However, PRIDE didn’t totally die, as Zuffa began airing Best of PRIDE shows on Spike TV, and now, with the UFC headed to FOX Networks, the show will continue its run on FUEL TV.

The first Best of PRIDE on FUEL TV takes place January 3 at 7L00 p.m. EST with eleven episodes running in the following weeks on Thursday nights with Kenda Perez returning as host.

Among those fights and fighters to be highlighted, the first episode will include Fedor Emelianenko against Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic, as well as with Mark Coleman meeting Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. Others to be shown include Dan Henderson, Wanderlei Silva, and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson.

The UFC purchased PRIDE in 2007, but said they were falsely told information in regards to the financial stability of the promotion before buying it.

PHOTO CREDIT – PRIDE

10. 40,000 screaming (at the proper time) Japanese fans – Japanese fans are some of the most knowledgeable and respectful fans in all of MMA. To watch 91,000 fans file into the Tokyo Dome for Pride Shockwave 2002 was both staggering and beautiful. It set the mood for a live event that the UFC has yet to reproduce.

9. “Screaming Pride Lady” Lenne Hardt – What can I say about Lenne? She moved from annoying to irreplaceable in one event for me. Lenne Hardt is an icon of Japanese MMA and helps contribute to the level of showmanship that sets Pride apart from all others.

8. Kazushi Sakuraba – The greatest Japanese MMA fighter of his generation, he was both an innovator and a ferocious competitor. Sakuraba fought the best of the best in his career, and never failed to put on a show. He may have been a victim of his own dominating and electric style, as with each win came a more impressive and larger opponent. Sakuraba was almost as well known for the punishment he took as for the wins he collected. Always a gentleman outside of the ring, his infectious personality made him even more of a fan favorite. To this day he is an icon of Japanese MMA and a true national treasure.

7. Any fight could happen at any time (Japanese match making) – Gotta love the Japanese. They can make any match up of fighters seem like a good idea. From Bob Sapp vs Big Nog to Butterbean vs Minowa, They can make the impossible possible, regardless of the fighters well being.

6. Bas Rutten and Stephen Quadros – In their hay-day, the best announcing duo the sport had ever seen. From Quadros’s logical approach to Rutten’s school-boy enthusiasm, they explained the sport while giving you the feeling you were watching it in a living room full of your pals.

5. Fight Posters – Some of the most amazing event poster themes ever made. They were modern day artwork and still populate my desktop background from time to time.

4. Pride theme music – The sound of the fight music and the winning fighter music still give me goose bumps. Nothing drove the point home to me how much the music had become part of my consciousness more than when Mirko Crocop walked out to it at his first UFC fight.

3. Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic – Many iconic fighters came out of Pride FC, but none had such a dramatic turn from top of the heap with his win in the 2006 open weight tournament to his disappointing performance in the UFC.  Crocop had build a legend of epic proportions and earned his reputation as the deadliest striker in MMA. No other fighter offered such a mixed bag of feelings of both dread and wonder at the same time.

2. Chute Boxe vs. Brazilian Top Team – It was the Yankees/Red Sox rivalry of our sport. Two complete camps of fighters who hated each other with a passion. Two camps who fought both within the ring and in the locker room. The feelings were not manufactured, they were real and palpable. Whenever there was even a chance that a fighter from each group may run into each other, it immediately heightened the suspense. The pinnacle of the feud for me had to be when Murilo “Ninja” Rua fought Mario Sperry at Pride 20. You felt like the whole stadium would ignite at any moment as these two fought a back and forth battle. We may never see a rivalry between camps of this magnitude ever again.

1. Tournaments – The greatest memories for me from Pride center around their tournaments. A format we cannot support here in the states due to the athletic commissions, they pitted the best of the best against each other and allowed the cream to rise to the top. From Royce Gracie vs. Sakuraba in the 2000 Grand Prix, to Wanderlei Silva vs. Rampage in the 2003 Middleweight tournament final, they produced memorable fight after memorable fight. Although not a perfect answer for who was best at the time, they provided the matchups that conventional matchmaking would almost never supply.

It will now be up to each independent athletic commission in each state to adopt the new unified rules and we could see them implemented in Nevada as early as 2009 according to Nevada State Athletic Commission head honcho Keith Kizer in comments made to MMA Junkie.

