August 23, 2015
By Ryan Porzl
On Sunday August 28, 2005, The Japanese based PRIDE Fighting Championships held PRIDE Final Conflict 2005 in front of 47,629 fans at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. While it looked amazing on paper, few probably knew that it would go on to be one of the greatest and historical events in Mixed Martial Arts history. Going in, it was already announced that the PRIDE World Heavyweight Championship would be on the line between Fedor Emelianenko and Mirko Cro Cop. The event would also feature both the semi finals as well as the finals of the 2005 PRIDE Middleweight (205 pounds/93 kilograms) Grand Prix between PRIDE's Middleweight kingpin, a former RINGS champion, and two great prospects who went on to great success. However, more would also happen. A king fell off his throne, his potential successor would be the one to shine, a UFC legend would not only make his PRIDE debut but it would be his only appearance in the PRIDE ring, and one of Mixed Martial Arts greatest legends would ultimately have his last fight. Let's take a look at one of MMA's greatest events as we celebrate it's ten year anniversary.
Kazuhiro Nakamura vs. Igor Vovchanchyn
Nickname: King Kaz | Ice Cold
Height: 5'11 | 5'8
Age: 26 | 32
MMA Record (PFC): 6-4 (6-4) | 55-9 (1NC) (17-7)
Arm Length: 70 in. | 68 in.
Team: Yoshida Dojo | Team Vovchanchyn
Weight Class: Middleweight (205 pounds/93 kilograms)
The opening fight of the night was a fight between new blood facing the old guard as Kazuhiro Nakamura faced "Ice Cold" Igor Vovchanchyn. It was a fight that served as an alternate fight for the grand prix. Nakamura participated in the 2005 Grand Prix where he defeated Kevin Randleman by unanimous decision but fell to PRIDE World Middleweight Champion Wanderlei Silva in the quarterfinals by TKO. Vovchanchyn entered PRIDE's Middleweight Grand Prix after dropping down to middleweight in early 2005. He was able to defeat Yuki Kondo by unanimous decision in the first round but fell to Alistair Overeem by submission in the quarterfinals.
As mentioned, these two were on different sides of their careers. A protege of Olympic gold medalist Hidehiko Yoshida, Nakamura jumped into the deep pool of MMA like Yoshida as his first fight was a loss to Antonio Rogerio Nogueira at PRIDE 25 in 2003. Ultimately, he had a misleading 6-4 record heading into the fight but the record was underrated as he enjoyed wins over former UFC champions Murilo Bustamante and Kevin Randleman while his losses were to Nogueira twice, Dan Henderson, and Wanderlei Silva. Once one of MMA's biggest and best fighters, Vovchanchyn had fallen on hard times. From his first four years (1995-1999), Vovchanchyn was an absolute beast by going 38-2, 1NC all the while winning seven tournaments. While his opposition wasn't the best, he easily made up for it with his schedule. At his busiest, Vovchanchyn fought thirteen times in 1996 with nine of those coming in one month (March). By early 2000, he was considered one of the best fighters in the world and a favorite in the 2000 PRIDE Openweight Grand Prix but ultimately lost to Mark Coleman in the finals. Following the Grand Prix, Vovchanchyn began a decline over the next five years. While he won way more than he lost, the losses were bad as they either were big upsets against Tra Telligman and Mario Sperry or to next generation fighters like Heath Herring, Rampage Jackson, and Mirko Cro Cop (the latter considered a passing of the torch). By 2005, Vovchanchyn dropped to middleweight in an attempt to revive his career. During his career, Vovchanchyn held wins over Paul Varelans, Gary Goodridge twice, Kazushi Sakuraba, Mark Kerr, Gilbert Yvel, Valentijn Overeem, Yoshiki Takahashi, Dan Bobish, and Yuki Kondo.
In Round One, the two had a feeling out session before spending the majority of the fight on the ground. Most of the round was the same with Vovchanchyn on top but unable to hit any significant strikes until Nakamura either explodes or sweeps into Vovchanchyn's guard. The two also attempted a few chokes and leg submissions but were unable to get anything. Nakamura also attempted a keylock but couldn't get it. With a minute left, Nakamura attempted an armbar but Vovchanchyn reversed and was on top but couldn't do anything before the round ended. Round Two was more of the same with some striking before Vovchanchyn sprawled a takedown and took it to the ground. Like the previous round, Nakamura reversed and went on top. Nakamura attempted a kimura with no luck and like last round, attempted an armbar but Vovchanchyn used the chance to escape and land on top. The fight was stood up and both received a yellow card (A yellow card means a deduction of the fighter's money due to a foul or lack of action). With a minute left, Vovchanchyn went for another takedown and got it but was unable to do anything and Nakamura would win via unanimous decision.
