Pride, Thomas, d. 1658, English parliamentary soldier in the English civil war. In Dec., 1648, acting on the orders of the army council, he carried out Pride's Purge, expelling from Parliament 143 members (mostly Presbyterians) on the ground that they were royalist sympathizers. The remaining Rump Parliament, completely under army control, then arranged the trial of Charles I. Pride, as a member of the court that condemned him, signed the king's death warrant.

Pride is a lofty view of one's self or one's own. Pride often manifests itself as a high opinion of one's nation (national pride), ethnicity (ethnic pride), or appearance and abilities (vanity). Pride is considered a negative attribute by most major world religions, but some philosophies consider it positive. The opposite of pride is humility.

Etymology

According to the Concise Oxford Dictionary, Proud comes from late Old English prud, probably from Old French prude "brave, valiant" (11th century), from Latin prode "advantageous, profitable", from prodesse "be useful". The sense of "having a high opinion of oneself", not in French, may reflect the Anglo-Saxons' opinion of the Norman knights who called themselves "proud", like the French knights preux. Other names for pride include superciliousness and overweeningness.

Religious views

Abrahamic religions

Judaism

Judaism, using Pride in the sense of hubris or arrogance, denounces it - the phrase "Pride goes before a fall" is a paraphrase of a passage from the book of Proverbs, in the Old Testament. Many more verses of the Tanakh/Old Testament speak of Pride and arrogance. "Blessed is that man that makes the Lord his trust, and looks not to the proud, nor to those that turn aside to lies." (Psalm 40:4) "Talk no more exceeding proudly, nor let arrogancy come out of your mouth: for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed." (I Sam. 2:3)

Christianity

In Christianity, Pride (also Vanity or arrogance) is the essentially competitive and excessive belief in one's own abilities that interferes with the individual's recognition of the grace of God, or the worth which God sees in others; for example: "In his Pride the wicked does not seek Him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God." (Psalm 10:4) Pride the greatest of the seven deadly sins. (Pride, envy, wrath, sloth, greed, gluttony, and lust)

• According to Sebastien Michaelis, humans are seduced by Pride by the great demon Belial, who is also known as The Lord of Arrogance.
• Saint Thomas Aquinas wrote that "inordinate self-love is the cause of every sin." In this he followed St. Gregory.

The well-known English maxim, "Pride goes before a fall," is itself an adaptation of Proverbs 16:18.

• Pride is listed as one of the Seven Deadly Sins, alternately named Superbia.

Islam

In Islam, Pride is also forbidden. According to a narration from Muhammad, he said: "He in whose heart there is as much as an atom of arrogance will not enter paradise," and a man remarked: "A man likes his garment to be beautiful and his sandals to be beautiful." Then Muhammad replied: "God, Most High, is beautiful and likes beauty; arrogance is disdaining what is true and despising people." (Sahih Muslim).

Asian religions

Buddhism

In Buddhism, Pride is seen as illogical as no one person or thing can be better or worse than something or someone else.

Hinduism

In Hinduism, Ravana, an evil king who was killed by Rama, avatar of Vishnu, exhibited the sins of Pride and Lust.

Taoism

In Taoism, according to the Tao Te Ching, Pride and Greed are human errors.

Philosophical views

Ancient Greek philosophy

Aristotle identified pride (megalopsuchia, variously translated as proper pride, greatness of soul and magnanimity) as the crown of the virtues, distinguishing it from vanity, temperance, and humility, thus:

Now the man is thought to be proud who thinks himself worthy of great things, being worthy of them; for he who does so beyond his deserts is a fool, but no virtuous man is foolish or silly. The proud man, then, is the man we have described. For he who is worthy of little and thinks himself worthy of little is temperate, but not proud; for pride implies greatness, as beauty implies a goodsized body, and little people may be neat and well-proportioned but cannot be beautiful. On the other hand, he who thinks himself worthy of great things, being unworthy of them, is vain; though not every one who thinks himself worthy of more than he really is worthy of is vain. The man who thinks himself worthy of less than he is really worthy of is unduly humble, whether his deserts be great or moderate, or his deserts be small but his claims yet smaller. And the man whose deserts are great would seem most unduly humble; for what would he have done if they had been less? The proud man, then, is an extreme in respect of the greatness of his claims, but a mean in respect of the rightness of them; for he claims what is accordance with his merits, while the others go to excess or fall short.

He concludes then that

Pride, then, seems to be a sort of crown of the virtues; for it makes them greater, and it is not found without them. Therefore it is hard to be truly proud; for it is impossible without nobility and goodness of character.

By contrast, Aristotle defined hubris as follows:

to cause shame to the victim, not in order that anything may happen to you, nor because anything has happened to you, but merely for your own gratification. Hubris is not the requital of past injuries; this is revenge. As for the pleasure in hubris, its cause is this: men think that by ill-treating others they make their own superiority the greater.

Thus, although many religions may not recognize the difference, for Aristotle and many philosophers hubris is altogether an entirely different thing from pride.

Nietzsche

Nietzsche saw Pride as an example of a previous, master set of morals that had been replaced with slave moralities. In this, Pride was good, because it acknowledges the good and the noble, rejecting the weak and insipid. Without pride, we will remain subservient.

