Sherdog’s Top 10: Greatest Pride FC Fighters

Welcome again folks, this time to Sherdog's list of the ten greatest Pride Fighting Championships fighters ever. This was compiled as an average of many different Sherdog contributors' lists, and I will note where my own views deviated considerably. Personally though, the appeal of any such lists isn't the exact ordering, or who was included versus excluded, but the actual discussion below each entry. Anyone can come up with a list with no further commentary and it's no more “right” than another. However, the best such lists have entertaining and informative explanations, which is a goal I hope to accomplish.

Now, a word about criteria. These rankings are based solely on a fighter’s achievements in Pride, and the main measure was greatness for one’s era and how long that era lasted. Ranking historical fighters based on who would beat whom doesn’t make sense, since fighters keep improving and evolving. Nevertheless, fighters from earlier eras may be penalized for how uncompetitive their division or era was. That is even true for Pride; the talent level in the legendary promotion from its pinnacle around 2005 until its 2007 demise was far higher than in the 1990s.

By way of honorable mention, Mark Coleman, the original Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight titleholder and the winner of Pride’s 2000 Grand Prix, received several votes from the panel, leaving him just behind the three-way tie for 10th place that follows this introduction.

Continue Reading » Number 10

10. Igor Vovchanchyn (tie)

Vovchanchyn is a true legend of the sport and one of the very best fighters of the 1990s. Despite being a mere 5 feet, 8 inches tall and never weighing more than about 220 pounds, he would battle 350-pound-plus giants in the early days of MMA, have multiple fights in a night, and almost always win, already amassing a record of 30-2-1 at only 25 years old, when he debuted in Pride. Vovchanchyn was a very good kickboxer who developed some wrestling and ground skills, throwing brutal punches with reckless abandon that many consider a major inspiration for Fedor Emelianenko. Vovchanchyn had early success in Pride, but as MMA evolved and improved, and Pride itself became more talent-rich, he started racking up losses, which is why I didn't include him in my own top 10. Vovchanchyn began an impressive 9-1 in Pride, losing only to Mark Coleman in the finals of the 2000 Grand Prix. He defeated Carlos Barreto by decision, knocked out Gary Goodridge, pummeled Enson Inoue into a doctor stoppage between rounds, and won a dominant decision over “The Smashing Machine” Mark Kerr after their first fight was ruled a no contest due to illegal knee strikes when Kerr was in the four-point position. He also holds a win over Kazushi Sakuraba, though Sakuraba was 30 pounds lighter and had just come off his legendary 90-minute win over Royce Gracie earlier that night. After that, though, Vovchanchyn started losing. Knockout losses to Mirko Filipovic and Quinton Jackson are one thing, and one can even forgive being beaten by a much larger heavyweight Heath Herring, but Vovchanchyn was also beaten by Tra Telligman and choked out by Mario Sperry, a much lower caliber of fighters who weren't even bigger than him. In fact, with the exception of Sakuraba’s loss to Antonio Schembri, I can't recall a single loss for anyone else in our Top 10 as bad as either of those two. Vovchanchyn made a last-ditch effort to revitalize his career by dropping down to 205 pounds but found the competition even harder, winning a decision against Yuki Kondo before being guillotined in 80 seconds by Alistair Overeem, then being beaten by Kazuhiro Nakamura, another bad defeat. At that point, despite being only 32 years old but suffering from a number of injuries to his hands from the brutal bare-knuckle MMA fights of the 90s, the great Vovchanchyn retired.

10. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (tie)

My own personal pick for the 10th spot was the light heavyweight great who went by “Minotouro” but just as commonly called “Lil’ Nog” by affectionate old-school fans today. While not as accomplished as his bigger twin brother, whom we will see later in this list, people forget how good he was in Pride. An outstanding Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner, he developed even better boxing than his older brother, though his wrestling—especially defensively—was always lacking. He went 8-2 which is even more impressive when one considers the level of opposition he faced. He began 7-0 in the promotion, winning a close split decision over Guy Mezger, beating Kazuhiro Nakamura twice, once by armbar, soundly beating Kazushi Sakuraba, whom we will see later, winning a clear decision over Alistair Overeem and most impressively, armbarring Dan Henderson, whom we will also discuss later. Then, in one of the greatest fights in MMA history, Nogueira lost a fantastic duel to Mauricio Rua, yet another one of Pride's top legends. After that setback, he defeated Overeem again, this time by knockout. His Pride career ended with his lone blemish, being knocked out in 23 seconds by flash-in-the-pan Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou. Despite that bad loss, Nogueira had an excellent five-year career in Pride, including going 2-1 against fighters ranked well ahead of him on this list, and would likely have been favored back then against a few others.

