Were Pride Fighters Overrated?

I loved watching Pride but in retrospect were the Pride fighters we loved overrated? Aside from Anderson Silva and a late entry from Werdum, the big named Pride Fighters who came to the UFC didn't fare well. Below are their records in the UFC. I don't think we can categorically say everyone was past their prime back in 2007 when most came over, as most were just around 30 years old, some younger, some just a bit older.

What do you think we're the biggest factors? The UFC competition? The Octagon vs the Ring? Drug Testing? Different continent? In Pride there was an air of invincibility and mystique around these guys and then when they came to the UFC they just seemed mortal. Still love them though.

UFC Records:
Big Nog - 5-6
Cro Cop 4-6
Wand 4-5
Lil Nog 4-4
Henderson 5-8
Shogun 7-8
Overeem 4-3
Rampage 7-5

 

Its called getting old

 

No, they weren't overrated. Most of them were just juiced to their gills so they were as close to super human as you can get on certain nights.

 

Refreshingly new topic

 

Many of those guys were getting old by the time they got to the UFC. Just think back to how many wars Wand, Rampage and the Nogs were in over in Pride.

That said, 3 of those guys came over and held Titles in the UFC after Pride folded. I also note that you did not include Anderson Silva in your chart, he of the million successful MW title defense. You also left out Werdum, the current UFC HW belt holder.

 

All of the above, Father Time is a cruel motherfucker.

 

Same thing happened to the UFC stars at the ends of their careers

 

Anderson and Werdum don't count because reasons.

 

The biggest issue was age/milage.

The majority of the best talent in Pride started there MMA careers in the late 90's or very early 00's as the sudden influx of money from Japanese MMA tapped into previous unused talent bases. By the time of the UFC takeover a lot of these guys were already deep in there careers, especially when you consider how much more active they were.

The same was really true with the UFC as well, by 2007 a lot of there established names like Chuck, Tito, Randy, Hughes, Sylvia, etc were getting on in fight years as well, they also dropped off.

The guys who lasted better and achieved more in the UFC like Shogun, Werdum, Hunt, etc were the ones with less wear on them.

 

Like other said. It is age and milage. These guys have been around for a long time. They are no longer in their prime.

 

3 of those fighters were UFC champions bro.

 

Right...because the walking corpse Nog in the UFC is representative of the fighter he was in Pride. Also, Rampage, Nog, Shogun, Anderson, and Werdum all held UFC gold.

But whatever, Pride was pro wrestling, everyone juiced and no one does in UFC, Yakuza, Fedor is 3-3, etc.

 

Their competition was much weaker in Pride. They were good, but many of the japanese fighters they fought were cans.

 

Overrated by some, underrated by others, just like most fighters.

 

UFC fighters are overrated which is why most of their champs are from Strikeforce.

 

People are still asking this question? :icon_neut

 

Here are the UFC fighters who were in the top 10 of those divisions in 2005/2006 when many of these Pride guys were in their primes. You tell me who aged better.

HW
Tim Sylvia
Andrei Arlovski
Jeff Monson
Brandon Vera

LHW
Chuck Liddell
Randy Couture
Babalu Sobral
Tito Ortiz


If anything the Pride guys proved their superiority and longevity. AA is the only guy still even in the UFC, and he went through a very rough patch himself on the way to this point.

 

Yea but neither Big Nog or Shogun defended their title they both lost their next matches. Also Big Nog just beat one guy coming to the UFC then got a title shot against Tim Sylvia

Rampage had a nice little run though. I wish he didn't become so one dimensional, that loss vs Rashad killed me

 

Mileage probably resulted on all their Overall records....

But if you look at their first 1-2 fights in the UFC (back when they were (MUCH) more in their prime - none of them were any impressive - aside from Rampage.

 

Pride had the best fighters and elite mma fans already know this.