Pride cancels April US show

[jas123]

MMAWeekly has confirmed that Pride’s April 28th show in the U.S. has been canceled. The event listing has been removed from the schedule on Pride’s official website.

The cancellation follows news of President of Pride USA Ed Fishman’s potential lawsuit with Dream Stage Entertainment, parent company of Pride Fighting Championships. Following Pride 33, Fishman and Pride had a falling out due to disagreements over several issues. Part of the rift stems from differing views on business agreements in the United States, and part of the rift stems from Fishman’s public push to buy Pride outright.

Sources close to MMAWeekly have reported that DSE offered to buy Ed Fishman out of his contract and relieve him of his duties as President of Pride USA, but that there is a dispute over the dollar amount that would be owed to Fishman if a buyout were to take place. Fishman is apparently prepared to pursue legal action on the matter.

All of this has come to a head recently due to Pride’s heavily rumored financial troubles. Pride has received multiple offers for the company’s purchase, with the two most prominent coming from Zuffa (the UFC’s parent company) and Fishman. DSE has consistently denied that Pride is for sale.
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Sounds like Pride is close to done. Bad news.

 

[KrushR]

sad. Pride seemed like a great organization on the outside. Oh, well. More fighters for the UFC.

 

[SSFgear]

I would love to be the Pres of Pride USA. What a kickass job that would be.

 

[Sir Savage]

Man, this sucks. I hope whatever happens, Pride as we know it stays intact. I love their fights and production values.

 

[size]

This is unfortunate b/c the last card in the USA turned out to be a night of excellent fights. Also, I certainly hope Pride does not get taken over by the UFC.

 

[ersatz]

Rumors of Pride's imminent demise and subsequent purchase by Zuffa or another entity are a weekly occurrence.

 

[Rodja]

If there is anything sacred left in this world, then PRIDE will remain. I would hate to see Zuffa buy out PRIDE.

 

[Alexander]

If there is anything sacred left in this world, then PRIDE will remain. I would hate to see Zuffa buy out PRIDE.

Ditto. No major organization with kicks/knees to a downed opponent= a very sad Alexandrovich. Not to mention all the other great things Pride has to offer.

 

[Rogue Drone]

This sucks on many levels.

Probably losing an April Pride.

A nasty, who knows?, control battle for Pride. Makes me think of the prequel to the Lord of the Rings, the Hobbit, not having already been made because New Line and Peter Jackson have been in legal wranglings.

And Zuffa possibly buying this, lack of competition in the marketplace is generally not good for the consumer.

 

[Beowulf]

Apparently the site has been hacked. I hope it is true, b/c if you go here: Pan Pacific Fiber, Inc You will not find Pride's site, it is Pan Pacific Fiber, Inc. I hope this explains the cancellation.

 

[Rogue Drone]

Their main site, that I know of, is Pridefc.com, that's up.

Get off the Nyquil, Chuckwulf.

 

[Beowulf]

Rogue, type in the site that you posted. That is what I wrote in the post, and it brought me there.

...mmmmmm, Nyquil! :cheers:

 

[Rogue Drone]

? It's working for me in my browser when typed straight in, but you are right, it copy and pastes as Pan Fiber.

Pan Pacific Fiber, Inc which takes one to the right site.

I don't know.

 

[Beowulf]

Look at your post, Rogue

? It's working for me in my browser when typed straight in, but you are right, it copy and pastes as Pan Fiber.

Pan Pacific Fiber, Inc which takes one to the right site.

I don't know.

And when you're done, pass the muthafvckin' Nyquil :drunk:

 

[ersatz]

Ditto. No major organization with kicks/knees to a downed opponent= a very sad Alexandrovich. Not to mention all the other great things Pride has to offer.

Yeah, like airing the entire fight card, what a concept. But the UFC would rather run advertisements and repeat the same 10 min promo 3 times in a row.

And there's no reason Pride couldn't have had a show in California and the Staples center would be an ideal location.

I agree with Alex that the Unified rules need to be amended to allow knees to a grounded opponent and hopefully the UFC will help push this too.

 

[jas123]

I agree with Alex that the Unified rules need to be amended to allow knees to a grounded opponent and hopefully the UFC will help push this too.

Yep. I don't like how there are safety zones where people can hide. Knees on the ground aren't more damaging than knees standing.

 

[ModelMike]

is it true that pride fighters are able to use steroids?

 

[jas123]

They don't test for them in events in Japan so usually they are free to use them. In Prides' US shows they have to follow the US rules which require it and few guys got clipped in their 1st US show.

