Killer Highlight Reel Alert: The First Eight PRIDE Events, Condensed to 33 Minutes of Awesome

(Props: Hiten Mitsurugi)

CagePotato reader Andrew K. sent this to us with the brief message “The newbs deserve to know.” And indeed, they do. Above is part one of a new highlight series featuring the best moments of PRIDE’s early days, mostly soundtracked by obscure video-game music. (It’s amazing how well that works together.) Give it a look and you will witness…

– Gary Goodridge, back when he was still one of the scariest men to ever enter a cage or ring.

– Rickson Gracie armbarring Nobuhiko Takada on two separate occasions.

– Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Carlos Newton, aka The Greatest Grappling Exhibition in MMA History.

– Mark Kerr, in absolute beast-mode.

– Emmanuel Yarborough, doing whatever it is that he does.

And so much more! Check out parts 2 and 3 after the jump, which cover PRIDE 5-8, including the infamous Takada vs Coleman fight, and Sakuraba taking out his first Gracie. Here’s hoping this highlight series continues, because PRIDE 8 was immediately followed by one of the most epic tournaments in the history of the sport.


(Props: Hiten Mitsurugi)

CagePotato reader Andrew K. sent this to us with the brief message “The newbs deserve to know.” And indeed, they do. Above is part one of a new highlight series featuring the best moments of PRIDE’s early days, mostly soundtracked by obscure video-game music. (It’s amazing how well that works together.) Give it a look and you will witness…

– Gary Goodridge, back when he was still one of the scariest men to ever enter a cage or ring.

– Rickson Gracie armbarring Nobuhiko Takada on two separate occasions.

– Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Carlos Newton, aka The Greatest Grappling Exhibition in MMA History.

– Mark Kerr, in absolute beast-mode.

– Emmanuel Yarborough, doing whatever it is that he does.

And so much more! Check out parts 2 and 3 after the jump, which cover PRIDE 5-8, including the infamous Takada vs Coleman fight, and Sakuraba taking out his first Gracie. Here’s hoping this highlight series continues, because PRIDE 8 was immediately followed by one of the most epic tournaments in the history of the sport.