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 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. 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 *

Cristiano Marcello Cristiano Marcello da Silva (born December 3, 1977) is a retired Brazilian mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as ...

Cyrille Diabate Cyrille is both a French masculine given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: People with the given name * Cyrille Adoula (1921–1978), Congolese politician who served as Premier of the Republic of the Congo (1961– ...

* 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 G ...

* Edson Claas Vieira * Eldari Kurtanidze *

Eric Esch Eric Scott Esch (born August 3, 1966), better known by his nickname "Butterbean", is an American retired professional boxer, kickboxer, mixed martial artist, and professional wrestler who competed in the heavyweight division. He is also a televis ...

* Eun-Su Lee *

Evangelista Santos Evangelista Santos ( born December 12, 1977) is a Brazilian retired mixed martial artist. A professional from 1997 until 2016, Santos competed for Strikeforce, Bellator MMA, the PRIDE Fighting Championships, Cage Rage, International Vale Tudo Cha ...

Gegard Mousasi Gegard Mousasi (born 1 August 1985), is a Dutch mixed martial artist and former kickboxer, currently competing in Bellator MMA, where he is the former two-time Bellator Middleweight Champion. As of December 13, 2022, he is #10 in the Bellator MMA ...

Gilbert Melendez Gilbert Melendez (born April 12, 1982) is an American mixed martial artist who formerly competed in the Lightweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He is a two-time Strikeforce Lightweight Champion and a former WEC Lightwe ...

* Gregory Bouchelaghem *

Hatsu Hioki (, born July 18, 1983) is a Japanese professional mixed martial artist competing in the featherweight division. He is the former Shooto Lightweight Champion, Sengoku Featherweight Champion, and TKO Featherweight Champion. Hioki is a long time ...

Hector Lombard In Greek mythology, Hector (; grc, Ἕκτωρ, Hektōr, label=none, ) is a character in Homer's Iliad. He was a Trojan prince and the greatest warrior for Troy during the Trojan War. Hector led the Trojans and their allies in the defense o ...

Jason Black Jason Douglas Black (born August 15, 1972) is an American retired mixed martial artist who competed in the lightweight and welterweight divisions. He is a veteran of the King of the Cage, UFC, and PRIDE Fighting Championships organizations, a ...

* Jean-Francois Lenogue *

Jeff Curran Jeffrey Michael Curran (born September 2, 1977) is an American retired professional mixed martial artist. A professional competitor since 1998, Curran has fought at a number of different weight classes for a large number of promotions includin ...

* Joe Pearson *

Joey Villasenor Joey may refer to: People *Joey (name) Animals * Joey (marsupial), an infant marsupial * Joey, a Blue-fronted Amazon parrot who was one of the Blue Peter pets Film and television * ''Joey'' (1977 film), an American film directed by Horac ...

John Olav Einemo John-Olav Einemo (born 10 December 1975) is a Norwegian retired mixed martial artist. He is also a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner, with the highlight of his career being the win in the ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship in 200 ...

* Kenji Arai * Luciano Azevedo *

Mark Weir Mark Anthony Weir (19 September 1967) is an English retired mixed martial artist usually fighting in the middleweight division at 185 lbs. He has fought in the UFC, the WEC, PRIDE, Cage Rage, UCMMA, Pancrase, and BodogFIGHT. He is the fo ...

Mike Plotcheck Michael Polchlopek (born December 27, 1965) is an American retired professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist. He is best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) from 1993 to 1999 under the ring names Bart Gu ...

Mitsuhiro Ishida Mitsuhiro Ishida (, born December 29, 1978) is a retired Japanese mixed martial artist who competed in Shooto, Strikeforce, PRIDE, DREAM, and DEEP. A professional competitor from 2001 until 2011, Ishida also participated in the Yarennoka event i ...

* Naoki Matsushita * Nobuhiro Obiya * Olaf Alfonso * Paul Rodriguez *

Robbie Lawler Robert Lawler (born March 20, 1982) is an American professional mixed martial artist who has been competing since 2001. He is the former UFC Welterweight Champion, former EliteXC Middleweight Champion, and has formerly competed in Strikeforc ...

