The Pride Fighting Championship was founded in 1997, a month shy of four years after the UFC opened for business. The newcomer organization, based in Japan, quickly overtook the UFC in popularity. The UFC was banned on cable television at the time and it was illegal in many U.S. states. Pride had the Japanese flair to it along with a series of great fighters.
Two of the men who helped make it what it became are retiring within two weeks of each other.
Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, who became one of the biggest names in the sport in 2005 when he went 5-0 and won Pride's middleweight grand prix, retired following a loss to Ihor Potieria at UFC 283 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He went out with a 27-14-1 record, won the UFC light heavyweight title and had the Pride grand prix tournament win.
On Saturday in the main event of Bellator 290 at The Forum in Inglewood, California, Fedor Emelianenko will compete in his final bout when he rematches Ryan Bader for the championship, ending a career that began on May 21, 2000.
While Rua's greatest success came in Pride — he was 4-1 before joining the organization, 12-1 in Pride and then 11-12-1 in the UFC — Emelianenko's success spanned promotions. Emelianenko was 10-1 before joining Pride, 16-0 with a no-contest in Pride and then 14-5 after Pride was purchased by the UFC.
Emelianenko never fought in the UFC which, around 2006 became the world's leading MMA promotion, so he missed a lot of the great fighters like Randy Couture, Cain Velasquez,...
Published on April 28, 2026 In a determined effort to protect the reputation of one of Africa’s most iconic wildlife destinations, Kenya’s Tourism Regulatory Authority has strongly denied false cl...