Objectivism

Objectivism is among the few modern philosophies and/or religions that list pride as a virtue. According to Ayn Rand, pride is one of the seven main virtues. In The Virtue of Selfishness, Ayn Rand wrote

The virtue of Pride can best be described by the term: “moral ambitiousness.” It means that one must earn the right to hold oneself as one’s own highest value by achieving one’s own moral perfection—which one achieves by never accepting any code of irrational virtues impossible to practice and by never failing to practice the virtues one knows to be rational—by never accepting an unearned guilt and never earning any, or, if one has earned it, never leaving it uncorrected—by never resigning oneself passively to any flaws in one’s character—by never placing any concern, wish, fear or mood of the moment above the reality of one’s own self-esteem. And, above all, it means one’s rejection of the role of a sacrificial animal, the rejection of any doctrine that preaches self-immolation as a moral virtue or duty.

Pride is thus seen as a positive, correct life-affirming attitude to have, as it celebrates one's achievements and promoted selfworth.

It is achieved by consistently practicing productiveness, rationality, independence, honesty, integrity, justice and all of the other virtues, and the end result is one of the three cardinal Objectivist values: self-esteem.

Psychological views

When trying to understand hubris, we must focus on the definition itself. It is a sense of self exaggerated pride. There are two types of pride, alpha pride and beta pride. Beta pride is the type of pride that contributes to hubris as a negative emotion. In order to understand the difference between good pride and hubris, we must differentiate between the two kinds.

Alpha Pride: (Pride within self)

described as a behavior that reflects less emotional expression. Alpha pride concerns feelings of inward gratification rather than the outward expressions that more concern that of beta pride.

Beta Pride: (Pride in behavior)

described as a behavior that contributes to hubris negatively. Beta pride in contrast to alpha pride is more of an emotional expression. Emotional expressions are often intended as communicative acts addressed to another person rather than direct reflections of an underlying mental state. Several theories are related to the relationship of beta pride and the unconscious feelings of detachment/unconcern.

Pride is a pleasant, sometimes exhilarating, emotion that results from a positive self-evaluation (Luis, 2002). The standard view of pride was that it results from satisfaction with meeting the personal goals set by oneself. Most research on pride attempts to distinguish the positive aspects of pride and the negative. Pride involves exhilarated pleasure and a feeling of accomplishment. Pride is related to more positive behaviors and outcomes in the area where the individual is proud (Weiner, 1985). Pride is generally associated with positive social behaviors such as helping others and outward promotion. According to Bagozzi et. al, pride can have the positive benefits of enhancing creativity, productivity, and altruism. Gestures that demonstrate pride can involve a lifting of the chin, smiles, or arms on hips to demonstrate victory.

Hubris, by contrast, involves an arrogant tone and satisfaction in oneself in general. Hubris seems to be associated with more intra-individual negative outcomes. Hubris is related to expressions of aggression and hostility (Tagney, 1999). Hubris is not necessarily associated with high self-esteem, as one might expect. But with highly fluctuating or variable self-esteem (Rhodwalt, et al.) Excessive feelings of hubris have a tendency of creating conflict and sometimes terminating close relationships. Hubris is considered one of the only emotions without some positive functions. When we are exposed to hubris we tend to avoid, shun, and reject the hubristic person.

National pride

Germany

In Germany, "national pride" ("Nationalstolz") is often associated with the former Nazi regime. Strong displays of national pride are therefore considered poor taste by many Germans. There is an ongoing public debate about the issue of German patriotism. The World Cup in 2006, held in Germany, saw a wave of patriotism sweep the country in a manner not seen for many years. Although many were hesitant to show such blatant support as the hanging of the national flag from windows, as the team progressed through the tournament, so too did the level of support across the nation. By the time the semi-final against Italy came around, the level of national pride and unity was at its highest throughout the tournament, and the hosting of the World Cup is seen to have been a great success for Germany as a nation.

United States

During the 2006 Winter Olympic Games, American snowboarder Lindsey Jacobellis had attained a seemingly insurmountable lead in the Snowboard Cross event final until she attempted a celebratory method grab as she neared completion of the course. The unnecessary move caused her to fall, allowing Tanja Frieden of Switzerland to pass her and win the gold medal. The media has cited this incident as an example of modern-day athletic hubris.

Ethnic pride

Asian pride

Asian pride in modern slang refers mostly to those of East Asian descent, though it can include any one of Asian descent. Asian pride was originally fragmented, as Asian nations have had long conflicts with each other, examples are the old Japanese and Chinese religious beliefs of their individual superiority. Asian pride emerged prominently during European colonialism. At one time, Europeans owned 85% of the world's land through colonialism, resulting anti-Western feelings among Asian nations. Today, some Asians still look upon European involvement in their affairs with suspicion. In contrast, Asian empires are prominent and are proudly remembered by adherents to Asian Pride. An example is the Mongol Empire, which was one of the largest empires in history, occupying most of Asia. Another empire is Imperial Japan, the symbols of which are widespread in modern culture and franchises, especially the Rising Sun Flag, one of the main symbols of Asian, specifically Japanese, pride. Communist China has been controversially referred to being an empire. These empires of Mongolia, Imperial Japan, and Communist China have a general negative impression, even among adherents to Asian pride, as they have committed numerous crimes against the peoples and cultures of other Asian nations.

