When Pride Fighting Championships was an active organization, their rules for fighting on the ground were a little different than the Unified Rules that we know today. In Pride, fighters were able to use kicks and knees to grounded opponents.
That changes the dynamic of the ground game and submissions. Positions like side control and north-south can be very dangerous on defense, but you have more tools to use on offense.
Those strikes can open up submission opportunities, and some of these guys were masters at that.
In Pride, it wasn’t just the little guys who could score submissions. Some of the best submission artists were heavyweights.
Let’s take a look at the most prolific submission artists in Pride history.