R.I.P "PrideFC", Welcome "Dream Inc"

Wow...that's a lot of old dudes.

As one who is a huge fan and ex-practicioner of what I guess would be called mixed-martial arts now, I still morn the loss of Japan's biggest fighting spectacle; that is Pride FC. Pride was purchased by Zuffa LLC. last year in an attempt to 'consolidate' a then burgeoning sub-culture.  Zuffa is most known for it's american mixed martial arts staple UFC, which is [in this broggers opinion] inferior as far as a company goes in regards to the treatment of their fighters.

For the past couple months I've been watching old footage of Pride fights and thinking about 'what could have been' had Pride been able to capitalize in the same matter as the UFC company. You can click this link for the wiki article on the history of Pride, it is very thorough. Pride has had it's far share of blemishes as well, but the biggest would be its parent company DSE [Dream Stage Entertainment] and its possible dealings with the yakuza.

This isn't a post about the bad though...this is a post about the good and i think possibly great! Feburary marked the start of Dream. One of the founding members and a good majority of the background staff and backers of Pride FC decided to start all over again with Dream. Rekindling the rules and showmanship of what we got to know from Pride.

After The Jump...The most Recent Match: Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic vs Alistair Overeem...

Highlights: Well...there weren't really that many...let's be honest here. Mr. Cro Cop hasn't been really focused on fighting ever since is past couple losses and his government job.  It is good to see him fighting again, but i'd really like to see him go on one more good tear.  I guess the only real highlight [besides Bas Rutten's commentary] would be Fedor Emelianenko giving out flowers at the beginning of the match to both combatants. Hilarious.