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

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SAO PAULO, BRAZIL – SEPTEMBER 19: UFC light heavyweight contender Rogerio Nogueira of Brazil holds an open training session at Eldorado Mall on September 19, 2018 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. (Photo by Bruna Prado/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC) /

13. Mark Coleman

Mark Coleman found PRIDE after a three-fight skid in the UFC that saw him lose the UFC heavyweight title in his first defense to Maurice Smith. Coleman went to PRIDE and lost his first fight against Nobuhiko Takada, before turning it around and winning his next six. During that run, he beat Akira Shoji and Igor Vovchanchyn, while winning the 2000 PRIDE Openweight Grand Prix Tournament. He wouldn’t find any gold at the heavyweight level, but he would go on to defeat Don Frye and Mauricio Rua during his tenure. Losses to Fedor Emelienko, Mirko Cro Cop, and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira kept him from being higher on the list, but this isn’t a bad spot for one of the best heavyweights of the early days.

12. Antônio Rogério Nogueira aka ‘Lil Nog”’

The Nogueira’s have the same first and the same last name, with near-identical middle names, thus why fans took to calling them ‘Big Nog’ and ‘Lil Nog’. Rogerio was spectacular in PRIDE going 8-2 over his ten fights, with losses only to Mauricio Rua and Rameau Thierry Nkamhoua, aka Sokoudjou. Rogerio defeated Kazuhiro Nakamura (twice), Alistair Overeem (twice), Kazushi Sakuraba and Dan Henderson but fell short in winning the 2005 Middleweight Grand Prix, losing to eventual winner Rua.

11. Josh Barnett

Josh Barnett came into PRIDE 28 with a near-perfect 18-1 record, with his only loss being to Pedro Rizzo at UFC 30. Unfortunately for Barnett, he lost back to back bouts at PRIDE 28 and PRIDE 30 to Mirko Cro Cop. All of a sudden Barnett wasn’t looking so good. Don’t count him out though, as he went on a 5-1 run after those losses but would finish 5-4 in PRIDE. To be fair, three of those losses were to Cro Cop. The only other man to beat Barnett is the aforementioned Nogueira brother, Antonio Rodrigo, aka ‘Big Nog’. Barnett defeated Kazuhiro, Alexander Emelianenko, and Mark Hunt. He also defeated Rodrigo Nogueira in the first encounter, making Rodrigo’s win the second time they fought.

10. Quinton Jackson

Quinton Jackson is arguably one of the most popular fighters to ever come out of PRIDE, due to his knockout power and his powerful slams. The fans in Japan ate up his antics, his chainlink necklace, and his powerful move set. His 12-5 record is one of the better ones, and he’s one of the only guys on the roster to hold wins over one of the UFC’s top fighters of the era, Chuck Liddell, who came over to be part of the PRIDE middleweight tournament. He lost to Jackson in the semi-finals.

Despite early losses to Kazushi Sakuraba and Daijiro Matsui, Jackson went on a seven-fight win streak, where he defeated Liddell, Kevin Randleman, Murilo Bustamante, and Igor Vovchanchyn. He’d earn another five wins, notably beating Murilo Rua and Ricardo Arona.