Ricardo Arona vs.Wanderlei Silva
Nickname: The Brazilian Tiger | The Axe Murderer
Height: 5'10 | 5'11
Age: 27 | 29
MMA Record (PFC): 11-2 (6-1) | 29-4-1, (1NC) (20-2-1, 1NC)
Arm Length: Unknown | 74 in.
Team: Brazilian Top Team | Chute Boxe
Weight Class: Middleweight (205 pounds/93 kilograms)
The second fight was the first semifinal fight in the middleweight grand prix as it was between PRIDE World Middleweight Champion Wanderlei Silva and Ricardo Arona. While this was mostly to see who would advance to the finals, there were other things that went on. First was there was animosity between the participants as they were from opposing camps with Silva representing Chute Boxe while Arona fought out of Brazilian Top Team. There was also the situation with Arona questioning Silva's brazilian jiu-jitsu and grappling skills. Silva made it to the semifinals with a split decision win over Hidehiko Yoshida in the first round and a TKO win over Kazuhiro Nakamura in the quarterfinals. Arona advanced by defeating Dean Lister by unanimous decision in the first round and defeating Kazushi Sakuraba by TKO in the quarterfinals.
By 2005, Silva had been PRIDE's middleweight kingpin for nearly four years. Originally starting in his native Brazil in 1997, Silva originally enjoyed success in the IVC where he won their light heavyweight championship. A run in the UFC followed but it wasn't successful which included a failed attempt to win the UFC Light Heavyweight Title in a decision fight against Tito Ortiz. He entered PRIDE in 1999 and Silva's career exploded by 2001 following a destructive win over Kazushi Sakuraba. He became the first PRIDE World Middleweight Champion in November 2001 by defeating Sakuraba a second time and continued his dominance with three title defenses over Kiyoshi Tamura, Hiromitsu Kanehara, and Rampage Jackson along with winning the 2003 Middleweight Grand Prix. He held wins over Kazushi Sakuraba three times, Rampage Jackson two times, Guy Mezger, Kiyoshi Tamura, Hidehiko Yoshida two times, Dan Henderson, Ikuhisa Minowa, Kazuhiro Nakamura, and Yuki Kondo. Debuting in 2000, Arona started at Fighting Network RINGS where he was their one and only RINGS Middleweight Champion. He also won the 2001 tournament to win the title and scored two wins over Jeremy Horn. Upon entering PRIDE, Arona quickly rose through the ranks with wins over Murilo Rua, Dan Henderson, and Guy Mezger. Unfortunately, he was also known for suffering one of the most famous losses in PRIDE's history where he was knocked out by Rampage Jackson after his triangle choke was reversed into a powerbomb.
The fight started with a long feeling out session as both traded leg kicks. After a few minutes, Arona tripped Silva with a leg kick and jumped into guard. Arona then worked Silva over with ground n' pound as Silva tried to dodge and fight back. With three minutes left, the two were stood up and Silva was issued a yellow card. Silva attempted a flury but Arona again caught him off balance and took him down. Arona would spend the remaining round delivering ground n' pound while Silva had no answer for Arona. With ten seconds left, Arona seemed to try and pick Silva up but Silva landed on his feet and two went crazy until time ran out. Round two featured a long feeling out session with the occasional offense. After both were issued yellow cards with two minutes left, they started unleashing more. However, Arona would bullrush Silva with offense and took him down again with a minute to go. He would then spend the next minute closing the deal with ground n' pound which included his famous double ax handle. Ultimately, it was enough as Arona scored the upset by unanimous decision.
Mauricio Rua vs. Alistair Overeem
Nickname: Shogun | The Demolition Man
Height: 6'1 | 6'4
Age: 23 | 25
MMA Record (PFC): 10-1 (6-0) | 21-5 (6-2)
Arm Length: 76 in. | 80 in.
Team: Chute Boxe | Golden Glory
Weight Class: Middleweight (205 pounds/93 kilograms)
This was the other semifinal fight. Rua advanced by defeating 2003 Middleweight Grand Prix runner up Rampage Jackson in the first round and then with Antonio Rogerio Nogueira in the quarterfinals which was considered by some to be the fight of the year. Overeem advanced by defeating Vitor Belfort by submission in the first round and then Igor Vovchanchyn by submission in the quarterfinals. The submission win over Belfort was the first time Belfort lost by submission and the last for seven years until his loss to Jon Jones in 2012.
