The year 2002 is the 6th 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 strike (attack), striking, grappling and ground f ...

promotion based in Japan. 2002 had 10 events beginning with, ''Pride FC: The Best, Vol. 1''.

Title fights

Debut Pride FC fighters

The following fighters fought their first Pride FC fight in 2002: *

Achmed Labasanov Achmed Labasanov (born April 24, 1978) is a former Chechen-Russian mixed martial artist who competed as a heavyweight between 1998 and 2002. During his career he has fought for organisations such as Fighting Network RINGS, IAFC - Absolute Fight ...

* Aji Susilo * Akira Nitagai *

Alistair Overeem Alistair Cees Overeem (born 17 May 1980) is a Dutch professional heavyweight mixed martial artist and kickboxer, currently competing in the heavyweight division of Glory. He is a former Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion, Dream Heavyweight Cha ...

Anderson Silva Anderson da Silva (; born 14 April 1975) is a Brazilian-American mixed martial artist and boxer. He is a former UFC Middleweight Champion and holds the record for the longest title reign in UFC history at 2,457 days. This started in 2006 an ...

* Andrei Kopylov *

Antônio Rogério Nogueira Antônio Rogério Nogueira (; born 2 June 1976), also known as Minotouro or Lil Nog, is a Brazilian former mixed martial artist who most recently competed in the UFC. He is the twin brother of Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira, the "Minotauro ...

Bazigit Atajev Bazigit Atavovich Atajev (, ; born 3 December 1979) is a Russian mixed martial artist and ''sanshou'' kickboxer, who currently competes in the Light Heavyweight division. A professional since 2000, he has competed in RINGS and PRI ...

Bob Sapp Robert Malcolm Sapp (born September 22, 1973) is an American mixed martial artist, kickboxer, professional wrestler, actor, and former American football player. He is currently under contract with Rizin Fighting Federation. Sapp has a combined ...

* Daisuke Nakamura * Daniel Gracie * Demetrius Gioulacos *

Eiji Mitsuoka is a retired Japanese professional mixed martial artist. A professional competitor from 2001 until 2012, Mitsuoka fought for the UFC, DREAM, World Victory Road, PRIDE, Shooto, Cage Force, DEEP and King of the Cage promotions. Mitsuoka's nick ...

* Fatih Kocamis *

Fedor Emelianenko Fedor Vladimirovich Emelianenko ( rus, Фёдор Влади́мирович Емелья́ненко, r=Fyodor Vladimirovich Yemelyanenko, p=ˈfʲɵdər vlɐˈdʲimʲɪrəvʲɪtɕ jɪmʲɪˈlʲjænʲɪnkə, IPA; born ...

* Gilles Arsene * Han Ten Yun *

Hidehiko Yoshida is a Japanese gold-medalist judoka and retired mixed martial artist. He is a longtime veteran of Japan's PRIDE Fighting Championships, competing in the Middleweight (93kg) and Heavyweight divisions. He won gold at the 1992 Summer ...

* Hidehisa Matsuda *

Hiromitsu Kanehara ) is a former Japanese mixed martial artist and professional wrestler of Korean descent. A professional MMA competitor from 1998 until 2012, he found success in Fighting Network RINGS, gaining notable victories over Valentijn Overeem, Alexa ...

Hirotaka Yokoi (born June 8, 1978) is a Japanese former mixed martial artist and professional wrestler. A professional MMA competitor from 2000 until 2007, Yokoi fought for PRIDE, Shooto, RINGS, and DEEP, while in professional wrestling he wrestled mainly f ...

* Jerrel Venetiaan * Joe Son *

John Alessio John Paul Alessio (born July 5, 1979) is a Canadian retired professional mixed martial artist. A former competitor in Bellator's Lightweight division. A professional competitor since 1998, Alessio has also formerly competed for the UFC where he ...

* Jong Wang Kim * Jukei Nakajima * Kazuki Okubo * Ken Orihashi * Kenichi Yamamoto * Kestutis Smirnovas * Kevin Randleman * Kiyoshi Tamura * Kyosuke Sasaki * Lloyd Van Dams *

Paulo Filho Paulo Fernando de Souza Leite Filho, better known as simply Paulo Filho (; born May 24, 1978), is a Brazilian retired mixed martial artist who last competed in the Middleweight division. A professional competitor from 2000 until 2014, Fi ...

