Pride favoritism |
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Keeping the pimp hand strong
Career record: 181-78
Season: 47-23 (#525)
Location: Oklahoma
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I been going back and watching my pride collection for the past 3 weeks. I noticed something that really bugged me. The blatant favoritism towards Japanese fighters in the early days of Pride was just sickening. It didn't seam to be as bad in later years of Pride but man it was bad in the early days. I didn't really notice it being this bad back when I watched them the first time (which was years ago). But now that I going back and rematching them it just seams really bad. This favoritism seam to still be around in the later years but not near as bad as the it was in the early Prides.
I also seen something else that bugged me and that was the ring. I never have much cared for the ring in MMA but man after rewatching all these fights I dislike it even more. It seams to change the outcome of the fights just to much. Resets, Fighters getting hung up in the ropes, fighters grabbing the ropes, fighters falling through the ropes, or just causing slow downs giving the other fighter time to recover. Now this isn't just Pride but rewatching all of them made me see how bad the ring is.
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Anxiously awaiting Scott "The Pit Bull" Ferrozzo's return.
The only way to prove that you're a good sport is to lose.
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Post #1 7/31/08 5:41:32PM
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ThE ThIcKFrEAkNeSs
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Career record: 211-121
Season: 41-29 (#1925)
Location: Paducah,KY
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Ha ha you do know Pride was a JAPANESE company don't you. Of course they favored their fighters due to the fact that those were the fighters the Japanese people came to see.
You could say the same about the UFC. Forrest got KO'd by Jardine, went to decision with Ramirez, and then got a shot at the then #1 ranked LHW in Shogun. Do you think he got that shot because he deserved it? He got it because he is a name that generates money for the UFC. You have to please your audience. Joe Stevenson getting a title shot against Penn is another example.
As far as a ring vs. a cage I like them both. I agree that the stoppages due to being in the ropes is annoying but I like watching fights in a ring.
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XBOX LIVE GAMERTAGS- J1mMy PoCkEtS , J0hNnY BlAcK
LiStEn To ThE BlAcK KeYs!!!
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Post #2 7/31/08 8:08:01PM
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mrsmiley
MMA Sensei
Career record: 151-105
Season: 31-28 (#4236)
Location:
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In the early days I think they had a lot of favirotism towards Japanese fighters.
Saku is one of my all time favorites,but I still think Mezger beat him in their match,and I always thought calling for overtime was BS.
Another thing,and maybe someone can clarify this for me,but isn't Fujita throwing illegal knees to the head of Mark Kerr in their bout????
Knees were later adopted by PRIDE,but during the 2000 GP they weren't they still illegal?
Despite all the problems that have come with the ring,I actualy prefer it to the cage.Just my personal preference.
Imo though,I think every org shows some sort of favirotism at one time or another,I think with PRIDE though you could see it more because to them if a Japanese fighter lost,it seemed like everyone took it personal.
They came to love foreign fighters as well though.And in the end,I think PRIDE really became a true international organization when came to the fighters.
 Wish it was still around.
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Post #3 7/31/08 8:12:35PM
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warglory
MMA Sensei
Career record: 169-115
Season: 31-27 (#2819)
Location:
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Posted by mrsmiley
In the early days I think they had a lot of favirotism towards Japanese fighters.
Saku is one of my all time favorites,but I still think Mezger beat him in their match,and I always thought calling for overtime was BS.
Another thing,and maybe someone can clarify this for me,but isn't Fujita throwing illegal knees to the head of Mark Kerr in their bout????
Knees were later adopted by PRIDE,but during the 2000 GP they weren't they still illegal?
Despite all the problems that have come with the ring,I actualy prefer it to the cage.Just my personal preference.
Imo though,I think every org shows some sort of favirotism at one time or another,I think with PRIDE though you could see it more because to them if a Japanese fighter lost,it seemed like everyone took it personal.
They came to love foreign fighters as well though.And in the end,I think PRIDE really became a true international organization when came to the fighters.
Wish it was still around.
Yes, knees were still illegal in 2000. I think the first card that allowed them was maybe PRIDE 13? I only think of that because it was the first time Wandy raped Sakuraba with his knees, and Rutten couldn't stop talking about how vicious and effective this new rule would become. I still think those knees were the beginning of the end for Sakuraba.
Last edited 7/31/08 9:18PM by warglory
Edit note/reason: n/a
2 total post edits
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Post #4 7/31/08 9:16:43PM
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Keeping the pimp hand strong
Career record: 181-78
Season: 47-23 (#525)
Location: Oklahoma
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Posted by jimmypockets
Ha ha you do know Pride was a JAPANESE company don't you. Of course they favored their fighters due to the fact that those were the fighters the Japanese people came to see.
You could say the same about the UFC. Forrest got KO'd by Jardine, went to decision with Ramirez, and then got a shot at the then #1 ranked LHW in Shogun. Do you think he got that shot because he deserved it? He got it because he is a name that generates money for the UFC. You have to please your audience. Joe Stevenson getting a title shot against Penn is another example.
As far as a ring vs. a cage I like them both. I agree that the stoppages due to being in the ropes is annoying but I like watching fights in a ring.
