot of fun with it, imagine a PRIDE show with KIMBO? that way they could use some of these guys under the ZUFFA Promoting banner, but not waterdown the UFC, still can be MMA just a different twist, let the fighters know this is about excitement, not rankings, I'm talking PRIDE
my read on the wearing of the pride shirt is that they really do care about moving MMA into the right direction, and making the MMA fans happy.
you can read whatever you want into things like that, but the simple fact that they read this forum, pay attention to what people post, try to get fedor into the ufc, put kimbo on TUF, and the fact that the rogan posts here are all signs that they are trying, and have a passion for the sport. while you might not like the direction they are taking, it really appears that they CARE....and that is about as much as the diehard MMA fan can hope for.
that said, i do miss pride, the passion it made you feel for martial arts, the international quality you felt watching the fighers from around the world converge into the bushido proving grounds, amongst the japanese fans who really had a passion not just for the technique, but for the spirit of the warrior.
ultimately, it would be nice IMHO, if the UFC would try to capture some of that energy pride had for the martial artist, and concentrate less on making a new improved form of boxing that the world will like. oops on too long.
good point...
I just think that with Pride they could do something like, not to hate on guys like Chuck, Vanderlei, or Coleman but guys who aren't really in title contention but are big stars, let them headline a show and book some crazy matches. There are tons of guys who UFC could throw on a show such as PRIDE branding that could make an exciting show that wouldn't mess up UFC rankings
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they tried to setup a pride show but the yakuza sent em home in fear of their lives
With how brand focused the UFC appears to be, it makes no sense for them to focus on a PRIDE event, particulary given that the name hasn't been used in so long. They are much better off trying to build the UFC brand in Asia and utilizing the video library they purchased to do so. The UFC version of PRIDE isn't going to be anything like the old PRIDE so the whole PRIDE band would have to start from the ground up. UFC isn't going to allow it's name to be associated with non-unified rules, even under the PRIDE banner, due to the media risks in the US.
I'm just saying there are alot of marketable entities under the Zuffa Banner that would hurt the UFC long term, throw Kimbo, Chuck, Vanderlei, and some of the other "stars" in the PRIDE banner, let them sell the event's themselves to generate revenue, and keep the other guys in the UFC, instead of having guys complain they are putting asses in the seats and deserve more money throw them in pride and let them prove it.
that would be nice. like really awesome. i'm not holding my breath though.
I think it's best to leave Pride as a wonderful memory. I doubt that they could do justice to it if they tried to resurrect it.
Don't see this happening really. Everything that made Pride was in it's production crew, video highlights and all. And that's moved over to Dream for the most part.
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