Power Ranking Every Pride Tournament

The holiday season always reminds me of the glory days of Japanese MMA and the much-hyped New Years Eve events that the Pride FC organization always used to hold. The days of Pride are long gone, but the memories of that unique era with pyro-show openings and fighter introductions remain.

In human nature, variety is the spice of life and with the modern era of weight classes and individual event fight card's there is one thing that Pride delivered that I truly miss most of all, The Tournament.

Pride held eight tournaments in it's history and they delivered some of the toughest, most compelling mixed martial arts matches we have ever seen. Here is my power ranking of Pride tournaments.

Happy Holidays to everyone!

8. Pride 2006 Welterweight Grand Prix

3 Events: Bushido 11/ Bushido 12/ Bushido 13

Combined Attendance: 25,452

15 Tournament Fighters: Murilo Bustamante, Amar Suloev, Denis Kang, Murilo Rua, Akahiro Gono, Hector Lombard, Gerard Mousasi, Makoto Takimoto, Joey Villasenor, Ryo Chonan, Paulo Filho, Gregory Bouchelaghem, Kazuo Misaki, Phil Baroni, Dan Henderson

The Pride 2006 Welterweight Grand Prix gathered some of the best welterweights in the world, and when the dust settled saw a very surprising outcome in the eyes of many. The tournament held notable names such as Dan Henderson, Murilo Bustamante, Gerard Mousasi and Hector Lombard.

Bustamante was upset by Suloev, Gono defeated Lombard, Rua was bounced by Kang and Misaki defeated Baroni. In the second round Henderson was upset by Kazuo Misaki and the stage was set for a very surprising final four. Paulo Filho vs Kazuo Misaki and Denis Kang vs Akihiro Gono. The surprises didn't stop there as Filho defeated Misaki, but was pulled from the Grand Prix Finals due to injuries suffered in his bout with Misaki. Misaki stepped in vs Kang as a replacement for Filho and won the tournament title with a tight split decision win, much to the delight of the home fans.  

7. Pride Lightweight Tournament 2005

2 Events: Bushido 9/ Shockwave 2005

Combined Attendance: 60,576

8 Tournament Fighters: Jens Pulver, Hyato Sakurai, Yves Edwards, Joachim Hansen, Takanori Gomi, Tatsuya Kawajiri, Luis Azeredo, Naoyuki Kotani

Pride Bushido 9 was held in August of 2005 and staged the quarterfinals and semifinals of the Pride Lightweight tournament and then the finals were held later that year on New Years Eve. The tournament was run simultaneously with an identically set welterweight bracket as well.

Hyato Sakurai, Joachim Hansen, Takanori Gomi and Luiz Azeredo all won their fights to set the stage for an exciting semifinals. Japanese star and Pride veteran Hyato Sakurai took a unanimous decision from a game Joachim Hansen and hero Takanori Gomi defeated Luis Azeredo in one of the most famous beef matches of all time to continue his dominance over Chute Box fighters. The finals were set for Shockwave on New Years Eve.

In a dream matchup for the Japanese fans, former teammates "The Fireball Kid" Takanori Gomi and Hyato "Mach" Sakurai would fight to determine the true lightweight hero for the Japanese fans. After some exchanges on their feet, Sakurai went for a hip toss takedown and Gomi ended up on top in dominant mount position.

Gomi rained down punches doing considerable damage, but Sakurai was able to escape and both were back on the feet once again as the fans in attendance went wild. "The Fireball Kid let loose with a solid three punch combination and the last punch hit the button, knocking out Sakurai at 3:56 of the first round.

6. Pride Welterweight Tournament 2005

2 Events: Bushido 9/ Shockwave 2005

Combined Attendance: 60,576

8 Tournament Fighters: Daniel Acacio, Akahiro Gono, Ryo Chonan, Dan Henderson, Phil Baroni, Ikuhisa Minowa, Murilo Bustamante, Masanori Suda

Pride Bushido 9 was held in August of 2005 and staged the quarterfinals and semifinals of the Pride Welterweight tournament and then the finals were held later that year on New Years Eve. The tournament was run simultaneously with an identically set lightweight bracket as well.

