It's unfortunate. With the troubles they already had from losing their TV deal with Fuji network, and the rumours about their ties with the yakuza crime syndicate, not to mention the recents news of Ed Fishman's lawsuit against DSE after a falling out. Pride has cancelled its April show in Vegas and it seems Pride 34 will be named 'Kamikaze' for some odd reason. I'm guessing they're hinting at suicide or death by choosing this title.:nixweiss: If Pride does die, I believe it'll hurt MMA considerably. It has a huge following and it's not easy selling out the Saitama Super Arena in Japan time and again. Also, alot of the fighters sign fight by fight contracts so if bigwigs like Dana White and the Fertittas end up buying Pride, as the rumours have been for the past few weeks, don't expect to suddenly see Fedor, Shogun, Silva, etc in the UFC. Personally, I think Sakikabara will pull through and Pride will remain. It'll be a little setback but I'm sure they'll rebuild and continue competing with the UFC and continue on as one of the better MMA organizations around.
The thing I don't quite get is.. they are popular everywhere, but especially in Japan of course... so if they are having hard times why can't they just go back to the basics and stay in Japan, be profitable, and regroup ?? Personally I really like both Pride and UFC but wouldn't mind having all the fighters in one organization.. but I think it's also good to have that cross-continental aspect as well.
I'm pretty sure they'll bounce back. They might lose a few fighters(CroCop, Werdum) but I won't count them out. I've heard they've gotten some tv deal offers from some networks over there. Pride is still what I consider the heart of MMA. It's where the elite competiton competes. Hopefully rumours are just rumours where things are reported as being worse than they really are. I also can't envision all fighters being in one organization. I don't believe the UFC can handle the star power and the money involved in paying so many of these fighters. Especially considering fighters like Fedor, Wanderlei Silva, etc are reportedly paid in the millions(Fedor claimed a million per fight). On top of that, Dana White jacked up the UFC's ppv prices in order to help pay off the big signees in CroCop, Herring, and Jackson. The fans are the ones who had to cough up the $$$:jester:
I can't agree about Pride being the "heart" of MMA. I don't think there is any clearcut leader out of the orgs, though UFC and Pride are obviously the two most powerful. Many die-hard Pride fans will have you believe they have the better fighters etc.. and site examples of their guys going to UFC and dominating (ie Silva).. however the opposite occurs just as much. Both orgs have TOP guys... while in certain weight classes they have a standout fighter (Fedor, GSP), and in others it is very debatable about who is superior. I love watching Pride shows because of the kicks and stomps (UFC needs this badly) that make it more "real", but I'm not a fan of the ring mainly because every fight we see this cheesy almost WWF-like thing where fighter lay on the ropes and theres 2 or 3 guys tapping at them and moving the ropes so they don't lean against them... IMO the fighters should just fight without interruption and the cage makes the perfect setting for this to occur.
So when a fighter is keeping his opponent on the fence in his opponent's guard and trying to trap him there while doing his ground/pound, that's not interruption? Or when Assuerio Silva is trying to take Sylvia down and Sylvia has his fingers locked firmly into the fence links, that's not interruption? I see pros and cons in both the fence and the ring.:nixweiss: The cage has actually been a weapon for many fighters, especially for the GnP type fighters.
Yeah I can see both sides of the argument too.. at first I was a huge ring fan but after seeing this slapping shit happen in almost every fight I've reconsidered. I think the thing I'm getting at is the unambiguity of the cage.. the fighters both know exactly where the edge of the combat area is, and they know exactly what the advantages and disadvantages are in certain positions.. wheras with the ring it brings in alot of outside human element where you have guys pulling and yanking on the ropes, and yelling at the downed fighter to not lay on the ropes (like this is possible :nixweiss: ).. then getting them up and moving them.
The only way you'll have a completely fair fight is if the fighters compete in a field where there's nothing but air and land in a 100 foot radius. No ropes to lean on, no fence to grab on to.....it's all 100% hand to hand with no interruption.
i dont in the ring its more about pure skill, in UCF you can manuever and use the cage to your advantage, no such advantage in a ring, all about pure skill