Thanks to Fight Opinion, the full document for the new rules can be downloaded here. Notable rule changes include:

• Clarification to the “back of the head” rule, which is now clearly defined as the “Mohawk” definition and not Herb Dean’s “headphones” definition. The “Mohawk” definition is as follows: “crown of the head down the centerline of the skull into the spine, with a one-inch variance to each side.”
• “12 to 6″ downward elbow strikes are now legal, as long as they are not to illegal areas of the opponent
• Smothering, which is defined as cupping your hand over your opponents’ mouth, is now considered a foul.
• And finally, the ABC has defined new weight classes, which are listed here with thanks to Fight Opinion:

MEN’S DIVISIONS

Flyweight (Up to 105 pounds)
Super Flyweight (Over 105.1 to 115 lbs)
Bantamweight (Over 115.1 to 125 lbs)
Super Bantamweight (Over 125.1 to 135 lbs)
Featherweight (Over 135.1 to 145 lbs)
Lightweight (Over 145.1 to 155 lbs)
Super Lightweight (Over 155.1 to 165 lbs)
Welterweight (Over 165.1 to 175 lbs)
Super Welterweight (Over 175.1 to 185 lbs)
Middleweight (Over 185.1 to 195 lbs)
Super Middleweight (Over 195.1 to 205 lbs)
Light Heavyweight (Over 205.1 to 225 lbs)
Heavyweight (Over 225.1 to 265 lbs)
Super Heavyweight (Over 265.1 pounds)

WOMEN’S DIVISIONS

Flyweight (95 lbs. and below)
Bantamweight (95.1-105 lbs.)
Featherweight (105.1-115 lbs.)
Lightweight (115.1-125 lbs.)
Welterweight (125.1-135 lbs.)
Middleweight (135.1-145 lbs.)
Light Heavyweight (145.1-155 lbs.)
Cruiserweight (155.1-165 lbs.)
Heavyweight (165.1-185 lbs.)
Super Heavyweight (185.1 and above)

My thoughts on the new rule changes after the jump.

I love the fact that we now have a clear definition of the “back of the head” rule. The fact that it was misunderstood by referees across the board in all of MMA was a problem. The “Mohawk” definition, like it or not, at least provides us with a consistent ruling on what constitutes a strike to the back of the head. Great job by ABC to recognize that this was something that needed to be addressed.

The downward elbow strikes are also another plus. “12 to 6″ elbows are now considered legal and they should always have been legal. The original rule was in place to stop people from performing the “12 to 6″ elbow strikes to the back of the spine. The back of the spine is now considered an illegal area on an opponent’s body, so it’s a wash. Downward elbow strikes are a way to end the fight and inflict damage. There’s nothing different about the downward elbow than there is about the horizontal elbow to an opponent from the bottom position. They’re the same motion, so why was one legal and one illegal in the first place? It’s all semantics and again, solid job by ABC to realize that this rule was in need of being changed.

“Smothering,” is an old wrestling tactic that’s made its way into MMA and has been perfected by guys like Dan Henderson and Randy Couture. While I don’t think it’s ever been a real problem in MMA, it is somewhat of a cheap move but it’s not as if it can’t be defended. I don’t feel one way or the other about this rule change but I’m sure guys like Henderson, Couture, and Matt Lindland would all have something to say about it.

And finally, the weight classes. The men’s weight classes are a little confusing to me. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. The current weight classes aren’t a problem. For instance in the welterweight division, do we really want someone who’s weighing in at 165 lbs. to be facing off against a guy like Georges St. Pierre, who cuts roughly 20 lbs. to get down to 170 lbs.? I really don’t understand the weight class changes and I wonder if the commissions will be able to adopt the new unified rules without adopting the new weight classes.

As for the women’s weight classes, I feel that this is something that’s been needed for awhile now. Clearly defined women’s classes gives the women an opportunity to know where they need to be, cut to a certain weight, and perfect the cut. No more jumping from 135 lbs. to 140 lbs. 145 lbs. Just because women fighters are women fighters doesn’t mean they should be jumping all over the place to fight one another. Clearly defined weight classes allow for women to fight where they are most effective as well as allow them to get used to and perfect the proper weight cut.

What are your thoughts on the new unified rules?