â€�"PRIDE Fighting: Decade - The First Ten Years Of PRIDE”
Pay-Per-View Review

â€Å"PRIDE Fighting: Decade” is an interesting but often over-the-top look at
the history of one of the great MMA organizations in the world. In a two
part production, the history of the promotion is documented in
surprisingly open and honest ways by fighters, trainers, referees, and
commentators alike. From it’s troubled beginnings at PRIDE.1 to the sale
of the promotion following PRIDE.33, this program gives the proper burial
to a former giant in the world of MMA.

Dream Stage Entertainment CEO Nobuyuki Sakakibara stressed the importance
of the first main event fight in PRIDE history by saying that had Nobuhiko
Takada defeated the famed Rickson Gracie it would have meant the end of
PRIDE. While that point is debatable, what is not is Nobuhiko Takada’s
influence on the sport of MMA. The documentary doesn’t even come close to
discussing the very touchy subject of Takada and worked fights, and even
goes as far as to not show Takada’s shocking upset victory over Mark
Coleman at PRIDE.5, a widely known work. But Takada’s influence to the
sport has never been about what he could or could not do in the PRIDE
ring; it has always been the show he brought with him. Takada brought the
glamour and production of Professional Wrestling into the sport of Mixed
Martial Arts and opened an entire new avenue of showmanship the sport
hadn’t seen to that point.

Nobuhiko Takada may have brought the show to PRIDE, but Wanderlei Silva
brought the fireworks. The Brazilian powder keg debuted at PRIDE.7 and won
his first 19 fights in the PRIDE Fighting Championships, fighting to a no
contest against Gilbert Yvel at PRIDE.11 and a draw with Mirko â€Å"Cro Cop”
at PRIDE.20, before losing to Mark Hunt via split decision at SHOCKWAVE
2004. Wanderlei Silva was the first man to win the PRIDE World
Middleweight Championship by defeating Kazushi Sakuraba by TKO at PRIDE.17
in November of 2001 and the only man to hold the Championship until
February of 2007 when the PRIDE Welterweight Champion Dan Henderson came
up in weight and knocked Silva out in the third round of their re-match at
PRIDE.33. Wanderlei Silva’s dominance over the division is broken own and
discussed at great length during the program, including his series with
Quentin Jackson, his championship run at the 2003 Grand Prix, and his
ability to move up and down in weight to challenge Heavyweights.

The dominance, thought, wasn’t just in the Middleweight division. The
Heavyweights of PRIDE produced three of the most dominant fighters in the
entire history of MMA in Mirko â€Å"Cro Cop” Filipovic, Antonio Rodrigo
Nogueira, and, of course, Fedor Emelianeko. Between the three lay a heap
of defeated fighters taken out by the kicks of â€Å"Cro Cop”, the hands of
Fedor, and the jiu-jitsu magic of Nogueira.

The documentary follows the dominance of Noguiera as the first ever PRIDE
World Heavyweight Champion and his fall at the hands of Fedor Emelianenko
who reigns as Champion to this day. They discuss in detail the failings
Nogeira experienced against Fedor in the two (and a half) fights they had.
His losses to Fedor, though, do nothing to diminish what the Brazilian
Jiu-Jitsu artist has accomplished or will accomplish in the future.

They highlight some of â€Å"Cro Cop’s” best fights and most memorable
knockouts as they discuss his dominant run in the sport and PRIDE FC. The
showdown with Fedor is discussed as well as the high kick that knocked
Wanderlei Silva out for the very first time in his career in the
semi-finals of the PRIDE Open Weight Grand Prix in September of 2006.

They do go a little overboard with the slow motion and back-patting when
it comes to the 2003 Middleweight Grand Prix. They make a big deal out of
Chuck Liddell being TKO’d by Quentin Jackson, treating it as if it were a
real UFC vs. PRIDE FC match instead of a semi-final fight. They go out of
their way to suggest that because Liddell happened to lose to Jackson that
that somehow makes PRIDE FC the most dominant MMA organization. One fight
doesn’t do it, fellas. Hate to break the news to you.

At some points in the documentary it seems like PRIDE is doing a little
bit of revisionist history. They ignore all the financial, legal,
television, yakuza, and fighter controversies, acting instead like PRIDE
was in some way a part of the Immaculate Conception. Very strange.

Either way, part one of the show was good. Almost all of the big fights
and big moments are represented in one way or another and the piece flows
very well through the multiple chapters it delivers.

After the credits roll for the end of part one, part two immediately
begins. This part of the broadcast singles out three fights from the ten
year history of PRIDE and shows them in full and uncut. Before each fight
is a brief piece setting the stage for each of the three fights.

The fights shown are:

- Nobuhiko Takada vs. Rickson Gracie - PRIDE.1, October 11, 1997

- Mirko â€Å"Cro Cop” vs. Fedor Emelianenko(c) - PRIDE World Heavyweight
Championship, PRIDE Final Conflict 2005, August 28, 2005

- Dan Henderson(c) vs. Wanderlei Silva(c) - PRIDE World Middleweight
Championship, PRIDE.33, February 24, 2007 (Dan Henderson’s Welterweight
Championship was not on the line, only Silva’s Middleweight Championship
was. Henderson is still considered the belt holder for both the PRIDE
Welterweight and Middleweight divisions.)

While the documentary was good, the selection of fights left something to
be desired. If you haven’t seen the fights, they’re great, just not so
much after you see it a hundred times. Still, watching the show and
knowing that the PRIDE of old was effectively dead was an interesting
feeling. The history is rich in PRIDE and they spare nothing in showcasing
it. To a loyal PRIDE fan it was like watching a funeral pyre for a good
friend. All of the moments, fighters, and fights are a wash as one in the
end. It was their way of putting their pet down. They celebrated the past,
they didn’t mourn over it. And at the end of it all is the reminder that
the future is bright for not only PRIDE FC but the sport of MMA as well.

One curious omission I feel I should mention here from this version of
promotions history is the real history of it’s fan base and acceptance on
the world stage of MMA. They claim that MMA fans were who filled the Tokyo
Dome that night in October back in 1997. They fail to mention that a
majority of the fans in attendance were actually Japanese Professional
Wrestling fans. They also fail to mention that the 2000 PRIDE Grand Prix
was the single event that put the promotion on the map as a real force in
MMA. They try and spin a story about how Takada vs. Gracie from PRIDE.1
put the company on the map. If it were true that would be a great story,
but it isn’t. If Takada had won then that would have been news. Rickson
was nearly unanimously picked by everyone to walk into PRIDE.1 and destroy
Takada. He didn’t destroy him, but he did make a good example out of him.
The fact is that the very first PRIDE event shown in the United States was
the second part of the 2000 Grand Prix, the eight-man tournament that Mark
Coleman won. That show was the one that put DSE and PRIDE in the mix of
the MMA world. Nearly everything up to that point was widely ignored or
looked upon as the red headed stepchild of the UFC. Until the 2000 Grand
Prix, hardly anyone in the United States cared about PRIDE. That event
changed everything. Even the fans.

Like one of it’s fights, the PRIDE Fighting Championships can not be
judged by a single event or fighter. It must be taken in as one and judged
as such. This program does that in a fairly straightforward and honest
way. It’s a story worth hearing and experiencing.

If you haven’t seen PRIDE FC before or want to just catch up on the
history so you know what fellow MMA fans are talking about, this is the
Pay-Per-View to buy. A solid three hour show for only 24.95. Can’t beat
that.