Black pride

Black pride is a slogan used primarily in the United States to raise awareness for a black racial identity.

The slogan has been used by African Americans (especially of sub-Saharan African origin) to denote a feeling of self-respect, celebrating one's heritage, and being proud of one's personal worth. Black pride as a national movement is closely linked with the developments of the American Civil Rights Movement, during which noted figures such as Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, A. Philip Randolph, Stokely Carmichael, and others protested the conditions of the United States' segregated society, and lobbied for better treatment for people of all races. Roy Innis has sought to enhance and build on the black pride movement of the mid-1960’s, he and a Congress of Racial Equality delegation toured seven African countries in 1971. Curtis Mayfield's "We're a Winner" became a virtual anthem of the black power and black pride movements.

The concept of black power also permeated into the work of popular musicians at the time. The Impressions's "We're a Winner", written by their lead singer Curtis Mayfield, became a virtual anthem of the black power and black pride movements, as did James Brown's "Say It Loud - I'm Black and I'm Proud", Collin Carlone's "Life As a 'Boro Black Boy", and, unwittingly, Martha & the Vandellas' "Dancing in the Street".

In addition to Black America, the Black Pride Movement was very prevalent in “Afro-Brazil". ., especially throughout their poorer population. A local and global recognition of this movement has been demonstrated throughout Brazilian funk. Brazilian Funk’s origin reflects Brazilian Black resistance and today appeals to a larger regional cultural identity. Ethnomusicologist George Yúdice’s states that youth were engaging black culture mediated by a U.S. culture industry met with many arguments against their susceptibility to cultural colonization. Although it borrows some ingredients from a form of Black American musical resistance hip hop, its style still remains unique to the Brazil (specifically in Rio and Sao Paulo).

White pride

White pride is a slogan used primarily in the United States to call for a white European racial identity and is sometimes aligned with white supremacy, white separatism, and other extreme manifestations of white racism. Organizations advocating white pride are collectively referred to as the white pride movement. White pride activists claim that white pride is equivalent to "black pride" and similar terms that express no more than ethnic self-affirmation.

LGBT pride

Gay pride refers to a world wide movement and philosophy asserting that LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender) individuals should be proud of their sexual orientation and gender identity. LGBT pride advocates work for equal "rights and benefits" for LGBT people. The movement has three main premises: that people should be proud of their sexual orientation and gender identity, that sexual diversity is a gift, and that sexual orientation and gender identity are inherent and cannot be intentionally altered.

Vanity

In conventional parlance, vanity sometimes is used in a positive sense to refer to a rational concern for one's personal appearance, attractiveness and dress. However, most often it refers to an excessive or irrational belief in one's own abilities or attractiveness in the eyes of others. The term Vanity originates from the Latin word vanitas meaning emptiness, untruthfulness, futility, foolishness and empty pride. Here empty pride means a fake pride, in the sense of vainglory, unjustified by one's own achievements and actions, but sought by pretense and appeals to superficial characteristics.

In many religions, vanity is considered a form of self-idolatry, in which one rejects God for the sake of one's own image, and thereby becomes divorced from the graces of God. The stories of Lucifer and Narcissus (who gave us the term narcissism), and others, attend to a pernicious aspect of vanity.

In Western art, vanity was often symbolized by a peacock, and in Biblical terms, by the Whore of Babylon. In secular allegory, vanity was considered one of the minor vices. During the Renaissance, vanity was invariably represented as a naked woman, sometimes seated or reclining on a couch. She attends to her hair with comb and mirror. The mirror is sometimes held by a demon or a putto. Other symbols of vanity include jewels, gold coins, a purse, and often by the figure of death himself.

Often we find an inscription on a scroll that reads Omnia Vanitas ("All is Vanity"), a quote from the Latin translation of the Book of Ecclesiastes. Although that phrase, itself depicted in a type of still life, vanitas, originally referred not to obsession with one's appearance, but to the ultimate fruitlessness of man's efforts in this world, the phrase summarizes the complete preoccupation of the subject of the picture.

"The artist invites us to pay lip-service to condemning her," writes Edwin Mullins, "while offering us full permission to drool over her. She admires herself in the glass, while we treat the picture that purports to incriminate her as another kind of glass—a window—through which we peer and secretly desire her. The theme of the recumbent woman often merged artistically with the non-allegorical one of a reclining Venus.

In his table of the Seven Deadly Sins, Hieronymus Bosch depicts a bourgeois woman admiring herself in a mirror held up by a devil. Behind her is an open jewelry box. A painting attributed to Nicolas Tournier, which hangs in the Ashmolean Museum, is An Allegory of Justice and Vanity. A young woman holds a balance, symbolizing justice; she does not look at the mirror or the skull on the table before her. Vermeer's famous painting Girl with a Pearl Earring is sometimes believed to depict the sin of vanity, as the young girl has adorned herself before a glass without further positive allegorical attributes. All is Vanity, by Charles Allan Gilbert (1873-1929), carries on this theme. An optical illusion, the painting depicts what appears to be a large grinning skull. Upon closer examination, it reveals itself to be a young woman gazing at her reflection in the mirror.

