Pride Shockwave
| Company type | Pay-per-view event |
|---|---|
| Industry | Mixed martial arts, Kickboxing |
| Founded | August 28, 2002 |
| Headquarters | Tokyo , Japan |
Area served | International |
Pride Shockwave refers to the international pay-per-view event combining mixed martial arts and kickboxing, jointly organized by PRIDE FC and K-1 on August 28, 2002, at Tokyo National Stadium. The event's formal designation was Dynamite!! Biggest Mixed Martial Arts World Cup - Summer Night Fever in the National Stadium, often shortened to Dynamite!!'
Drawing an audience reportedly numbering 91,107 (with some accounts suggesting approximately 71,000), it stands as the record-holder for the largest live attendance at an MMA event. The occasion commenced with a grand ceremony featuring Antonio Inoki parachuting into the venue and partnering with Hélio Gracie to ignite a ceremonial flame, underscoring the sport’s rich tradition.
Among the bouts was a distinctive "freak show fight" pitting 223-pound Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira against 350-pound Bob Sapp under modified rules prohibiting knee strikes on the ground to mitigate disparities in size. Despite enduring an early piledriver and powerful strikes from Sapp, Nogueira maintained a strong defense throughout 19 minutes and ultimately won via armbar submission in the second round. Another key contest was a special-rules encounter between Hidehiko Yoshida and Royce Gracie, both competing in keikogis with restricted striking permitted. Marketed as a sequel to the legendary Masahiko Kimura versus Hélio Gracie matchup, this fight concluded controversially when Yoshida applied a sode guruma jime ("Ezekiel") choke. The referee stopped the match, awarding Yoshida a knockout victory under the impression that Gracie had lost consciousness; however, Gracie contested this decision and sought either a rematch or a draw, which escalated into an altercation between their respective teams.
See also
- Pride Fighting Championships
- List of Pride Fighting Championships champions
- List of Pride Fighting events
- 2002 in Pride FC
- List of K-1 events
- K-1 PREMIUM Dynamite!!