Because the popular ones were at the end of their careers and out of their primes.
Let's see:
Big Nog- interim HW champ
Shogun- LHW champ
Rampage- LHW champ
Anderson Silva- MW champ
Hendo- elite fighter and contender in two weight classes for years after
I'd say they did quite well.
Let's see:
Big Nog- interim HW champ
Shogun- LHW champ
Rampage- LHW champ
Anderson Silva- MW champ
Hendo- elite fighter and contender in two weight classes for years after
I'd say they did quite well.
Pride fighters fell in the UFC because:
A: The ring favors strikers and weakens wrestlers, and many techniques used in one are useless in the other.
B: Most of the big names were getting old by the end. Even the young Shogun had serious surgery that hurt him.
C: Pride matches were usually all on short notice, which limited weight cutting and fight camps. In America, weight cutting and fight camps are enormous parts of the sport. Some fighters (most notably Fedor) never could modernize their training to the same extreme level that a guy like GSP undergoes, and soon hard work was defeating raw talent left and right.
D: Most UFC fighters from before 2007 have crashed and burned too, with only GSP and Anderson holding on to top 10 status. Chael has only recently reached top 10. Other than that, the UFC stars from that era are all retired or doing WSOF-level events.
All of that combined.
Because they were mostly passed their prime. Just like Chuck, Tito, Franklin and Hughes struggled in 2007 and beyond
How did UFC fighters from lets say 2004 to 2007, do post 2008 in the UFC?
Not great.
Chuck got KO'd left and right. Arlovski got KO'd left and right. Tito couldn't win a fight. Big Tim went to shit. Randy never won a title again. Rich Franklin never close to a title and so on.
Damn those UFC fighters suck.