Tag: Gregor Gracie

Quintet Ultra: Team PRIDE looking forward to post-match drinks to ‘bring back PRIDE the right way’

Team captain Kazushi Sakuraba has his sights set on victory, celebration at Quintet Ultra.

LAS VEGAS – PRIDE never die.

Thursday night at Quintet Ultra, five of PRIDE’s most notable veterans will compete against teams representing the UFC, WEC, and Strikeforce.

The openweight elimination challenge takes place at Red Rock Casino Resort in Las Vegas and streams on UFC Fight Pass.

PRIDE’s team is comprised of UFC Hall of Famer and team captain [autotag]Kazushi Sakuraba[/autotag], lightweight champ [autotag]Takanori Gomi[/autotag], esteemed Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt [autotag]Gregor Gracie[/autotag], former Bellator middleweight champ [autotag]Hector Lombard[/autotag] and lightweight [autotag]Yves Edwards[/autotag].

Wednesday, the five PRIDE alumni reunited for a media scrum with MMA Junkie. Team captain Sakuraba spoke on the growth of Quintet, his competing future, his PRIDE nostalgia and more.

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Roster orders are selected by each team behind closed doors and submitted simultaneously. Not knowing the orders of other quintets, each team will have to stick to its order if members of its team get eliminated.

In addition to the team competition, Quintet Ultra will feature singles matches. Gordon Ryan meets Aleksei Oleinik, while Cynthia Calvillo – who replaces a previously announced Pearl Gonzalez – takes on Danielle Kelly. A prelims single match between Craig Jones and Fredson Paixao also is set.

Check out MMA Junkie’s full pre-match scrum with Team PRIDE in the video above.

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Quintet Ultra lineups set, include Sean O’Malley vs. Takanori Gomi, Chad Mendes vs. ‘JZ’ Cavalcante

The lineups are set for Thursday’s Quintet Ultra team grappling event, and the opening matchups include a few intriguing contests.

The lineups are set for Thursday’s Quintet Ultra team grappling event, and the opening matchups include a few intriguing contests.

Weigh-ins for the event took place Wednesday at Red Rock Casino Resort in Las Vegas, with each five-member team expected to weigh-in under 950 pounds combined. That didn’t prove an issue, with Team WEC registering 947.2 pounds, Team Strikeforce just behind at 946.6 pounds, Team UFC at 942.2 pounds and Team PRIDE the smallest at 936.6 pounds.

Featuring a unique 5-on-5 team grappling concept where the winning grappler of each match stays on the mat, Quintet Ultra takes place Thursday at the same venue and streams live on UFC Fight Pass.

In the opening round of the tournament, Team UFC takes on Team PRIDE, while Team WEC vs. Team Strikeforce.

Team UFC will send out fast-rising bantamweight prospect [autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag] as their first representative, while Team PRIDE counters with former PRIDE lightweight champ [autotag]Takanori Gomi[/autotag].

On the other side of the bracket, Team WEC is starting with three-time UFC title challenger [autotag]Chad Mendes[/autotag], while Team Strikeforce opens with two-time K-1 HERO’s middleweight grand prix champion and former Titan FC lightweight champ [autotag]Gesias Cavalcante[/autotag], the man best known as “JZ.”

In each match, the winning grappler stays on to take on the next representative from the opposing team. In case of a draw, both fighters are eliminated.

The two winning teams from the opening round matchups meet in the finals to close out the night.

Full team orders include:

TEAM UFC

1. Sean O’Malley
2. [autotag]Anthony Johnson[/autotag]
3. [autotag]Clay Guida[/autotag]
4. [autotag]Anthony Smith[/autotag] (captain)
5. [autotag]Gilbert Burns[/autotag]

vs.

TEAM PRIDE

1. Takanori Gomi
2. [autotag]Hector Lombard[/autotag]
3. [autotag]Gregor Gracie[/autotag]
4. [autotag]Yves Edwards[/autotag]
5. [autotag]Kazushi Sakuraba[/autotag] (captain)

TEAM WEC

1. Chad Mendes (captain)
2. [autotag]Mark Munoz[/autotag]
3. [autotag]Cub Swanson[/autotag]
4. [autotag]Glover Teixeira[/autotag]
5. [autotag]James Krause[/autotag]

vs.

TEAM STRIKEFORCE

1. Gesias “JZ” Cavalcante
2. [autotag]Jake Shields[/autotag]
3. [autotag]Muhammed Lawal[/autotag]
4. [autotag]Gilbert Melendez[/autotag] (captain)
5. [autotag]Renato Sobral[/autotag]

Quintet Ultra: Full UFC, PRIDE, WEC, Strikeforce rosters revealed ahead of Thursday’s event

UFC vs. PRIDE vs. WEC vs. Strikeforce? The full rosters have been announced for Thursday’s event.

