2003 in Pride FC

The year 2003 was the 7th year in the history of the Pride Fighting Championships, a mixed martial arts promotion based in Japan. 2003 had 6 events beginning with, Pride 25 - Body Blow.

2003 in Pride FC
Information
First date	March 16, 2003
Last date	December 31, 2003
Events
Total events	6
Fights
Total fights	51
Title fights	2
Chronology
2002 in Pride 2003 in Pride FC 2004 in Pride

Title fights

Title fights in 2003
Weight class				Method	Round	Time	Event	Notes
Heavyweight	Fedor Emelianenko	def.	Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira	Decision (Unanimous)	3	5:00	Pride 25: Body Blow	[a]
Heavyweight	Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira	def.	Mirko Cro Cop	Submission (Armbar)	2	1:45	Pride Final Conflict 2003	[b]

1. For the Pride Fighting Championship World Heavyweight Championship.
2. For the Interim Pride Heavyweight Championship.

Debut Pride FC fighters

The following fighters fought their first Pride FC fight in 2003:

Alberto Rodriguez Aleksander Emelianenko Chalid Arrab Chris Brennan Dan Bobish Dokonjonosuke Mishima Hayato Sakurai Ikuhisa Minowa

Jason Suttie Kazuhiro Hamanaka Kazuhiro Nakamura Maurício Rua Mike Bencic Mikhail Ilyukhin Murilo Bustamante Paulo Cesar Silva

Ralph Gracie Rodney Glunder Rodrigo Gracie Rony Sefo Sergei Kharitonov Wataru Sakata Yuki Kondo

Events list

Main article: List of Pride FC events

#	Event	Japanese name	Date held	Venue	City	Attendance
36	Pride FC - Shockwave 2003	Otoko Matsuri	December 31, 2003	Saitama Super Arena	Saitama, Japan	39,716
35	Pride FC - Final Conflict 2003	Ketsushosen	November 9, 2003	Tokyo Dome	Tokyo, Japan	67,451
34	Pride FC - Bushido 1	—	October 5, 2003	Saitama Super Arena	Saitama, Japan	—
33	Pride FC - Total Elimination 2003	Kaimakusen	August 10, 2003	Saitama Super Arena	Saitama, Japan	40,316
32	Pride 26 - Bad to the Bone	Reborn	June 8, 2003	Yokohama Arena	Yokohama, Japan	—
31	Pride 25 - Body Blow	—	March 16, 2003	Yokohama Arena	Yokohama, Japan	—

Pride 25: Body Blow

Pride 25
Promotion	Pride Fighting Championships
Date	March 16, 2003
Venue	Yokohama Arena
City	Yokohama, Japan
Attendance	19,247
Event chronology
Pride 24 Pride 25 Pride 26

Pride 25: Body Blow^[1] was an event held on March 16, 2003, at the Yokohama Arena in Yokohama, Japan.

Results

Main Card
Weight class				Method	Round	Time	Notes
Heavyweight	Fedor Emelianenko	def.	Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira	Decision (Unanimous)	3	5:00	[a]
	Quinton Jackson	def.	Kevin Randleman	KO (knee and punches)	1	6:58	[b]
	Antônio Schembri	def.	Kazushi Sakuraba	TKO (Knees and soccer kicks)	1	6:15
	Dan Henderson	def.	Shungo Oyama	TKO (Punches)	1	3:28
	Anderson Silva	def.	Carlos Newton	KO (Flying Knee and Punches)	1	6:27
	Alexander Otsuka	def.	Kenichi Yamamoto	Decision (Unanimous)	3	5:00
	Akira Shoji	def.	Alex Stiebling	Decision (Split)	3	5:00
	Antônio Rogério Nogueira	def.	Kazuhiro Nakamura	Submission (Armbar)	2	3:49

1. For the Pride Fighting Championship World Heavyweight Championship.
2. No. 1 Contender bout

Pride 26: Bad to the Bone

Pride 26
Promotion	Pride Fighting Championships
Date	June 8, 2003
Venue	Yokohama Arena
City	Yokohama, Japan
Event chronology
Pride 25 Pride 26 Pride: Total Elimination 2003

Pride 26: Bad to the Bone^[2] was an event held on June 8, 2003, at the Yokohama Arena in Yokohama, Japan.

