Sorry, but you're wrong. Scores on St. Laurent in Montreal had UFC very early on, but only on the last floor. UFC 11 or 12 was the first event I saw live at that place.
First Pride event was the 2000 Grand Prix. They only advertised with an 8 by 11 poster. Most people were there for NCAA hockey. Only one of my friends saw Royce vs Saku. The rest of us were too busy getting drunk and filled with food at the Ouzeri (great Greek restaurant). My friend: "It's nuts. He tried to jump on his face." What?!?!
We also missed the Coleman fight. We only had one screen on the floor with Pride. The Smashing Machine comes into the ring and he's fighting a Japanese guy. We're so happy. He's going to crush that nobody. Then Kerr gets kneed 50 thousand times in the rib by Fujita and we realize we know nothing.
The hockey games are over and we get more screens. Some people are about to leave, but they start to get into the violence. We watched the rest of the event and we're all hooked. Crazy evening. Memories are made.