Pride 33 Explained

Pride 33
Promotion:Pride Fighting Championships
Date:February 24, 2007
City:Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Attendance:12,911 (8,334 paid)[1]
Gate:$2,033,098
Previousevent:Pride Shockwave 2006
Followingevent:Pride 34

Pride 33: The Second Coming[2] was a mixed martial arts event held by Pride Fighting Championships on February 24, 2007 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Background

In the night's main event, the welterweight champion Dan Henderson knocked out Pride Middleweight Champion Wanderlei Silva to become the new middleweight champion.[3] This victory by Henderson avenged an earlier loss to Silva after their first encounter in 2000 at Pride 12 - Cold Fury, with Silva winning that fight in a three-round unanimous decision.[4]

A fight between Sergei Kharitonov and Gilbert Yvel was submitted for approval by the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC). However, the fight did not take place after Yvel was denied a fighter's license by the NSAC based on a history of disqualification from multiple fights, most notably, his infamous attack on a referee.[5] Kharitonov instead fought Mike Russow defeating him with an armbar.[6]

A fight between Wes Sims and Kazuyuki Fujita was proposed but the NSAC turned it down due to competitive reasons—the fighters were at unequal experience/talent levels. After that a Wes Sims-Mark Hunt fight was turned down as well. The NSAC confirmed that Fujita would not be fighting anyone on the Pride 33 card as the deadline for receiving the medical records of fighters over the age of 35 (Fujita was 36) had passed (they must be submitted one week before the show so they can be properly reviewed and cleared).[7]

Travis Wiuff's original opponent, Kazuhiro Nakamura, did not fight due to a knee injury.

Nick Diaz defeated Takanori Gomi in a non-title fight via Gogoplata. The victory was later ruled a No Contest due to a failed drug test (Cannabis) from Diaz.

The pay-per-view retailed for $34.99 and was announced by Lon McEachern, Frank Trigg, and Josh Barnett.

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Pride: The Second Coming Attendance Breakdown . Ivan Trembow . mmaweekly.com . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20070303064712/http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/templates/dailynews.asp?articleid=3515&zoneid=13 . 2007-03-03.
  2. Web site: Pride official site. January 3, 2007. 2007. Pride. Japanese. https://web.archive.org/web/20070101065153/http://www.prideofficial.com/free/ticket/pride33.html. January 1, 2007. dead.
  3. Web site: Pride 33: Silva vs. Henderson. January 7, 2007. January 7, 2007. The Fight Game.
  4. Web site: Fight Finder – Pride 12. January 7, 2007. Sherdog. https://web.archive.org/web/20070105121006/http://www.sherdog.com/fightfinder/fightfinder.asp?search=yes&EventID=6. January 5, 2007. dead.
  5. Web site: License To Fight: Busy Morning For The NSAC. February 13, 2007. February 16, 2006. Sherdog.
  6. Web site: Kharitonov vs. Russow; Nakamura Out. Mendoza. Ricardo. February 21, 2007. February 21, 2007. MMA Weekly. https://web.archive.org/web/20070224105455/http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/templates/dailynews.asp?articleid=3473&zoneid=13. February 24, 2007. dead.
  7. Web site: In Depth Coverage: Hearings for Randleman, Yvel, Alves, Toughill and Carvahlo. Trembow. Ivan. February 16, 2007. February 16, 2007. MMA Weekly. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20070227203622/http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/templates/dailynews.asp?articleid=3452&zoneid=13. February 27, 2007.