The Hit List: Pride Fighting Championships Titleholders, Grand Prix Winners

Pride Fighting Championships sprang to life on Oct. 11, 1997 and became a mixed martial arts institution under the direction of Nobuyuki Sakakibara and Nobuhiko Takada. Pride staged more than 60 events and drew some of the biggest crowds in MMA history while serving as a proving ground for many of the sport’s all-time greats, from Wanderlei Silva, Fedor Emelianenko and Mirko Filipovic to Quinton Jackson, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Dan Henderson and others.

Pride was known for its theatrics outside the ring and its open weight grand prix tournaments, which pitted many of MMA’s most accomplished fighters against one another.

While Pride ceased operations after being bought out by the Ultimate Fighting Championship in 2007, it still holds a special place in the hearts of fans across the globe; and the organization’s spirit lives on in the competitors who transitioned to other promotions like the UFC and Bellator MMA. The latest installment of The Hit List runs down the lineup of Pride’s divisional champions and tournament winners.

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Pride’s divisional champions:

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira

Division: Heavyweight
Record: 34-10
Date Title Won: Nov. 3, 2001
Date Title Lost: March 16, 2003
Title Defenses: 0

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Fedor Emelianenko

Division: Heavyweight
Record: 36-5
Date Title Won: March 16, 2003
Date Title Lost: Never
Title Defenses: 3

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Wanderlei Silva

Division: Middleweight
Record: 35-13
Date Title Won: Nov. 3, 2001
Date Title Lost: Feb. 24, 2007
Title Defenses: 4

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Dan Henderson

Division: Middleweight / Welterweight
Record: 32-15
Date Title Won: Feb. 24, 2007 / Dec. 31, 2005
Date Title Lost: Never / Never
Title Defenses: 0 / 0

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Takanori Gomi

Division: Lightweight
Record: 35-15
Date Title Won: 2005
Date Title Lost: Never
Title Defenses: 1

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Pride’s tournament winners:

Mark Coleman

Division: Open
Record: 16-10
Tournament Won: 2000 Pride Open Weight Grand Prix
Tournament Dates: Jan. 30, 2000-May 1, 2000
Opponents Defeated: Masaaki Satake, Akira Shoji, Kazuyuki Fujita, Igor Vovchanchyn

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Wanderlei Silva

Division: Middleweight
Record: 35-13
Tournament Won: 2003 Pride Middleweight Grand Prix
Tournament Dates: Aug. 10, 2003-Nov. 9, 2003
Opponents Defeated: Kazushi Sakuraba, Hidehiko Yoshida, Quinton Jackson

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Fedor Emelianenko

Division: Heavyweight
Record: 36-5
Tournament Won: 2004 Pride Heavyweight Grand Prix
Tournament Dates: April 25, 2004-Dec. 31, 2004
Opponents Defeated: Mark Coleman, Kevin Randleman, Naoya Ogawa, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira

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Mauricio Rua

Division: Middleweight
Record: 25-10
Tournament Won: 2005 Pride Middleweight Grand Prix
Tournament Dates: April 23, 2005-Aug. 28, 2005
Opponents Defeated: Quinton Jackson, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, Alistair Overeem, Ricardo Arona

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Dan Henderson

Division: Welterweight
Record: 32-15
Tournament Won: 2005 Pride Welterweight Grand Prix
Tournament Dates: Sept. 25, 2005-Dec. 31, 2005
Opponents Defeated: Ryo Chonan, Akihiro Gono, Murilo Bustamante

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Takanori Gomi

Division: Lightweight
Record: 35-15
Tournament Won: 2005 Pride Lightweight Grand Prix
Tournament Dates: Sept. 25, 2005-Dec. 31, 2005
Opponents Defeated: Tatsuya Kawajiri, Luiz Azeredo, Hayato Sakurai

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Mirko Filipovic

Division: Open
Record: 36-11
Tournament Won: 2006 Pride Open Weight Grand Prix
Tournament Dates: May 5, 2006-Sept. 10, 2006
Opponents Defeated: Ikuhisa Minowa, Hidehiko Yoshida, Wanderlei Silva, Josh Barnett

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Kazuo Misaki

Division: Welterweight
Record: 25-11
Tournament Won: 2006 Pride Welterweight Grand Prix
Tournament Dates: June 4, 2006-Nov. 5, 2006
Opponents Defeated: Phil Baroni, Dan Henderson, Denis Kang

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