Fighters who Struggled in Pride and Successful in UFC

i'd say maybe rampage... kinda but he didn't struggle just couldnt beat wanderiel or anyone from chute box academy.
i'd say overeem ... he wasn't anything special in pride got beat up alot i remember then he started doing whatever to gain 65 pounds and be a tank
i'd say fabrico werdum.. he was nothing special in pride as well
 
Well I scrolled through a few pages and saw it devolved into a Chuck/Wandy debate. Good times.

Anyway aside from the obvious Anderson, I'd say Rampage too, granted he hasn't been great lately but he did win the belt in the UFC and never could in Pride.
 
GrindingANARCHY said:
Liddell could maybe beat Arona, maybe but not Hendo.
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Pride fans say whatever u want but the only fact is that Chuck beat Wanderlei, both were past their primes and Chuck was older, so any logical person would deduce that a prime Chuck would probablly beat a prime Wanderlei. Now you can use all the MMAmath u want still does not help Wandy's case, he lost to both Tito and Vitor who Chuck beat quite handily.
 
Some of the arguments against Chuck are pretty confusing...

Ex...

Prime Wand>>>Rampage>>>Chuck even though Chuck defeated Wand. Yes both were out of their primes, but they were at equal moments in their careers. Hell you could argue that Chuck was more out of his prime.

The Wand fight against Chuck shouldnt count because it wasnt prime Wand but its ok to count the Shogun fight against Chuck as proof that Liddell would never succeed in Pride. Chuck was the favorite based on how bad Shogun looked against Forrest and Coleman. However, it was obvious that night that Chuck was out of his prime and Shogun had been injured. I feel the result MAY have been similar, but to use this as a basis for how this fight would have looked in 2004-2005 is just not accurate.

Wand lost to Tito and Vitor in the UFC. Both of those guys were defeated by Chuck. Im not a fan of MMAth but this argument is just as valid as Prime Wand>Rampage>Chuck.

Chuck lost one fight in Pride. He beat solid fighters in Reem and Mezger. That is hardly struggling. I watched Wand too in his prime and his aggressive style IMHO would have been countered by Chuck. Chuck would have stuff any tds, outwrestled him, used his reach to keep Wand at bay and his chin was pretty damn solid back then so I feel he would have not been KOd. Hell, Wand couldnt knock Chuck out when it was obvious his chin was fading then. I see Chuck winning that fight more often than not. Shogun and obviously Rampage defeat Chuck the majority of the time. Chuck beats Arona, Lil Nog, Hendo and Wand. My .02 cents...

Answer to TS question to me would be Pulver

BTW the biggest mystery to me in MMA is how Chuck nor Wand got KTFO in their match. Both had suspect chins, loved to free swing and had big power. Amazing that fight went to the cards...
 
R0bert0Lu0ng0 said:
After a step up in competition, guys like Fedor, Cro Cop, ect, all got destroyed.
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So you're saying Werdum and Hendo were a "step up" from the competition Fedor was going up against in Pride? Interesting theory...... Might I point out that in his post Pride career, Fedor promptly demolished two UFC champs and the best the UFC had to offer during his Pride run, before losing to two former Pride fighters and Bigfoot (a guy who was neither UFC nor Pride). Not a big Fedor lover, but I do have a thing for logic.

On a side note, Vitor comes to mind for me as a guy who had trouble in Pride and did way better in the UFC. Only went 4-3 in Pride, then after losing to Hendo went on an absolute tear, and has only lost to Anderson and JBJ since. Otherwise, agree with everone else, AS, Hunt, Werdum, Overeem (if we include Zuffa Strikeforce), Rampage sort of (finally got a belt) are the main guys to have done better post Pride.
 
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are we talking about guys employed under Pride? the only ones that I can think of at the moment are AS and Hunt. Does Saku count?
 
sprucelees said:
are we talking about guys employed under Pride? the only ones that I can think of at the moment are AS and Hunt. Does Saku count?
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Saku made his name for himself in Pride and only won one tournament in the UFC. Id say no...

