The year 2006 was the 10th year in the history of the
Pride Fighting Championships
PRIDE Fighting Championships (Pride or Pride FC, founded as KRS-Pride) was a Japanese mixed martial arts promotion company. Its inaugural event was held at the Tokyo Dome on October 11, 1997. Pride held more than sixty mixed martial arts eve ...
, a
mixed martial arts
Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incor ...
promotion based in Japan. 2006 had 10 events beginning with, ''Pride 31 - Unbreakable''.
Title fights
Debut Pride FC fighters
The following fighters fought their first Pride FC fight in 2006:
*
Clay French
Clayton "Clay" French (born October 7, 1980) is an American mixed martial artist who fought on Pride Fighting Championships, Sengoku, KOTC and other several fighting organizations. He holds a notable victory over TUF winner Mac Danzig by spli ...
*
Cristiano Marcello
*
Cyrille Diabate
* Dae Won Kim
*
David Baron
*
David Bielkheden
David Bielkheden (born June 6, 1979) is a retired Swedish mixed martial artist who competed in the Welterweight division. A professional competitor since 2001, he has competed for the UFC, PRIDE Fighting Championships, Shooto, Cage Rage, M-1 Gl ...
* Edson Claas Vieira
* Eldari Kurtanidze
*
Eric Esch
* Eun-Su Lee
*
Evangelista Santos
*
Gegard Mousasi
*
Gilbert Melendez
* Gregory Bouchelaghem
*
Hatsu Hioki
*
Hector Lombard
*
Jason Black
* Jean-Francois Lenogue
*
Jeff Curran
* Joe Pearson
*
Joey Villasenor
*
John Olav Einemo
* Kenji Arai
* Luciano Azevedo
*
Mark Weir
*
Mike Plotcheck
*
Mitsuhiro Ishida
* Naoki Matsushita
* Nobuhiro Obiya
* Olaf Alfonso
* Paul Rodriguez
*
Robbie Lawler
*
Sean O'Haire
*
Seichi Ikemoto
*
Shinya Aoki
* Tae Hyun Lee
* Travis Galbraith
* Won Jin Eoh
*
Yoshihiro Nakao
*
Yosuke Nishijima
Events list
Pride 31: Unbreakable
Pride 31: Unbreakable was an event held on February 26, 2006, at the
Saitama Super Arena
is a multi-purpose indoor arena located in Chūō-ku, Saitama, Saitama Prefecture, Japan. It opened preliminarily on May 5, 2000, and then was officially opened on September 1 of the same year. Its maximum spectator capacity is 36,500, making i ...
in
Saitama,
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...
.
Results
Pride FC: Bushido 10
Pride FC: Bushido 10 was an event held on April 2, 2006, at
Ariake Coliseum in
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...
,
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...
.
Results
Pride FC: Total Elimination Absolute
Pride FC: Total Elimination Absolute was an event held on May 5, 2006, at
Osaka Dome in
Osaka
is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...
,
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...
.
This event featured the first round of Pride's 2006 Open-Weight tournament. Seven tournament matches were held along with one alternate match. The seven winning participants advanced to the second round,
Pride Critical Countdown Absolute. The winner of the alternate bout will take the place of any fighter who is unable to participate in subsequent matches.
Pride Heavyweight Champion and 2004 Heavyweight Grand Prix winner
Fedor Emelianenko was originally set to enter the tournament with a first round bye, but a hand injury prevented him from participating.
Wanderlei Silva, then current Pride middleweight champion, received his bye into the second round.
Results
2006 Pride Open-Weight Grand Prix Bracket
1Fedor Emelianenko suffered a hand injury and could not participate in the tournament. He was replaced by Wanderlei Silva.
Pride FC: Bushido 11
Pride FC: Bushido 11 was an event held on June 4, 2006, at
Saitama Super Arena
is a multi-purpose indoor arena located in Chūō-ku, Saitama, Saitama Prefecture, Japan. It opened preliminarily on May 5, 2000, and then was officially opened on September 1 of the same year. Its maximum spectator capacity is 36,500, making i ...
in
Saitama,
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...
.