Such artistic works served to warn viewers of the ephemeral nature of youthful beauty, as well as the brevity of human life and the inevitability of death.

Literary references

The most common literary term for pride is hubris(sometimes spelled hybris; Greek: ὕβρις).

Ancient Greece

In Ancient Greece, instances of pride were termed hubris because of the added connotation that pride was a crime was against the gods and would result in fatal retribution. The word was also used to describe those who considered themselves more important than the gods themselves.

Hubris against the gods is often attributed as a character flaw of the heroes in Greek tragedy, and the cause of the "nemesis", or destruction, which befalls these characters. However, this represents only a small proportion of occurrences of hubris in Greek literature, and for the most part hubris refers to infractions by mortals against other mortals. Therefore, it is now generally agreed that the Greeks did not generally think of hubris as a religious matter, still less that it was normally punished by the gods. The ancient Greek concept of hubris extended to what would today be termed assault and battery.

Perhaps one of the most vivid examples of hubris in Greek literature is demonstrated by Achilles and his treatment of Hector's corpse in Homer's Iliad. Similarly, Creon commits hubris in refusing to bury Polynices in Sophocles' Antigone. Another example is in the tragedy Agamemnon, by Aeschylus. Agamemnon initially rejects the hubris of walking on the fine purple tapestry, an act which is suggested by Clytemnestra, in hopes of bringing his ruin. This act may be seen as a desecration of a divinely woven tapestry, as a general flouting of the strictures imposed by the gods, or simply as an act of extreme pride and lack of humility before the gods, tempting them to retribution. One other example is that of Oedipus. In Sophocles' Oedipus the King, while on the road to Thebes, Oedipus meets King Laius of Thebes who is unknown to him as his biological father. Oedipus kills King Laius in a dispute over which of them has the right of way, thereby fulfilling the prophecy of the oracle Loxias that Oedipus is destined to murder his own father.

Odysseus' ten year journey home was the result of hubris: after blinding the Cyclops, he mockingly declared his name to the monster as he escaped. This allowed the Cyclops to call upon his father Poseidon for help and curse him.

Modern times

Victor in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein exudes hubris in order to become a great scientist, but is eventually regretting this previous desire. Faustus in Christopher Marlowe's play Dr. Faustus exudes hubris, all the way until his final minutes of life.

In his book The Hubris Syndrome: Bush, Blair and the Intoxication of Power the British politician David Owen argues that President George Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair developed a Hubristic Syndrome while in power. In particular their handling of the Iraq War showed their hubristic incompetence.

See also

• Groupthink
• Narcissism
• Victory disease
• Lions "Group Organization"
• Vanitas
• Vanity gallery
• Selfishness
• Seven Deadly Sins
• :Lust
• :Gluttony
• :Greed
• :Sloth
• :Wrath
• :Envy
• :Pride
• Seven Heavenly Virtues (opposite of the deadly sins)
• :Chastity
• :Temperance
• :Charity
• :Diligence
• :Patience
• :Kindness
• :Humility

Notes

References

• Cairns, Douglas L. "Hybris, Dishonour, and Thinking Big." Journal of Hellenic Studies 116 (1996) 1-32.
• Fisher, Nick (1992). Hybris: a study in the values of honour and shame in Ancient Greece. Warminster, UK: Aris & Phillips. A book-length discussion of the meaning and implications of hybristic behavior in ancient Greece.
• MacDowell, Douglas. "Hybris in Athens." Greece and Rome 23 (1976) 14-31.
• Owen, David (2007) The Hubris Syndrome: Bush, Blair and the Intoxication of Power Politico's, Methuen Publishing Ltd.
• Essential Vermeer

PRIDE Fighting Championships (PRIDE or PRIDE FC for short) was a mixed martial arts organization based in Japan. Its inaugural event was held at the Tokyo Dome on October 11, 1997. PRIDE held more than sixty mixed martial arts events. As one of the most popular MMA organizations in the world during its ten years of operation, PRIDE broadcasted to about 40 countries worldwide. PRIDE also held the largest live MMA event audience record of over 70,000 people at the PRIDE and K-1 co-production, Shockwave/Dynamite, held in August 2002, as well as the audience record of over 67,450 people at the PRIDE Final Conflict 2003.

In March 2007, Dream Stage Entertainment sold PRIDE to Lorenzo Fertitta and Frank Fertitta III, co-owners of Zuffa, which owns rival promotion the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). While remaining legally separate entities with separate managements, the two promotions were set to cooperate in a manner akin to the AFL-NFL merger. However, such an arrangement did not materialize, and in October 2007, PRIDE Worldwide's Japanese staff was laid off, marking the end of the organization as an active fight promoter. As a result many of the PRIDE staff left to form a new organization along side K-1 parent company Fighting and Entertainment Group. This new organization founded in February 2008 is entitled DREAM.

