Remember when the UFC teased us with a 2007 Lightweight Grand Prix? The deal may be dead, but the dream lives on. Think about it. The greatest fighters coming together in an elimination tournament to find out once and for all who is king.
For a look at one of the best, look no further than PRIDE’s 2006 Absolute Grand Prix. It features an invincible Cro Cop, the fall of “The Axe Murderer” and one of the best heavyweight battles I’ve ever seen in Barnett/Nogueira.
35 Comments »
great vid man!!
When is this shit coming out on dvd already!?!
Dang that was SOOOOO good
watch that vid dana white!!!
It gets lame after a while the same ufc format. The shit talk..the tale of the tape..a fight.Joe’s interview..next.
Pride was show..like a mma festival..some of things where over the top..but it kept you on your feet. GPrix would be awesome to see happen here.
[quote comment="234057"]It gets lame after a while the same ufc format. The shit talk..the tale of the tape..a fight.Joe’s interview..next.
Pride was show..like a mma festival..some of things where over the top..but it kept you on your feet. GPrix would be awesome to see happen here.[/quote]
F*ckin Dana bought PRIKDE so that he could trash it. If he isnt gonna bring back Pride at least bring back the Grand Prix. What better way to sort out the Heavyweight division than to have a heavyweight grand prix, winner gets the title.
PhilQNY: Well said man, I like that mma festival. The show was amazing, the production was the best I have ever seen at a soprts event (better than the superbowl).
I liked PRIDE the way it was before UFC purchased it. In all honesty (im going to get bached for this) but I like Dana W but I don tlike what he did with his purchase.
What an awesome Video, Dana better realease the DVD of these 3 events soon, because it is a muct own to complete my collection.
Really makes you wonder how Cro Cop fell off so much since coming to the UFC. The Cro Cop of the UFC is not the Cro Cop of PRIDE. This video just reminded me of how dissapointed I am in Mirko Cro Cop.
A LW and a HW tournament would be the greatest thing to ever happen to the UFC, but it will probably never happen. All of the fights don’t have to take place the same night like they did back in the day. Each round of the tournament can be 3 months apart. If you get injured during training – too bad. You will be replaced by whomever you beat in the previous round.
Quick Question: Does anyone know why Fedor did not compete in this tournament? The answer can’t be that he was HW champ. Wanderlei was MW champ and he competed. Was Fedor injured at the time the first round of the tourny began, or was this just the beginning of Fedor ducking the best competition? (I know he fought and beat just about everyone in the tourny at one point or another, but still)
awesome semi-final..Cro-Cop, Noguiera, Barnet and Wanderlai..
Oh yeah and Fedor has class..is he really friends with wanderlai?
Damn I miss Pride.
Cro Cop has bounced back before from terrible KO losses, look at his first fight with Randleman. Cro Cop’s still one of my favorite fighters, I just hope that he hasn’t given up on himself.
Fedor [quote comment="234131"]Really makes you wonder how Cro Cop fell off so much since coming to the UFC. The Cro Cop of the UFC is not the Cro Cop of PRIDE. This video just reminded me of how dissapointed I am in Mirko Cro Cop.
A LW and a HW tournament would be the greatest thing to ever happen to the UFC, but it will probably never happen. All of the fights don’t have to take place the same night like they did back in the day. Each round of the tournament can be 3 months apart. If you get injured during training – too bad. You will be replaced by whomever you beat in the previous round.
Quick Question: Does anyone know why Fedor did not compete in this tournament? The answer can’t be that he was HW champ. Wanderlei was MW champ and he competed. Was Fedor injured at the time the first round of the tourny began, or was this just the beginning of Fedor ducking the best competition? (I know he fought and beat just about everyone in the tourny at one point or another, but still)[/quote]
Fedor was injured–think it was his hand. Damn shame. Would of loved to have seen Mirko at his peak (he was arguably overworked when he fought Fedor the first time) go toe-to-toe with the Russian Bear. God I love the ring versus the cage. For those who have been to a live UFC/cage event, does the cage seriously impead viewing?
[quote comment="234131"]Really makes you wonder how Cro Cop fell off so much since coming to the UFC. The Cro Cop of the UFC is not the Cro Cop of PRIDE. This video just reminded me of how dissapointed I am in Mirko Cro Cop.
