Just My Thoughts: Holy Smokes!
Just My Thoughts
Mike Sloan Mar 30, 2007
It was inevitable. One way or another, the two mixed martial arts
giants were going to come together. Somewhere, somehow, someday it
just had to happen. And to be quite frank, I literally saw
it coming but I never figured it would happen this soon and in this
manner. The UFC and PRIDE have finally become one, two betrothed
lovers locked in a passionate embrace on a sandy beach in the
summer.
Ultimate treasure trove of battles has finally been unearthed
Not since the day when Vanilla Ice teamed up with the Ninja Turtles
for "Ninja Rap" has there been a partnership more paramount, more
ground-breaking than the merger between UFC and PRIDE. Obviously
there are so many more rocks to be overturned as this new deal
irons itself out, but I'm happier than a fat kid in a vat of
Skittles.
Provided everything involved with the sale of PRIDE to the Brothers Fertitta goes along as planned and assuming everything about the Japanese show stays the same, the possibilities are endless.
Days of crying over wishes that fall on deaf ears appear to be a thing of a terrible past. Instead of PRIDE's best warriors pillaging hordes of pro wrestling tomato cans and UFC's absurd ranking system we should finally be given the absolute best fighting. It now looks likely that the ultimate showdowns we've desired in all likelihood will become a reality.
Just a few super fights I'd kill a cat burglar for:
Dan Henderson (Pictures) vs. Chuck Liddell (Pictures)
How can this fight not happen? Provided, of course, Liddell gets past Quinton Jackson (Pictures) in May (more on that later in this column), this is an absolute must. For years fans and media have demanded either Wanderlei Silva (Pictures) against Liddell or Randy Couture (Pictures). Now that Silva is a victim of two straight brutal KO losses, he has gone from totally chic to totally geek. It's a no-brainer to pit PRIDE's new middleweight king against his UFC counterpart.
Fedor Emelianenko (Pictures) vs. Mirko Filipovic (Pictures) II
Without question this will happen. Considering Zuffa's insatiable appetite for rematches, pitting the world's No. 1 (Fedor) and No. 2 (Cro Cop) against one another for a second war is essentially signed, sealed and delivered. And both men will be paid handsomely, I might add. It will be one of the richest fights in MMA history up to that point (maybe even the richest) and it should be most-demanded fight since Donny Osmond and Danny Bonaduce.
Georges St. Pierre (Pictures) vs. Hayato Sakurai (Pictures)
Wow, let the fireworks begin! Two tough guys who love to throw down and gun for the KO basically every time a strike is flung. Well, more so Sakurai in that regard, but either way it's a war. GSP is a better striker in terms of smoothness and grace but Sakurai packs enough dynamite to implode a strip mall. No way does this go the distance and no way is this not a fight of the year candidate.
"Giant" Silva vs. Cheick Kongo (Pictures)
Kidding.
Mauricio Rua (Pictures) vs. Chuck Liddell (Pictures)
Another all-out war that could go either way is this guaranteed slugfest. Rua is far more aggressive than Liddell but "The Iceman" has that freakish punching power. It was a fight that seemed impossible to become a reality but now it's a just a matter of time before these two cats go toe-to-toe.
Randy Couture (Pictures) vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (Pictures)
If ever there was an MMA chess match between two all-time greats, this is it. Would Couture's wrestling and ground-and-pound be able to counter Nog's premiere grappling and submissions? Once thought a mere pipe dream now becomes more and more likely.
Andrei Arlovski (Pictures) vs. Sergei Kharitonov (Pictures)
Two absolute terrifying strikers both with submission ability; you almost couldn't ask for a more entertaining fight. Sure these two aren't in the top five in regards to the best heavyweights on earth at this moment, but who would not want to see this one?
Keep it the same, only different
There's one thing they must do in order for this deal to be perfect; keep PRIDE the same yet change it up. And what I mean by this is that the PRIDE ring, theatrics, humor and atmosphere must never change. The Fertittas must keep this event as Japanese as ever so as to not drive loyal fans away.
What should be done as far as changes are concerned is to put some sort of championship policy into action. Keeping champions in separate organizations is fine; champion vs. champion matches are always a hot seller. But if they decide to keep the Grand Prix events (they should) the actual champions should not be included within the tourney brackets. The (hopefully) new PRIDE Grand Prix events should include contenders, with the winner getting a guaranteed shot at a title.
