PRIDE never die: Ranking the top 25 PRIDE fighters in history

1. Fedor Emelianenko

Fedor Emelianenko went 31-1 (1 NC) in his first 33 fights. He won in RINGS, PRIDE, Affliction, and Strikeforce during that stretch of time. His lone loss during this streak wasn’t even a legitimate loss in the eyes of many. He got a small cut above his eye within the first 17 seconds of his bout with Tsuyoshi Kohsaka. The doctor stopped the bout, and instead of a no contest, it was ruled a loss despite Emelianekno being able to continue.

He’d walk into PRIDE 10-1, and would not lose a single fight during his entire run. His only non-win came when Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (Big Nog) accidentally headbutted Emelianenko in their rematch. This set up a third bout that Emelianenko would go on to win.

Rodrigo, Gary Goodridge, Mark Coleman, Kevin Randleman, Heath Herring, Semmy Schilt, Mark Coleman, and Mark Hunt all fell to the man that has earned the nickname of The Last Emperor.

Despite all these wins in PRIDE alone, Emelianenko would go on to have his biggest and best fight with Mirko Cro Cop. The Croatian even famously called out Emelianeknko and declared to Emelianenko that he was still standing and still waiting for his title shot at Emelianekno’s PRIDE heavyweight championship. The callout caused incredible hype for their fight, which was not just considered by many as the best of 2005, but the best of the 2000s and one of the best of all time. ESPN even called it the fight of the decade.

Emelianenko would eventually lose for real, suffering three defeats in three straight fights during his Strikeforce run. Granted, to three top tier guys in Fabricio Werdum, Antonio Silva, and Dan Henderson. He’s since joined Bellator, going 2-2 and his fight with Quinton Jackson at Bellator X Rizin event was the inspiration for this list.

Emelianenko isn’t just the best in PRIDE history he’s easily one of the three greatest fighters of all time. All hail the last emperor.