(PRIDE never die…)
PRIDE 3 went down 13 years ago.
Why it matters:
• Mark Kerr was still in his prime, which was how we want to remember “The Smashing Machine.” He easily handled IVC and IVF champ Pedro Otavio.
• Gary Goodridge picked up his eighth MMA win.
• Kazushi Sakuraba continued to assert his dominance over top competition by dispatching of Canadian rising star Carlos Newton, who would eventualy win the UFC welterweight strap.
• Prior to the Saku-Newton bout, Sebastiaan “Bas” Rutten made a special appearance in the ring to talk about his upcoming UFC 18 title bout with Randy Couture and to announce that after that fight his intention to fight Rickson Gracie under the PRIDE banner. Neither bout ever happened. Couture forfeited his UFC HW strap because of a contract dispute, so Rutten instead fought and defeated Tsuyoshi Kohsaka at UFC 18 in May 1999 by TKO at the 14:15 mark (there were no rounds or time limits at that time). After defeating Kevin Randleman four months later at UFC 20 to win the vacant heavyweight title, Rutten promptly retired because of ongoing issues with his knees, so the fight with Gracie never materialized.
PRIDE 3
June 24, 1998
Nippon Budokan,
Tokyo, Japan
Akira Shoji and Daijiro Matsui fought to a draw after four rounds.
Daiju Takase Emmanuel def. Yarborough by submission (punches) 3:22 R2.
Kazushi Sakuraba def. Carlos Newton by submission (kneebar) 5:19 R2.
Gary Goodridge def. Amir Rahnavardi KO (punches) – 7:22 R1
Mark Kerr def. Pedro Otavio by technical submission (kimura) – 2:13 R1
Nobuhiko Takada def. Kyle Sturgeon by submission (heel hook) – 2:18 R1
MMA’s version of Rocky, Randy Couture was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame 5 years ago.
Why it matters:
*See below*
(Videos courtesy of YouTube/ItownBob47)
The Ultimate Fighter 3 Finale went down five years ago.
Why it matters:
• Michael Bisping, who was actualy a fan favorite on the show, won the light heavyweight side of the bracket, while Kendall Grove took home the glass trophy for winning the middleweight side of the competition. Both fighters were from Tito Ortiz’s team, which bolstered the opinion that Ken Shamrock was one of the worst coaches in the show’s history.
• The show participants were Mike Stine, Kendall Grove, Rory Singer, Danny Abbadi, Kalib Starnes, Solomon Hutcherson, Ed Herman, Ross Pointon, Michael Bisping, Noah Inhofer, Josh Haynes, Matt Hamill, Jesse Forbes, Kristian Rothaermel, Tait Fletcher and Mike Nickels.
• Of the 16 contestants, only three remain under UFC contract (Hamill, Bisping and Herman)
• Bisping went on to coach opposite Dan Henderson on TUF 9 and was knocked out by the former PRIDE champion at UFC 100. He is slated to appear on the next season of the SPIKE TV reality series opposite Jason “Mayhem” Miller.