Pride 4: Three Generations of Legends on One Historic Card

A week before the first edition of the Ultimate Fighting Championship event in Brazil, UFC 17.5 in Sao Paulo, I went to Japan to cover Pride 4, an event filled with combat sports icons from three different generations. From 80s legends such as Marco Ruas, Rickson Gracie and Hugo Duarte, passing through highlights of the 90s generation like Allan Goes and Wallid Ismail, to the rising stars of the new generation including Mark Kerr, Igor Vovchanchyn and one Kazushi Sakuraba, who after beating Conan Silveira at UFC 15.5 would have his sixth MMA fight, this time against Goes, another Carlson Gracie black belt.

Rickson and the Birth of Pride

After the six consecutive victories—four over Japanese…