Ron Waterman Ronald Waterman (born November 23, 1965) is a former American mixed martial artist, professional wrestler, and celebrity member of the Team Impact motivational group. He holds notable victories over Valentijn Overeem, Ricco Rodriguez, Kevin R ...

* Rory Singer * Scott Bills * Shinichiro Takamura * Sokun Koh * Steve White * Takahiro Oba *

Takashi Sugiura is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently working for Pro Wrestling Noah (Noah). Sugiura, an accomplished amateur wrestler, joined Noah's dojo in 2000, making his professional debut on December 23, 2000, and thus becoming the first wrestler ...

* Tatsuya Iwasaki *

Tim Catalfo Timothy Lance Catalfo (born February 23, 1959) is an American former amateur wrestler, and mixed martial artist. A professional MMA competitor from 1997 until 2003, he competed for the PRIDE Fighting Championships and King of the Cage. He was v ...

* Togo Togo * Tomohiko Hashimoto * Xue Do Won * Yoshinori Kawakami * Yoshinori Sasaki * Yuji Hisamatsu * Yuki Sasaki * Yukiya Naito * Yuriy Kochkine *

Yushin Okami is a Japanese mixed martial artist. A professional competitor since 2002, Okami has competed for the UFC, PRIDE, Pancrase, M-1 Global, World Series of Fighting, DEEP, Professional Fighters League, and ONE Championship. Mixed martial ar ...

* Yusuke Imamura * Yutaro Miyamoto

Events list

Pride FC: The Best, Vol. 1

Pride FC: The Best, Vol. 1 was an event held on February 22, 2002 at the

Korakuen Hall is a famous sports arena in Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan, which has hosted many notable boxing, professional wrestling, kickboxing, mixed martial arts and Lethwei matches. History On April 16, 1962, the Korakuen Hall was officially opened with a ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

, Japan.

Results

Pride 19: Bad Blood

Pride 19: Bad Blood was an event held on February 24, 2002 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 ...

in Saitama, Japan.

Results

Pride 20: Armed and Ready

Pride 20: Armed and Ready was an event held on April 28, 2002 at the

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 th ...

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 ...

, Japan.

Results

Pride 21: Demolition

Pride 21: Demolition was an event held on June 23, 2002 at the

in Saitama, Japan. This event featured the PRIDE debut of MMA all-time greats

and

Results

Pride FC: The Best, Vol. 2

Pride FC: The Best, Vol. 2 was an event held on July 20, 2002 at the Differ Ariake Arena in

, Japan.

Results

Pride FC: Shockwave

Pride FC: Shockwave was an event held on August 28, 2002 at the

Tokyo National Stadium The Japan National Stadium, officially named and formerly known as or , is a multi-purpose stadium used mostly for association football in Kasumigaoka, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan. The facility served as the main stadium for the opening and ...

, Japan. The event was co-promoted by 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 ...

and K-1

Results

Pride 22: Beasts from the East 2

Pride 22: Beasts from the East 2 was an event held on September 29, 2002 at the 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 p ...

, Japan. It featured the Pride debut of former UFC Heavyweight Champion Kevin Randleman

Results

Pride FC: The Best, Vol. 3

Pride FC: The Best, Vol. 3 was an event held on October 20, 2002 at the Differ Ariake Arena in

, Japan.

Results

Pride 23: Championship Chaos 2

Pride 23: Championship Chaos 2 was an event held on November 24, 2002 at the

Tokyo Dome is an indoor stadium in Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan. It was designed as a baseball stadium following its predecessor, Korakuen Stadium. Construction on the stadium began on May 16, 1985, and it opened on March 17, 1988. It was built on the site of ...

, Japan.

Results

Pride 24: Cold Fury 3

Pride 24: Cold Fury 3 was an event held on December 23, 2002 at the Marine Messe Fukuoka in

Fukuoka is the List of Japanese cities by population, sixth-largest city in Japan, the second-largest port city after Yokohama, and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center ...

, Japan.

Results

References

{{Reflist Pride Fighting Championships events 2002 in mixed martial arts

Title fights

Debut Pride FC fighters

Events list

Pride FC: The Best, Vol. 1

Results

Pride 19: Bad Blood

Results

Pride 20: Armed and Ready

Results

Pride 21: Demolition

Results

Pride FC: The Best, Vol. 2

Results

Pride FC: Shockwave

Results

Pride 22: Beasts from the East 2

Results

Pride FC: The Best, Vol. 3

Results

Pride 23: Championship Chaos 2

Results

Pride 24: Cold Fury 3

Results

See also

References