Sean O'Haire Sean Christopher Haire (February 25, 1971 – September 8, 2014) was an American professional wrestler, mixed martial artist and kickboxer, better known by his ring name Sean O'Haire. Haire was best known for his appearances with the professio ...

Seichi Ikemoto is a Japanese mixed martial artist. He is a veteran of Shooto, PRIDE and DEEP. His specialty is a "double punch", in which he puts his hands together and throws them at his opponent. Biography and career Ikemoto is a former holder of the DEE ...

Shinya Aoki is a Japanese mixed martial artist, professional wrestler and grappler currently competing in ONE Championship's and Rizin Fighting Federation's Welterweight division. He also competes in DDT Pro-Wrestling where he is a former three-time DDT Ex ...

* Tae Hyun Lee * Travis Galbraith * Won Jin Eoh *

Yoshihiro Nakao (born June 25, 1972) is a Japanese semi-retired professional mixed martial artist and former K-1 kickboxer and PRIDE FC fighter who has defeated the likes of Don Frye, Choi Mu-Bae, Jim York, Wesley Correira and Edson Draggo. Nakao is a Wor ...

* 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 north ...

Results

Pride FC: Bushido 10

Pride FC: Bushido 10 was an event held on April 2, 2006, at

Ariake Coliseum is an indoor sporting arena in located in Ariake, Kōtō, Tokyo, Japan. It has a capacity of 10,000 and is one of the few professional tennis venues which has a retractable roof. Events The arena is used as the center court for the Japan O ...

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 ...

Results

Pride FC: Total Elimination Absolute

Pride FC: Total Elimination Absolute was an event held on May 5, 2006, at

Osaka Dome The (official name: ) is a baseball stadium located in Osaka, Osaka, Japan. Opened in 1997, the stadium was the home field of the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes. In 2005, the stadium became one of the homes of the Orix Buffaloes, a result of the mer ...

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. ...

. 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 Pride is defined by Merriam-Webster as "reasonable self-esteem" or "confidence and satisfaction in oneself". A healthy amount of pride is good, however, pride sometimes is used interchangeably with "conceit" or "arrogance" (among other words) wh ...

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

was originally set to enter the tournament with a first round bye, but a hand injury prevented him from participating.

Wanderlei Silva Wanderlei César da Silva ( , , ; born 3 July 1976) is a Brazilian-American former mixed martial artist who competed in Japan's Pride Fighting Championships and the American-based Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He holds the record for the ...

, 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

in Saitama,

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

in Saitama,

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 , formerly Nagoya Rainbow Hall, is an indoor sports arena located in Nagoya, Japan. From April 1, 2007, its name was changed to Nippon Gaishi Hall, to reflect the sponsorship of the NGK Insulators. The capacity of the arena is 10,000 people. The ...

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 pop ...

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

in Saitama,

. 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 ...

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 ...

. 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 Marcus Aurélio Martins (; born 18 August 1973) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist. He formerly fought for the PRIDE Fighting Championships and for the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He currently does stunt and mo-cap work, after an MMA care ...

, 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 ...

. Originally

was set to face

but an injury during training forced Melendez to withdraw from the fight. Clay French 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

References

{{Reflist Pride Fighting Championships events 2006 in mixed martial arts

Title fights

Debut Pride FC fighters

Events list

Pride 31: Unbreakable

Results

Pride FC: Bushido 10

Results

Pride FC: Total Elimination Absolute

Results

2006 Pride Open-Weight Grand Prix Bracket

Pride FC: Bushido 11

Results

Pride 2006 Welterweight Grand Prix Bracket

Pride FC: Critical Countdown Absolute

Results

2006 Pride Open-Weight Grand Prix Bracket

Pride FC: Bushido 12

Results

Pride 2006 Welterweight Grand Prix Bracket

Pride FC: Final Conflict Absolute

Results

2006 Pride Open-Weight Grand Prix Bracket

Pride 32: The Real Deal

Pride FC: Bushido 13

Results

2006 Welterweight Grand Prix bracket

Pride FC: Shockwave 2006

See also

References