On November 7th, Strikeforce will make its debut on CBS with a fight card that is stacked from top-to-bottom.
In a world where the UFC is primarily the dominant force in the MMA industry, Strikeforce has established itself as the No. 2 fight promotion in the world, and has the potential to become a legit competitor to the Zuffa brand.
The only organization that has truly come close to surpassing the No. 1 status of the UFC was the now-defunct PRIDE Fighting Championships. The Japanese-based organization was founded in late 1997 and promoted some of the very best MMA events this sport has ever born witness to.
PRIDE’s format of pitting all of their top stars into one ultra-stacked card is a format Scott Coker is trying to follow with Strikeforce. Saturday’s event will feature top stars such as light-heavyweight champ Gegard Mousasi, Fabricio Werdum, Jason “Mayhem” Miller, and Jake Shields all competing on one night.
Headlining the event will be current WAMMA Heavyweight champion Fedor “The Last Emperor” Emelianenko, making his Strikeforce debut against heavy-handed wrecking machine Brett “The Grimm” Rogers.
Emelianenko—widely recognized as the top fighter in the entire world—made his name in PRIDE. Before the UFC bought the organization in 2007, PRIDE was home to some of the greatest fights in the sport's history.
Let’s take a look at the top 10 greatest bouts in the history of the PRIDE Fighting Championships.
10. Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic vs. Wanderlei Silva II (PRIDE Final Conflict Absolute)
In what was built up as one of the most-anticipated battles in PRIDE history, bitter rivals Filipovic and Silva squared off in the semifinals of PRIDE’s 2006 Open-Weight Grand Prix. It wouldn’t be the first time these two legendary strikers met in the ring, as they had previously fought to a draw at PRIDE 20 just four years prior.
For the majority of the fight, Silva attacked the Croatian with wild punches which were easily countered by straight-lefts from “Cro Cop." Anytime Silva would throw one of his looping punches, Filipovic was right there to counter with strikes of his own, and these two went back and forth for most of the first round.
The end result saw “Cro Cop” catch “The Axe Murderer” with a left high-kick, knocking Silva out in highlight-reel fashion. This fight is absolutely a PRIDE classic, but on a list of all-time greatest knockouts it would certainly be ranked in the top five.
9. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson vs. Wanderlei Silva II (PRIDE 28: High Octane)
Speaking of rivals, the feud between “Rampage” Jackson and Silva is widely recognized as one of the most heated rivalries in not just PRIDE history, but in all of MMA as a whole.
These light-heavyweight wrecking machines first crossed paths in the finals of the PRIDE 2003 Middleweight Grand Prix. “The Axe Murderer” won that fight, finishing Jackson off in the first round with brutal knees from the Muay Thai clinch.
Their second meeting was an all-out stand-up war that ended in devastating fashion with Silva once again finishing Jackson with knees from the Thai clinch in the second round. The knockout was so destructive it left Jackson hanging on the bottom ring ropes unconsciously as “The Axe Murderer” celebrated his triumphant victory.
8. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic (PRIDE Final Conflict 2003)
There is a reason why the legendary “Minotauro” Nogueira is considered the “Rocky Balboa of MMA” because no matter how hard you hit him he will continue to move forward to eventually find a way to win the fight.
His classic bout with “Cro Cop” is proof of that as for the majority of the fight Filipovic was the aggressor, beating “Minotauro” up with crisp punches and thunderous kicks. “Cro Cop” would land strike after strike and yet, with blood dripping down his face Nogueira kept coming back for more.
Finally in the second round, Nogueira took “Cro Cop” down and began working some ground n’ pound from the top position before eventually securing a beautiful arm-bar causing the Croatian to tap-out.
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