The Pride Fighting Paper Champions

A Championship Belt is the symbol of the best fighter in the organization by division. For all the negativity the UFC has received, Dana White has done a wonderful job at making sure the UFC Champions are the best fighters (in the UFC) in their respective weight class. With the exception of the Matt Lindland fiasco a few years ago, every single fighter who deserves a title shot has been given one if they continue to beat their opponents. Sadly, the same thing can't be said about the Pride "Champions".

PRIDE HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE

• Pride Heavyweight Champion: Fedor Emelianenko
• Pride 2006 Absolute Grand Prix Champion: Mirko Filipovic
  

This is Pride's only legitimate champion. He is the best Heavyweight in the world. His name is Fedor Emelianenko. Sadly, he might not be in Pride in 2007. And for Fedor fans, his lack of a meaningful opponents is not good. Here is the scorecard:

• Mirko Filipovic (8/28/05) - The last meaningful opponent for Fedor.
• Zulu (12/31/05) - Scrub.
• Mark Coleman (10/21/06) - Washed Up.
  
• Mark Hunt (12/31/06) - Hunt isn't even Top 5 in Pride.
  
• Jeff Monson (3/3/07) - Taking place for Bodog Fight.
  

Fedor's next contest after the Monson fight will probably not take place until at least June '07. That will make at least a 22-Month gap between Top Level Opponents. And that is IF he actually fights a legit contender in June '07.


PRIDE MIDDLEWEIGHT TITLE

• Pride Middleweight Champion: Wanderlei Silva
• Pride Lineal Middleweight Champion: Mauricio Rua
• Pride 2005 Middleweight Grand Prix Champion: Mauricio Rua
  

The splintering of this division was created on August 28, 2005. On this night, Ricardo Arona defeated Wanderlei Silva (non-title) in the Semi-Finals of the Grand Prix Tournament. Later that night, Mauricio Rua defeated Ricardo Arona to become the 2006 Middleweight Grand Prix Champion.

In the 15 months that have passes since that night, Pride has showcased exactly one fight in an attempt to unfracture the division. This fight happened nearly one year ago at Shockwave '05 when Wanderlei Silva defeated Ricardo Arona in a Championship Fight by split decision. The year 2006 has seen no attempt to rectify the problems in the division. Wanderlei Silva was busy fighting Heavyweights. Ricardo Arona only had one fight against Alistair Overeem. And the real champion of the division, Mauricio Rua, got injured at Heavyweight and then beat two non-Top 20 "contenders".

Sadly, the issues in this division will have to wait even longer. Wanderlei Silva is not scheduled to defend his title until the next Pride USA show on February 23, 2007. No opponent has been announced yet.


PRIDE WELTERWEIGHT TITLE

• Pride Welterweight Champion: Dan Henderson
• Pride Lineal Welterweight Champion: Paulo Filho
• Pride 2006 Welterweight Grand Prix Champion: Kazuo Misaki
  

Shockwave 2005 unified the Welterweight Division and gave fans the first Pride Welterweight Champion. In 2006, we saw the unraveling of the division and a fractured title picture. Here is a quick scorecare:

• Dan Henderson vs. Kazuo Misaki 1 - Dan Henderson wins.
  
• Dan Henderson vs. Kazuo Misaki 2 - Kazuo Misaki wins in a Non-Title tournament bout.
  
• Paulo Filho vs. Kazuo Misaki - Paulo Filho dominates Kazuo Misaki.
• Paulo Filho - Cannot continue in the tournament.
  
• Kazuo Misaki vs. Denis Kang - Misaki, who lost earlier in the day, defeated a hurt (and game) Denis Kang to win the 2006 Grand Prix.
  

Now we have Dan Henderson & Kazuo Misaki with championship belts. And the #1 Pride Welterweight, Paulo Filho, without one.

Pride's ability to bring a true champion to this division is very simple. Dan Henderson fights Kazuo Misaki in the 3rd encounter for the Welterweight Championship. Paulo Filho fights Denis Kang to determine the #1 Contender. The winners of these two fights compete for the championship to determine the best in Pride at 183 lbs. With Denis Kang taking off the rest of the year due to injury, this formula would have to wait until 2007.


PRIDE LIGHTWEIGHT TITLE

• Pride Lightweight Champion: Takanori Gomi
• Pride Lineal Lightweight Champion: Mitsuhiro Ishida
  

Takanori Gomi ended 2005 as the Pride Lightweight Champion. He started off 2006 being choked out in a non-title fight against Marcus Aurelio. To make things more complicated, Aurelio lost his next fight to Mitsuhiro Ishida. Despite coming off a loss, Marcus Aurelio was given a title shot against Takanori Gomi. In a rather boring (and very close) contest, Takanori Gomi retained the Lightweight Championship.

As a fan, the equation becomes very easy. Let Gomi (Champion) fight Ishida (Lineal) for the title and everything will be good. A few days ago, Pride announced the Gomi vs. Ishida fight. Only one problem. IT ISN'T FOR THE TITLE. If Ishida wins, this will only complicate the division even more. And what about Aurelio? He deserves a rubber match with Gomi at some point as well.

FINAL THOUGHT

With the exception of Fedor Emelianenko, who hasn't defended his title for over 15 months, each Pride champion is a paper champion. The fanboys will defend Pride . However, an object fan will notice that these matchmaking practices make the sport of boxing look credible.