Pride Grand Prix 2000 Finals
The Pride Grand Prix 2000 Finals was a mixed martial arts event held by the Pride Fighting Championships. It took place at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan on May 1, 2000. The event concluded the Pride open-weight tournament of 2000. It is famous for containing one of the most anticipated matches in mixed martial arts history, Royce Gracie vs. Kazushi Sakuraba.
Results
Quarterfinals
Gary Goodridge vs. Igor Vovchanchyn
- Vovchanchyn defeated Goodridge by TKO at 10:14 into Round 1.
Royce Gracie vs. Kazushi Sakuraba
- Sakuraba defeated Royce Gracie by TKO (Corner Stoppage) after 90 minutes of fighting. The rules were modified for this bout so that the number of rounds was unlimited and there were no referee stoppages. After the sixth 15-minute round, Royce could no longer continue due to damage to his legs. His corner threw in the towel. This marked the first loss of Royce Gracie.
Mark Coleman vs. Akira Shoji
- Coleman defeated Shoji by judge's decision.
Kazuyuki Fujita vs. Mark Kerr
- Fujita defeated Kerr by judge's decision.
Non-Tournament Bout
Guy Mezger vs. Masaaki Satake
- Mezger defeated Satake by judge's decision.
Semifinals
Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Igor Vovchanchyn
- Vovchanchyn defeated Sakuraba by TKO (forfeit) at the end of Round 1. Sakuraba held his own with Vovchanchyn, despite his extended fight earlier in the night. Exhaustion ultimately got the best of Sakuraba, and his corner threw in the towel after Round 1 was completed and called draw. His final total for the night was 115 minutes of fighting.
Mark Coleman vs. Kazuyuki Fujita
- Coleman defeated Fujita by TKO (forfeit). Suffering from injuries from his previous fight with Kerr, Fujita's corner threw in the towel immediately, effectively giving Coleman a bye into the finals.
Superfight
Alexander Otsuka vs. Ken Shamrock
- Shamrock defeated Otsuka by TKO, 9:43 into the first round. The referee stopped the fight as Otsuka was succumbing to Shamrock's punches.
Finals
Mark Coleman vs. Igor Vovchanchyn
- Coleman defeated Vovchanchyn by submission, 3:09 into Round 2. Vovchanchyn tapped out as Coleman was delivering several knee strikes to his head. With his victory, Mark Coleman won the Pride Grand Prix championship and a $200,000 prize. It completed Coleman's comeback as a top fighter.
Pride 2000 Grand Prix Bracket
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Opening Round |
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Quarter-finals |
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Semi-finals |
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Final |
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Royce Gracie |
DEC |
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Nobuhiko Takada |
15:00 |
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Royce Gracie |
90:00 |
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Kazushi Sakuraba |
TKO |
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Kazushi Sakuraba |
FOR |
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Guy Mezger |
15:00 |
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Kazushi Sakuraba |
10:00 |
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Igor Vovchanchyn |
TKO |
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Igor Vovchanchyn |
DEC |
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Alexander Otsuka |
15:00 |
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Igor Vovchanchyn |
TKO |
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Gary Goodridge |
10:14 |
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Gary Goodridge |
SUB |
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Osamu Tachihikari |
0:51 |
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Igor Vovchanchyn |
3:09 |
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Mark Coleman |
SUB |
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Mark Coleman |
SUB |
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Masaaki Satake |
1:14 |
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Mark Coleman |
DEC |
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Akira Shoji |
15:00 |
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Akira Shoji |
DEC |
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Ebenezer Fontes Braga |
15:00 |
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Mark Coleman |
TKO |
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Kazuyuki Fujita |
FOR |
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Mark Kerr |
DEC |
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Enson Inoue |
15:00 |
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Mark Kerr |
15:00 |
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Kazuyuki Fujita |
DEC |
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Kazuyuki Fujita |
SUB |
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Hans Nijman |
2:48 |
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References
See also