How The UFC Can Resurrect Pride

Pride Fighting Championship (Pride FC) was a dominant force in the world of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) for 10 years. 

Not only did Pride FC have many of the best fighters in MMA and mainstream MMA in Japan, it also allowed those fighters the opportunity to test their skills with the best of the best, in Pride Grand Prix. 

Earlier this year, Spike TV debuted the new "Best of Pride," series in an effort to not only showcase past matches fought and won by current UFC talent, but also to try a new method of gaining profit from the Pride FC brand and vast library owned by Zuffa, LLC, the parent company of the UFC.

Even though the series seems to mostly show talent on the current UFC roster, instead of the entire array of fighters who were once under the Pride banner, this is not necessarily a bad thing and has the potential to be the beginning of a Pride FC resurrection. 

A resurrection in the form of an all new Pride Grand Prix featuring the best the UFC has to offer to include former Pride fighters, UFC veterans, or the new generation of UFC talent under the promotion. 

In order to make a resurrected Pride Grand Prix successful it must be well planned with the fans, fighters, and sport as a whole considered. 

Here are just a few ways this can be achieved:

First — Determine the Format

The first step in bringing back a tournament of days past, is to determine the new format. 

Matches would have to be fought under the, Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts, with perhaps adjusting the opening and semi-final rounds to being two rounds with a third round upon a tie, much like, The Ultimate Fighter format. 

The opening and semi-final rounds could be fought within 45 days of each other, with the final round 75 days afterwards making the whole tournament last four months. 

The open weight tournament would be cut, as it violates the Unified Rules , but the other weight classes would operate on a rotational basic much like they did in the final years of Pride. 

Since UFC has more weight classes than Pride did, it could hold two tournaments a year, and perhaps include the WEC weight classes to ensure a four-year rotation over eight weight classes. 

This could also help with the inevitable future integration of WEC into UFC, but that's a discussion for another day.

Second — Figure Out Who Is Fighting

Next, we need to determine, who will be eligible. 

It is unlikely the UFC would allow its polished champions to risk injury or their titles in a three fight, four-month elimination tournament, so instead the Pride Grand Prix should showcase up-and-coming talent.

The up-and-comers could be pitted against decorated and ranked talented fighters to determine who is the No. One contender. This way, at the end of the day there can be no question as to who deserves their shot at the title.

It is even possible to add an eligibility round over the six months prior to the opening round, which requires 16 willing fighters to win their matches against each other, prior to the tournament in order to enter. 

Given the amount of talent who would be willing to participate, it may even be a requirement, to narrow down the competition to just eight fighters.

Third — What Do We Call It?

Perhaps the most important and final point, at least from a business stand point, is the product branding and marketing. 

The events could be labeled as "UFC Presents Pride Grand Prix 2011: The Heavyweights," or something of that sort. 

In order for Pride to be truly resurrected, it must take place where it started, in Japan. US fans would still order the PPVs, and the sanctioning would be less restrictive with regard to matchmaking and format. 

Furthermore, the Japanese market has been in disarray since the disappearance of Pride FC even though DREAM, Sengoku, and Shooto have tried to fill the void. 

The Japanese fans would welcome the resurrection, US fans old and new would be able to appreciate the format, and the fighters could prove their worth in a way not seen for some time.

With Zuffa, LLC owning the full rights to the Pride FC brand and the immense popularity the promotion once yielded in Japan, the options almost seem limitless with how to bring the fight back to the fans. 

With so many options and possibilities, hopefully the big brass sees the Pride Grand Prix is how best to resurrect Pride for a new generation of MMA fans, and hopefully for generations to come.

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