Gary Goodridge (877) vs. Dan Bobish (-195)

It took only 18 seconds for Goodridge to blast Bobish out of the ring. During that short period of time, Bobish failed to register a single significant strike. This fight was a bounce back fight for Goodridge after he dropped his last bout to Fedor Emelianenko. He won five of his next six bouts over some professional wrestlers, kickboxers and giants. However, after that the wheels came off and his finished his MMA run with eight-straight losses.

2003 Pride Middleweight Grand Prix Tournament Semifinal

Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (631) vs. Chuck Liddell (-133)

This fight remains one of the biggest “what ifs” in MMA history. We will never know what could have happened if Liddell stuck to Dana White’s gameplan (This is a snarky joke). “Rampage” put on one of the best performances of his career as he landed 64 percent of his significant strikes at a 7.92 SLpM clip. With the victory, he moved on to the finals of the tournament against the winner of the Wanderlei Silva vs. Hidehiko Yoshida fight. Liddell recovered nicely with seven-straight victories that cemented his status as one of the best light heavyweights in UFC history. Of course, that run came to an end with another loss to “Rampage” in 2007.

2003 Pride Middleweight Grand Prix Tournament Semifinal

Wanderlei Silva (468) vs. Hidehiko Yoshida (-11)

Silva successfully defended three out of five takedown attempts. However, Yoshida was still able to close the distance and make it a clinch fight. The lack of distance fighting held Silva to only 1.93 SLpM. He was still the vastly superior striker as he outlanded Yoshida 29 to 7 over the course of the 15-minute fight.

Dan Henderson (659) vs. Murilo Bustamante (-133)

Bustamante followed in the footsteps of Bobish and failed to land a single strike. Henderson delivered his patented H-bomb in only 53 seconds, and there really isn’t much more to say about this one. After only one knockout in his first 10 fights, Henderson has scored knockout finishes in 41 percent of his next 34 bouts.

Heath Herring (338) vs. Yoshihisa Yamamoto (-1)

Fights like this will make you nostalgic for Pride booking. At the time, Yamamoto had spent the majority of his career in Rings. He was only 2-4 in Pride and one of those victories was an injury TKO over a professional wrestler nicknamed after Abdullah the Butcher. Herring needed a victory as he was coming off back-to-back losses to two of Pride’s heavyweight big three, Fedor Emelianenko and Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic. The promotion was happy to do anything to help Herring get said win. “The Texas Crazy Horse” did his part as he landed 70 percent of his significant strike attempts and absorbed only 19 significant strikes over the 17-plus minute fight.

Kazushi Sakuraba (55) vs. Kevin Randleman (205)

As the StrikeScore indicates, Sakuraba was not very successful striking with the former UFC champion. However, as he was known to do, the “IQ Wrestler” was able to finish the fight with a submission. The StrikeScore differential here is a sign that three battles with Silva and other openweight fights were taking a toll on Sakuraba.

Interim Pride Heavyweight Championship

Antonio Rodrigo “Mionotauro” Nogueira (13) vs. Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic (288)

As expected, Nogueira struggled against “Cro Cop” on the feet. However, he only needed one takedown and one submission attempt to finish the fight with an armbar from the top. The contrast of styles resulted in one of the best fights in Pride history.

2003 Pride Middleweight Grand Prix Tournament Final

Wanderlei Silva (349) vs. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (-81)

Jackson tried to employ a strategy similar to Yoshida. He was able to get a takedown early, and he was able to close the distance to the clinch. However, he could not land anything devastating from the top, and he could not prevent damage in the clinch. Silva expertly decimated “Rampage” with knees from the clinch and soccer kicks. Of his 29 significant strikes landed, 23 came in the clinch.