A product of Chute Boxe, Rua was one of MMA's biggest prospects and the successor to Wanderlei as the face of Chute Boxe and PRIDE's middleweight division. He originally started in his native Brazil for the Meca Vale Tudo and IFC where he racked up a 4-1 record with his only loss being a tournament final against future UFC title contender Babalu Sobral. After entering PRIDE, Rua racked up four straight wins over the likes of Akihiro Gono and Hiromitsu Kanehara. The younger brother of the 2000 King of King's tournament runner up Valentijn Overeem, Alistair started out in his native Holland with companies like 2 Hot 2 Handle and It's Showtime as well as Japan with Fighting Network RINGS. While in 2 Hot 2 Handle, he won his first achievement by winning the 2H2H Light Heavyweight Title as well as the tournament along with it. He entered PRIDE in 2002 but like Rua, he hadn't had a win over a "name" other than Kanehara. This was Overeem's second grand prix as he lost in the first round at the 2003 Middleweight Grand Prix to Chuck Liddell. Like Rua, Overeem started getting the biggest wins of his career during the tournament.
The fight had action from the get-go as Overeem took control early on by neutralizing Rua's knees with a clinch and knees of his own. He also had a few successful takedowns while Rua's were either blocked or Overeem landed on top due to good balance. Overeem attempted the guillotine choke but third time wasn't the charm as Rua escaped and it was all Shogun from then on. While Overeem was game, Rua was either nailing soccer kicks or preventing takedowns with him usually falling on top and following with attacks. Ground n' pound eventually sent the Demoltion Man packing while giving Shogun a ticket to the finals with the fight ending at 6:42 of Round One.
Fabricio Werdum vs. Roman Zentsov
Nickname: Vai Cavalo | The Russian Hammer
Height: 6'4 | 5'11
Age: 28 | 31
MMA Record (PFC): 5-0-1 (1-0) | 10-8 (0-0)
Arm Length: 77 in. | 74 in.
Team: Cro Cop Squad Gym | Red Devil Sport Club
Weight Class: Heavyweight (No Limit)
This fight was put together due to their associations with the world heavyweight title contenders as Werdum trained with Mirko Cro Cop and was his brazilian jiu-jitsu coach. Zentsov trained extensively with Fedor Emelianenko at Red Devil Sport Club.
Werdum was a promising prospect in MMA at the time as he was undefeated and an incredible brazilian jiu-jitsu specialist as he won many honors in the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation and Abu Dhabi Combat Club. He debuted in 2002 where he started out in his native Brazil where he went unbeaten. Heading into this fight, Werdum was just coming off his PRIDE debut where he defeated Tom Erikson by submission. Zentsov debuted in 2000 and was a regular in M-1 Global in his native Russia and 2 Hot 2 Handle in Holland. Unlike Werdum, Zentsov was not a prospect and struggling to make a name for himself. After racking up six straight wins from 2002-2003 and seemingly putting it together, he dropped his last three fights heading into the Werdum fight and was winless for nearly two years. He notably held losses to Andrei Arlovski and Alistair Overeem.
The fight started with Werdum coming out of the gate with a flying knee that missed. While Werdum's first takedown was the blocked, the second wasn't, and it was on the ground from then on out. Zentsov was game by blocking submissions and being able to get on top but was no match for Werdum's ground game as he couldn't get any significant offense on the ground or get the fight back up. While in Werdum's guard, Zentsov was caught with a triangle armbar and had no choice but to submit which gave Werdum the win at 6:01 of Round One.
Hidehiko Yoshida vs. David Abbott
Nickname: None | Tank
Height: 5'10 | 6'0
Age: 35 | 40
MMA Record (PFC): 4-3-1 (3-3-1) | 9-10 (0-0)
Arm Length: Unknown | Unknown
Team: Yoshida Dojo | None
Weight Class: Heavyweight (No Limit)
This fight doesn't have much going for it except that is was Tank Abbott's debut (and ultimately only appearance) in PRIDE.
