woohoo! Pride Fighting Championships finally came to the U.S.A. just this past day Oct 21, 2006. The best mixed martial arts organization finally reaches North America, and I hope it brings about new fans from these shores. The fights were overall not bad at all, although a lot of them went by too quick. The Las Vegas rules though killed a couple of significant Pride FC rules which was a little disappointing. The production value wasn’t a huge spectacle like I’ve seen Pride do in Japan, but that’s okay. The camera crew were also a lot more prone to show the hot women in the audience on TV, than I’ve ever seen on a Pride FC show. The Japanese officials, referees, announcers, and fighters speaking in english was also quite different… and entertaining to hear. Also for once, I can finally understand what the fighters are saying, as they are now translated in english for us to listen to.
There were some notable stand out fights that I really enjoyed. Not to mention seeing Pride FC champion Wanderlei Silva calling out UFC champion Chuck Liddell for a future fight. Less I forget, martial arts legend Chuck Norris himself was also seen as a front row audience member.
The Kazuhiro Nakamura vs Travis Galbraith matched turned out a lot better than I ever thought it could be. Galbraith is definitely somebody to look forward to in future Pride FC matches.
Dan Henderson vs Vitor Belfort was also a technically interesting and entertaining fight to watch.
Ofcourse the Fedor Emelianenko vs Mark Coleman fight was explosive. If anything else, I get to see undeafeated Pride FC heavy weight champion Fedor fight in the ring again, after a long absence. I swear that guy is like a cyborg. Oh, and Mark Coleman, please leave your kids at home when you are fighting.
I’m excited that Pride FC is expanding it’s presence to the USA, and I’m glad to hear that it’ll be back here again in February 2007.