History

Origins

PRIDE Fighting Championships was initially conceived in 1997 by Kakutougi Revolution Spirits to match popular Japanese pro-wrestler Nobuhiko Takada with Rickson Gracie, the purported champion of the Gracie family of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioners. The event, held at the Tokyo Dome on October 11, 1997 attracted 47,000 fans, as well as Japanese mass media attention. The success of the first event enabled its promoters to hold a regular series of mixed martial arts events, and a year later in 1998, promote a rematch between Takada and Gracie. With K-1 enjoying popularity in Japan, PRIDE began to compete with monthly showings on Fuji Television, as well as pay per view on the newly formed satellite television channel SKY PerfecTV.

In 2000, PRIDE hosted the first ever PRIDE Grand Prix, a two-part openweight tournament held to find the "world's best fighter". The tournament was held over the course of two events, with sixteen fighters competing in an opening round, and the eight winners returning three months later for the final round. The second round of the tournament marked the first time PRIDE was broadcast in the United States, and featured American fighter Mark Coleman winning the tournament by defeating Igor Vovchanchyn in the final round.

In August 2002, PRIDE teamed up with Japan's leading kickboxing and fight promotion, K-1, and held the world's biggest fight event, Shockwave (known as PRIDE/K-1 Dynamite!! in Japan), which attracted over 90,000 fans.

On January 13 2003, the PRIDE MMA production was thrown into turmoil when DSE President Naoto Morishita was found dead hanging by his neck in his hotel room, apparently after his mistress told him she wanted to end their affair. Speculation still looms whether this could possibly be the real reason, as trouble with tax authorities and the yakuza have also been speculated to play a role. Nobuyuki Sakakibara later assumed the presidency.

In 2003 PRIDE introduced the Bushido series of events, which focused on the lighter weight classes of lightweights and welterweights. The Bushido series also stressed a faster pace, with bouts consisting of only one ten minute round and one five minute round, as well as quicker referee intervention of stalling tactics, using the new "yellow card" system of purse deduction.

Also in 2003, PRIDE returned to the tournament format, with a middleweight grand prix spanning two events, Total Elimination 2003 and Final Conflict 2003. The format would be expanded to three events in 2004, adding Critical Countdown 2004 as the second round. PRIDE would go on to hold annual tournaments, a Heavyweight tournament in 2004, Middleweight in 2005, and Openweight in 2006.

In 2006 DSE announced it would showcase PRIDE alongside the Ultimate Fighting Championship, North America's largest MMA event, and would be integrating their fighters, including Wanderlei Silva and Kazuyuki Fujita, at a UFC MMA show in November. However, Dana White, speaking on behalf of Zuffa then commented that the announced bout between Chuck Liddell and Wanderlei Silva was unlikely to happen because "the Japanese are very hard to do business with". This statement was likely due to the failure of previous attempts between Zuffa and DSE to organize a fighter exchange agreement. Specifically after entering Chuck Liddell in PRIDE's 2003 middleweight tournament, which was also with the intention of Liddell eventually fighting Silva, which fell through when Chuck Liddell lost in the semi-finals to Quinton Jackson (Jackson subsequently lost to Silva by technical knockout in the finals.)

PRIDE continued to enjoy success, holding roughly ten events per year, and even out-drawing rival K-1 at the annual New Year's Eve show PRIDE Shockwave 2005. On October 21 2006, PRIDE held its first MMA event in USA, PRIDE 32: The Real Deal took place in front of an audience of 11,727 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, and was the first PRIDE event to be held outside of Japan.

On June 5, 2006, Fuji Network announced that they were terminating their television contract with PRIDE Fighting Championships effective immediately due to a breach of contract by DSE. This left PRIDE with only SKY PerfecTV, a pay-per-view carrier, as a television outlet in Japan, and the loss of the substantial revenues from the Fuji deal threatened its sustainability. DSE was surrounded by speculation in the Japanese media, especially in Japanese tabloid Shukan Gendai, that it may be a front for the notorious yakuza crime organization. DSE responded to the loss by stating they will continue with their schedule as currently planned, including an event in Las Vegas, Nevada, PRIDE 32: The Real Deal which took place on October 21 2006, PRIDE's first event outside of Japan.

In late 2006, DSE hinted at plans for Mike Tyson to fight in the organizations New Year's Eve show. Tyson would face a PRIDE fighter under boxing rules. Since Tyson is not allowed to fight in Japan because of his criminal record, PRIDE wanted to stage the fight in an alternate country, possibly Macau, China. The fight would be broadcast live on large television screens in the Saitama Super Arena, where the regular mixed martial arts bouts were held. The fight did not occur, however.

On November 29, 2006, PRIDE announced the discontinuation of its Bushido events, with the intention of integrating the matches from lighter weight classes, mainly featured in Bushido, into regular PRIDE events. PRIDE also announced that future Grand Prix tournaments would take place on a four year weight class cycle, with one Grand Prix per year. The first expected one, a Lightweight Grand Prix, has been cancelled.