Results

Main Card
Weight class				Method	Round	Time	Notes
	Fedor Emelianenko	def.	Kazuyuki Fujita	Submission (Rear-Naked Choke)	1	4:17	[a]
	Mirko Cro Cop	def.	Heath Herring	TKO (Kick to the Body and Punches)	1	3:17
	Mark Coleman	def.	Don Frye	Decision (Unanimous)	3	5:00
	Quinton Jackson	def.	Mikhail Ilyukhin	Submission (Knee to the Body)	1	6:26
	Alistair Overeem	def.	Mike Bencic	TKO (Submission to Knee to the Body and Punches)	1	3:44
	Daiju Takase	def.	Anderson Silva	Submission (Triangle Choke)	1	8:33
	Kazuhiro Hamanaka	def.	Antônio Schembri	Decision (Unanimous)	3	5:00

1. Non-Title bout

Pride FC: Total Elimination 2003

Pride: Total Elimination 2003
Promotion	Pride Fighting Championships
Date	August 10, 2003
Venue	Saitama Super Arena
City	Saitama, Japan
Attendance	40,316
Event chronology
Pride 26 Pride: Total Elimination 2003 Pride: Bushido 1

Pride FC: Total Elimination 2003^[3] was an event held on August 10, 2003, at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.

Results

Main Card
Weight class				Method	Round	Time	Notes
	Wanderlei Silva	def.	Kazushi Sakuraba	KO (Punch)	1	5:01	[a]
	Hidehiko Yoshida	def.	Kiyoshi Tamura	Submission (Ezekiel Choke)	1	5:06	[b]
	Mirko Cro Cop	def.	Igor Vovchanchyn	KO (Head Kick)	1	1:29
	Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira	def.	Ricco Rodriguez	Decision (Unanimous)	3	5:00
	Quinton Jackson	def.	Murilo Bustamante	Decision (Split)	3	5:00	[c]
	Chuck Liddell	def.	Alistair Overeem	KO (Punches)	1	3:09	[d]
	Fedor Emelianenko	def.	Gary Goodridge	TKO (soccer kicks/punches)	1	1:09	[e]

1. Quarterfinal bout
2. Quarterfinal bout
3. Quarterfinal bout
4. Quarterfinal bout
5. Non-Title Bout

Pride 2003 Middleweight Grand Prix bracket

	Quarter-finals				Semi-finals				Final
	Chuck Liddell	KO
	Alistair Overeem	3:09
					Chuck Liddell
					Quinton Jackson
	Quinton Jackson	SD
	Murilo Bustamante	20:00
									Quinton Jackson
									Wanderlei Silva
	Hidehiko Yoshida	SUB
	Kiyoshi Tamura	5:06
					Hidehiko Yoshida
					Wanderlei Silva
	Wanderlei Silva	KO
	Kazushi Sakuraba	5:01

Pride FC: Bushido 1

Pride: Bushido 1
Promotion	Pride Fighting Championships
Date	October 5, 2003
Venue	Saitama Super Arena
City	Saitama
Event chronology
Pride: Total Elimination 2003 Pride: Bushido 1 Pride: Final Conflict 2003

Pride FC: Bushido 1^[4] Is an event held by the Pride Fighting Championships at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan on October 5, 2003. The card was billed as Team Japan Vs. Team Gracie, with five bouts featuring a Japanese fighter represented by Hidehiko Yoshida and a member of the Gracie family represented by Royce Gracie. In the main event, Dos Caras, Jr. became the first Hispanic fighter to compete in Pride and the first to wear a lucha libre mask during a bout. He is now better known as WWE pro wrestler Alberto Del Rio.

Results

Main Card
Weight class				Method	Round	Time	Notes
	Mirko Cro Cop	def.	Alberto Rodriguez	KO (Head Kick)	1	0:46
	Alexander Emelianenko	def.	Assuério Silva	Decision (Split)	2	5:00
	Maurício Rua	def.	Akira Shoji	KO (Punches)	1	3:47
	Ryan Gracie	def.	Kazuhiro Hamanaka	TKO (Soccer Kicks)	1	7:37
	Rodrigo Gracie	def.	Daiju Takase	Decision (Unanimous)	2	5:00
	Kazuhiro Nakamura	def.	Daniel Gracie	Decision (Unanimous)	2	5:00
	Ralph Gracie	def.	Dokonjonosuke Mishima	Decision (Unanimous)	2	5:00
	Carlos Newton	def.	Renzo Gracie	Decision (Split)	2	5:00
	Sergei Kharitonov	def.	Jason Suttie	Submission (Armbar)	1	2:25
	Chalid Arrab	def.	Rodney Glunder	Decision (Unanimous)	2	5:00
	Chris Brennan	def.	Eiji Mitsuoka	Submission (Kimura)	1	4:31	[a]

1. There was a lengthy pause a couple of minutes into the fight when Brennan released an armbar, believing that Mitsuoka had tapped out. Confusion ensued amongst both camps and the officials, and with replays inconclusive, the fight was eventually restarted.