Akahiro Gono, Dan Henderson, Ikuhisa Minowa and Murilo Bustamante all made it through to the semifinals to take place on the same evening. Henderson knocked out local favorite Akihiro Gono at 7:58 of round one and Bustamante defeated Minowa with soccer kicks 10 minutes into their fight. The finals were set for Shockwave on New Years Eve.

In a two round fight, Dan Henderson became the first welterweight champion in Pride history with a unanimous decision victory. The tournament win established Dan Henderson as one of the best fighters in the world.

5. Pride 2006 Open Weight Grand Prix

3 Events: Total Elimination Absolute/ Critical Countdown Absolute/ Final Conflict Absolute

Combined Attendance: 136,800 (approx)

15 Tournament Fighters: Alexander Emelianenko, Josh Barnett, Mark Hunt, Tsuyoshi Kohsaka, Alistair Overeem, Fabricio Werdum, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Zuluzinho, Mirko Filipovic, Ikuhisa Minowa, Hidehiko Yoshida, Yosuke Nishijima, Kazuyuki Fujita, James Thompson, Fedor Emelianenko.

Pride 2006 Open Weight Grand Prix tournament held one of the deepest talent pools of any mixed martial arts tournament in history and was held over three separate events throughout 2006. The tournament began in May at Total Elimination Absolute, and saw seven fights with a first round bye going to an injured Fedor Emelianenko.

The quarterfinals would take place in July at Critical Countdown Absolute and featured some very exciting fights. Josh Barnett vs Mark Hunt, Fabricio Werdum vs Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Mirko Filipovic vs Hidehiko Yoshida would all face off and due to the fact that Fedor was still unable to compete due to injury, Wanderlei Silva replaced him to face Kazuyuki Fujita.

Barnett submitted Hunt, Nogueira decisioned Werdum, Silva TKO'd Fujita and Filipovic's vicious leg kicks made Yoshida verbally submit. The final four was set and the semi finals and finals would take place on the same night in September in Saitama.

Four of the best fighters in the world would deliver fireworks on this night as Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic would score a beautiful head kick knockout over Silva in the semi's to make it to the finals. In the other fight, Barnett and Nogueira would battle to a tight split decision win for Barnett.  

Barnett and Cro Cop had already fought twice, with Cro Cop winning both times, and it would be no different in their third fight against each other. Mirko Cro Cop would defeat Barnett via tap due to strikes and become the 2006 Grand Prix Open Weight Champion.

4. Pride 2000 Open Weight Grand Prix

1 Event: May 1, 2000 Tokyo, Japan

Attendance: 38,429

8 Tournament Fighters: Gary Goodridge, Igor Vovchanchyn, Royce Gracie, Kazushi Sakuraba, Mark Coleman, Akira Shoji, Kazuyuki Fujita, Mark Kerr

Non Tournament Bout: Guy Mezger vs Masaaki Satake

Superfight: Ken Shamrock vs Alexander Otsuka

Pride Grand Prix 2000 is most well known for one of the most famous re-matches in history between Royce Gracie and Kazushi Sakuraba. The fight was a grueling 90-minute affair, in which there were six 15-minute rounds and no referee stoppages. After the sixth round, Gracie's corner threw in the towel because Royce could not continue due to damage taken from Sakuraba's leg kicks. The semi-final defeat was Gracie's first loss of his career.

There was a non-tournament bout in which Guy Mezger defeated Satake via decision, and there was a solid Superfight in which Ken Shamrock defeated Alexander Otsuka via TKO 9:43 into the first round

The tournament finals saw big man Mark Coleman take out Igor Vovchanchyn as Igor tapped out due to knee strikes at 3:09 of the second round. The win completed a comeback for Coleman, as he defeated three Japanese fighters before taking out Igor and he was once again one of the best fighter's in the world.