PRIDE Worldwide era

On Tuesday, March 27, 2007, Nobuyuki Sakakibara announced that Station Casinos Inc. magnate Lorenzo Fertitta, co-owner of Zuffa and its subsidiary MMA production Ultimate Fighting Championship, had made a deal to acquire all assets of PRIDE Fighting Championships from Dream Stage Entertainment after PRIDE 34: Kamikaze in a deal reportedly worth under USD$70 million, though the figure was not publicly disclosed. Managing the assets under the newly created PRIDE FC Worldwide Holdings, LLC, including their video library and the contracts of the fighters currently on the PRIDE roster, the new management company had originally planned to continue to promote PRIDE events in Japan and keep to its previously announced schedule. Lorenzo Fertitta announced they planned to operate PRIDE separately from Zuffa's two MMA brands, the UFC and WEC, planned on having occasional crossover shows and matches, pitting fighters from PRIDE against fighters "from the UFC," using the metaphor of the AFL-NFL merger to compare the situation.

Subsequent remarks by Zuffa spokesperson Dana White however cast doubt as to what the new owners would actually do with PRIDE. After the sale officially closed on May 25, 2007, White remarked that he planned on bringing PRIDE's biggest names into UFC competition instead of keeping them in PRIDE and that they were still deciding on what to do with PRIDE itself. In later comments made in August 2007, White expressed doubt that Zuffa can resurrect PRIDE in Japan, claiming, "I’ve (or, we) pulled everything out of the trick box that I can and I can’t get a TV deal over there with PRIDE. I don’t think they want us there. I don’t think they want me there"(parenthesis and italics added)

On October 4 2007, PRIDE Worldwide closed its Japanese office, laying off 20 people who were working there since the closing of DSE.

Rules

PRIDE's rules differed between main PRIDE events and Bushido events. It was announced on November 29 2006 that Bushido events would be discontinued.

Match length

PRIDE matches consisted of three rounds; the first lasting ten minutes, and the second and third lasting five. Intermissions between each round were two minutes in length. In PRIDE US events, NSAC Unified MMA rules were used, with non-title matches consisting of three five minute rounds and title matches of 5 five minute rounds both having 60 second intermissions between rounds.

When two rounds of a Grand Prix took place on the same night, Grand Prix bouts consisted of two rounds; the first lasting ten minutes and the second lasting five. Intermissions between each round remained two minutes in length.

Weight classes

PRIDE Fighting Championships does not divide their fighters based on weight divisions per se. A fighter may be booked to fight an opponent of any weight. Weight divisions are used for championship bouts and for Grands Prix to decide a best fighter at a given weight class.

• Heavyweight (more than 93 kg / 205 lb)
• Middleweight (less than or equal to 93 kg / 205 lb)
• Welterweight (less than or equal to 83 kg / 183 lb)
• Lightweight (less than or equal to 73 kg / 161 lb)

Ring

PRIDE used a five-roped square ring with sides 7 m in length (approximately 23 ft).

Attire

PRIDE allowed fighters latitude in their choice of attire but open finger gloves, a mouthguard and a protective cup were mandatory. Fighters were allowed to use tape parts of their body or to wear a gi top, gi pants, wrestling shoes, kneepads, elbow pads, or ankle supports at their own discretion, though each is checked by the referee before the fight.

Victory

Matches could be won via:

• Submission
• A fighter taps either his opponent or the mat three times.
• A fighter may also verbally submit.
• Knockout
• A fighter falls from a legal blow and is either unconscious or unable to immediately continue.
• Technical Knockout
• Referee Stoppage (the referee stops the match after seeing that one fighter is completely dominant to the point of endangering his opponent).
• Doctor Stoppage (the referee stops the match in the event that a fighter is injured via a legal blow and the ring doctor determines that he cannot continue).
• Forfeited Match (a fighter's corner throws in the towel).
• Decision
• If the match reaches its time limit then the outcome of the bout is determined by the three judges. The fight is scored in its entirety and not round-by-round. After the third round, each judge must decide a winner. Matches cannot end in a draw. A decision is made according to the following criteria in this order of priority:

#the effort made to finish the fight via KO or submission,

#damage given to the opponent,

#standing combinations and ground control,

#takedowns and takedown defense,

#aggressiveness, and

#weight (in the case that the weight difference is 10 kg/22 lb or more).

If a fight was stopped on advice of the ring doctor after an accidental but illegal action, i.e. a clash of heads, and the contest is in its second or third round, the match will be decided by the judges using the same criteria.

• Disqualification
• A "warning" will be given in the form of a yellow card or a green card (The green card gives a 10% deduction of a fighters purse) when a fighter commits an illegal action or does not follow the referee's instruction. Three warnings will result in a disqualification.
• A fighter will be disqualified if a match is stopped on advice of the ring doctor as a result of his deliberate illegal actions.
• The application of oil, ointment, spray, Vaseline, massaging cream, hair cream, or any other substances to any part of the fighter's body before and during the fights is prohibited. The discovery of any of these substances will result in a disqualification.
• No Contest
• In the event that both sides commit a violation of the rules, the bout will be declared a "No Contest."
• If a fight is stopped on advice of the ring doctor after an accidental but illegal action, i.e. a clash of heads, the match will be declared a no contest in the first round only.

