The year 2001 is the 5th 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 even ...
, 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, inc ...
promotion based in Japan. 2001 had 6 events beginning with, ''Pride 13 - Collision Course''.
Title fights
Debut Pride FC fighters
The following fighters fought their first Pride FC fight in 2001:
*
Alex Stiebling
Alex Stiebling (born December 26, 1976) is a retired American professional mixed martial artist. A professional competitor from 1999 until 2009, he competed in the PRIDE Fighting Championships, WEC, King of the Cage, BodogFIGHT, the World Fight ...
*
Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira
Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira (, born 2 June 1976), better known as Minotauro or Big Nog, is a Brazilian retired mixed martial artist. He competed in the heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is a former Inter ...
*
Antonio Schembri
*
Assuerio Silva
Assuério Silva (born June 18, 1974) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist and professional boxer, having competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship and Pancrase. He became the Heavyweight King of Pancrase on May 30, 2007, defeating Tatsuya ...
*
Bobby Southworth
Bobby Masai Southworth (born December 16, 1969) is a retired American mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist who fought in the Light Heavyweight (MMA), Light Heavyweight division.
He has fought in PRIDE FC and appeared on Season 1 of The Ultima ...
*
Chuck Liddell
* Denis Sobolev
*
Don Frye
Donald Frye (born November 23, 1965) is an American former mixed martial artist, professional wrestler, and actor. In MMA, he was one of the sport's earliest well-rounded fighters and won the ''UFC 8'' and ''Ultimate Ultimate 96'' tournaments an ...
*
Jan Nortje
Johannes "Jan" Nortje (born 11 April 1975) is a South African professional kickboxer, mixed martial artist and undefeated professional boxer who has fought for Strikeforce, DREAM, K-1, Inoki Genome Federation, PRIDE Fighting Championship and N ...
*
Jeremy Horn
Jeremy Graham Horn (born August 25, 1975) is an American mixed martial artist. Horn is best known for fighting in smaller American promotions, he has also competed in some of the premiere mixed martial arts organizations around the world, inclu ...
* Jose Landi
*
Mario Sperry
is a character created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the title character of the ''Mario'' franchise and the mascot of Japanese video game company Nintendo. Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his cre ...
*
Matt Skelton
Matt Skelton (born 23 January 1967) is a British former professional boxer, kickboxer, and mixed martial artist. In boxing he competed from 2002 to 2014. He challenged once for the WBA heavyweight title in 2008. At regional level, he held the ...
*
Michiyoshi Ohara
(born November 15, 1967) is a Japanese people, Japanese professional wrestler and mixed martial artist, best known for his work in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he wrestled from 1990 to 2004, winning the IWGP Tag Team Championship with ...
*
Mirko Cro Cop
Mirko Filipović (; born 10 September 1974), better known by his ring name Mirko Cro Cop, is a retired Croatian professional mixed martial artist, kickboxer and amateur boxer. He is mostly known for his time in Pride Fighting Championships. Cro ...
*
Murilo Rua
Murilo Milani Rua (; born May 22, 1980), also known as Ninja, is a retired Brazilian mixed martial artist who fought in Pride Fighting Championships. He is the older brother of former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Mauricio "Shogun" Rua. He is ...
*
Quinton Jackson
Quinton "Rampage" Jackson (born June 20, 1978) is an American mixed martial artist, actor and former professional wrestler, who most recently fought in the Bellator MMA. He is a former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion and unified the Pride Middlew ...
*
Ricardo Arona
Ricardo Arona (; born 17 July 1978) is a retired Brazilian mixed martial artist. A professional from 2000 until 2009, he competed in PRIDE Fighting Championships and RINGS in his mixed martial arts career, and was a member of Brazilian Top Te ...
*
Semmy Schilt
Sem "Semmy" Schilt (; born 27 October 1973) is a Dutch former kickboxer, Ashihara karateka and mixed martial artist. He stands 212 cm and weighs 171 kg. He is a four-time K-1 World Grand Prix Champion and one-time Glory Heavyweight Grand Slam ...