 

[Rodja]

is it true that pride fighters are able to use steroids?

Steroids are legal in Japan so they don't test for them; neither does K-1, DEEP, Shooto, Pancrase, and every other Japanese org.

 

[MisterEZE]

This whole situation is no good. But to be honest, Pride was running two shows in the month of April, the 8th and 28th. They also lost a lot of fighters to NSAC medical suspensions. This puts a lot of strain on their roster as well as production costs and what not.

I think it would be in their best interest to run only one show per month and alternate between the US and Japan. This gives fighters ample time to recover from medical suspensions and maintain a healthy balance with their roster.

My major concern is the whole business with Ed Fishman. That news is far more disastrous to Pride's financial situation. However, a break with US Operations could also be a move to stifle Fishman's influence in the company until something can be settled.

Who knows?? The whole thing pretty much stinks and I am very concerned that the UFC will monopolize the MMA market.

Oh yeah, Unified Rules are in order. Steroids and Striking.

 

[Rogue Drone]

Knees on the ground aren't more damaging than knees standing.

Yes and No. A standing knee strike with a bring the head down clinch is the strongest blow in Muay Thai, the most like to KO someone and knees to the side of the head on the ground repeatedly can easily cause a concussion, especially when done "Herring" style with a whole up and down swing of the lower body. Knees are a multiple of elbows, big bony plates in a short power arc driven by the quad with far more weight.

Ground knees are dangerous,banning them is the athletic commissions response to the perceived brutality of the early UFCs.

Personally, I would really like to see what a master of side control with short powerful legs like Matt Hughes could do with them.

 

[jas123]

Yes and No. A standing knee strike with a bring the head down clinch is the strongest blow in Muay Thai, the most like to KO someone and knees to the side of the head on the ground repeatedly can easily cause a concussion, especially when done "Herring" style with a whole up and down swing of the lower body. Knees are a multiple of elbows, big bony plates in a short power arc driven by the quad with far more weight.

Ground knees are dangerous,banning them is the athletic commissions response to the perceived brutality of the early UFCs.

Personally, I would really like to see what a master of side control with short powerful legs like Matt Hughes could do with them.

Yeah I see what you're saying. Hughes could be even more of a force with knees although not the force that Sherk would be (No more midget hate.).

You've been repped from me for Pride 33 and your UFC reps are on the way, Nostrodamus.

 

[Sir Savage]

Well Hughes ain't THAT much taller than Sherky, anyhow. But definitely, guys like Hughes, Sherk, Trigg, etc. would be devastating with knees on the ground if they could learn to use them right. Powerful wrestlers that control you and have short legs to easily crack you with knees- that's bad news.

The Sherk-Florian fight and the Hughes-Lytle fight would have been over in a couple of minutes.

 

[exnihilo]

Knees on the ground are great from an action standpoint. As it stands now with pride rules the only place a fight can really be tied up on the ground is in guard. Under UFC rules the fight gets tied up on the ground pretty much everywhere but full mount and sometimes back control, depending on the fighter. This makes for boring ground fighting... The ref shouldn't have to stand the fighters up constantly to keep the action going.

 

[ersatz]

I don't see how short legs would allow you to do more damage throwing knees. I would think the opposite would hold true and it may not favor wrestlers. If you have a good sprawl you could get in position to drop knees on your opponent ala Herring. Anderson Silva would also greatly beenfit from being able to throw knees to a downed opponent.

 

[Sir Savage]

Well they wouldn't do more damage per se, but a shorter guy has less of a "wind up", so he can unleash rapid fire.

Think of Hughes-Lytle, for example. All that time Hughes had Lytle in side-control would have meant serious kneeage to Lytle's noggin.

 

[MisterEZE]

I don't see how short legs would allow you to do more damage throwing knees. I would think the opposite would hold true and it may not favor wrestlers. If you have a good sprawl you could get in position to drop knees on your opponent ala Herring. Anderson Silva would also greatly beenfit from being able to throw knees to a downed opponent.

I agree with the opposite holding true; however, I also think it'd benefit a larger wrestler greatly. The wind up takes balance and a great wrestler can control with one leg on the mat while delivering a mean knee from above. I guess my case in point for this would be Arona/Sakuraba. Jesus, those were some mean knees!!

 

[jas123]

The official in Arona-Saku should be shot. That fight went on for about 3 painful-to-watch minutes too long. Took a decade off Saku's life probably too. That was the worst beating ever IMO.