I know its Japanese based company but favoritism was in the judging and in the refs. We still see it today but not near the level it was in pride during the early days. BTW Forrest fighting Shogun wasn't for Forrest's benefit they fully expect for Forrest to loss that fight and it to be a coming out party for Shogun. No one even me expected Forrest to win. But what better way to get a unknown fighter popular than to have them destroy a well known fighter and that's what everyone expected to happen even the UFC. Just that Forrest had other plans. Joe got a title shot because he was next in line at the time. Sherk was out because of his suspension. The fight wasn't even originally a title fight it only became one after Sherk was striped. But yes every company will show favoritism because you cant help it but I'm saying it was really bad during the early days of Pride.
Also Joe had won all his fights at LW. He had wins over
Yves Edwards
Dokonjonosuke Mishima
Melvin Guillard
Kurt Pellegrino
all this before he was set to face BJ and at first wasn't even a title shot. All those guys are good LW fighters. Worst one out of that group is Guillard but at the time Joe faced him Guillard was coming off 2 big KO wins at LW. So Joe was just as deserving as anyone.
Last edited 7/31/08 11:28PM by telnights
Edit note/reason: n/a
_______________________________________
Anxiously awaiting Scott "The Pit Bull" Ferrozzo's return.
The only way to prove that you're a good sport is to lose.
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Post #5 7/31/08 11:27:50PM
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Pitbull09
MMA Sensei
Career record: 134-69
Season: 43-23 (#1565)
Location: PA
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Ha, funny cause I think I am bias agianst Japanese fighters. Other than Kid, Okami, Gomi (Is he Japanese?) and Aoki, I feel that Japanese fighters arnt close to the top ten ranks
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Post #6 7/31/08 11:35:56PM
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Keeping the pimp hand strong
Career record: 181-78
Season: 47-23 (#525)
Location: Oklahoma
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Posted by mrsmiley
In the early days I think they had a lot of favirotism towards Japanese fighters.
Saku is one of my all time favorites,but I still think Mezger beat him in their match,and I always thought calling for overtime was BS.
Another thing,and maybe someone can clarify this for me,but isn't Fujita throwing illegal knees to the head of Mark Kerr in their bout????
Knees were later adopted by PRIDE,but during the 2000 GP they weren't they still illegal?
Yeah that was 2 of the fights I was thinking about as well. The Mezger fight was really bad. But I also seen a lot of others things in the ring that made me say WTF. Its funny how much you notice when you go back and watch things again years later.
It was a breath of fresh air once Pride got in to the later years and it didn't seam to be near a problem anymore. I think it came to a point that they started to respect outsides a little more.
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Anxiously awaiting Scott "The Pit Bull" Ferrozzo's return.
The only way to prove that you're a good sport is to lose.
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Post #7 7/31/08 11:37:47PM
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Pitbull09
MMA Sensei
Career record: 134-69
Season: 43-23 (#1565)
Location: PA
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Posted by telnights
BTW Forrest fighting Shogun wasn't for Forrest's benefit they fully expect for Forrest to loss that fight and it to be a coming out party for Shogun. No one even me expected Forrest to win. But what better way to get a unknown fighter popular than to have them destroy a well known fighter and that's what everyone expected to happen even the UFC. Just that Forrest had other plans. Joe got a title shot because he was next in line at the time. Sherk was out because of his suspension. The fight wasn't even originally a title fight it only became one after Sherk was striped. But yes every company will show favoritism because you cant help it but I'm saying it was really bad during the early days of Pride.
Agreed, that ppv was ment to move Chuck and Rua up in the division. If Shogun won that fight, he would have cut line and got a quick title shot. Chuck was prob suppose to then fight next. Its amazing how that event didnt go as planned
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Post #8 7/31/08 11:44:25PM
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AnDeRsonDaSiLvA
In Full Mount
Career record: 115-56
Season: 49-21 (#525)
Location: BC CANADA
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The japanese favoritsm was obvious imo. Same with american favortism ala hughes in the earlier ufc days. Just a good marketing strategy. I hate the ring also.
Last edited 8/1/08 12:13AM by andersondasilva
Edit note/reason: n/a
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Post #9 8/1/08 12:12:25AM
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The best kicker in the world
Career record: 170-89
Season: 37-18 (#2479)
Location: Regina SK
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Posted by AnDeRsonDaSiLvA
The japanese favoritsm was obvious imo. Same with american favortism ala hughes in the earlier ufc days. Just a good marketing strategy. I hate the ring also.
Bisping in England, there are tons and it's not just in Pride, there are guys in the UFC that you should just not go to a decision with, Chuck getting a judge in the Jardine fight was BS as well IMO. I love the ring  .
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"Fall down 7 times, get up 8" - Japanese proverb.
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Post #10 8/1/08 12:40:58AM
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McLovin'!!!
Career record: 176-83
Season: 55-15 (#5)
Location: Florida
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Posted by Pitbull09
Ha, funny cause I think I am bias agianst Japanese fighters. Other than Kid, Okami, Gomi (Is he Japanese?) and Aoki, I feel that Japanese fighters arnt close to the top ten ranks
It's fine to believe that certain fighters are not top ten, but to have a bias against fighters because of their race is not cool...Why are you 'biased' against Japanese fighters?
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“Believe in yourself. Believe in your own potential for greatness. Believe that you can change the world. It is something that is within each of us.”
-Evan Michael Tanner 1971-2008
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Post #11 8/1/08 9:23:38AM
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