I don't think this is a troll thread, I think new fans discover the sport and discovered PRIDE or these Conor McGregor fans decided to actually look at the history of the sport and then come to these ignorant conclusions, so I'm going to treat it as if it's serious. Plus, even if it's not, a lot of people genuinely believe this shit. So yeah.
Your ignorant and flawed logic makes no sense because PRIDE was the #1 organization in MMA at the time. The modern-day equivalent of this, even though it was more neck and neck back then and the difference between #1 and #2 is drastic nowadays, would be like saying "unless the UFC guys prove themselves in Bellator, you never know who's legit" ... which sounds fucking ridiculous.
A lot of fighters from PRIDE were put in an extremely challenging situation that will likely never be replicated again in the history of the sport. They spent their fighting prime fighting in PRIDE, PRIDE got bought out by the UFC with fresh and young and new top fighters, so the PRIDE guys get to the UFC and are expected to be just as good as they were in PRIDE... completely different organization, completely different environment, completely different rules as well. You're asking a lot of these guys.
Let's take Cro Cop as the prime example because he probably had it the worst. He came to MMA straight from K1, and on the back of a lengthy amateur career, kickboxing career and fighting in PRIDE, he came to the UFC, the new top org (because they bought out the old top org) in a new country and environment with fresh young fighters, new rules... a drastic change. He fought his entire career in a ring, which was the combat sports standard until the UFC came along. His entire fighting style, everything he did in a fight, his movement, his footwork, his angles... everything was based on cutting his opponents off in a ring. You could see it in his fights and his style. Just WATCH THE FIGHTS, they speak for themselves.
People bring up the Gonzaga loss, but let's look at his UFC debut against Eddie Sanchez instead. Even that Cro Cop is absolutely not the same fighter who fought in PRIDE. He didn't know how to fight in a cage and it was very clear. His entire style was rendered null. Eddie Sanchez was a cool fighter, brawler type, had a lot of fun fights but he was not very technical or a top-level guy by any means. But the way Cro Cop fought in that fight was just off. The way he was just following Sanchez around the cage (clearly because he didn't know how to cut him off in a cage) ... it was very bizarre, and the commentators even mentioned it on the broadcast. He got away with it because Sanchez wasn't very technical or high level. The way he followed him around was really not indicative of a high-level striker. It looked very amateurish. Despite dominating the fight, Cro Cop did not look the same. It was very clear.
Some people will say well everyone he fought in PRIDE just sucked and guys like Gonzaga and Kongo were just better than everyone he fought, that's why he lost... which is dumb. The guy was just coming off wins over Josh Barnett, who I'd consider better than both of those guys and a heavier Wanderlei Silva. Hell, even fights he lost against fighters clearly superior to those guys... Big Nog, Fedor. Or against Heath Herring, who beat Kongo in the UFC. Look at him in those fights. He is clearly not the same fighter in the UFC and it had little to do with the competition. Just watch the fights.
The top org being dissolved into an org in a completely different location, fighting environment, and with completely different rules..... this will likely never happen again. If RIZIN randomly became #1 and bought out the UFC, they wouldn't have the fighters or established roster that the UFC had at the time, but I guarantee you this, a lot of top guys in the UFC would look a lot different fighting in RIZIN, even if it's UFC fighter against UFC fighter. What if Bellator started rivaling the UFC with their roster and it was actually a close race... became #1, bought out the UFC and all their fighters, and decided to move all their fights to China and host them in sumo rings, change some rules up too. You think everyone in the UFC would look just as good? No, that shit fucks with a ton of guy's styles and everything they've been training and learned over the years. So yeah, I think those guys deserve a lot of credit honestly. A lot of them spent their entire primes in PRIDE, and then were asked to jump ship against a new wave of top fighters. Not easy.
PRIDE might be overrated in that some people claim that certain fighters who aren't too great are great (not the legends or the guys that went to the UFC) and that Fedor is still the GOAT and a god and whatnot... in that sense, sure, you can say that. The people that think Fedor is god are just as stupid as the PRIDE haters to me. I'm just objective about this shit.
But yeah, no, for the most part, it wasn't overrated and younger or newer fans should respect it and the legends of the sport rather than hate on them. I never really understood that, like what is there to hate about guys like Wanderlei Silva and Mirko Cro Cop? Seriously lmao... do you even like fighting? But idk, live your lives, I guess.
