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

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LAS VEGAS, NV – JULY 9: Mark Hunt punches Brock Lesnar during the UFC 200 event at T-Mobile Arena on July 9, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images) /

19. Sergei Kharitonov

Sergei Kharitonov is one of the few active PRIDE fighters left who is regularly competing. The now-39-year-old had a 7-3 record in PRIDE, with impressive wins over Murilo Rua, Semmy Schilt, Pedro Rizzo, and Fabricio Werdum. While Kharitonov has wins over Alistair Overeem, Andrei Arlovski, and Joey Beltran outside of PRIDE, the fact is he fell into the trappings other did and lost to the bigger names in the promotion’s history. Overeem, the brother of Fedor Emelianenko – Alexander and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (Big Nog) all bested Kharitonov with decisive wins.

18. Heath Herring

Heath Herring is someone UFC fans may not remember in the best light, due to his less than stellar record, but his time in PRIDE made him a name. Herring went 12-5, with huge wins over Mark Kerr, Igor Vovchanchyn, Enson Inoue, and a 22-second submission of Denis Sobolev. Like others on this side of the list, he too struggled against better names like Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Vitor Belfort, Mirko Cro Cop and the man himself, Fedor Emelianenko.

17. Mark Hunt

Before he ever stepped into PRIDE, Mark Hunt had already fought Mirko Cro Cop and Gary Goodridge in kickboxing bouts, so coming into MMA he was well developed as a striker. The New Zealand native started off hot in PRIDE, going 5-1 over his first six and getting wins over Wanderlei Silva and Cro Cop. Hunt would then drop his next two against Josh Barnett and Fedor Emelianenko.

16. Mark Kerr

Mark Kerr walked into the second PRIDE event 7-0, having won two UFC tournaments. He then went on to defeat Branko Cikatic, Pedro Otavio, Hugo Duarte and Nobuhiki Takada to get to 11-0. It was here however that his mounting pain killer addiction started to take its toll. A draw against Igor Vovchanchyn and a final PRIDE win over Enson Inoue was all he had left for the organization before finally losing to Kazuyuki Fujita. He’d then lose a rematch against Vovchanchyn and Heath Herring, before losing to his last PRIDE challenger Yoshihisa Yamamoto. He’d end up going 5-4-1 over his ten fights in PRIDE. Injuries and substance abuse would derail a promising career, that would end finally in 2009 with a fina loss to Muhammed Lawal.

15. Hayato Sakurai

The 2005 PRIDE Lightweight Grand Prix runner up is no one to scoff at, as Hayato Sakurai went 9-3 in his time in PRIDE with wins over Jens Pulver, Shinya Aoki and Milton Vieria. He may not be a name that many people know but Hayato was so good in his time that the UFC booked him sight-unseen against Matt Hughes in a welterweight title fight in Hayato’s first-ever fight in the promotion. His only three losses in PRIDE came against two Gracies in Crosley and Rodrigo, as well as Takanori Gomi. Not a bad run.

14. Alistair Overeem

Another guy still fighting despite starting two decades earlier, Alistair Overeem is one of the most impressive fighters in the history of the sport. At one point he was a simultaneous three-time world champion in Strikeforce, DREAM and for the Russian kickboxing promotion K-1; having won K-1’s Grand Prix. In PRIDE, he went 7-7, not a glorious record but Overeem was always fighting the best. He lost to a whos-who of talent in Mauricio Rua, Ricardo Arona, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, Fabricio Werdum, and Chuck Liddell. Nogueira and Rua defeated Overeem twice. He’d go on to defeat Sergei Kharitonov, Igor Vovchanchyn, Vitor Belfort and Bozigit Ataev however, proving that his reputation in the promotion wasn’t just one of a guy who came up short against the best. To this day Overeem is still a capable fighter, having only lost his most recent fight in the last seconds, thanks in part to the worst lip tear in mainstream MMA history.