A gold medalist in judo from the 1992 Olympics, Yoshida dove into the deep end when he debuted in PRIDE in 2002 all the while being a late bloomer as he was already 33. During his then two year career, Yoshida was another fighter with a misleading record as he earned wins over Don Frye, Kiyoshi Tamura, and Mark Hunt (in Hunt's debut) while two of his losses were to Wanderlei Silva. A "pitfighter", Abbott originally established his name in the early days of the UFC back when the MMA scene was the wild west. A far cry from the athletes of today, Abbott was an out of shape, bearded man who looked more like an everyman and wasn't elite by any means. In spite of that and his win-loss record not being the best, he became a star during the 1990s for being a two time UFC tournament runner up and for his brutal knockouts. From 1995-1998, Abbott reached the finals of two UFC tournaments and challenged for the Heavyweight Title. After a brief run as a wrestler in WCW, Abbott returned to fighting in 2003 with a failed return to the UFC where he went winless in his three fight run. To be fair, while Abbott lost more than he won, the majority of his losses were to big names including Oleg Taktarov, Dan Severn, Don Frye, Vitor Belfort, Maurice Smith, Pedro Rizzo, and Frank Mir. Heading into this fight, Abbott avenged a previous loss against Wesley Correira back in May at Rumble in the Rock.
A true striker vs. grappler fight if there ever was one. A rather uneventful fight outside of the beginning as it was the grappler Yoshida attempting a head kick while the striker Abbott attempted and got the takedown. From there, the fight was mostly Abbott on top but unable to do anything outside of the occasional punch as Yoshida held the hands while occasionally attempting triangle armbars. The fight was eventually stood up and both were given yellow cards. Yoshida then attempted a few strikes and then blocked a takedown. He then hit a few downed knees and finished by transitioning into a rear naked choke for the submission at 7:40 of Round One.
Fedor Emelianenko vs. Mirko Filipovic
Nickname: The Last Emperor | Cro Cop
Height: 6'0 | 6'1
Age: 28 | 30
MMA Record (PFC): 22-1, 1NC (11-0, 1NC) | 16-2-2 (13-2-2)
Arm Length: 74.5 in. | 73 in.
Team: Red Devil Sport Club | Cro Cop Squad Gym
Weight Class: Heavyweight (No Limit)
This fight was for the PRIDE World Heavyweight Championship. Emelianenko won the championship from Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at PRIDE 25: Body Blow on March 16, 2003 and made one title defense at that point by defeating Nogueira (then the PRIDE Interim World Heavyweight Champion) to unify the PRIDE titles at PRIDE Shockwave 2004 on December 31st. This fight was also two years in the making as it was originally planned for late 2003 but was cancelled when Emelianenko agreed to fight pro wrestler Yuji Nagata at Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye on New Year's Eve 2003. The fight nearly happened again in the summer of 2004 as both entered the 2004 PRIDE Heavyweight Grand Prix and would've met if they advanced to the quarterfinals. Ultimately, it didn't happen as Emelianenko only advanced by defeating Mark Coleman while Cro Cop suffered an upset loss to Kevin Randleman.
Emelianenko was the #1 heavyweight in the world by the time of the fight. Originally from a sambo background, Emelianenko turned pro in 2000 and spent the first two years of his career in Fighting Network RINGS where he scored wins over Babalu Sobral and Ricardo Arona, was the final RINGS Openweight Champion, won the 2001 Openweight Championship tournament, and the 2001 RINGS Absolute Class Tournament. Entering PRIDE in 2002, he won the PRIDE World Heavyweight Championship in his third fight and proceeded to tighten his grip on the division when he won the 2004 PRIDE Heavyweight Grand Prix all the while defeating PRIDE Interim World Heavyweight Champion Nogueira to become the undisputed champion. Heading into this fight, he defeated Tsuyoshi Kohsaka to avenge the only loss (a controversial one) of his career. Coming from a boxing and kickboxing background, Cro Cop entered MMA in 2001 and with a few exceptions where he fought at Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye and K-1, he spent the majority of career at the time in PRIDE. He immediately made an impact by going unbeaten in his first nine fights, main evented the PRIDE/K-1 Dynamite show, and scored wins over Kazuyuki Fujita twice, Kazushi Sakuraba, Heath Herring, and Igor Vovchanchyn. From late 2003 - early 2004, Cro Cop hit some speed bumps as he suffered his first loss against Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira for the PRIDE Interim World Heavyweight Championship and was bounced in the first round of the 2004 PRIDE Heavyweight Grand Prix by Kevin Randleman. However, he quickly bounced back in style by racking up a seven fight winning streak which included Alexander Emelianenko (Fedor's brother), Josh Barnett, Kevin Randleman, and Mark Coleman.