Results
Pride 2006 Welterweight Grand Prix Bracket
Pride FC: Critical Countdown Absolute
Pride FC: Critical Countdown Absolute was an event held on July 1, 2006, at
Saitama Super Arena
is a multi-purpose indoor arena located in Chūō-ku, Saitama, Saitama Prefecture, Japan. It opened preliminarily on May 5, 2000, and then was officially opened on September 1 of the same year. Its maximum spectator capacity is 36,500, making i ...
in
Saitama,
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...
.
Results
2006 Pride Open-Weight Grand Prix Bracket
1Fedor Emelianenko suffered a hand injury and could not participate in the tournament. He was replaced by Wanderlei Silva.
Pride FC: Bushido 12
Pride FC: Bushido 12 was an event held on August 27, 2006, at
Nagoya Rainbow Hall in
Nagoya
is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most po ...
,
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...
.
Results
Pride 2006 Welterweight Grand Prix Bracket
Pride FC: Final Conflict Absolute
Pride FC: Final Conflict Absolute was an event held on September 10, 2006, at
Saitama Super Arena
is a multi-purpose indoor arena located in Chūō-ku, Saitama, Saitama Prefecture, Japan. It opened preliminarily on May 5, 2000, and then was officially opened on September 1 of the same year. Its maximum spectator capacity is 36,500, making i ...
in
Saitama,
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...
.
This event comprised the semifinal and final rounds of the Pride Open-Weight Grand Prix tournament. The tournament began on May 5, 2006, at the
Total Elimination Absolute event and then continued on July 1, 2006, at
Critical Countdown Absolute.
On August 5, 2006, Mirko Cro Cop announced his withdrawal from the tournament following a dispute over pay with Pride. On August 7, 2006, it was reported that the matter had been resolved and Cro Cop would once again take his place in the finals.
Results
2006 Pride Open-Weight Grand Prix Bracket
1Fedor Emelianenko suffered a hand injury and could not participate in the tournament. He was replaced by Wanderlei Silva.
Pride 32: The Real Deal
Pride FC: Bushido 13
Pride FC: Bushido 13 was an event held on November 5, 2006, at
Yokohama Arena
is an indoor arena located in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. The capacity of the arena is 17,000 and was opened in 1989. The arena was modeled after US sports venue Madison Square Garden in New York City. It is a five-minute walk from the ...
in
Yokohama
is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of T ...
,
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...
.
This event consisted of the semifinal and final rounds of the Bushido Welterweight Grand Prix.
In a lightweight championship bout,
Takanori Gomi
is a Japanese professional mixed martial artist who gained international fame in Pride Fighting Championships. Later in his career, Gomi also competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Gomi is the only Pride FC Lightweight Champion in th ...
faced
Marcus Aurélio, who had defeated Gomi in a non-title fight at
Pride Bushido 10
The year 2006 was the 10th year in the history of the Pride Fighting Championships, a mixed martial arts promotion based in Japan. 2006 had 10 events beginning with, ''Pride 31 - Unbreakable''.
Title fights
Debut Pride FC fighters
The f ...
.
Originally
Gilbert Melendez was set to face
Shinya Aoki but an injury during training forced Melendez to withdraw from the fight.
Clay French
Clayton "Clay" French (born October 7, 1980) is an American mixed martial artist who fought on Pride Fighting Championships, Sengoku, KOTC and other several fighting organizations. He holds a notable victory over TUF winner Mac Danzig by spli ...
replaced Melendez in the fight.
Melendez Out, French in at Bushido
' – Sherdog.com, November 1, 2006
Results
2006 Welterweight Grand Prix bracket
1 Paulo Filho dropped from the Grand Prix due to injuries sustained during his bout with Kazuo Misaki, who replaced him in the final round against Denis Kang.
Pride FC: Shockwave 2006
See also
*
Pride Fighting Championships
PRIDE Fighting Championships (Pride or Pride FC, founded as KRS-Pride) was a Japanese mixed martial arts promotion company. Its inaugural event was held at the Tokyo Dome on October 11, 1997. Pride held more than sixty mixed martial arts eve ...
*
List of Pride Fighting Championships champions
*
List of Pride Fighting events
Below is a list of mixed martial arts events scheduled and held by Pride Fighting Championships.
Events
Event locations
Seven cities in two countries have hosted a total of 68 events:
* Japan (66)
: Saitama – 25
: Tokyo – 16
: Yokoham ...
References
{{Reflist
Pride Fighting Championships events
2006 in mixed martial arts