PRIDE Fighting Championships was a Japanese mixed martial arts promotion company. Its inaugural event was held at the Tokyo Dome on October 11, 1997. Pride held more than sixty mixed martial arts events, broadcast to about 40 countries worldwide. PRIDE was owned by the holding company Dream Stage Entertainment (DSE).
Takanori Gomi is a Japanese professional mixed martial artist who gained international fame in Pride Fighting Championships. Later in his career, Gomi also competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Gomi is the only Pride FC Lightweight Champion in the organization's history. He became the Lightweight Grand Prix Winner at Pride Shockwave 2005, thus winning every lightweight accolade put forth by Pride FC. Gomi also held a record twelve-fight winning streak in Shooto, where he was a former Shooto Lightweight Champion, as well as a four-time All-Japan Combat Wrestling Champion.
Karel Istaz, best known by his ring name Karl Gotch, was a Belgian-American professional wrestler, amateur wrestler, catch wrestler, and trainer.
Egan Inoue is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner, former mixed martial artist and racquetball competitor. A two-time International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Champion, Inoue is a two-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion in colored belts, the first non-Brazilian to win a gold medal at the World Jiu Jitsu Championship.
Frank Trigg is an American retired mixed martial artist, color commentator, pro wrestler, MMA referee and TV host. Trigg is a veteran of the UFC, Pride Fighting Championships, BAMMA, World Fighting Alliance, and has made professional wrestling appearances in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.
David Jeremy Menne is an American retired mixed martial artist. He was the first ever UFC Middleweight Champion and has also competed for Cage Rage, Bellator, Shooto, ADCC and RINGS.
Mearion Shonie Bickhem III, better known as Shonie Carter, is an American mixed martial artist. He is a former WEC Welterweight Champion, a UFC veteran, and a contestant on The Ultimate Fighter 4 reality show. He has also competed in Pancrase, Shooto, King of the Cage, M-1 Global, KSW, and Bellator. He is known for his flashy dress, colorful vocabulary, outlandish personality and use of the spinning backfist in competition.
Gesias Cavalcante is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist currently competing in the Lightweight division. He was the 2006 and 2007 K-1 HERO Middleweight Champion, and has also fought for Strikeforce, DREAM, Shooto, World Series of Fighting, and Cage Rage. Cavalcante also participated in the Dynamite!! USA event.
Izuru Takeuchi is a retired Japanese mixed martial artist who competed in the middleweight division. He is a veteran of both the Pancrase and Shooto organizations, and is the former Middleweight King of Pancrase. Outside of mixed martial arts, Takeuchi has competed in numerous grappling tournaments, most notably in the All-Japan Combat Wrestling Championships held by the National Amateur Combat Wrestling Association.
Don Z. Ross was a professional bodybuilder, wrestler and weight training coach from California. He performed under the names Ripper Savage and The Bronx Barbarian.
Riki Fukuda, is a Japanese mixed martial artist currently competing in the Middleweight division. A professional competitor since 2004, he has formerly competed for the UFC, EliteXC, DEEP, DREAM, K-1 (MMA), Shooto, and Pancrase. Currently, he runs an izakaya-style restaurant in Leiden, The Netherlands.
Michael Craig van Arsdale is an American former professional mixed martial artist. A professional from 1998 until 2006, he competed for the UFC, International Vale Tudo Championship, and the World Fighting Alliance. He was the winner of the IVC 4 Heavyweight Tournament.
Michael Joe Whitehead is a former professional mixed martial artist. He competed in the Light Heavyweight and Heavyweight weight classes for the Ultimate Fighting Championship, IFL, Affliction, and Strikeforce. Whitehead is accused of two charges of sexual assault and one charge of gross indecency stemming from an April 2009 incident in which “Iron Mike” allegedly sexually assaulted a woman in his home in the southwest Las Vegas Valley following a barbecue he had at the house.
Tetsuji Kato is a Japanese mixed martial artist who competed in the welterweight and lightweight divisions in Shooto, Strikeforce and DEEP. He was the SuperBrawl 7 Light Heavyweight Tournament winner, defeating Ben Hernandez in the finals.
Ronald Andrew Jhun Jr. is an American professional mixed martial artist who most recently competed in the Welterweight division. A professional competitor since 1998, Jhun has formerly competed for the UFC, Strikeforce, Shooto, King of the Cage, Rumble on the Rock, and the World Fighting Alliance. Jhun is the former King of the Cage Welterweight Champion.
Chris "The Westside Strangler" Brennan is an American mixed martial artist who last competed in the Welterweight division. A professional competitor from 1996 until 2012, he competed for the UFC, PRIDE, Cage Rage, King of the Cage and Shooto. He is a former King of the Cage Middleweight Champion and former King of the Cage Middleweight Superfight Champion. He is also one of 18 fighters to compete in the -77 kg division at the ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championships in 2005. Chris was also the founder of Nogi Industries, a Mixed martial arts clothing company. In 2014 Chris was inducted in to the Mixed Martial Arts Hall of Fame. Chris is the owner and founder of Next Generation MMA. After retiring from MMA competition Chris switched his focus back to grappling events and also entered and won the No-Gi Black Belt World Championships in 2013, 2014, and 2015. He was also the 2014 Nogi Pan American Champion.
Paul Jones is a former American mixed martial artist.
Johnny Eduardo is a Brazilian mixed martial artist currently fighting in the bantamweight division. He has formerly competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Louie Walter Jennings was an American football player.