For the PRIDE World Heavyweight Championship and a fight two years in the making. The first round was very competitive by trading blows with Cro Cop cutting Emelianenko on his head, broke his nose, and gave a good body kick. Halfway through the round, Emelianenko turned it around by getting the fight to the ground and working Cro Cop over with body shots that sapped his energy. Emelianenko would also attempt submissions but Cro Cop was successful in getting Emelianenko back into his guard. Rounds two and three were the same as Cro Cop nailed some offense but nothing had the same power as the offense from the first round did. Emelianenko began teeing off on Cro Cop and began to outstrike him standing up while getting the fight to the ground where he continued to drain Cro Cop of his energy. While Cro Cop was successful in blocking submission attempts, he couldn't do anything else and Emelianenko eventually retained via unanimous decision.
Ricardo Arona vs. Mauricio Rua
Nickname: The Brazilian Tiger | Shogun
Height: 5'10 | 6'1
Age: 27 | 23
MMA Record (PFC): 12-2 (7-1) | 11-1 (7-0)
Arm Length: Unknown | 74 in.
Team: Brazilian Top Team | Chute Boxe
Weight Class: Middleweight (205 pounds/93 kilograms)
This was the finals of the Grand Prix. The question going in was not only who would win but if Arona who take down another Chute Boxe member or if Rua would avenge his brother and Wanderlei's losses.
This fight was Shogun's coming out party as Mauro Rinallo said on commentary and it was as Rua dominated the fight on the feet and on the ground. Rua attempted an omaplata at one point and nailed some knees in the muay thai plum. Arona was unable to control Rua on the ground and after a body lock takedown, it was all Rua as he worked over Arona with shots to the body. Rua would get up and attempt two stomps that were blocked but hammer fist gave Rua the win by knockout at 2:54 of Round One.
Where Are They Now?
As this article has pointed out, ten years have gone by since Final Conflict 2005 which means a lot has happened since then. Here's what became of the participants over the last decade.
Kazuhiro Nakamura- Nakamura continued to compete in PRIDE where he went 4-2 from 2005-2006 but continued to remain in the middle of the pack as his only notable win was over Yuki Kondo but his two losses were to Josh Barnett and Mauricio Rua. After PRIDE was purchased by Zuffa (the parent company of the UFC) in March 2007, Nakamura signed with the UFC but his run was a bust as he went 0-2, losing to future light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida and Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou which resulted in him being cut in the spring of 2008. Returning to Japan in late 2008, Nakamura would compete for another six years where he became a journeyman by competing in Sengoku, DREAM, and DEEP. His run was largely successful as he went 10-5 with wins over mentor Yoshida and future Bellator tournament winner Karl Amoussou while his losses were to the likes of Jorge Santiago, Kazou Misaki, Ken Hasegawa, and Yoshiyuki Nakanishi. He also won a championship by winning the vacant DEEP Middleweight Championship in 2013. Outside of that, he also challenged for the DEEP Megaton Championship and reached the finals of the 2008 Sengoku Middleweight Grand Prix. In December 2014, Nakamura announced his retirement and had a retirement fight against Yoshiyuki Nakanishi where he lost the DEEP Middleweight Championship.
Igor Vovchanchyn- Retired following the event due to multiple injuries including a right hand injury that continued to affect him years later. He has since trained fighters and continues to run a restaurant business. Since his retirement, Vovchanchyn has disappeared from the MMA scene for the most part as he's made no special appearances or became an ambassador in PRIDE, UFC, or anywhere else.
Wanderlei Silva- After dominating PRIDE for so long, Silva would bat .500 for the remainder of his run. He avenged his loss against Ricardo Arona while defending his title at Shockwave on NYE 2005. He entered the 2006 Openweight Grand Prix by replacing Fedor where he got a bye to the quarterfinals, defeated Kazuyuki Fujita in the quarterfinals, and then lost to Mirko Cro Cop in the semifinals via brutal knockout. His final PRIDE fight was another brutal knockout loss, this time to Dan Henderson where he lost the World Middleweight Championship in February 2007. Following Zuffa's purchase of PRIDE, Silva returned to the UFC where he would compete for another seven years. Unfortunately, Silva never came close to his previous success in PRIDE as he was never a title contender. While he did score some good wins over Michael Bisping, Cung Le, and Brian Stann as well as taken part in a classic dream fight against Chuck Liddell (which he lost), he never came close to a title shot and suffered some tough losses. After winning the first two fights, he was knocked out by Rampage in their third fight and also suffered a 27 second knockout loss to Chris Leben. In 2014, Silva became a coach on the third season of the Ultimate Fighter Brazil opposite Chael Sonnen and were set to fight each other but it never happened. Ultimately, Silva's UFC run ended in ugly fashion when he refused to participate in drug testing or show up for a hearing from the Nevada State Athletic Commission and received a lifetime suspension. Since then, Silva retired from MMA in September 2014 and has become a harsh critic of the UFC and the Nevada State Athletic Commission by making accusations of fight fixing and corruption. Silva's lifetime suspension was lifted in May 2015 but he is still retired.
