Nobuhiko Takada is stripped to his underwear, banging on an oversized drum. Lenne Hardt (LENNE HARDT!) is screaming fighters’ names into a microphone; some I still recognise, some completely unknown to me.

It is 29th December 2015, but as the drum beat segues into the old PRIDE theme music (Pride, by Yasuharu Takanashi), it may as well be 2003.

As the event unfolds, nostalgia continues to permeate – and not always in a good way. Seeing Kazushi Sakuraba bludgeoned by Shinya Aoki brings back harrowing memories of when Wanderlei Silva violently knocked him out at the PRIDE Total Elmination event 12 years ago.

As well as the unnecessary (if sadly familiar) beating of an MMA legend, is the announcement that (semi)retired K-1 legend Peter Aerts will step in (on two day’s notice, by the way) to fight an Estonian Sumo wrestler. Only in Japan, eh? There are also 11 first round finishes, no elbows on the ground and soccer kicks aplenty.

The event as a whole was at once terrifying and ridiculous, and yet utterly enthralling, too. Actually, describing it as an event does Rizin FF 1 a disservice: it was an experience only Japanese MMA could provide.

For all the quality fights in an average UFC event, it will never live up to the spectacle of a Japanese New Year’s show. And, while the level of the fighters on display may have been lacking as a whole, Rizin’s first event still delivered in terms of action.

No awful “Face the pain!” music intro, no tired analysis of fighters and their records, no endless spamming of Bud Light promotional material, and no horrible Reebok kits anywhere to be found. Sadly, there was also an alarming lack of concern for fighter safety, a characteristically laissez-faire attitude to any kind of fair matchmaking, and ultimately (as has often been the case with Japanese New Year events) a show that simply went on a bit too long.

But none of that mattered. Rizin’s first show was a success purely on its own terms. It had moments of sadness as well as hilarity, but above all else, Rizin FF 1 was fun.

It was this fun aspect of the show that made me want to write something about MMA for the first time in years – and dust off my collection of old PRIDE DVDs, too.

Those who know me will know I have fallen out of love with the sport in recent years, and that while the quality of the UFC’s roster is unquestionable, I find the product as a whole stale.

Rizin FF 1 was far from perfect, but at its best it reminded me of the things I most love about the sport. Spectacle and hilarity will always have a place in MMA; whether those things are consigned to the sport’s past, or have a place in its present and future as well, may be very much down to Rizin themselves.

Above all, Rizin FF 1 reminded me of MMA’s most important truism: PRIDE never die.

Written by Jack Barrington