duke09

i think that quite a few excellent points have been made here, including pay, exposure, and the like.

i also think that the rules have a great deal to do with the differences between the 2 orgs.

pride rules allow stomping/kneeing a downed opponent, whereas ufc doeant. that said, i think that certain fighting styles are, to some degree, sterilized by the ufc rules. chute box fighters, for example, may simply fing that the rules better suite their styles. therefor, we see different fighters (i am not willing to say that pride, on the while, has better talent, except maybe in a few divisions)

another factor that has to be mentioned is the cultures of japan and North america. here, there has always been a sense, especially in the early days, that fighting like this was barbaric, cartoony, and was better suited to empties out parking lost or garages, not in the main stream media. in japan, the fight game didnt have this sort of cartoonish stereotype. in my opinion, this may explain the difference in paydays, the difference in fighters, and the difference in talent.

eitherway, sherdog or mma weekly (i forget which one) had an excellent article about this when pride was fighting on american soil for the first time.

i also find it interesting taht fighters ma stagnate here and move to pride to refresh their careers. look at wandy, belfort, don frye, barrnett and coleman, randleman, and countless others who may have tried to breathe new life into their careers and simply opted to stay there. then, once you have some recognizable talent, others may gravitate towards them.

o dunno, just a few hypotheses...