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I feel like most new fans get the sentiment that is expressed in the title.
Romanticism aside, Pride, DEEP, Dream etc were always second tier organizations when compared to the UFC.
But older fans seem, to me at least, to still attempt to combat this fact with poor arguments and revisionist history.
Much of PRIDE’s appeal relied on the flash, the pro-wrestling esque pop and circumstance that made every PRIDE event seem grander and more important than it probably was.
I think the other thing that makes older fans see PRIDE as a special organization were the tournaments, and that I can’t deny. But compared to the UFC PRIDE has always been a top heavy (and I mean that both in divisions, and in terms of teh divisions themselves) organization with a handful of elite guys and a bunch of cans.
Could you imagine in the UFC an elite HW fighting a guy in a Lucha libre mask? Look closer and you’ll see even era for era looking at the ENTIRE roster of both orgs the UFC has always had superior talent.
So when you’re looking historically at these two organizations and you’re thinking about MMA in the 2000s, just keep it in mind that the best MMA has always been competed in the USA.
Romanticism aside, Pride, DEEP, Dream etc were always second tier organizations when compared to the UFC.
But older fans seem, to me at least, to still attempt to combat this fact with poor arguments and revisionist history.
Much of PRIDE’s appeal relied on the flash, the pro-wrestling esque pop and circumstance that made every PRIDE event seem grander and more important than it probably was.
I think the other thing that makes older fans see PRIDE as a special organization were the tournaments, and that I can’t deny. But compared to the UFC PRIDE has always been a top heavy (and I mean that both in divisions, and in terms of teh divisions themselves) organization with a handful of elite guys and a bunch of cans.
Could you imagine in the UFC an elite HW fighting a guy in a Lucha libre mask? Look closer and you’ll see even era for era looking at the ENTIRE roster of both orgs the UFC has always had superior talent.
So when you’re looking historically at these two organizations and you’re thinking about MMA in the 2000s, just keep it in mind that the best MMA has always been competed in the USA.