10. Ricardo Arona (tie)

While I didn't have Arona on my list, I likely would have had it been extended to 11 fighters. Certainly, he is one of the most underrated and forgotten fighters in MMA history, despite some fantastic results against Pride's greatest legends. Arona's striking was lacking, largely relegated to some decent kicks, but he may have been the overall best grappler in MMA in his prime, with outstanding wrestling to go along with elite, world-class BJJ. While his final record of 8-4 doesn't seem so great, consider the opposition. Against fellow Top 10 inclusions, he took Olympic wrestler Dan Henderson down at will en route to easily beating him, and demolished Kazushi Sakuraba to force a doctor's stoppage, though it should be noted the Japanese fighter was much smaller. Arona was defeated by a legendary slam knockout by Quinton Jackson in a fight he had been winning, though he also has a fine victory over another excellent opponent in Murilo Rua. Arona’s greatest triumph, however, was defeating Wanderlei Silva at Pride Final Conflict 2005, the first time Silva had been beaten in his own weight class in over five years and 18 fights. Arona seemed poised to be an even greater legend, but he was brutally dissected by “Shogun” Rua later that night in the Grand Prix finals. After that, he lost a close rematch against Wanderlei Silva, finished Alistair Overeem with ground-and-pound inside of 5 minutes, and was then knocked out in 2 minutes by Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou, the same bad loss that his fellow 10th place inclusion, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, had fallen prey to a few weeks earlier. Nevertheless, for some enormous victories and mainly only losing to the very best, Arona should be remembered as a Pride great in his own right.

Continue Reading » Number 9

9. Quinton Jackson

I'll preface this by saying that “Rampage” in Pride was the most purely entertaining fighter I've ever seen in MMA. Whether it was his hilarious backstage interviews and vignettes or his nonstop action style of fighting, he was guaranteed entertainment of the highest caliber. And yet, I didn't include Rampage in my own Top 10. His career in Pride wasn't nearly as good as people recall and may be influenced by memories of his early time in the UFC, which was much better, or just how fun he was in Japan. While his Pride record stands at 12-5, it could easily have been 10-7. An early submission loss to Kazushi Sakuraba is forgivable, and his DQ loss to Daijiro Matsui due to a groin kick 14 seconds in was a way to give a Japanese fighter a big win. “Rampage” did score excellent knockouts of Chuck Liddell, Ricardo Arona and Kevin Randleman, as well as beating Igor Vovchanchyn via injury. However, not only was he viciously knocked out twice by Wanderlei Silva and once by Mauricio Rua, the latter an utterly one-sided beating, but his split decision wins over Murilo Bustamante and Murilo Rua were robberies—especially the latter, with even Jackson reacting with shock and shaking his head after being declared the victor. Something about facing Brazilians named Murilo, I guess. Consider that both men were substantially smaller than Jackson, too. “Rampage” was always a top contender but he never quite won anything, either a Grand Prix or regular championship. He is easily in the Top 5 of most colorful, memorable, and iconic Pride stars, but in terms of accomplishments, I would put others ahead of him.

