I've been watching PRIDE form the beginning for the last 2 weeks or so. It's been years since I have done this - watched all their shows in order from the beginning.
It's hard not to forget the anticipation going into a PRIDE show when there is a UFC card constantly, with even the biggest ones being a bit over saturated, with a few exceptions each year, usually in July and December.
Not only did the fans want to watch PRIDE, the fighters wanted to fight there. At this time, the UFC had to come up with the now infamous "champion's clause", which states in fighter's contracts that in the event they become champion in their weight class, they are bound to the UFC forever as long as they own the belt - or retire. Jens Pulver, BJ Penn, and Murilo Bustamante all left the UFC as champions over the course of just two years. As many know, the UFC was in dire financial crisis during this time and was close to being sold on a few different occasions. PRIDE really was the Super Bowl of MMA, with K-1 also getting into the mixed martial arts game with their NYE and Romanex shows. This was the absolute peak of the Japanese scene, and while it only lasted a few more years... It was a really special time in the sport.
Which leads me to THE fight.. in THE organization.
Fedor vs CroCop (Final Conflict 2005) was one of the first PRIDE shows I ever saw on TV and not days or weeks after the fact. The anticipation for that fight was RIDICULOUS. In recent years, there are very few fights that have come close to matching the hype that finally went down on the night of August 28th, 2005. The ones that immediately come to mind are Penn vs GSP 2, Jones vs Cormier, Anderson vs Chael 2, and perhaps even Hendo vs Anderson and Rampage for historic sake..
Similarly, Penn vs GSP was building for years, as both fighters were not only at the top of their game, but also the reigning champions of their respective weight classes.. Plus, they'd fought a VERY close match years prior. Anderson vs Chael 2 had a huge build as well, for obvious reason I don't have to explain to anyone reading this.
But the one thing that made Fedor vs CroCop stand above the rest?
It really felt like Fedor vs CroCop may NEVER happen. There were rumors that Fedor was "terrified" of CroCop. Allegations were stirred up mainly by the shady yakuza backing of PRIDE that he had faked a hand injury to get out of fighting Mirko. The PRIDE brass hated Fedor and never wanted him to be champion, especially after he had left the organization as champion to compete on Inoki's NYE show. Not only did PRIDE try to smear Fedor's name to the public with false allegations - they took it many, many steps further. For example.. Fedor's signature was forged on his PRIDE contract, which paid him next to nothing - between 10 and 15 k per fight, as champion, while Mirko was paid well over 100k by this point.
On top of that? One of the craziest stories in MMA - an incident that eventually led directly to the downfall of PRIDE when they lost their deal with Fuji TV, causing the organization to be worthless without TV rights and on the brink of closing within months. What was such a big deal, you ask?
Well, believe it or not.. It was the kidnapping of Fedor's manager, Miro Mijatovic, by Ota-Kogyo boss (a Yamaguchi Gumi Yakuza sub group) "Mr I" - aka Mr Ishizaka, aka Kim Dok Soo. Mr I was the REAL power behind PRIDE, who controlled PRIDE President Sakakibara like a puppet on a string.
^ Miro
Two Yakuza goons, named Sakamoto and Koyama approached Miro in the Kobe Okura hotel lobby. They led him to the bar, which was closed at the public. Miro was led to a table, flanked with Yakuza members. At the head of the table was Mr I and Sakakibara. So much back story goes into why they kidnapped Miro (mainly stemming from the Fedor/Inoki NYE incident) that it's really too long to get into detail about - but this was as serious as it gets.
Miro was held at gun point. When Miro refused to sign the new contract that they'd written up for Fedor (and were attempting to extort both he and his manager into signing; Fedor arrived at the meeting later and laughed at the entire situation), he was told by a furious Sakakibara that this was "not a negotiation". Sakamoto raised his gun to Miro's head, but Miro still did not back down.
^ Sakakibara
Eventually, Miro, Fedor and Vadim (who was also present along with a translator) were able to escape the meeting unharmed. Shortly after, Yakuza goons were sent to Miro's home in the middle of the night when he was not there, while his wife and children were asleep. This was the absolute last straw for Miro - he'd had enough. He went to the Japanese version of the FBI (whose name escapes me, sorry, I am going off memory here) who began their investigation into what was REALLY happening behind the scenes at PRIDE.
While this investigation took years, its conclusion changed the history of MMA forever and led to PRIDE shutting its doors for good.
Anyway, back to the fight itself. Not only were all of these things going on behind the scenes - the story line build up itself was beyond amazing. It was like a pro wrestling dream scenario, too good to be true. People were so invested n the out come of this fight. So much had led up to that one match...
CroCop - the killer with a signature finishing move.. Who stumbled a few times on his way to the top but was FINALLY getting his shot after racking off 7 straight, vicious wins in the PRIDE ring following his loss to Randleman. At the time when he was decapitating EVERYONE with high kicks, including Fedor's own brother. In what's now a famous internet video, Fedor can be seen backstage watching the Mirko vs Aleks fight, angrily swearing and displaying raging emotion - something rarely, if ever seen from the Last Emperor.
Finally, the fight came. As they always say in these types of situations, you could cut the tension in the air with a knife. The fight itself played out in a way nobody expected - with Fedor walking down CroCop on the feet, and for lack of a better term, beat his fucking ass. While CroCop did have his moments, including breaking Fedor's nose with a straight left hand and landing a high kick right to the side of Fedor's head - it didn't matter.
Fedor took plenty of damage in the fight, but not for a second did he relent.
He kept going. He absorbed everything CroCop had, and never stopped coming forward. He dominated him on the feet and on the ground, toying with him from guard as he wound up his punches, spun his wrist in a circular fashion and blasted straight down to CroCop's face in a display of skill and technical mastery across all aspects of MMA rarely seen before or since. He was even bold enough to attempt - and land, although not at full force - a high kick of his own.
For many reasons, this was the most anticipated, the biggest, and the best fight in MMA history. When you really know about everything that went into it - on the surface and beyond - it's hard not to be in awe of everything surrounding this fight. Of course, Fedor emerged victorious and continued to dominate the HW scene for 5 years onward, while CroCop eventually rebounded to go on the greatest run of his career - capping off the prime of his career by winning one of the toughest tournaments in MMA history, the 2006 Openweight Grand Prix.
Both men remain two of the most respected, revered and legendary fighters ever to step foot in the ring to this day. Their name evokes memories of brutal knockouts (Mirko vs Igor, Mirko vs Aleks, etc), relentless beatings (Fedor vs Nogueira, Fedor vs Kohsaka, etc), but above all, greatness.
That's why, in my opinion and many other fans, this was the greatest - as well as the biggest - fight in mixed martial arts history.
Well, I hope you guys enjoyed reading. Maybe I could've formatted this better. Maybe I should've proof read a few more times. But this was not an article. Just a post.. A post talking about my favorite fight, ever. I hope it made SOME sense, at least. : )
Peace
