Our Heroes of PRIDE are Passing on By

"I feel life passing on by us, passing on by us, passing on by us", sings Robert Pollard in his hard-rocking commentary on the changes imposed by time, Psychic Pilot Clocks Out.

This weekend, when looking at Strikeforce's on-screen brackets for the Heavyweight Grand Prix, similar sentiments ran through my head.  Fedor Emelianenko didn't advance on his side of the bracket?  How can this be?  There's a pairing on the left side - a fight involving Fedor - and the guy who advanced wasn't Fedor.

Obviously, I don't live under a rock and I knew Fedor had lost his opening round fight to Antonio Silva months before this weekend.  I was also all too aware that even that hadn't been Fedor's first legitimate loss, that he had lost to Fabricio Werdum months earlier.  I'm a very avid MMA fan who watches everything and reads everything; I knew all this stuff.  It wasn't news to me.  But that didn't change the odd feeling that remained in looking at that bracket.  Like when you lost a tooth as a kid and were overly aware of the gap, the absence.  That comes close to describing the sensation.

All at once the realization hit home that, as Pollard might have belted out if he were an MMA fan, our heroes of PRIDE are passing on by.

In the United States, we refer to "The Greatest Generation", a very specific phrase that conveys multiple meanings but also the ineffable quality of nostalgia, of the passage of time, of a great legacy, of a once-in-a-lifetime phenomenon that arose, had its day and its decline, and will never be again.  To many longer-term MMA fans, the biggest names of the PRIDE Fighting Championships generate (in an appropriate esteem) similar feelings of greatness, of legacy, of being larger than life, of being the generation of fighters.  Just as the pop culture you imbibed as a kid imprinted itself on you in all kinds of ways, many of us view PRIDE's greats as the stuff.  Fedor Emelianenko.  Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.  Mirko Cro Cop.  Wanderlei Silva.  Kazushi Sakuraba. Takanori Gomi.  Dan Henderson.  Rampage Jackson.  Shogun Rua.  These men represented a special class, the heroes of a bygone era, and for many of us, in many ways, like leaving your first "significant other" we will never feel quite this way again. But, time and change being inevitable, PRIDE's senior class, MMA's "Greatest Generation", is passing on by us. 

Only a few short years ago, it was inconceivable or at least contrarian to conceive of a heavyweight bracket that didn't have Fedor tracing a line from opening round to finale.  Fedor is in many ways the quintessence of "the PRIDE generation", having entered the organization at PRIDE 21 in June 2002, undefeated by consensus if not by public record, and compiling a 14-0 record with 1 NC against many of the best heavyweights in the sport.  But now, Fedor looks very mortal following consecutive stoppage losses to Fabricio Werdum and Antonio Silva.  His next fight is in July against Dan Henderson, who for most of his career has fought 1-2 weight classes lower than Fedor.

Fedor's longtime nemesis in PRIDE was the man he took the organization's heavyweight title from, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. In PRIDE, "Big Nog" cut a swath of terror, losing only to Josh Barnett (which he avenged three months later) and twice to Emelianenko.  Along the way he delivered two of the best MMA fights ever versus Heath Herring and Sergei Kharitonov, defeated the aforementioned Werdum, and submitted more than his share of opponents.  He handed Mirko Cro Cop his first MMA loss and became the first man to submit Dan Henderson.  He had two fantastic fights with Fedor (plus a brief third fight stopped prematurely by accidental cut) and was one of two men to go the distance with Emelianenko over a 7 year period, doing so twice.  But now, Nogueira, long famous for being impossible to finish, has been knocked out in two of his last three fights and is positioned as gatekeeper versus Brendan Schaub at UFC 134.

Rounding out the big three of PRIDE heavyweights, Mirko Cro Cop's fall from glory has been the hardest to watch.  Debuting in PRIDE in 2001, Mirko cut a parallel swath of victories across the PRIDE landscape, losing only to Nogueira, Fedor, and Mark Hunt while assembling one of the most fearsome highlight reels in the history of our sport.  Just say the words "right leg hospital, left leg cemetery" to a longtime MMA fan and watch the goosebumps form.  Watching Mirko dispatch opponent after opponent with the dreaded "LHK", fans could be forgiven for speculating whether it was possible to decapitate a man with a kick.  But coinciding perfectly with Zuffa's purchase of the UFC, Cro Cop's career went sharply downhill and has not recovered.  Loser of three of his last five (getting finished via strikes on each occasion), Cro Cop has openly considered retirement multiple times, although it was announced on May 25th that Mirko will fight one final time inside the Octagon.

