Review of Pride FC 9 and 10

Introduction

For FightDVD`s latest two-disc offering from the PRIDE FC archives, we have "PRIDE 9: New Blood" and "PRIDE 10: Return of the Warriors".

"New Blood" was held on 4th June 2000 at Nagoya`s Rainbow Hall in Japan, and was headlined by a main event of Vitor Belfort vs Gilbert Yvel.

"Return of the Warriors" was held on 27th August 2000 at the Seibu Dome in Saitama, Japan, headlined by Kazushi Sakuraba vs Renzo Gracie.

Here are the cards in full:

PRIDE 9
Vitor Belfort vs. Gilbert Yvel
Igor Vovchanchyn vs. Daijiro Matsui
Ricco Rodriguez vs. Gary Goodridge
Akira Shoji vs. John Renken
Carlos Newton vs. Naoki Sano
Allan Goes vs. Vernon White
Carlos Barreto vs. Tra Telligman
Heath Herring vs. Willie Peeters

PRIDE 10
Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Renzo Gracie
Ryan Gracie vs. Tokimitsu Ishizawa
Ken Shamrock vs. Kazuyuki Fujita
Igor Vovchanchyn vs. Enson Inoue
Mark Kerr vs. Igor Borisov
Gary Goodridge vs. Gilbert Yvel
Ricco Rodriguez vs. Giant Ochiai
Wanderlei Silva vs. Guy Mezger
Vitor Belfort vs. Daijiro Matsui

Video

Video is presented in 4:3 fullscreen PAL and is quite good for a DVD of this genre. It is not what we would expect from a PRIDE show of today, but you will have to believe me when I tell you that six years in mixed martial arts (MMA) is like a lifetime.

It is interesting to note a couple of things regarding PRIDE 10. Firstly, that the company is beginning to make strides in its production values, beginning on the journey to what we see now. Secondly, it is worth pointing out that the video transfer on this event is much better than my original NTSC DVD release from 2000. In that, the colours are over-saturated, a flaw that this image does not have.

Audio

Audio is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0 and is of average quality. Unfortunately, the English commentary - provided by Stephen Quadros and Bas Rutten - for PRIDE 9 has been over-dubbed, and drowns out the atmosphere of the arena and almost everything else going on.

Things improve drastically in PRIDE 10, where commentators Quadros and Eddie Bravo are live at the arena, giving the show a much more exciting feel.

Features

Extras on this set are limited by the length of the main feature. However, on PRIDE 9 there are details of the rules of PRIDE and a glossary of fight terms. PRIDE 10 also has these same features, but also includes fighter biographies, a photo gallery, and a picture of the event program.

Conclusion

When looked upon historically, PRIDE 9 & 10 are important events in the history of the Japanese mixed martial arts (MMA) outfit. That isn`t necessarily a good thing, though; PRIDE 9 is remembered as an unacceptably poor event, one too many for the company. PRIDE 10, on the other hand, turned the corner and - up until this point - was the best event that the company had ever done.

The difficulties with the PRIDE 9 card are many. Of the eight matches on the card, three were complete mis-matches which ended rapidly, and three were ground-based snoozefests that went to the judges` decision. Even Stephen Quadros, trying his best to hype the product, even had to admit the matches were "not classics", but were a display of great technique by the fighters. Yes, he was bored too.

PRIDE 10 was a significant step up, and as I mentioned, the production values noticeably improved as well, meaning that the event actually had some atmosphere for English-speaking fans. The card, too, was a significant improvement, and the Sakuraba vs Gracie main event truly felt like one, such is the immense popularity of Sakuraba. A warning though, the match ends with a disgusting injury that not everyone will want to view.

I must also pay tribute to a couple of other matches on the card, such as Guy Mezger vs Vanderlei Silva, which is a tremendous slugfest from two stand-up fighters. Igor Vovchanchyn`s bout with Enson Inoue is similarly attack-minded, although it is based much more on the ground. The bout between Gilbert Yvel and Gary Goodridge is almost farcical in its conclusion, but is a remarkable piece of footage that every MMA will delight in.

Overall, here in one package, you have the good and the bad of PRIDE. "New Blood" was a poor show, with very little of interest to those who aren`t interested in mat wrestling. "Return of the Warriors", on the other hand, was the best show that they had done to this point, and also highlighted for international viewers that Kazushi Sakuraba was going to be the biggest star that the promotion ever had.

If you are interested in the history of Sakuraba or PRIDE itself, you may wish to follow up on the 2-disc set. If you are interested in getting as much hard-hitting action as you can for your money, please check out one of PRIDE`s more recent events.