I disagree with the decision to make PRIDE use the Unified Rules we have in North America. Keeping the exact PRIDE rules, the yellow cards, the huge trophies and checks and everything in between would have been ideal. Other than that, everything should run just like clockwork.
Ultimate treasure trove of battles has finally been unearthed
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Provided everything involved with the sale of PRIDE to the Brothers Fertitta goes along as planned and assuming everything about the Japanese show stays the same, the possibilities are endless.
For almost a decade there have been truly only two MMA
organizations that really mattered: UFC and PRIDE. It seems like
forever and a day that fight fans have clamored for the two giants
to mix things up a bit and deliver the absolute greatest fights
imaginable, yet all we got was Chuck Liddell (Pictures) entering the 2003 Middleweight
Grand Prix and Ricco
Rodriguez (Pictures) squaring off against Antonio Rodrigo
Nogueira (Pictures).
Days of crying over wishes that fall on deaf ears appear to be a thing of a terrible past. Instead of PRIDE's best warriors pillaging hordes of pro wrestling tomato cans and UFC's absurd ranking system we should finally be given the absolute best fighting. It now looks likely that the ultimate showdowns we've desired in all likelihood will become a reality.
Just a few super fights I'd kill a cat burglar for:
Dan Henderson (Pictures) vs. Chuck Liddell (Pictures)
How can this fight not happen? Provided, of course, Liddell gets past Quinton Jackson (Pictures) in May (more on that later in this column), this is an absolute must. For years fans and media have demanded either Wanderlei Silva (Pictures) against Liddell or Randy Couture (Pictures). Now that Silva is a victim of two straight brutal KO losses, he has gone from totally chic to totally geek. It's a no-brainer to pit PRIDE's new middleweight king against his UFC counterpart.
Fedor Emelianenko (Pictures) vs. Mirko Filipovic (Pictures) II
Without question this will happen. Considering Zuffa's insatiable appetite for rematches, pitting the world's No. 1 (Fedor) and No. 2 (Cro Cop) against one another for a second war is essentially signed, sealed and delivered. And both men will be paid handsomely, I might add. It will be one of the richest fights in MMA history up to that point (maybe even the richest) and it should be most-demanded fight since Donny Osmond and Danny Bonaduce.
Georges St. Pierre (Pictures) vs. Hayato Sakurai (Pictures)
Wow, let the fireworks begin! Two tough guys who love to throw down and gun for the KO basically every time a strike is flung. Well, more so Sakurai in that regard, but either way it's a war. GSP is a better striker in terms of smoothness and grace but Sakurai packs enough dynamite to implode a strip mall. No way does this go the distance and no way is this not a fight of the year candidate.
"Giant" Silva vs. Cheick Kongo (Pictures)
Kidding.
Mauricio Rua (Pictures) vs. Chuck Liddell (Pictures)
Another all-out war that could go either way is this guaranteed slugfest. Rua is far more aggressive than Liddell but "The Iceman" has that freakish punching power. It was a fight that seemed impossible to become a reality but now it's a just a matter of time before these two cats go toe-to-toe.
Randy Couture (Pictures) vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (Pictures)
If ever there was an MMA chess match between two all-time greats, this is it. Would Couture's wrestling and ground-and-pound be able to counter Nog's premiere grappling and submissions? Once thought a mere pipe dream now becomes more and more likely.
Andrei Arlovski (Pictures) vs. Sergei Kharitonov (Pictures)
Two absolute terrifying strikers both with submission ability; you almost couldn't ask for a more entertaining fight. Sure these two aren't in the top five in regards to the best heavyweights on earth at this moment, but who would not want to see this one?
Keep it the same, only different
There's one thing they must do in order for this deal to be perfect; keep PRIDE the same yet change it up. And what I mean by this is that the PRIDE ring, theatrics, humor and atmosphere must never change. The Fertittas must keep this event as Japanese as ever so as to not drive loyal fans away.
What should be done as far as changes are concerned is to put some sort of championship policy into action. Keeping champions in separate organizations is fine; champion vs. champion matches are always a hot seller. But if they decide to keep the Grand Prix events (they should) the actual champions should not be included within the tourney brackets. The (hopefully) new PRIDE Grand Prix events should include contenders, with the winner getting a guaranteed shot at a title.
I disagree with the decision to make PRIDE use the Unified Rules we have in North America. Keeping the exact PRIDE rules, the yellow cards, the huge trophies and checks and everything in between would have been ideal. Other than that, everything should run just like clockwork.