Continue Reading » Number 8

8. Kazushi Sakuraba

Readers of Sherdog's Top 10 Flyweights know that I think many Japanese MMA stars of the 2000s are overrated, having faced a weaker level of opposition. A giant exception to that is the immortal Sakuraba, whom I consider underrated at eighth place on this list. In the year 2000, Sakuraba was likely the best pound-for-pound fighter in the entire sport, and his constant willingness to face greats who were much larger than him is utterly awe-inspiring. By modern standards, Sakuraba didn't have the most complete game, but then again, that was MMA circa 2000 for you. He was a very good wrestler who also had a fantastic and active submission game. Back then it was a rare combo few could resist. In terms of striking, he had good kicks and some defense, but was very limited with his boxing. Of course, no description of Sakuraba is complete without noting his excellent cardio, limitless toughness and fantastic creativity in his fights, whether he was doing backflips onto a downed opponent, cartwheels to pass their guard, or double Mongolian-chopping their head as part of his ground-and-pound. His Pride career started an amazing 11-1-1, cementing himself as the promotion's biggest star. During that time, he submitted future UFC welterweight champion Carlos Newton, had a time limit draw against skilled, larger BJJ world champion Allan Goes—this was so early in Pride's history that they didn't yet render judges’ decisions—shockingly dominated Vitor Belfort, submitted good opponents for the time in Ebenezer Fontes Braga and Anthony Macias, finished Royler and Renzo Gracie with kimuras, easily defeated the talented Ryan Gracie, and of course had his legendary 90-minute victory against Royce Gracie, with his four wins against jiu-jitsu’s royal family earning him the nickname “The Gracie Hunter.” His lone loss during that run was against heavyweight Igor Vovchanchyn, who was a good 30 pounds heavier, on the same night that Sakuraba had gone through the grueling 90-minute battle with Gracie. Obviously, that was an impossible situation, and the loss should in no way count against his greatness. However, I should mention that Sakuraba absolutely should have lost a decision he was gifted against yet another larger fighter, Guy Mezger. The judges declared the fight tied after the regulation 15 minutes, which would require an extra period. Mezger's team, the Lion's Den, including Ken Shamrock, were rightly incensed and made the decision not to have Mezger come out, giving Sakuraba the win.

Alas, beginning in 2001, Sakuraba's tendency to face much larger foes caught up with him. He suffered the first of what would be three knockout losses against Wanderlei Silva, who walked around at 225 pounds at the time, a good 30-35 pounds heavier than Sakuraba. He even fought top heavyweight Mirko Filipovic, who also knocked him out. His career still had the occasional success; despite being slammed around like crazy, Sakuraba choked out a young and much larger Quinton Jackson, and scored an armbar victory over former UFC heavyweight champion Kevin Randleman. The only bad loss to a fighter his size Sakuraba suffered during this time was to Brazilian Antonio Schembri, one that he avenged by decision in a rematch. Interestingly, Sakuraba left Pride on a two-fight winning streak, having knocked out Ken Shamrock with his hands in less than two and a half minutes, a consequence of having worked on his boxing with long-time rival Chute Boxe, and then submitting Ikuhisa Minowa at the end of Pride's 10-minute first round. Thus ended Sakuraba's nearly eight-year career in Pride, one that will be talked about for decades to come.

Continue Reading » Number 7

7. Takanori Gomi

Pride was mostly known for its great fighters at the heavier weights, but it also produced the legendary lightweight Gomi, who was No. 7 on Sherdog's 10 Greatest Lightweights list and finishes in an identical spot here. He started out as a big, powerful wrestler for the weight class, rare in Japan. By the time “The Fireball Kid” joined Pride from Shooto, he was developing what would become the sharpest, best boxing in the division. He reeled off 10 straight wins in Pride and became its lightweight champion, including a knockout of reigning UFC lightweight champion Jens Pulver, a knockout and then easy decision over Luiz Azeredo, a submission of bitter rival and fellow Japanese MMA legend Tatsuya Kawajiri, and finally, a win in the finals of the Grand Prix against another lightweight legend in Hayato Sakurai. Gomi then suffered a shocking submission loss to Marcus Aurelio, and while he barely won the rematch via decision, he was already starting to slip from the elite of the division at only 28 years old. He did score a sensational knockout of contender Mitsuhiro Ishida in a little over a minute combining punches and soccer kicks, but his last appearance for the promotion was unfortunate. After being beaten up with punches in round 1, Nick Diaz submitted Gomi with an exceptionally rare gogoplata in Round 2, though it was later changed to a no contest due to Diaz testing positive for cannabis. Regardless of whether you consider him to be 13-1 with 1 no contest or 13-2 in the promotion, Gomi attained all-time greatness while also having his key weakness exposed and starting to decline near the end. Quite a journey for just 3 years!

