Were Pride Fighters Overrated?

ForbiddenSun said:
Also Big Nog just beat one guy coming to the UFC then got a title shot against Tim Sylvia
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I hope you're aware you've just slyly shit on the most accomplished UFC HW champion to date lol
 
ForbiddenSun said:
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
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They got old like anyone else and lost in recent years. (Or had a ton of MMA miles on them)

For example Henderson started his UFC record with a 6-2 record and only lost to 2 former Pride guys in the UFC. If guys fight too long eventually they would have a losing record even in WSOF.

A guy like Wanderlei was already losing before jointing the UFC. He was 4-4 in his last 8 and had been KOed cold twice in a row before joining.

Cro cop was the only one that really came over and failed right away. His downfall reminded me of Liddell's who fell around the same time (except Cro Cop's fall wasn't quite that bad)

When fighters fall they often fall hard. Many of these guys had been fighting since the 90's which is an eternity in this sport. They actually outlasted their UFC counterparts from the same generation though (which people often ignore)

Some of your records are wrong by the way.
 
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WalkenWouldOwn said:
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.
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Indeed.

For some reason many compare Pride fighters to guys like Cain and Jon Jones, who weren't even fighting back then. That says nothing about the talent of Pride fighters.

Past prime Pride vets were all over the top 10 for ages, and still dot the top 10 today.

Very few UFC fighters of that era were able to maintain relevance post-merger. Pride clearly had the superior fighters. But that's not surprising - Pride paid more.

The real surprise was Strikeforce. I knew they were good, and at the time thought they had the better HW division. But I didn't expect guys from other divisions to do as well as they have.
 
Rampage and Shogun won the UFC LHW Championship.

Werdum is the current HW Champion.

Anderson got that belt.

Big Nog got the belt.

Fedor became Affliction HW Champion and Reem won X amount of Championships.



No, they weren't and aren't overrated.
 
This question was answered when Shogun decapitated Machida.
 
List of fighters who fought in PRIDE then fought in the UFC

1. Nog brothers
2. Anderson Silva
3. Shogun Rua
4. Rampage Jackson
5. Mirko Crocop
6. Alistair Overeem
7. Takanori Gomi
8. Mark Hunt
9. Fabricio Werdum
10. Gerard Mousasi
11. Ricardo Almedia
12. Hector Lombard
13. Hatsu Hioki
14. Giblert Melendez
15. Heath Herring

......
 
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No they were not. I dont want to get into it too much but if you look at the records of most of those guys within their first few years in the UFC they were actually quite strong and they started to drop of in the later years.
 
Bet Me said:
List of fighters who fought in PRIDE then fought in the UFC

1. Nog brothers
2. Anderson Silva
3. Shogun Rua
4. Rampage Jackson
5. Mirko Crocop
6. Alistair Overeem
7. Takanori Gomi
8. Mark Hunt
9. Fabricio Werdum
10. Gerard Mousasi
11. Ricardo Almedia


......
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Lombard, Melendez, Okami, Wanderlei, Henderson, Barnett plus many more
 
JKS said:
No they were not. I dont want to get into it too much but if you look at the records of most of those guys within their first few years in the UFC they were actually quite strong and they started to drop of in the later years.
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Exactly. Henderson for example. Started off 6-2 in the UFC with only losses to 2 former Pride fighters. Is now 7-8.

A fighter that fights too long would even have a losing record in WSOF
 
Where are the top UFC fighters from 2006?
 
Matt Hughes, Chuck Liddell, Tim Sylvia, Paul Buentello, Tito Ortiz, Phil Baroni... let's look at their careers after Pride fighters came over.
 
MilesAbove said:
Matt Hughes, Chuck Liddell, Tim Sylvia, Paul Buentello, Tito Ortiz, Phil Baroni... let's look at their careers after Pride fighters came over.
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Tito is the biggest star in Bellator son son, plus he fought 99% of his career with a cracked skull. Full skull Tito wrecks the HW's and the LHW's of today's UFC.
Quit hating.
 
Bet Me said:
Tito is the biggest star in Bellator son son, plus he fought 99% of his career with a cracked skull. Full skull Tito wrecks the HW's and the LHW's of today's UFC.
Quit hating.
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I mean.... I've been straight-up destroyed by this argument. Carry on, TS.
 
Hans Gruber said:
Exactly. Henderson for example. Started off 6-2 in the UFC with only losses to 2 former Pride fighters. Is now 7-8.

A fighter that fights too long would even have a losing record in WSOF
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Also, people had this perception that Pride guys only started to lose once they arrived in the UFC but were "invincible" in Pride. Reality is that aside from Shogun who came into the UFC unbeaten everyone else had several losses to top competition. They were doing just as well for the most part in the UFC. Wand, Cro Cop, Nog Brothers, Hendo and Rampage all had at least 2-3 losses to other fighters.
 
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