RINGS>Pride

First, Pride FC was on another level when compared to other MMA orgs. It was something special that we will likely never see again. 4th best promotion.... gtfo with that nonsese.

That said, I have always loved Rings. It was more of a grappling league, but that's what made it cool. Lots of talent for sure and some great matches.
 
I will admit that we'll probably never see anything as cool as those King of King Tournaments ever again.
 
David Street said:
Anyone remember Sengoku Raiden Championship (SRC) (aka..World Victory Road (WVR)) (JAP 2007-2011) (Naoya Kinoshita)

That was one I liked it was about same level as RINGS but better.
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Of course. Everyone always raves about PRIDE and rightfully so but I still loved JMMA during the era of DREAM and Sengoku.
 
ferrisjso said:
Before RINGS shut down Pride was the 4th best promotion besides the UFC, RINGS and Pancrase. Much of Prides roster that it's fans nostaglically recall as "Pride fighters" like Hendo, Fedor,Big Nog and Arona first fought in RINGS.
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RINGS rules, rounds and scoring system were pathetic.

https://web.archive.org/web/19980612212425/http://www.rings.co.jp/lib/rule.html

Pride FC had the best rules, rounds and scoring system that should be used today by every MMA org.


Pride Rules:
  • Fighters fight in a ring as opposed to a cage
  • Soccer kicks to the face, stomps, and knees to the head of a grounded opponent are all allowed (This is probably the most famous aspect of Pride)
  • Up-kicks from the man on bottom are allowed
  • No elbows to the face
  • Judges judge the entire fight in making a decision, and not by round
  • Ten minute first rounds
  • Fighters are allowed to wear wrestling shoes in the ring
  • Yellow cards are issued to fighters for stalling (along with a 10% deduction of the fighter's pay, which sometimes was too harsh)
  • Fighters are allowed to fight other fighters in different weight classes. (Larger vs Smaller man, but the Larger man didn't always win...)
  • Entire event cards would consist of just heavyweights (over 205 lbs) and light heavyweights (under 205 lbs) - No little guys fighting to bore you
  • It's legal to spike/slam a guy on his head (this is very dangerous but rare)

All of the items listed above are not allowed in UFC. Both organizations do not allow head butts and attacks to the back of the head or spine, which is good. MMA organizations that allow these types of attacks do not care about the safety of the fighters.


The only Pride rule I would eliminate would be spiking/slamming your opponent on the head. Using Pride rules yellow card would eliminate the stalling that we've all watched in many fights over the years. The addition of stomps and knees to the head of grounded opponent would make for great finishes. Allowing up-kicks would give the fighter on the bottom an equal chance to inflict damage to opponent with the advantage. All of the Pride FC rules will make the fight more action packed either on the feet or on the ground. No more watching fighters stalling on the ground or riding a bicycle in every round.
 
Kungpowking said:
First, Pride FC was on another level when compared to other MMA orgs. It was something special that we will likely never see again. 4th best promotion.... gtfo with that nonsese.

That said, I have always loved Rings. It was more of a grappling league, but that's what made it cool. Lots of talent for sure and some great matches.
Click to expand...

Before RINGS shut down Pride was probably the 4th best promotion in terms of roster. That is not a radical statement at all.
 
ferrisjso said:
Before RINGS shut down Pride was probably the 4th best promotion in terms of roster. That is not a radical statement at all.
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I will cede that fact that Pride did not start out as the greatest show on earth and that Rings was better in 1999. But the year 2000 brought the heat and didn't let up til it folded.

Go look at the Pride's 2000 GP roster.
Royce Gracie
Kazushi Sakuraba
Guy Mezger
Igor Vovchanchyn
Mark Coleman
Akira Shoji
Mark Kerr
Enson Innoue
Kazuyuki Fujita
Wanderlei Silva

Later that year they were joined by
Dan Henderson
Gilbert Yvel
Heath Herring
Ken SHamrock
Ricco Rodriguez
Ryam Gracie


What three orgs had a better roster at the time?
 
Kungpowking said:
I will cede that fact that Pride did not start out as the greatest show on earth and that Rings was better in 1999. But the year 2000 brought the heat and didn't let up til it folded.