Continue Reading » Number 6

6. Mirko Filipovic

While he finishes sixth on this list and I personally had him fifth, “Cro Cop” is a more important figure in MMA history than most of those ahead him. He is the first man to come from an elite kickboxing background, with no grappling experience, and become not just a good mixed martial artist but a great one. No one else can say this: Igor Vovchanchyn was never an elite kickboxer and was also training judo and wrestling. Chuck Liddell wasn’t an elite kickboxer either, and had also wrestled in college, which he relied upon more than most realize. Even Bas Rutten was also never a top kickboxer and leaned on Pancrase’s unique ruleset. He likely would have gone 0-2 in the UFC if not for the blatant bias the organization had for him, which I've written about. “Cro Cop” was the first. One reason was that his style of striking was perfect for MMA, being a one-shot sniper who looked for the right opportunity to throw monstrous punches and kicks that would flatline opponents. Meanwhile, he developed a fantastic sprawl to ward off wrestlers and was no slouch off his back, able to get back up as well as defend himself. The fact that Pride allowed kicks to downed opponents helped, as Filipovic would throw vicious kicks off his back to the fighter on top, who was on his knees. Filipovic went an excellent 18-4-2 in Pride. His career began in curious fashion, with a time limit draw against Japanese pro wrestling superstar Nobuhiko Takada, the same man who once “won” a horribly fixed fight against Mark Coleman. Filipovic was likely told not to push too hard, and obliged. After that, he had a draw in a heavyweight bout against Pride middleweight (93 kg/203 lb) kingpin Wanderlei Silva, whom we will see later in this list, though many believe Silva should have gotten the nod. “Cro Cop” forced a doctor stoppage of fellow Top 10 inclusion Kazushi Sakuraba, destroyed top heavyweight contender Heath Herring with kicks and punches, scored a classic head kick knockout of the great Vovchanchyn, and then garnered another quick head kick finish of future popular pro wrestler Alberto Rodriguez. This brought him to a showdown with Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira for Pride's interim heavyweight title. Filipovic had taken the MMA world by storm and was a large -280 favorite for the contest. Alas, one should never underestimate the Brazilian's toughness and resourcefulness, as he got a submission in a fight he was being badly beaten up in, one of the greatest fights in the sport's history. After decimating enormous, powerful wrestler Ron Waterman with soccer kicks and easily disposing of Yoshihisa Yamamoto, Filipovic suffered one of the biggest upsets in MMA history when he was knocked out by former UFC heavyweight champion Kevin Randleman in under two minutes. In retrospect, it shouldn't have been so shocking; Randleman's striking was limited, but he always had a good, powerful, and fast left hook, one he had hurt other excellent kickboxers with, including Maurice Smith. However, Filipovic was undeterred and redoubled his efforts, going on a legendary seven-fight winning stretch with six finishes, including a brutal knockout of Aleksander Emelianenko—a top 10 heavyweight at the time, hard as it is to believe now—followed by three dominant victories over former UFC heavyweight champions; first 46 seconds for Josh Barnett, then guillotining Randleman in 41 seconds to get revenge, the first submission win of his career, and finally knocking out Randleman’s mentor Mark Coleman, whom I had as my No. 9 pick in this list, in under four minutes. After another highlight reel kick knockout of Ibragim Magomedov, the “Match of the Century” was set up, as Filipovic challenged Pride heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko. This is still one of my ten favorite fights ever and, in my opinion, Emelianenko's single greatest triumph. It's no discredit to either man, but Emelianenko was the winner. After beating Barnett a second time by decision, “Cro Cop” lost a close split decision against another elite kickboxer who was making a successful transition to MMA after him in Mark Hunt. He would then win his last four Pride fights, all by knockout, to claim his lone title in the organization, that of 2005 Absolute Grand Prix Champion. This might also have been “Cro Cop” at his very best. He looked sensational in early knockouts of Ikuhisa Minowa and Hidehiko Yoshida. His boxing, never quite as good as his kicks before, was now every bit as outstanding and dangerous. This set up a semifinal showdown with Silva, who had arguably beaten him 4 years prior. This time, Filipovic ripped him apart with punches, and knocked him out a little over halfway into the first round with another head kick. A rematch showdown with Nogueira never happened, as Barnett had edged him out in the semi-finals, so Filipovic satisfied himself with defeating Barnett for a third time, knocking him out in just over 5 minutes to be crowned Grand Prix champion. Thus, Mirko Filipovic's career in Pride ended, being even more important to the development of the sport than it was great.