Fouls

PRIDE Fighting Championships considered the following to be fouls:

1. Head butting.
2. Eye gouging.
3. Hair pulling.
4. Biting.
5. Fish hooking.
6. Any attacks to the groin
7. Strikes to the back of the head, which includes the occipital region and the spine. The sides of the head and the area around the ears are not considered to be the back of the head. (see Rabbit punch)
8. Small joint manipulation (control of four or more fingers/toes is necessary).
9. Elbow strikes to the head and face.
10. Intentionally throwing your opponent out of the ring.
11. Running out of the ring.
12. Purposely holding the ropes. Fighters cannot purposely hang an arm or leg on the ropes and it will result in an immediate warning.

In the event that a fighter is injured by illegal actions, then at the discretion of the referee and ring doctor, the round would attempt to be resumed after enough time has been given to the fighter to recover. If the match could not be continued due to the severity of the injury then the fighter who perpetrated the action was disqualified.

Match conduct

• If both fighters are on the verge of falling out of the ring or become entangled in the ropes, the referee would stop the action. The fighters must immediately stop their movements and then be repositioned in the center of the ring in the same relative position. Once they were comfortably repositioned, they would resume at the referee's instruction.
• Referees can give a fighter a penalty card for lack of activity. Every card, including warning cards, are a 10% deduction of a fighter's purse, this method was aimed to prevent inaction.

Matches between fighters of different weight classes

PRIDE made special provision for fights between fighters of different weight classes or fighters with a large weight difference in the same weight class. The lighter fighter was given a choice on whether to permit knees or kicks to the face when in the "four points" position in the following cases:

• If both fighters are in the middleweight class and there is a weight difference of 10 kg/22 lb or more between the fighters.
• If the match is between a middleweight and heavyweight and there is a weight difference of 10 kg/22 lb or more between the fighters.
• If both fighters are in the heavyweight class and there is a weight difference of 15 kg/33 lb or more between the fighters.

PRIDE Bushido

There were a few minor differences from main PRIDE events.

• Bouts on PRIDE Bushido events consisted of two rounds; the first lasting ten minutes and the second lasting five. Intermissions between each round are two minutes in length.
• Bushido "Challenge Matches" consist of two rounds lasting five minutes each. Intermissions between each round are two minutes in length.
• In Bushido, red cards were issued in a similar way that yellow cards are used in PRIDE FC. A red card results in a 10% deduction of the fighter's fight purse. Red cards couldbe given out in an unlimited number without disqualification. If fighters committed the following actions, they shall be given a red card by officials:
• Stalling or failure to initiate any offensive attack,
• making no attempt to finalize the match or damage the opponent, and
• holding the opponent's body with the arms and legs to produce a stalemate.

Differences from the Unified Rules of Combat

Some states' athletic commissions require mixed martial arts events to modify rules to match the Mixed Martial Arts Unified Rules of Combat, as introduced by the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board, and adopted by the Nevada State Athletic Commission in order to receive state sanctioning.

PRIDE's rules differed from the Unified Rules of Combat in the following ways:

• PRIDE allows kicking and kneeing the head of a downed opponent who is on his back. This is considered a foul in the Unified Rules, which only allows kicks and knees to the head of a standing opponent.
• PRIDE allows a fighter to stomp the head of a downed opponent. This is considered a foul in the Unified Rules.
• PRIDE allows a fighter to Spike (piledriver) an opponent. This is considered a foul in the Unified Rules.
• PRIDE does not allow elbow strikes to the head of an opponent. The Unified rules allows elbows provided they are not striking directly down with the point of the elbow.
• PRIDE's matches include a ten minute first round, with two minute rest periods. The Unified rules allow rounds no longer than five minutes, with rest periods not exceeding one minute.
• PRIDE's matches are not judged on the ten point must system, rather judges score the whole fight. The Unified rules call for all matches to be judged using the ten point must system.

At the announcement on March 27, 2007 that the Fertittas are purchasing PRIDE, it was stated that all future PRIDE events (after PRIDE 34) would be held under Unified Rules, eliminating 10 minute opening rounds, ground knees, stomps and more.

PRIDE events

In addition to their main, "numbered" events, PRIDE have staged other series of events for different purposes.

PRIDE Grand Prix

The PRIDE GP (Grand Prix) is the name for a series of tournaments held by PRIDE. In addition to a money prize, a championship belt was given to the winner of each tournament, though this belt only denoted the tournament winner and would never be defended. However, PRIDE's Shockwave 2005 event crowned not only the welterweight and lightweight tournament champions, but also PRIDE's inaugural welterweight and lightweight champions. Of note is the amount of past and future champions that would participate in these tournaments.

In 2000, PRIDE held their first grand prix. With no weight limits, it is now considered to be their first openweight grand prix. Held across two events, PRIDE Grand Prix 2000 Opening Round featured first round bouts and PRIDE Grand Prix 2000 Finals featured the quarter finals, semi finals and final.

