According to bloodyelbow.com, we’re about at the one-year anniversary of the death of PRIDE Fighting Championships.
Now, I’m not one to dwell on the past, and I’m not a PRIDE “nuthugger,” although I did enjoy the organization … but I’ve been wracking my brain as to why people loved PRIDE the way they did. Was it the ring instead of a cage? Was it the grand prix events? Was it the soccer kicks and head stomps? Or how about even the screaming announcer lady and Bas Rutten as commentator?
Maybe it was the combination of those things, but I think the one intangible – and don’t laugh – was emotion. I don’t know if I’m going to do this justice, but in everything I’ve ever known or watched about PRIDE, there was a deep emotion for the organization, from the fighters, the fans, the employees, that doesn’t seem to exist in any organization today.
That being said, we’ve got a lot to look forward to. We’ve got new organizations springing up all the time, signing fighters, making the sport of MMA more a free market. There’s two new MMA organizations that have risen from PRIDE’s ashes in Japan. And we’ve got two MMA television deals, and I bet there will be more on the way.
But back to my original point: I think the organization that captures, that can tap into that emotion the way PRIDE did – along with good fights, good fighters and smart management – will be successful.