Continue Reading » Number 5

5. Dan Henderson

Pride’s only two-division champion, Henderson’s legacy in the promotion mirrors his career as a whole: He had some exceptional highs as well as considerable lows. As I wrote in his entry for Sherdog's Top 10 Middleweights, where he also finished fifth, he has perhaps the strangest, most perplexing and unique career in the history of MMA. It all comes down to Henderson's unique style. Despite being a former Olympic wrestler, he rarely used wrestling to win fights and could be taken down and controlled himself. Instead, he relied on his boxing, predicated on one of the most devastating right crosses in MMA history, plus an iron chin. Either Henderson caught his opponent, and it was spectacular, or he didn't, and it was disappointing. From a more negative perspective, Henderson was 13-5 in Pride, though I think it should have been 11-7. Henderson won a robbery against “Ninja” Rua and at least an undeserving decision against Murilo Bustamante, the same two snake-bitten fighters who lost split decision robberies to No. 9 entry “Rampage” Jackson. Henderson was also dominated by Ricardo Arona, who took him down at will, lost a clear decision to a prime Wanderlei Silva, was armbarred by both Nogueira brothers, and was clearly beaten by good but unexceptional fighter Kazuo Misaki, an unfathomably bad loss for anyone on this list, especially one who cracked the Top 5. But consider his successes! Knocking out Bustamante, in my opinion the most underrated fighter in MMA history and top 10-15 pound-for-pound all-time, in less than a minute in their first fight, knockouts of solid foes in Ryo Chonan, a prime Akihiro Gono, the larger Kazuhiro Nakamura and Renzo Gracie, a dominant decision over Vitor Belfort, and his crowning achievement, a knockout of Wanderlei Silva in their rematch in his final Pride outing, becoming the final Pride middleweight champion. Truly a career of contrasts in Pride, just like his career overall. While I had him lower, he is still a worthy inclusion on this list.

Continue Reading » Number 4

4. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira

“Minotauro,” who was also No. 3 on Sherdog's list of the greatest heavyweights ever, comes in fourth. If not for Fedor Emelianenko, who—huge spoiler—tops both lists, Nogueira would have likely been No. 1 on this list himself. He had an amazing record of 17-3 with one no contest in Pride, with two of those losses being to Emelianenko and one a close split decision to Josh Barnett that he avenged just three months later. When “Big Nog” submitted reigning Grand Prix champion Mark Coleman at Pride 16 and then defeated Heath Herring a month later at Pride 17 for the vacant heavyweight title, he ushered in a new era of heavyweight talent and skill. Tall and athletic, Nogueira could do a lot more than what one expected of a Brazilian jiu-jitsu virtuoso, as he was also a capable wrestler and had solid muay thai striking that would only get better over the years. Furthermore, he had a titanium chin and endless toughness, which was exemplified in his classic victory over Bob Sapp, a man 150 pounds of muscle heavier who piledrove Nogueira’s head into the canvas at one point. Yet, after only five more wins, the two most impressive being submissions of Semmy Schilt and Dan Henderson, and just a year and a half after first attaining the throne, Nogueira was shockingly and convincingly defeated by an unheralded Russian fighter from the Rings organization. But this is where things get interesting. While he would stay firmly as the #2 heavyweight behind Emelianenko, including decisively losing their rematch at Pride Shockwave 2004, Nogueira's resume after losing the title is actually far more impressive than it was while being the champ. He armbarred Mirko Filipovic in another comeback classic, choked out Heath Herring in a rematch, decisioned Sergei Kharitonov, defeated Fabricio Werdum in 2006, and as noted before, avenged a split decision loss to Josh Barnett by defeating him in the rematch, his final fight in Pride. It was obvious by the end that Nogueira was declining, but his endless toughness and dedication to improvement meant that he still exited the promotion on a high note. In five years, he had carved an impressive legend for himself.

Continue Reading » Number 3

3. Mauricio Rua

Personally, I had “Shogun” second. He achieved his absolute peak in Pride and was nearly perfect at 12-1. He had outstanding, underrated grappling, being exceptionally difficult to take down, and was fantastic at getting back to his feet, with excellent BJJ. However, it was on the feet where he was the best, perfecting the Chute Boxe style that Wanderlei Silva made iconic, with blinding speed and athleticism. “Shogun” was also harder to hit than Silva, and nothing was quite as terrifying as him jumping with both feet to head-stomp a downed opponent. Rua's performance in the 2005 Pride Grand Prix was one of the most spectacular I've ever seen in the sport and was a greater singular achievement than what anyone else on this list achieved, even the No. 1 pick. Rua demolished Quinton Jackson in the opening round, won a clear decision over Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, flattened Alistair Overeem with punches in the semifinals and then overwhelmed perhaps the best grappler in the sport at the time, Ricardo Arona, in under three minutes in the final. I can't think of a harder road to a tournament win, or a more amazing series of victories. Aside from a setback in his first fight against Mark Coleman where he lost due to an early injury from a takedown, Rua would continue dominating in Pride, scoring a nice kneebar victory over Kevin Randleman and knocking out Alistair Overeem a second time to finish his time in the promotion. Shogun only fought in Pride for slightly over three years, from late 2003 to early 2007, but he left a tremendous impression on the MMA world in that time.