Go look at the Pride's 2000 GP roster.
Royce Gracie
Kazushi Sakuraba
Guy Mezger
Igor Vovchanchyn
Mark Coleman
Akira Shoji
Mark Kerr
Enson Innoue
Kazuyuki Fujita
Wanderlei Silva

Later that year they were joined by
Dan Henderson
Gilbert Yvel
Heath Herring
Ken SHamrock
Ricco Rodriguez
Ryam Gracie


What three orgs had a better roster at the time?
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RINGS Kings of Kings was better than the Pride GP or any GP. Because of the unique landscape of the time with so many different promotions they were able to make 64 man fields with stars from everywhere.

Pride 2000 GP is devalued by the fact Coleman won it whereas before he'd washed out of the UFC. I feel it's overrated because of the Sakuraba beating the invincible Royce narraitve peddled by HJJ in previous pages. The promotion was certainly improving but it's transformation into a juggernaut was completed by the fall of RINGS. Hendo coming into Pride in late 2000 and being beaten by Wandy was certainly a turning point you could argue where Pride surpassed RINGS. At the time of 2000 GP I'd still argue they were solidly fourth.

The other 2 are Pancrase(which was unquestionably number 1 in the beginning) and the UFC though their pre Zuffa owners had a model that focused more on stars from other promotions making cameos than a solid roster. These were the 4 promotions in the early era of MMA and 2003 is around the time it became 2 major promotions in the UFC and Pride.
 
David Street said:
Anyone remember Sengoku Raiden Championship (SRC) (aka..World Victory Road (WVR)) (JAP 2007-2011) (Naoya Kinoshita)

That was one I liked it was about same level as RINGS but better.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't quite go that far and I liked Sengoku a hell of a lot more than DREAM.

Say what you will about the organizations worked origins or their grapple favoring ruleset but the roster they had from 1999-2001 is still top shelf.

Sengoku was pretty lackluster until they started their LW and MW Grand Prix and they didn't really hit their stride until the first Sengoku no Ran. They really hit their peak the next year when they organized what I still think is the greatest Featherweight Grand Prix of all-time.
 
MitsuyoshiOhara said:
I wouldn't quite go that far and I liked Sengoku a hell of a lot more than DREAM.

Say what you will about the organizations worked origins or their grapple favoring ruleset but the roster they had from 1999-2001 is still top shelf.

Sengoku was pretty lackluster until they started their LW and MW Grand Prix and they didn't really hit their stride until the first Sengoku no Ran. They really hit their peak the next year when they organized what I still think is the greatest Featherweight Grand Prix of all-time.
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Agree some of the BEST fights in my memory came from Sengoku. Would love to rewatch so many of their fights. Anyplace you know of that has these old fights??
 
ferrisjso said:
RINGS Kings of Kings was better than the Pride GP or any GP. Because of the unique landscape of the time with so many different promotions they were able to make 64 man fields with stars from everywhere.

Pride 2000 GP is devalued by the fact Coleman won it whereas before he'd washed out of the UFC. I feel it's overrated because of the Sakuraba beating the invincible Royce narraitve peddled by HJJ in previous pages. The promotion was certainly improving but it's transformation into a juggernaut was completed by the fall of RINGS. Hendo coming into Pride in late 2000 and being beaten by Wandy was certainly a turning point you could argue where Pride surpassed RINGS. At the time of 2000 GP I'd still argue they were solidly fourth.

The other 2 are Pancrase(which was unquestionably number 1 in the beginning) and the UFC though their pre Zuffa owners had a model that focused more on stars from other promotions making cameos than a solid roster. These were the 4 promotions in the early era of MMA and 2003 is around the time it became 2 major promotions in the UFC and Pride.
Click to expand...

I can agree that RINGS probably had the better overall roster up until around 2002, but Sakuraba was probably already a bigger draw than Tamura in 2000, so I think that really gives some kind of edge to Pride. Unless someone can correct me on just how popular Tamura really was at the time.

I feel by 1999 or 2000 that Pancrase had already ran its course and that even Shooto was probably more popular by having guys like Mach, Moon Wolf, and Uno.

So after 99, Pride at worst was third.
 
Pride was getting better and better after the 1st GP...
Before that...it wasnt that super exciting.
Just watch the first 7 shows...

Everything after was nothing but moonwalking over competition...

RINGS probably had a better roster before the 2000GP but the limitations fighter had because of the rules took a lot away, imo
 
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