Pride vs UFC in terms of scouting and talent development.

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I was just thinking about talent scouting and star development in different orgs over the years and came up with a list of legendary fighters from each org. I know that there are some fighters who fought in both orgs so I just put those guys in the org that they had the most fights in. For example Wand had 11 fights in the UFC and 26 fights in Pride FC so I put him in the Pride FC category. Josh Barnett has an equal amount of fights in both orgs but since he was a champ in the UFC and started there I just listed him in the UFC and Pride.


Pride started in 1997 and was bought out by the UFC in 2007 and in just 10 years they were able to cultivate a very strong list of talent and legendary fighters.

-Fedor Emelianenko
-Kazushi Sakuraba
-Rickson Gracie
-Rampage Jackson
-Mirko CroCop
-Wanderlei Silva
-Rodrigo Nogueira
-Josh Barnett
-Mark Coleman
-Mark Kerr
-Sergei Kharitonov
-Fabricio Werdum
-Shogun Rua
-Dan Henderson
-Ricardo Arona
-Little Nogueira
-Igor Vovchanchyn
-Kevin Randleman
-Allistair Overeem
-Mark Hunt
-Takanori Gomi
-Gilbert Melendez
-Renzo Gracie



The UFC have been around since 1993 and in their 23 years have also developed some incredible stars and also have a strong list of legendary fighters.

-Jon Jones
-Anderson Silva
-Conor McGregor
-Georges St. Pierre
-Chuck Liddell
-Jose Aldo
-Demetrius Johnson
-Randy Couture
-Tito Ortiz
-Tim Sylvia
-Bas Rutten
-Andrei Arlovski
-Frank Mir
-Josh Barnett
-Royce Gracie
-BJ Penn
-Frankie Edgar
-Vitor Belfort
-Stipe Miocic
-Rich Franklin
-Forrest Griffin
-Nick Diaz
-Nate Diaz
-Robbie Lawler



When looking back you see that both orgs did an an amazing job of scouting talent and and developing stars but Pride had a lot less time on the map and were operating at a time before social media and mass information sharing which means that their methods of marketing and promoting fighters were far more primitive and not nearly as effective as UFCs methods are today which had to have made it a lot harder to develop star power. Pride had less time, less promotional/marketing power and less resources and still developed some amazing talent. I mean look at this pic from 2003.

3703f067cc5125679016408eb39015f1.png


High level fighters getting paid well to fight on the worlds biggest stage. Gotta give Pride FC props for cultivating such talent 15 years ago.


Who do you think has developed more legendary fighters??
 
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Pride did it way different, as for what is better its subjective.

Pride had fighters fight 4-5, sometimes as much as 7-8 times a year, everyone vs everyone, and just seeing fighters fight in the ring is what told their stories and attracted fans.

UFC fighters have 1-2 fights a year, and UFC relies on press conferences, countdown shows and other media outlets to tell the stories of fighters.
 
Was it Arona and Vitor that had beef? Look how awkward Arona looks
 
-Wanderlei Silva
-Josh Barnett
-Mark Coleman
-Mark Kerr
-Dan Henderson
-Kevin Randleman

All fought in the UFC before they ever fought in Pride. 3 were even UFC HW Champions so how are they in the Pride list?

Ok Barnett is in both lists.
 
I was just thinking about talent scouting and star development in different orgs over the years and came up with a list of legendary fighters from each org. I know that there are some fighters who fought in both orgs so I just put those guys in the org that they had the most fights in. For example Wand had 11 fights in the UFC and 26 fights in Pride FC so I put him in the Pride FC category. Josh Barnett has an equal amount of fights in both orgs but since he was a champ in the UFC and started there I just listed him in the UFC.


Pride started in 1997 and was bought out by the UFC in 2007 and in just 10 years they were able to cultivate a very strong list of talent and legendary fighters.

-Fedor Emelianenko
-Kazushi Sakuraba
-Rickson Gracie
-Rampage Jackson
-Mirko CroCop
-Wanderlei Silva
-Rodrigo Nogueira
-Josh Barnett
-Mark Coleman
-Mark Kerr
-Sergei Kharitonov
-Fabricio Werdum
-Shogun Rua
-Dan Henderson
-Ricardo Arona
-Little Nogueira
-Igor Vovchanchyn
-Kevin Randleman
-Allistair Overeem
-Mark Hunt
-Takanori Gomi
-Gilbert Melendez
-Renzo Gracie



The UFC have been around since 1993 and in their 23 years have also developed some incredible stars and also have a strong list of legendary fighters.

-Jon Jones
-Anderson Silva
-Conor McGregor
-Georges St. Pierre
-Chuck Liddell
-Jose Aldo
-Demetrius Johnson
-Randy Couture
-Tito Ortiz
-Tim Sylvia
-Bas Rutten
-Andrei Arlovski
-Frank Mir
-Josh Barnett
-Royce Gracie
-BJ Penn
-Frankie Edgar
-Vitor Belfort
-Stipe Miocic
-Rich Franklin
-Forrest Griffin
-Nick Diaz
-Nate Diaz
-Robbie Lawler



When looking back you see that both orgs did an an amazing job of scouting talent and and developing stars but Pride had a lot less time on the map and were operating at a time before social media and mass information sharing which means that their methods of marketing and promoting fighters were far more primitive and not nearly as effective as UFCs methods are today which had to have made it a lot harder to develop star power. Pride had less time, less promotional/marketing power and less resources and still developed some amazing talent. I mean look at this pic from 2003.

3703f067cc5125679016408eb39015f1.png


High level fighters getting paid well to fight on the worlds biggest stage. Gotta give Pride FC props for cultivating such talent 15 years ago.


Who do you think has developed more legendary fighters??
Bas Rutten was a Pancrase guy.
Anderson Silva was Pride guy
Kevin Randleman was a UFc guy
Mark Kerr was a ufc guy
 
It is a plethora of legends yet guys like Henderson, Barnett, and Silva were UFC fighters before they were PRIDE FC fighters.

I explained why I would put a fighter in each category based on how many fights they had in the org.
 
Just watch the 2005 Middleweight GP... The Rise of Shogun...
 
Pride was by far, not even close, the best org ever in terms of star development and the stars they built had lifetime star power.

Pride build legends.

UFC built its own brand first.
 
Pride did it way different, as for what is better its subjective.

Pride had fighters fight 4-5, sometimes as much as 7-8 times a year, everyone vs everyone, and just seeing fighters fight in the ring is what told their stories and attracted fans.

UFC fighters have 1-2 fights a year, and UFC relies on press conferences, countdown shows and other media outlets to tell the stories of fighters.

I think you put your finger on something big here. Fighters fighting twice a year is OK if they already have a well established fan base. But for mid tier fighters it is terrible for their career. Pretty much any fighter who fights four times a year will be more popular than a similar fighter who takes four fights in two years. Imo, if you aren't champ and you aren't badly hurt, inactivity is stupid.
 
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