Continue Reading » Number 2

2. Wanderlei Silva

“The Axe Murderer” debuted in Pride in 1999, already having built a name for himself by winning brutal fights in Brazil and having just won via knockout against Tony Petarra at UFC 20. By the time the promotion folded in 2007, he was a living legend, one who finished No. 3 on Sherdog's list of greatest light heavyweights ever. His record in Pride was an amazing 22-4-1 with one no contest. This becomes even more impressive when one considers that two of his losses and his lone draw were against heavyweights Mirko Filipovic and Mark Hunt. Silva was undefeated from 1999 until New Year's Eve 2004 in Pride, when he dropped the split decision to Hunt, a string of 20 outings with 18 wins, an incredible 14 by stoppage, a draw against Filipovic, and an abbreviated no contest against Gilbert Yvel. Truly, a marvelous run. Silva's grappling during his prime has always been underrated, as he had good takedown defense and excellent BJJ for his time. However, his bread-and-butter was his seek-and-destroy muay thai striking, the ultimate proponent of Chute Boxe style. Silva eschewed jabs for vicious power punches, especially hooks and overhands, and was especially lethal inside the clinch. Pride's rules worked to his advantage too, as Silva loved to soccer-kick and head-stomp downed opponents. Highlights during that time include knockouts of Quinton Jackson twice, Guy Mezger, Yuki Kondo and all-time legend Kazushi Sakuraba three times, and garnering decisions over iron-chinned Dan Henderson and Olympic heavyweight judo gold medalist Hidehiko Yoshida, then undefeated. Personally, despite his greatness, I had Silva fourth on my list, the reason being that it was clear Silva was in decline by the end of his run in Pride. He went 4-4 in his last eight outings for the promotion, and while losing to Hunt via split decision was understandable, Silva looked a little slower, his takedown defense was a little more porous, and his chin was more fragile as he was decisioned by Ricardo Arona in 2005 and then knocked out in 2007 by Henderson, the same fighter he had defeated seven years before. Filipovic's stand-up domination of Silva in 2006 wasn't a mere product of weight, as Silva was actually the heavier fighter that night. Still, for those 20 fights in Pride from 1999 until the end of 2004, Silva built a mighty legend indeed.

Continue Reading » Number 1

1. Fedor Emelianenko

Sherdog's No. 1 heavyweight and No. 6 greatest pound-for-pound fighter, Emelianenko was the obvious, unanimous choice for the top spot here. After all, he never lost in Pride, going a perfect 14-0 with one no contest, defeated a slew of other great champions and was in the prime of his legendary career. How did “The Last Emperor” manage to stay unbeaten? It wasn't always easy, but in addition to lightning hand and foot speed for a heavyweight, enormous punching power and a great judo and sambo-based grappling and submission game, Emelianenko’s incredible cardio, heart, and intelligence combined with his then very tough chin and good recuperative powers allowed him to avoid many perilous situations, whether against Kazuyuki Fujita or Mark Hunt. There were a few weak touches in his Pride career, such as Wagner da Conceicao Martins and Olympic silver medalist Naoya Ogawa, but he also dominated the trilogy against Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, finished two former UFC heavyweight champions in the first round, Kevin Randleman and Mark Coleman twice, and won the “Fight of the Century” against Mirko “Crocop” Filipovic in that span, too. In retrospect, it's amusing to watch Emelianenko’s debut in the organization. While he was the Rings heavyweight champion, he was relatively unheralded when he fought Semmy Schilt at Pride 21 in June 2002. Commentators Bas Rutten and Stephen Quadros had obviously never seen him fight, and treated the 6-foot-11 Schilt, later to become arguably the greatest heavyweight kickboxer ever, as a significant favorite. Even when the newcomer dominated the fight with judo takedowns and vicious ground-and-pound, garnering the easy decision, their praise was measured. And yet, after a stoppage at the end of the first round against then top contender Heath Herring, it was in March 2003, 9 months after his debut, that Fedor shocked the MMA world by dominating the seemingly unbeatable Nogueira. Fedor's run in Pride is truly perfection and the envy of every great champion.