Ricardo Arona- Following the Grand Prix, Arona was never able to take his career to new heights after showing promise in the middleweight grand prix. In December 2005, he challenged Wanderlei Silva for the PRIDE World Middleweight Championship but lost a close split decision. Following this, Arona started competing less as he only fought once in 2006 (a submission win over Alistair Overeem in September) and once in 2007 (a KO loss to Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou at PRIDE's last event in April). After Zuffa bought PRIDE, it seemed all but confirmed that Arona would sign with the UFC and enter the Octagon but not only did that not happen, he didn't sign anywhere. Since PRIDE closed it's doors in April 2007, Arona has become one of MMA's great mysteries as he disappeared from the scene at the prime of his career and before he was even 30. As of August 2015, Arona has only fought once in the last eight years which was a win over former King of the Cage champion Marvin Eastman in September 2009. Even more odd is over the years, Arona has emerged occasionally and continues to promise that he will return all the while claiming he wants to open his own gym and recover from injuries before he does. At one point, he reportedly negotiated with the UFC but could not come to terms on a deal. In July 2014, he was offered a deal from Bellator MMA shortly after Scott Coker became CEO but turned it down citing that he wants to be 100%.
Mauricio Rua- Rua went on to be a top star and popular fighter in PRIDE but never challenged for the World Middleweight Championship likely due to his teammate Wanderlei holding the title until the near end of PRIDE's tenure. His first fight after his grand prix win was his infamous fight with Mark Coleman that he lost due to a broken arm. The fight became infamous for the aftermath with a misunderstanding resulted in a near brawl between Chute Boxe and Team Hammer House. Following recovery, Rua ended his PRIDE run at 3-0 with wins over Cyrille Diabate, Kazuhiro Nakamura, and Alistair Overeem for the second time. After PRIDE was sold, Rua jumped to the UFC but his highly anticipated debut was an upset loss to Forrest Griffin. He would begin to suffer from knee problems as he missed 2008 due to two knee surgeries but came back in January 2009 by avenging his loss to Coleman in a lackluster performance. The old Shogun would emerge in April 2009 when he TKOed aging legend Chuck Liddell and had two fights with UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Lyoto Machida with the first ending in a controversial decision loss for Shogun but he knocked out the undefeated champion to win the title in May 2010. Following this, Shogun went for surgery a third time on his knee and has declined since. While his losses since have been to top fighters like Jon Jones (who he lost the title to), Dan Henderson twice, and Alexander Gustafsson along with good fighters like Chael Sonnen and OSP, his wins were either over washed up fighters like Forrest Griffin and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira or middle of the pack fighters like Brandon Vera and James Te-Huna. Though he continues to fight, there have been calls from fans and family for him to retire.
Alistair Overeem- Overeem continued fighting in PRIDE until it was sold in early 2007 while taking fights outside of the promotion to mixed results. While he scored wins over Sergei Kharitonov and Vitor Belfort, he lost to Fabricio Werdum in the first round of the Openweight Grand Prix and lost his last three fights in PRIDE to Rogerio Nogueira, Ricardo Arona, and Mauricio Rua. After PRIDE closed in 2007, Overeem began a new chapter in his career by permanently moving up to heavyweight. With the exception of a loss to Kharitonov in 2007, Overeem would have the best years of his career from 2007-2011. During this time, Overeem mostly competed in Strikeforce and DREAM where he became the only heavyweight champion of both companies. He also scored wins over Mark Hunt, James Thompson, an aging Kazuyuki Fujita, an aging Gary Goodridge, Todd Duffee, Brett Rogers, and Fabricio Werdum. Around this time, Overeem also resumed his kickboxing career by competing mostly in K-1 where he became the 2010 K-1 World Grand Prix Winner which made him the first man to be a world champion in MMA and K-1. In 2011, Overeem made his long awaited UFC debut and defeated former heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar which sent him into retirement. After five years of accusations regarding steroid use, Overeem would fail a drug test in early 2012 and was suspended for the rest of the year which cost him a heavyweight title shot against Junior Dos Santos. Upon his return, Overeem would suffer two big upset losses to Antonio Silva and Travis Browne in fights he originally was dominating. He bounced back with a win over former champion Frank Mir but suffered another upset loss to Ben Rothwell. He has since racked up a two fight win streak with wins over Stefan Struve and Roy Nelson. He continues to compete in the UFC.
