Former Pride Fighting Championships standout Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (32-9) takes on Ryan Bader (13-2) on the main card of UFC 144: Edgar vs Henderson, slated for Feb. 25 in Tokyo, Japan.
According to a Yahoo! Sports report, the UFC 144 card now also includes a tilt between Eiji Mitsuoka and former Pride fighter Takanori Gomi.
Close to five years has passed since Ultimate Fighting Championship owners Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta III purchased Pride, which resulted in several of the league’s top stars making the transition from MMA fighting in a ring, to battling it out inside a caged octagon. Some fighters made the switch without issue, while others failed to make the adjustment.
Ranked from worst to first, here’s a look at the winners and losers of the Pride-UFC crossover:
10) Takanori Gomi
Gomi hasn’t lived up to the hype since coming to the UFC in 2010. In his defense, the league didn’t throw him any easy opponents to warm up and get settled in, as he took on the always tough Kenny Florian in 2010 before earning his first UFC win with a knockout of Tyson Griffin towards the end of that year. Gomi will be looking to snap a two-fight losing skid when he takes on Eiji Mitsuoka at UFC 144.
9) Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic
Cro Cop was heavily hyped by the UFC prior to his first fight in the organization against Eddie Sanchez in 2007, but it was mostly all downhill from there. He finished 4-6 in the UFC, with losses to almost every elite contender he went up against. Cro Cop also earned a place on the all-time UFC highlight-reel knockouts list after coming up on the wrong side of
