September 11, 2006 Observer Newsletter: Pride Grand Prix, WWE

No matter what the future holds for the Pride Fighting Championships, on paper, the finals of the Open Weight Grand Prix tournament on 9/10 from the Saitama Super Arena is the most impressive four-man final in history.

If you were to pick the four greatest fighters in the history of Pride, they would be Fedor Emelianenko, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Mirko Cro Cop and Wanderlei Silva. They wouldn’t be the four biggest stars, although they would be among the four biggest stars. But they are the four best proven fighters. Emelianenko didn’t participate in the tournament due to surgery on his finger, but will almost surely be defending his heavyweight championship against the winner. The other three not only are in the tournament, but made it all the way to the finals, where they are joined by Josh Barnett.

What makes this final four so intriguing is that any one of the four could win, and it is almost impossible to favor anyone definitively in any match-up. 

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