Sherdog’s Top 10: MMA Scandals

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1. Yakuza Involvement in Pride

Pride Fighting Championships was once viewed as MMA’s No. 1 promotion by most fans and media. It promoted the best events and had many of the best fighters, and while it did not have a huge following in American, hardcore fans knew where to find the action. What was not widely known was that the Japanese organization was essentially controlled by the Japanese mafia, or Yakuza.

After Zuffa purchased Pride in 2007, various people came forward detailing the Yakuza’s involvement. There were reports of fixed fights, proposed fight fixing and fighters being forced to compete without contracts and getting paid a portion of what they were promised. Some were threatened. It was just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. After a Japanese newspaper published an eye-opening expose on the Pride-Yakuza relationship, Fuji TV severed all ties with the promotion, effectively crippling it in Japan. Zuffa lost millions in the purchase and opted to cut its losses by dissolving the Pride brand over the damage that had been done to its public image.