A LW and a HW tournament would be the greatest thing to ever happen to the UFC, but it will probably never happen. All of the fights don’t have to take place the same night like they did back in the day. Each round of the tournament can be 3 months apart. If you get injured during training – too bad. You will be replaced by whomever you beat in the previous round.
Quick Question: Does anyone know why Fedor did not compete in this tournament? The answer can’t be that he was HW champ. Wanderlei was MW champ and he competed. Was Fedor injured at the time the first round of the tourny began, or was this just the beginning of Fedor ducking the best competition? (I know he fought and beat just about everyone in the tourny at one point or another, but still)[/quote]
ViolentMike: Fedor was scheduled to appear in the tournament. He had a first round bye, but got hurt and was replaced by wanderlei Silva.
Thanks John! How many times has Fedor been forced to drop out of a fight due to injury? Does anyone know? I don’t think he has a history of pre-fight-cancelling-injuries, but I could be wrong.
Its like, whats an open weight tournament, mostly made up of HW’s, without the HW champion? You would think it would be to find out who is the #1 contender at the very least, but it didn’t even. Fedor fought Cro Cop in 2005. This tourney was in 2006.
[quote comment="234190"]Thanks John! How many times has Fedor been forced to drop out of a fight due to injury? Does anyone know? I don’t think he has a history of pre-fight-cancelling-injuries, but I could be wrong.
Its like, whats an open weight tournament, mostly made up of HW’s, without the HW champion? You would think it would be to find out who is the #1 contender at the very least, but it didn’t even. Fedor fought Cro Cop in 2005. This tourney was in 2006.[/quote]
Since Fedor was injured that’s exactly what the GP turned out to produce–the #1 contender. Even without Fedor, the “Final Four” night was arguably the most electric night of MMA: Nog v Barnett–awesome war; CC v Wand: dominant performance by CC against one of MMA’s most dominant performers (weight difference was only 5 pounds or so) punctuated with a left high kick that leaves Wand incapacitated and bleeding from the impact; CC v Barnett: two elite and tired HW’s gutting it out and fighting to the end.
Great night. UFC has yet to reach those heights. I don’t know if you could commission an open-weight tournament in the U.S. anymore but even a HW tourney spread over a few months would be perfect–with the winner fighting Fedor. DOn’t see why Dana woudln’t be willing to pit the champ of the tourney against Fedor, someone he claims is overrated!
the gpxs is def one of the things that pride had over the ufc. i would love to see it happen, but i agree w/ most that it wont. i couldn’t care less about all the pre-fight crap festivities and that stupid screaming lady. i will also take the cage over the ring any day. i haven’t been to a live ufc event yet, but most say it is the best in all of sports.
[quote comment="234131"]Really makes you wonder how Cro Cop fell off so much since coming to the UFC. The Cro Cop of the UFC is not the Cro Cop of PRIDE. This video just reminded me of how dissapointed I am in Mirko Cro Cop.
A LW and a HW tournament would be the greatest thing to ever happen to the UFC, but it will probably never happen. All of the fights don’t have to take place the same night like they did back in the day. Each round of the tournament can be 3 months apart. If you get injured during training – too bad. You will be replaced by whomever you beat in the previous round.
Quick Question: Does anyone know why Fedor did not compete in this tournament? The answer can’t be that he was HW champ. Wanderlei was MW champ and he competed. Was Fedor injured at the time the first round of the tourny began, or was this just the beginning of Fedor ducking the best competition? (I know he fought and beat just about everyone in the tourny at one point or another, but still)[/quote]
Fedor had a hand injury, thats why he couldnt compete.Wanderlei was the next closes champ, so pride gave him a chance to compete in the tournament.Fedor had already defeated Norg, and Cro cop.
This was an excellent video!
Too bad that Pride went belly up the way it did, I just can’t believe that with the UFC backing Pride that it wasn’t able to survive. I was really looking forward to their Superbowl match ups. Great organization!
[quote comment="234278"][quote comment="234131"]Really makes you wonder how Cro Cop fell off so much since coming to the UFC. The Cro Cop of the UFC is not the Cro Cop of PRIDE. This video just reminded me of how dissapointed I am in Mirko Cro Cop.