Vitor is another good answer too...
 
Neally said:
People say "Prime" Chuck could of beat Wand but in pride he was a monster. Chuck would have been ranked 4th below Shogun, Wand and Rampage. I would have loved to see Arona vs Chuck though.
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yeah that is a good match up.. imo arona is a better version of tito.
 
Seabeast said:
No Wand never dropped Chuck. Liddell beat Wand rather easy and the only difference had they fought in there primes would be that Wand would have been KTFO.
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chuck never ko'd wand 3 years past his prime but he will ko 2003 wand??

delusional.. chuck did win, 2/3 rounds.. wasn't an easy fight by any means.
 
Idonotbelieveit said:
i think he could do both too..
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Hendo could get Chuck down, but Chuck was VERY hard to hold down. In all honesty Chuck would counter Hendo's standup, stuff a few TDs and probably win a UD. Would have been a great fight too. The fight that I wanted to see was Chuck vs Cro Cop. Very similar styles but I feel CC would have won...
 
Millennium Man said:
most Pride fighters have struggled inside the octagon, but there are a few who had it the other way around.

So which fighters who were successful in the UFC have never gone far in the Pride ring? or which fighters who struggled in Pride found success inside the UFC cage?
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jeremy-piven-gtfo.gif


How many UFC champs and fighters are there still around from the Pride era?

Wanderlei outlived Chuck,

Rampage became champ
Shogun became champ
Nog became Interim champ
Barnett still top 5-10
Uber is the number 1 HW contendor
Hendo is the number 1 contender in the LHW division
Werdume is a top 5 contendor
Lil Nog would have been a contendor if he wasnt fed every wrestler they could muster

Cro Cop went to shit for a multitude of reasons and so did Gomi,

Now lets see how many UFC stars from that era are still round and kicking in the ufc.

Vitor? he went from Pride to UFC on frequent occasions but hes still around and successful.

Rich?
The Diaz bros?
 
bbbdvan81 said:
Hendo could get Chuck down, but Chuck was VERY hard to hold down. In all honesty Chuck would counter Hendo's standup, stuff a few TDs and probably win a UD. Would have been a great fight too. The fight that I wanted to see was Chuck vs Cro Cop. Very similar styles but I feel CC would have won...
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Now this is a fight i definitely wanted to see for years, they both weighed around the same at the time Chuck was prob abit heavier tho.

I always had a feeling the fight would have gone down like Cro Cop vs Magomedov with Cro Cop being light on his feet and using his intimidating headkicks to set up a liver shot on Chuck.
 
MiroHa said:
What makes you think that Chuck wasn't roiding when he was in UFC or that all fighters roided in Pride? Pre-fight drug tests don't stop you from using PEDs without getting caught, they just make it more challenging.

Also, I may be wrong but I don't think that using PEDs multiplies your KO power.
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Theres a pretty huge difference in using a little to make sure you dont get caught and taking as much as youd like. Wand went 1-2 in the UFC before heading off to pride where he could juice as much as hed like. 2003 wand in unified rules would likely get beat by chuck.
 
bbbdvan81 said:
Tito was better than Arona, and I liked Arona a lot more than Tito at that time...
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i don't agree, arona was a better wrestler and better bjj game.. he had a great double leg, with decent gnp... also low kicks.
 
bbbdvan81 said:
Hendo could get Chuck down, but Chuck was VERY hard to hold down. In all honesty Chuck would counter Hendo's standup, stuff a few TDs and probably win a UD. Would have been a great fight too. The fight that I wanted to see was Chuck vs Cro Cop. Very similar styles but I feel CC would have won...
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yep, chuck was hard to keep down, only rampage and couture managed to do it.. i think it would be a war in the stand up.. chuck UD is likely. but hendo could hang with him.
 
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