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PRIDE FIGHTING CHAMPIONSHIPS ARE OVER?
Tokyo, Japan-If you are a "real" fight fan, then you have to be saddened by the fact that the “Pride Fighting Championships” have apparently run its course. A Mixed Martial Arts/Kick Boxing organization headquartered in Japan, Pride is embroiled in scandal. It appears that the Fuji TV Network, the primary backer of Pride Fighting, which is fought in a boxing ring, decided in May to absolve itself from Pride because of the apparent involvement of Japanese Organized Crime, AKA the Yakuza.
“WEEKLY GANDAI” HAS “RING TALK” STONES
Hardly reported in Japan, "Pride Fighting" is the top organization in the Orient. This story is surely one that will impact Pride fights in the United States, where it has enjoyed success both in live gates, as well as on pay per view. “Weekly Gandai,” a Japanese fight magazine has said in a series of articles that the Yakuza had threatened the lives of Pride executive Seiya Kawamata’s family. The series, reported on in detail by Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter, claims that the influential head of Dream Stage Entertainment, the firm that runs Pride, Nobuyuki Sakakibara, is nothing more than a Mafia front man!
STORIES CONTINUED EVEN AFTER LAWSUIT!
Both Sakakibara and Pride have filed a Libel suit against Weekly Gandai, and yet the magazine has continued to run the “Yakuza-Pride” stories in subsequent weeks. In other words the story has merit, and the relationship between Pride Fighting and the Yakuza apparently exists. Pride Fights in the United States may continue, at least with what is already scheduled. But unless Pride can regain some Network TV backing in Japan, and that appears highly unlikely in the current climate, Pride Fighting is done!
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