A LW and a HW tournament would be the greatest thing to ever happen to the UFC, but it will probably never happen. All of the fights don’t have to take place the same night like they did back in the day. Each round of the tournament can be 3 months apart. If you get injured during training – too bad. You will be replaced by whomever you beat in the previous round.
Quick Question: Does anyone know why Fedor did not compete in this tournament? The answer can’t be that he was HW champ. Wanderlei was MW champ and he competed. Was Fedor injured at the time the first round of the tourny began, or was this just the beginning of Fedor ducking the best competition? (I know he fought and beat just about everyone in the tourny at one point or another, but still)[/quote]
Fedor had a hand injury, thats why he couldnt compete.Wanderlei was the next closes champ, so pride gave him a chance to compete in the tournament.Fedor had already defeated Norg, and Cro cop.[/quote]
OHHH, so Wanderlei wasn’t originally going to be in the tournament? Thanks for the facts!
Wasn’t he the only true non HW in the tourny? If so, they should have just called it the HW tourny instead of the open weight tourny?
Pride was able to hold tournaments because there was a bigger difference in skill level and style between the fighters. In the UFC, the average skill level in each weight class is not far below that of the champions (besides Anderson Silva, who takes MMA to a new level), and everyone is stereotypically very well rounded. Therefore, if there was a UFC tournament, all the fighters would get trashed, and the UFC would lose money. It would be cool to watch, but Dana White probably thinks its too impractical to ever happen, and probably wants to keep things simple until MMA gets more exposure.
[quote comment="234347"][quote comment="234278"][quote comment="234131"]Really makes you wonder how Cro Cop fell off so much since coming to the UFC. The Cro Cop of the UFC is not the Cro Cop of PRIDE. This video just reminded me of how dissapointed I am in Mirko Cro Cop.
A LW and a HW tournament would be the greatest thing to ever happen to the UFC, but it will probably never happen. All of the fights don’t have to take place the same night like they did back in the day. Each round of the tournament can be 3 months apart. If you get injured during training – too bad. You will be replaced by whomever you beat in the previous round.
Quick Question: Does anyone know why Fedor did not compete in this tournament? The answer can’t be that he was HW champ. Wanderlei was MW champ and he competed. Was Fedor injured at the time the first round of the tourny began, or was this just the beginning of Fedor ducking the best competition? (I know he fought and beat just about everyone in the tourny at one point or another, but still)[/quote]
Fedor had a hand injury, thats why he couldnt compete.Wanderlei was the next closes champ, so pride gave him a chance to compete in the tournament.Fedor had already defeated Norg, and Cro cop.[/quote]
OHHH, so Wanderlei wasn’t originally going to be in the tournament? Thanks for the facts!
Wasn’t he the only true non HW in the tourny? If so, they should have just called it the HW tourny instead of the open weight tourny?[/quote]
vandy was set from the start to fight in this tournament and he was not the only non heavy weight,Ikuhisa Minowa was only 181 lbs i think he fought crocop in the first round and lost?
Man I really wish that I was as big of a fan back then as I am right now.
Then again, I would have had to clean my pants on several occasions so maybe Im glad I wasnt
[quote comment="234347"][quote comment="234278"][quote comment="234131"]Really makes you wonder how Cro Cop fell off so much since coming to the UFC. The Cro Cop of the UFC is not the Cro Cop of PRIDE. This video just reminded me of how dissapointed I am in Mirko Cro Cop.
A LW and a HW tournament would be the greatest thing to ever happen to the UFC, but it will probably never happen. All of the fights don’t have to take place the same night like they did back in the day. Each round of the tournament can be 3 months apart. If you get injured during training – too bad. You will be replaced by whomever you beat in the previous round.
Quick Question: Does anyone know why Fedor did not compete in this tournament? The answer can’t be that he was HW champ. Wanderlei was MW champ and he competed. Was Fedor injured at the time the first round of the tourny began, or was this just the beginning of Fedor ducking the best competition? (I know he fought and beat just about everyone in the tourny at one point or another, but still)[/quote]
Fedor had a hand injury, thats why he couldnt compete.Wanderlei was the next closes champ, so pride gave him a chance to compete in the tournament.Fedor had already defeated Norg, and Cro cop.[/quote]
OHHH, so Wanderlei wasn’t originally going to be in the tournament? Thanks for the facts!