Fabricio Werdum- Werdum would go 2-2 in PRIDE where he lost to Sergei Kharitonov, defeated John-Olav Einemo, and entered the 2006 Openweight Grand Prix where he defeated Alistair Overeem in the first round before losing to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira in the quarterfinals. After defeating Alexander Emelianenko in 2 Hot 2 Handle, Werdum signed with the UFC in early 2007 but lost to former champion Andrei Arlovski in his debut. He bounced back with two straight wins over Gabriel Gonzaga (defeating him a second time) and Brandon Vera before losing a big upset to the debuting future heavyweight champion Junior Dos Santos and was shockingly cut. After his release, he went to Strikeforce where he defeated Mike Kyle and Antonio Silva before scoring a massive upset by submitting Fedor Emelianenko which snapped Emelianenko's ten year, 28 fight unbeaten streak along with handing him the first decisive loss of his career. While he lost to Alistair Overeem in his following fight, he was resigned to the UFC in 2012 after UFC absorbed Strikeforce's heavyweight division (Zuffa bought SF in early 2011). Since then, Werdum has gone unbeaten and has been dominant with wins over Roy Nelson, Mike Russow, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (being the first to verbally submit Nogueira), Mark Hunt (winning the UFC Interim Heavyweight Championship), and Travis Browne. On June 13, 2015, Werdum became the first to submit Cain Velasquez and became the undisputed UFC Heavyweight Champion.
Roman Zentsov- Following the Werdum loss, Zentsov was finally able to snap his losing streak by going on a seven fight win streak including two more fights in PRIDE against Pedro Rizzo and Gilbert Yvel before leaving the company and spending the majority of his career in Russia. In July 2007, his winning streak was snapped with a loss to Brandon Lee Hinkle. He then made a return to Japan for the Yarennoka! new years eve show where he lost to Mike Russow. He finished his career in the M-1 Global promotion where he went 1-1 and retired by the fall of 2008.
Hidehiko Yoshida- Yoshida continued to be a regular for the reminder of PRIDE's run where he largely remained a gatekeeper. In spite of this, he did have some big moments including main eventing Shockwave 2005 on new year's eve where he defeated former judo rival Naoya Ogawa as well as participating in PRIDE's 2006 Openweight Grand Prix where he defeated Yusuke Nishijima in the first round but fell to eventual winner Mirko Cro Cop in the quarterfinals. His last PRIDE fight before it's closure was a TKO loss to James Thompson at Shockwave 2006. After PRIDE was bought, Yoshida took 2007 off. He returned in March 2008 to the newly formed Sengoku where he went 2-2 with losses to Josh Barnett and Sanae Kikuta while scoring wins over Maurice Smith and Satoshi Ishii. In 2010, Yoshida announced his retirement from MMA with his retirement fight being a loss to former protege Kazuhiro Nakamura on April 25, 2010.
Tank Abbott- The loss to Yoshida was Abbott's only fight in PRIDE. Since then, Abbott became a journeyman fighter from 2006-2009 where he appeared at Strikeforce, EliteXC, and Cage Rage all the while suffering losses to the likes of Paul Buentello and Kimbo Slice before getting a win in 2009 which snapped a four fight losing streak. He returned for another fight in April 2013 after a four year hiatus but lost to journeyman Ruben Villareal.
Fedor Emelianenko- Emelianenko continued to compete in PRIDE until it was bought out in 2007. He went on to score three more victories over freakshow fighter Zuluzinho, a second win over Mark Coleman, and Mark Hunt who he successfully defended the PRIDE World Heavyweight Title against. After PRIDE, Emelianenko became one of the very few PRIDE fighters not to sign with the UFC in the aftermath or in the years since. As a result, there has been debates over Emelianenko's career as many fighters and fans have supported him while he has been voted the greatest of all time while critics like UFC president Dana White have questioned his credibility because he never fought in the UFC. In spite of this, Emelianenko continued to enjoy success for another three years as he competed in companies like Bodog Fight, Affliction, and Strikeforce while scoring wins over Matt Lindland, Tim Sylvia, Andrei Arlovski, and Brett Rogers. After ten years of dominance, Emelianenko suffered the first decisive loss of his career in June 2010 when he lost to Fabricio Werdum. Following this, Emelianenko would enter Strikeforce's Heavyweight Tournament in early 2011 but lost in the first round to Antonio Silva. His last Strikeforce fight saw him take on Dan Henderson where he suffered a knockout loss. Following his departure, Emelianenko bounced back with a three fight win streak over Jeff Monson and Pedro Rizzo in M-1 and over Satoshi Ishii in DREAM. On June 21, 2012, following his win over Rizzo, Emelianenko announced his retirement from MMA. For the next three years, Emelianenko continued to be involved in the sport as part owner of M-1 while serving as president of the Russian MMA Union. On July 14, 2015, Emelianenko announced his return to fighting and retired from his position at the Russian Ministry of Sports to focus on his comeback. As of August, Emelianenko has yet to announce where he'll fight but is highly in demand.
