1997 in Pride FC

Pride Fighting Championships

Company type	Mixed martial arts promotion
Industry	Mixed martial arts
Founded	1997
Headquarters	Tokyo , Japan
Area served	Japan
Products	Mixed martial arts events

The year 1997 signified the launch of the Pride Fighting Championships, a mixed martial arts organization based in Japan. During this initial year, only a single event, titled Pride 1, took place.

First-time Competitors at Pride FC

Since 1997 was Pride FC’s inaugural year, every fighter who participated made their first appearance under this promotion.

• Akira Shoji
• Branko Cikatic
• Dan Severn
• Gary Goodridge
• John Dixson

• Kazunari Murakami
• Kimo Leopoldo
• Koji Kitao
• Nathan Jones
• Nobuhiko Takada

• Oleg Taktarov
• Ralph White
• Renzo Gracie
• Rickson Gracie

Event Overview

#	Event	Japanese name	Date held	Venue	City	Attendance
1	Pride 1	—	REDIRECT Template:Date table sorting	Tokyo Dome	Tokyo, Japan	47,000

Pride 1 Event Details

Held on October 11, 1997, at the Tokyo Dome, Pride 1 marked the first event of the promotion. In addition to MMA contests, the card included a kickboxing bout featuring K-1 Grand Prix Champion Branko Cikatić facing Ralph White. English commentary was delivered by Stephen Quadros alongside Bas Rutten.

Fight Outcomes

{{MMAevent bout | | Rickson Gracie | def. | Nobuhiko Takada | Submission (armbar) | 1 | 4:47 |} {{MMAevent bout | | Kimo Leopoldo | vs. | Dan Severn | Draw (time expired) | 1 | 30:00 |} {{MMAevent bout | | Igor Meindert | vs. | Hiroki Kurosawa | TKO (Referee stoppage) | 3 | 1:16 |} {{MMAevent bout | | Branko Cikatic | vs. | Ralph White | No Contest | 1 | 1:52 |} {{MMAevent bout |

| Koji Kitao
| def.
| Nathan Jones 
| Submission (keylock)
| 1
| 2:14

|} {{MMAevent bout |

| Renzo Gracie
| vs.
| Akira Shoji
| Draw (time expired)
| 3
| 10:00

|} {{MMAevent bout |

| Gary Goodridge
| def.
| Oleg Taktarov
| KO (punch)
| 1
| 4:57

|} {{MMAevent bout |

| Kazunari Murakami
| def.
| John Dixson
| Submission (armbar)
| 1
| 1:34

|}

Related Articles

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