Wasn’t he the only true non HW in the tourny? If so, they should have just called it the HW tourny instead of the open weight tourny?[/quote]
No it wasnt all HW, u had Ikusa “the punk” Minowa, Yoshida (I wouldnt really consider him to be a heavyweight, Alistar overeem (I think he was just an alternate)
My only beef with`the tournament was that two many slots were wasted on Bums like Josh Tompson, Zulizinho, Minowa(could have been replaced with a better fighter)
Roy u are wrong. Fedor was supposed to be in the tournament, he had a 1st round bye, got hurt and they replaced him with Wanderlei. Thats y u didnt see Fedor or Wandy at Total Elimination Absolute, Wandy appeared against Fujita at Critical countdown, replacing Fedor, it was supposed to be a rematch of Fedor vs. Fujita but Fedor got hurt and was replaced with wanderlei…I am positive. I thin k Fedor’s hand was messed up, or his thumb or something…
[quote comment="234419"]Roy u are wrong. Fedor was supposed to be in the tournament, he had a 1st round bye, got hurt and they replaced him with Wanderlei. Thats y u didnt see Fedor or Wandy at Total Elimination Absolute, Wandy appeared against Fujita at Critical countdown, replacing Fedor, it was supposed to be a rematch of Fedor vs. Fujita but Fedor got hurt and was replaced with wanderlei…I am positive. I thin k Fedor’s hand was messed up, or his thumb or something…[/quote]
my bad
[quote comment="234419"]Roy u are wrong. Fedor was supposed to be in the tournament, he had a 1st round bye, got hurt and they replaced him with Wanderlei. Thats y u didnt see Fedor or Wandy at Total Elimination Absolute, Wandy appeared against Fujita at Critical countdown, replacing Fedor, it was supposed to be a rematch of Fedor vs. Fujita but Fedor got hurt and was replaced with wanderlei…I am positive. I thin k Fedor’s hand was messed up, or his thumb or something…[/quote]
my mistake
i about to say what everybody else said but damn i miss pride. i LOVED the fucking video. true, hardcore battles. gotta get this on dvd. thanks mania
GREAT VIDEO!!
[quote comment="234057"]It gets lame after a while the same ufc format. The shit talk..the tale of the tape..a fight.Joe’s interview..next.
Pride was show..like a mma festival..some of things where over the top..but it kept you on your feet. GPrix would be awesome to see happen here.[/quote]
absolutely right, notice in every countown they say the same thing over and over “this is going to be an intresting fight”
I became an mma fan because of the ufc and its great butt after watching pride it was just so much better in all areas the fights the show everything
in pride they didnt need countdown shows and fancy words to hype the event in Pride the shows and fights spoke for them selves
Thank you for the commentaries.
Thanks mmamania.com
Machinemen
One of the best mma highlight makers. Machinemen is awesome
Pride GP 2004 By Machinemen
[color=red]Stefan Leko,Naoya Ogawa,Mirko Cro Cop,Kevin Randleman,A. Rodrigo Nogueira,Hirotaka Yokoi,Fedor Emelianenko,Mark Coleman,Heath Herring,Yoshiki Takahashi,Murilo Ninja,Sergei Kharitonov,Giant Silva,Sentoryu,Sem Schilt,Gan McGee. [/color]
[b]Stream:[/b]
http://www.dailymotion.com/machinemen/video/x3uv3u_pride-gp-2004-by-machinemen_creation
Pride GP 2004 By Machinemen
[img]http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u175/Machinemen/Pride2004.jpg[/img]
[color=red]Stefan Leko,Naoya Ogawa,Mirko Cro Cop,Kevin Randleman,A. Rodrigo Nogueira,Hirotaka Yokoi,Fedor Emelianenko,Mark Coleman,Heath Herring,Yoshiki Takahashi,Murilo Ninja,Sergei Kharitonov,Giant Silva,Sentoryu,Sem Schilt,Gan McGee. [/color]
[b]Info:[/b]
[img]http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u175/Machinemen/Pridegp04.jpg[/img]
[b]Stream:[/b]
http://www.dailymotion.com/machinemen/video/x3uv3u_pride-gp-2004-by-machinemen_creation