Mirko Cro Cop- Cro Cop continued to compete in PRIDE for another year. He went 1-1 for the remainder of 2005 as he defeated Josh Barnett a second time (this time by unanimous decision) but fell to Mark Hunt by split decision. He then had the biggest year of his career in 2006 when he entered the 2006 Openweight Grand Prix and won it by defeating Ikuhisa Minowa, Hidehiko Yoshida, Wanderlei Silva, and Josh Barnett. After backing out of a rematch with Emelianenko for Shockwave 2006 due to injury, Cro Cop signed with the UFC in December 2006. Originally coming in as a huge game changer for the UFC Heavyweight division, Cro Cop's UFC run was a tremendous disappointment as he went 1-2 in 2007 with a win over gatekeeper Eddie Sanchez before suffering two big upsets to Gabriel Gonzaga and Cheick Kongo. In 2008, he left the UFC and bounced back in the newly formed DREAM where he spent 2008 as he went 2-0, 1 No Contest by defeating Tatsuya Mizuno and Hong Man Choi while going a no contest to Alistair Overeem. In June 2009, he returned to the UFC for one fight where he defeated former Cage Rage Heavyweight Champion Mustapha Al-Turk by TKO. From there, he signed a new deal with the UFC where he competed for another two years but was still never able to recapture the magic as he went 2-4 with wins over Anthony Perosh and Pat Barry while losing to Junior Dos Santos, Frank Mir, Brendan Schuab, and Roy Nelson. Cro Cop eventually left in October 2011 after suffering a three fight losing streak and contemplated retirement. In 2012, Cro Cop returned to kickboxing where he defeated Ray Sefo in a fight that was thought to be a retirement fight. Despite this, Cro Cop continued fighting as he fought in kickboxing for another two years in K-1 where he won the 2012 K-1 World Grand Prix and Glory. He eventually resumed his MMA career in 2012 by defeating Shinichi Suzukawa at Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye 2012. He then went 2-1 from 2013-2014 with an upset loss to future UFC fighter Oleksiy Oliynyk but scored two wins over Satoshi Ishii while winning the Inoki Genome Federation Championship and then successfully defended it. In January 2015, Cro Cop returned to the UFC and avenged his loss to Gonzaga in April 2015. He still continues to fight with the UFC.
PRIDE Final Conflict 2005 Facts
Igor Vovchanchyn's fight with Kazuhiro Nakamura was the last fight of his career.
The loss to Ricardo Arona was the first time Wanderlei Silva lost a fight at 205 pounds/93kg since his loss to Tito Ortiz for the vacant UFC Light Heavyweight Championship at UFC 25 on April 14, 2000. Ironically, that fight was also in Japan.
First time Fabricio Werdum defeated a Red Devil Sport Club member in his career. He later defeated Alexander Emelianenko at 2 Hot 2 Handle in 2006 and famously defeating Fedor Emelianenko at Strikeforce in 2010. Ironically, he defeated all three with triangle submissions (Alexander with an arm triangle while Fedor & Zentsov with a triangle armbar).
Tank Abbott made his one and only appearance in PRIDE at Final Conflict 2005.
Second time Cro Cop fell in a World Heavyweight Title match at Final Conflict. He previously lost to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira for the Interim World Heavyweight Championship at Final Conflict 2003.
The loss here continued a trend for Cro Cop as he suffered the toughest losses of his PRIDE run in odd number Final Conflicts while scoring big wins in even numbers. In 2003, he lost to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira for the PRIDE Interim World Heavyweight Title. In 2004, he defeated Alexander Emelianenko which was part of his seven fight win streak and was one of his most famous knockouts. In 2005, he lost to Fedor Emelianenko for the PRIDE World Heavyweight Title. In 2006, he defeated Wanderlei Silva (scoring another famous KO) and Josh Barnett to win the 2006 PRIDE Openweight Grand Prix.
Mauricio Rua broke two records with his win over Arona. He became the youngest grand prix winner in PRIDE history (at 23) and won in the fastest time (at 2:54). Ironically enough, both records were previously held by team mate Wanderlei Silva.
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