*
Shungo Oyama
Shungo Oyama ( 峻護 ''Ōyama Shungo'' ; born April 11, 1974) is a Japanese former professional mixed martial artist. A professional competitor from 2001 to 2014, he competed for the PRIDE Fighting Championships, Pancrase, RINGS, DREAM, K-1, a ...
*
Tadao Yasuda
is a Japanese retired sumo wrestler (''rikishi''), professional wrestler and mixed martial artist. He competed in sumo from 1979 to 1992 under the ''shikona'' of Takanofuji Tadao, achieving the rank of ''komusubi'', and afterwards turned to prof ...
*
Valentijn Overeem
Valentijn Overeem (; born 17 August 1976) is a retired Dutch professional mixed martial artist and kickboxer currently signed with United Glory. A professional competitor since 1996, he has previously fought for the PRIDE Fighting Championships, ...
*
Yoshihiro Takayama
is a former Japanese professional wrestler and mixed martial artist. Debuting for UWF International (UWFI) in the 1990s, Takayama joined All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) in 1997 after UWF-i folded. In 2000, he joined Pro Wrestling Noah (Noah), and ...
*
Yoshihisa Yamamoto
* Yuki Ishikawa
Events list
Pride 13: Collision Course
Pride 13: Collision Course was an event held on March 25, 2001 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 north ...
.
Results
Pride 14: Clash of the Titans
Pride 14: Clash of the Titans was an event held on May 27, 2001 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 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 To ...
,
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 north ...
.
Results
Pride 15: Raging Rumble
Pride 15: Raging Rumble was an event held on July 29, 2001 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 ...
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 north ...
. Future Pride and
UFC
The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...
legends
Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira
Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira (, born 2 June 1976), better known as Minotauro or Big Nog, is a Brazilian retired mixed martial artist. He competed in the heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is a former Inter ...
and
Quinton Jackson
Quinton "Rampage" Jackson (born June 20, 1978) is an American mixed martial artist, actor and former professional wrestler, who most recently fought in the Bellator MMA. He is a former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion and unified the Pride Middlew ...
made their Pride debuts at this event.
Results
Pride 16: Beasts from the East
Pride 16: Beasts from the East was an event held on September 24, 2001 at
Osaka-jo Hall
is a Japanese castle in Chūō-ku, Osaka, Japan. The castle is one of Japan's most famous landmarks and it played a major role in the unification of Japan during the sixteenth century of the Azuchi-Momoyama period.
Layout
The main tower ...
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 2. ...
,
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 north ...
.
Results
Pride 17: Championship Chaos
Pride 17: Championship Chaos was an event held on November 3, 2001 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 th ...
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 37.468 ...
,
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 north ...
. This event saw the crowning of the first Pride FC Heavyweight and Middleweight champions. It also marked the debut of future Pride champion
Mirko Cro Cop
Mirko Filipović (; born 10 September 1974), better known by his ring name Mirko Cro Cop, is a retired Croatian professional mixed martial artist, kickboxer and amateur boxer. He is mostly known for his time in Pride Fighting Championships. Cro ...
.
Results
Pride 18: Cold Fury 2
Pride 18: Cold Fury 2
was an event held on December 23, 2001 at the
Marine Messe Fukuoka
in Hakata-ku, Fukuoka, Japan is a collection of three separate buildings operated by the Fukuoka Convention Center Foundation.
Fukuoka Kokusai Center
The Fukuoka Kokusai Center opened in . A Sumo Tournament is held here every November. Man ...
in
Fukuoka
is the 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 of international commerce since ancie ...
,
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 north ...
.
Results
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 even ...
*
List of Pride Fighting Championships champions
Below is a list of Pride Fighting Championships champions and title defenses:
World champions Heavyweight Championship
:Weight limit: Over
Middleweight Championship
:Weight limit: to
Welterweight Championship
:Weight limit: to
Lightw ...
*
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, Saitama, Saitama – 25
: Tokyo ...
References
{{Pride Events
Pride Fighting Championships events
2001 in mixed martial arts