The concept was brought back in 2003, with a middleweight grand prix. Held across two cards, Total Elimination 2003 featured the first round of the Grand Prix and Final Conflict 2003 featured the semi finals and final. Subsequent middleweight, heavyweight and openweight grands prix have taken place across three events when, in 2004, Critical Countdown was introduced for second round bouts. Both Critical Countdown and Final Conflict have a mix of grand prix and non-grand prix matches.

In 2007, it was announced that PRIDE will hold only one grand prix a year and it will rotate between each of their four established weight classes.

Format

Tournament dates with only one round would adhere to normal PRIDE or PRIDE Bushido rules. For tournament dates that held two rounds, a fight would have a 10 minute first round, followed by a 2 minute rest period for the fighters, and then a 5 minute last round.

Exceptions

Of special note, the 2000 Finals held a 90 minute contest between Kazushi Sakuraba and Royce Gracie. Gracie had requested that there be no judging and no limit to the number of rounds. Sakuraba agreed to fight under these rules, and the contest went to a total of 90 minutes of fighting, after which Gracie's corner threw in the towel due to damage to Gracie's legs. Sakuraba advanced to the next round, fighting a fifteen minute first round against eventual runner up Igor Vovchanchyn, after which Sakuraba's corner threw in the towel citing his exhaustion.

PRIDE Bushido

With PRIDE's numbered shows and Grands Prix focused on heavier fighters, in October 2003, PRIDE started a series of events entitled "Bushido". With the focus on lighter combatants, two weight classes, lightweight and welterweight, were formed at 73 and 83 kg respectively. After PRIDE Bushido 13, it was announced that the series would end and these weight classes would transfer to main PRIDE shows.

In 2005, PRIDE Bushido staged welterweight and lightweight grands prix. Two eight-man brackets were set up and the quarter finals and semi finals were held at PRIDE Bushido 9, along with an alternate bout in each bracket. The finals were held at PRIDE Shockwave 2005, with the winners subsequently being crowned as champions for their division. A sixteen-man welterweight grand prix was held in 2006.

PRIDE The Best

In 2002, PRIDE launched The Best, a series of shows featuring up-and-coming fighters, using an eight-sided roped ring. However, after the third show in October 2002, the series was discontinued. The concept was later refined into the PRIDE BUSHIDO events.

PRIDE final champions

With PRIDE FC events no longer being promoted, these titles are inactive. The titleholders below were those who held the titles on April 8, 2007, the date of the last PRIDE FC promoted show.

Weight divisions

Division	Weight limit	Champion
		Name	Country
Heavyweight	at or above	Fedor Emelianenko
Middleweight	below	Dan Henderson
Welterweight	below	Dan Henderson
Lightweight	below	Takanori Gomi

Tournament Champions

Year	Weight Division	Champion		Finalist
		Name	Country	Name	Country
2000	Openweight	Mark Coleman		Igor Vovchanchyn
2003	Middleweight	Wanderlei Silva		Quinton Jackson
2004	Heavyweight	Fedor Emelianenko		Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
2005	Middleweight	Mauricio Rua		Ricardo Arona
	Welterweight	Dan Henderson		Murilo Bustamante
	Lightweight	Takanori Gomi		Hayato Sakurai
2006	Openweight	Mirko Filipović		Josh Barnett
	Welterweight	Kazuo Misaki		Denis Kang

Notable PRIDE fighters

The following fighters have won a tournament or Championship titles in PRIDE. Some have competed in different weight classes.

Heavyweight

• Mark Coleman (PRIDE FC 2000 Grand Prix Champion)
• Fedor Emelianenko (PRIDE FC Heavyweight Champion, PRIDE FC 2004 Heavyweight Grand Prix Champion)
• Mirko 'Cro Cop' Filipović (PRIDE FC 2006 Open Weight Grand Prix Champion)
• Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (First PRIDE FC Heavyweight Champion)

Middleweight

• Dan Henderson (First PRIDE FC Welterweight Champion, PRIDE FC Middleweight Champion & PRIDE FC 2005 Welterweight Grand Prix Champion)
• Quinton Jackson (Last PRIDE Middleweight Champion)
• Mauricio "Shogun" Rua (PRIDE FC 2005 Middleweight Grandprix Champion)
• Wanderlei Silva (Former PRIDE FC Middleweight Champion & PRIDE FC 2003 Middleweight Grand Prix Champion)

Welterweight

• Dan Henderson (PRIDE FC Welterweight Champion, PRIDE FC Middleweight Champion & PRIDE FC 2005 Welterweight Grand Prix Champion)
• Kazuo Misaki (PRIDE FC 2006 Welterweight Grand Prix Champion)
• Hayato Sakurai (PRIDE FC 2005 Welterweight Grand Prix Champion)
• Anderson Silva (Last PRIDE Welterweight Champion)

Lightweight

• Takanori Gomi (PRIDE FC Lightweight Champion & PRIDE FC 2005 Lightweight Grand Prix Champion)

See also

• Mixed Martial Arts
• List of PRIDE events
• List of PRIDE champions
• List of male mixed martial artists
• List of MMA organizations
• Yarennoka

References

External links

• PRIDE FC's official English website
• PRIDE FC's official Japanese website
• PRIDE FC's official Korean website