Last Halloween on Pay-Per View, Pride Fighting Championship presented “High Octane” at the Saitama Super Arena in Japan, and as usual, the night was awesome. Pride Fighting is a mixed martial arts fighting event that selects the best fighters from all over the world, and has them face off in a standard boxing ring, though the fights hold much more than punches. The American equivalent of Pride is the Ultimate Fighting Championship, or UFC, which instead, have their combatants matched inside an octagon with padding and cage walls. But over the past few years, the initial wave of UFC success and talent has seemingly traded over its spurs. The world of “vale tudo” fighting, or “anything goes,” has been on the rise since the early nineties, but under its older and more barbaric rules (groin shots and head butts), the UFC and other smaller organizations were getting heat from activists and politicians alike, and it was up to the Japanese to create an event that everyone could watch and emulate. Pride has become one of the most exciting and thrilling events in all of sports. As of late, New England sport fans have been down-right spoiled championships for both baseball and football, and for New England fans also aware of Pride, it only gets better. The Pride that took place last October 31 was another tremendous evening of fighting, concluding with the main fight between Wanderlei “The Axe-Murderer” Silva who reigns from Brazil, and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, an American. Their previous fight, won by Silva, was perhaps one of the most entertaining spectacles I’ve ever witnessed, and when that bell rang again, months of anticipation were finally at hand.
The current middle-weight champion, Silva, is a Muay Thai kick-boxer with an extensive training in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, who trains with the Chute Boxe Academy out of Brazil. He has been arguably the best fighter in the world. He hasn’t lost once in Pride, and is 14-0-1. Silva’s fighting style could be compared to splicing the genes of a bull shark and a gorilla- intense and ferocious. With his faith in God and a tireless routine, it doesn’t seem possible to beat Wanderlei, but like Rampage said, “everybody has to lose.” Quinton “Rampage” Jackson is from Memphis, Tennessee and trains with Team Oyama. Rampage is easily the most likable of all fighters in Pride. Wiith his constant positive attitude and pervasive joking, he laughs and raps his own entrance music, but he also knows how to fight. His trademark move is a thunderous slam that usually leaves his opponents stunned and helpless. Rampage was a formidable Division 1 wrestler, and with background training in Muay Thai and Brazilian jiu-jitsu, he presents Silva with an enormous task. The rematch was in fact, better than the original, and when the referee had to eventually intervene, the reason was Silva’s vicious knee. With an array of kicks, punches, and take-downs, the fight was ended in the second round by a flurry of knees to a shell-shocked Rampage, and the last match of a terrific night finally concluded. This fight was just one of many that had me jumping and cheering, With fighters like Mirko “Crocop” Filipovic, Fedor Emelianenko, Kazushi Sakuraba, Igor Vovchanchyn, and Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira, it remains extremely difficult to not watch an entertaining Pride. Especially with upcoming bouts; like Silva versus Randy “The Natural” Couture, the UFC’s Light Heavy-Weight Champion, and Olympic gold medalist wrestler Rulon Gardner versus Olympic gold medalist judo practitioner, Hidehiko Yoshida.
The UFC also remains a good source of mixed martial arts action, especially with popular fighters like Couture, Tito Ortiz, Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell, Genki “Neo-Samurai” Sudo, Vitor “The Phenom” Belfort, and Matt Hughes. Each Pride or UFC event is around $30 to $40, but that’s chump change when a few friends pitch in, and cheap when considering how much excitement each event holds. To find information on MMA, go to www.pridefc.com, www.ufc.tv, or www.sherdog.com.