Pride FC: Final Conflict 2003

Pride: Final Conflict 2003
Promotion	Pride
Date	November 9, 2003
Venue	Tokyo Dome
City	Tokyo, Japan
Attendance	67,450
Event chronology
Pride: Bushido 1 Pride: Final Conflict 2003 Pride: Shockwave 2003

Pride FC: Final Conflict 2003^[5] was an event held on November 9, 2003, at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan. This event was host to the semi-finals and finals of the 2003 Pride Middleweight Grand Prix tournament. The first round of the tournament was contested at the Pride: Total Elimination 2003 event the previous August.

Results

Main Card
Weight class				Method	Round	Time	Notes
	Wanderlei Silva	def.	Quinton Jackson	TKO (Knees)	1	6:28	[a]
Heavyweight	Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira	def.	Mirko Cro Cop	Submission (Armbar)	2	1:45	[b]
	Kazushi Sakuraba	def.	Kevin Randleman	Submission (Armbar)	3	2:36
	Heath Herring	def.	Yoshihisa Yamamoto	Submission (Rear-Naked Choke)	3	2:29
	Dan Henderson	def.	Murilo Bustamante	TKO (Punches)	1	0:53	[c]
	Wanderlei Silva	def.	Hidehiko Yoshida	Decision (Unanimous)	2	5:00	[d]
	Quinton Jackson	def.	Chuck Liddell	TKO (Corner Stoppage)	2	3:10	[e]
	Gary Goodridge	def.	Dan Bobish	TKO (Punches)	1	0:18

1. Finals bout
2. For the Interim Pride Heavyweight Championship.
3. Reserve bout
4. Semifinal bout
5. Semifinal bout

Pride 2003 Middleweight Grand Prix bracket

	Quarter-finals				Semi-finals				Final
	Chuck Liddell	KO
	Alistair Overeem	3:09
					Chuck Liddell	13:10
					Quinton Jackson	TKO
	Quinton Jackson	DD
	Murilo Bustamante	20:00
									Quinton Jackson	6:28
									Wanderlei Silva	TKO
	Hidehiko Yoshida	SUB
	Kiyoshi Tamura	5:06
					Hidehiko Yoshida	15:00
					Wanderlei Silva	UD
	Wanderlei Silva	KO
	Kazushi Sakuraba	5:01

Pride FC: Shockwave 2003

Pride: Shockwave 2003
Promotion	Pride Fighting Championships
Date	December 31, 2003
Venue	Saitama Super Arena
City	Saitama
Attendance	39,716
Event chronology
Pride: Final Conflict 2003 Pride: Shockwave 2003 Pride 27

Pride FC: Shockwave 2003^[6] was an event held on December 31, 2003, at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.

Results

Main Card
Weight class				Method	Round	Time	Notes
	Antônio Rogério Nogueira	def.	Kazushi Sakuraba	Decision (Unanimous)	3	5:00
	Kiyoshi Tamura	def.	Rony Sefo	Submission (Armbar)	1	2:20
	Yuki Kondo	def.	Mario Sperry	TKO (Doctor Stoppage)	1	3:27
	Daniel Gracie	def.	Wataru Sakata	Submission (Armbar)	1	7:12
	Gary Goodridge	def.	Don Frye	KO (Head Kick)	1	0:39
	Royce Gracie	vs.	Hidehiko Yoshida	Draw	2	10:00
	Murilo Rua	def.	Akira Shoji	KO (Flying Knee)	1	2:24
	Hayato Sakurai	def.	Daiju Takase	Decision (Unanimous)	3	5:00
	Heath Herring	def.	Paulo Cesar Silva	Submission (Rear-Naked Choke)	3	0:35
	Quinton Jackson	def.	Ikuhisa Minowa	TKO (Punches)	2	1:05

See also

• Pride Fighting Championships
• List of Pride Fighting Championships champions
• List of Pride Fighting events