3. Pride 2004 Heavyweight Grand Prix

3 Events: Total Elimination 2004/ Critical Countdown 2004/ Final Confllict 2004

Combined Attendance: 133,450

16 Tournament Fighters: Mark Coleman, Kevin Randleman, Stefan Leko, Paulo Cesar Silva, Henry Miller, Murilo Rua, Semmy Schilt, Gan McGee, Heath Herring, Yoshiki Takahashi, Hirotaka Yokoi, Sergei Kharitonov, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Fedor Emelianenko, Naoya Ogawa

The early rounds of the tournament saw no real surprises and the final eight standing at Critical Countdown were all top level heavyweight fighters, with some great fights between Fedor and Randleman and Nogueira and Herring.

In very predictable fashion, Fedor Emelianenko and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira won their semi-final matches and faced each other in the tournament finals on the same night in a highly anticipated rematch. The Pride 2004  Heavyweight Grand Prix turned out to be a little bit out of the norm, as the final outcome had to be extended to another event due to a no contest result in the finals.

The fight ended in disappointing fashion at 3:52 of the first round when the two butted heads violently and a large cut opened over Fedor's eye. The fight was called a no contest and was rescheduled to take place at Pride Shockwave 2004 on December 31st of the same year. Fedor defeated Nogueira in a tough, but dominant decision win.

2. Pride 2005 Middleweight Grand Prix

3 Events: Total Elimination 2005/ Critical Countdown 2005/ Final Conflict 2005

Combined Attendance: 136,761

15 Tournament Fighters: Yoon Dong-Sik, Dean Lister, Kevin Randleman, Kazuhiro Nakamura, Hidehiko Yoshida, Vitor Belfort, Igor Vovchanchyn, Yuki Kondo, Rogerio Nogueira, Dan Henderson Wanderlei Silva, Ricardo Arona, Alistair Overeem, Mauricio Rua, Quinton Jackson

The early rounds of the tournament saw fighters such as Dean Lister, Kevin Randleman, Vitor Belfort , Dan Henderson and Quinton Jackson all eliminated.

In the tournament semi-finals, Ricardo Arona pulled off an upset by defeating Wanderlei Silva in a unanimous decision after two rounds. Young Brazilian lion Mauricio Rua stopped Alistair Overeem with technical knockout at 6:42 of the first round due to strikes.

The much anticipated Silva-Rua matchup was not to be, but Rua ended up taking the tournament title by defeating Arona by knockout due to hammerfist's at 2:54 of the fight.

Taking the spotlight from the middleweight tournament was one of the most anticipated fights of all time as unstoppable heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko would put his title on the line against feared striker Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic. Many felt that Cro Cop would be the man to stop the run, but Emelianenko pressed Cro Cop out of his striking comfort zone all night. Fedor wore Mirko down with constant aggression and top control taking a unanimous decision win to defend the title.

1. Pride 2003 Middleweight Grand Prix

2 Events: Total Elimination 2003/ Final Conflict 2003

Combined Attendance: 107,7668

8 Tournament Fighters: Alistair Overeem, Murilo Bustamante, Kiyoshi Tamura, Kazushi Sakuraba, Chuck Liddell, Quinton Jackson, Hidehiko Yoshida, Wanderlei Silva

In what has to be one of the most stacked and anticipated tournaments of all time, Pride 2003 Middleweight Grand Prix takes the prize as the pinnacle tournament held in the organization's history.

So many story lines were rampant for this event, and the tournament was staged as a nice set up for a UFC vs Pride final showdown. The UFC had entered their top dog Chuck Liddell in anticipation of him marching to the finals for an epic showdown with Pride champion Wanderlei "The Axe Murderer" Silva.

Liddell won his first round fight over Alistair Overeem, but no one told Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, about the plan, and he spoiled that theme by defeating Chuck Liddell in the semi finals. Silva then took out Jackson at 6:28 of the first round via TKO from consecutive standing knee strikes to the head. 

Silva defeated two Japanese legends on his way to the title beating Kazushi Sakuraba and Hidehiko Yoshida

Dwight Wakabayashi is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report MMA and correspondent for MMACanada.net.

Catch him on Facebook and Twitter at wakafightermma.