Wanderlei Silva is another "destroyer", to use Joe Rogan's phrase, who left a trail of unconscious, stomped, soccer-kicked men in his wake in PRIDE.  Entering the ring of PRIDE all the way back in 1999, Silva ("Wandy" to adoring fans) imposed a reign of terror that saw him win PRIDE's 205-pound belt and render nearly every opponent unable to continue the fight under a hail of knees, punches, kicks and stomps.  Wandy gave us two hotly contested wars with Henderson which they split, three iconic battles with Japanese legend Kazushi Sakuraba, a perennial "best fight of all time" candidate with Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, and plenty of unleashed violence besides. His staredowns alone were the stuff of nightmares for opponents and fans alike, and the image of him stretching out his arms while confetti rains down on him after winning Final Conflict 2003 is one of the iconic images in MMA history.  Unfortunately, the downturn in Wandy's results that began while still fighting for PRIDE has not abated, seeing him lose 5 of the last 7 fights and getting knocked out cold three times.  Silva will attempt to hold his turf against Ultimate Fighter contestant Chris Leben at UFC 132, a prospect deemed unthinkable by hardcore MMA fans five years ago.

Another longtime PRIDE legend who has dropped 5 of 7 is Kazushi Sakuraba.  Once the darling of the Japanese fans and one of the most exciting and creative fighters in the sport, Sakuraba got the nickname "The Gracie Hunter" by defeating four Gracies, stopping three of them and submitting two of them (to this day the only submission losses in MMA of Royler Gracie and Renzo Gracie).  Sakuraba double-chopped and flying-guard-passed his way to a 17-8-1 record in PRIDE, with hallmark fights as mentioned against Wanderlei Silva and Royler, Ryan and Renzo Gracie, and the longest MMA fight in history, a 90-minute war of attrition with Royce Gracie in the 2000 PRIDE Grand Prix.  But injuries, age and a lack of evolution in his style have caught up with "Saku", who has lost 5 of 7 over the past three years, taking fantastic beatings in the process.  It is unclear whether we have seen Sakuraba fight for the last time.

Fellow Japanese PRIDE standout Takanori "The Fireball Kid" Gomi has fared only marginally better.  Debuting in PRIDE in 2004, Gomi rattled off 10 consecutive victories over the likes of Ralph Gracie, Luiz Azeredo, Jens Pulver and Tatsuya Kawajiri.  Gomi won the PRIDE lightweight title on New Year's Eve 2005, and was the only one to ever hold the title.  Gomi finally lost to Marcus Aurelio, in a non-title fight, a defeat he later avenged.  He continued his winning ways until losing to Nick Diaz at PRIDE 33, a result which was later overturned to NC after Diaz tested positive for banned substances.  This precipitated a disappointing time in Gomi's career, as he has now lost 4 of his last 7 including going 1-2 in the UFC.  Gomi, who once would have been a favorite against all but a couple lightweights in the world, is next scheduled to fight the struggling Nate Diaz, who himself has dropped 5 of 8, at UFC 135.

To be sure, not all of PRIDE's biggest names have suffered so precipitously.  Dan Henderson deserves the nickname "durable" for winning 5 of his last 6 against very credible opponents, even picking up the Strikeforce light heavyweight title along the way.  Henderson has come up short against Anderson Silva, "Rampage", and Jake Shields, but his post-PRIDE run has to be considered impressive, especially as he is nearing 41 years of age.  Rampage himself has had much success, picking up the UFC 205-pound strap and being one of two men since Chuck Liddell to defend the title, and losing only twice in the UFC, both by decision.  Anderson Silva, while not one of PRIDE's top headlining names, is now widely considered the best pound for pound fighter on earth after breaking multiple UFC records.  Shogun Rua has been plagued with recurring injuries, leading to a 3-3 record since leaving the ring of PRIDE; but he also held the UFC 205-pound title and was the first man to defeat Lyoto Machida (doing so twice in the eyes of many).

Ultimately, while this article to this point has been equal parts nostalgic and depressing, I hope it serves as a call for a celebration of the careers and accomplishments of the "greatest generation" of PRIDE superstars while they still ply their craft.  PRIDE is gone, these once-dominant fighters are unlikely to reclaim their former glory, but before they are gone for good, we should celebrate their legacy - the incredible fights and thrilling moments they have left us with - and we should exalt in the fact that the show isn't over yet.  We still get to see them entertain us a little while longer, and if you're like me, the twinge of sadness you feel as their careers wind down will be tempered by and mixed with the countless memories they've brought us.  Fedor's walk-in music and cyborg calmness.  Antonio Nogueira standing up exalted after submitting Mark Coleman. Wandy's staredowns. The crowd murmuring in excitement as the big screen shows a concerned Helio Gracie watching Sakuraba wear down his son and student. Takanori Gomi balancing on the top rope cupping his ear with his hand.  THIS was PRIDE, these are our heroes, and while they are indeed passing on by, we still have them for a little while longer.