Who would have won a team battle between the UFC, PRIDE, WEC, and Strikeforce? Quintet is hopping in a time machine to take fans back to an era when this question could be answered.

On Thursday, one of the world’s most unique grappling tournaments will return with Quintet Ultra. The openweight elimination challenge takes place at Red Rock Casino Resort in Las Vegas and streams on UFC Fight Pass.

The event will see four teams compromised of five fighters – each team tied to a respective promotion. On Monday, full rosters and first-round team pairings were announced, with Team UFC taking on Team PRIDE and Team WEC vs. Team Strikeforce.

The teams are as follows:

Team UFC

  • [autotag]Anthony Smith[/autotag] (captain): former UFC light heavyweight title challenger, current UFC light heavyweight contender, WSOF veteran
  • [autotag]Anthony Johnson[/autotag]: former UFC light heavyweight title challenger
  • [autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag]: Dana White’s Contender Series signee, undefeated UFC bantamweight
  • [autotag]Clay Guida[/autotag]: 29-fight UFC veteran, current UFC lightweight
  • [autotag]Gilbert Burns[/autotag]: current UFC lightweight/welterweight, second-degree black belt

Team PRIDE

  • [autotag]Kazushi Sakuraba[/autotag] (captain): UFC Hall of Famer, competed in 27 fights under the PRIDE banner, UFC Japan heavyweight tournament winner
  • [autotag]Takanori Gomi[/autotag]: PRIDE lightweight champion, Pride 2005 lightweight grand prix winner, UFC veteran
  • [autotag]Gregor Gracie[/autotag]: grappling world champion, ONE FC veteran, member of the storied Gracie family
  • [autotag]Hector Lombard[/autotag]: former Bellator middleweight champion, Bellator Season 1 middleweight tournament winner, international judo federation gold medalist
  • [autotag]Yves Edwards[/autotag]: three-time PRIDE competitor, UFC and Strikeforce veteran, current PFL commentator

Team WEC

  • [autotag]Chad Mendes[/autotag] (captain): two-time UFC featherweight title challenger, most knockouts in UFC featherweight history (tied with Conor McGregor), two-time NCAA Division 1 All American
  • [autotag]Glover Teixeira[/autotag]: former UFC light heavyweight title challenger, current UFC light heavyweight contender, most submission victories in UFC light heavyweight history (tied with Jon Jones)
  • [autotag]Mark Munoz[/autotag]: two-time WEC competitor, 15-time UFC competitor, two-time NCAA division 1 All American
  • [autotag]Cub Swanson[/autotag]: former UFC featherweight title challenger, former WEC title challenger, 11-time UFC/WEC bonus winner
  • [autotag]James Krause[/autotag]: two-time WEC competitor, current UFC welterweight, currently riding a six-fight win streak

Team Strikeforce

  • [autotag]Gilbert Melendez[/autotag]: WEC lightweight champion, Strikeforce lightweight champion, UFC lightweight title challenger
  • [autotag]Jake Shields[/autotag]: Strikeforce middleweight champion, Elite XC welterweight champion, former UFC welterweight title challenger
  • [autotag]Muhammed Lawal[/autotag]: Strikeforce light heavyweight champion, Bellator 2013 “Summer Series” light heavyweight tournament champion, Bellator season 10 light heavyweight tournament finalist
  • [autotag]Gesias Cavalcante[/autotag]: two-time K-1 HERO’s middleweight grand prix champion, former Titan FC lightweight champion
  • [autotag]Renato Sobral[/autotag]: Strikeforce light heavyweight champion, former UFC light heavyweight title challenger

In addition to the team competition, Quintet Ultra will feature singles matches. [autotag]Gordon Ryan[/autotag] meets [autotag]Aleksei Oleinik[/autotag], while Cynthia Calvillo takes on [autotag]Danielle Kelly[/autotag]. A prelims single match between [autotag]Craig Jones[/autotag] and [autotag]Fredson Paixio[/autotag] also is set.

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Quintet Ultra adds ‘King Mo’ to Strikeforce, Gregor Gracie for PRIDE, Pearl Gonzalez superfight, more

The roster for next month’s ambitious Quintet Ultra continues to fill, and four new team participants have been booked.

The roster for next month’s ambitious Quintet Ultra continues to fill, and four new team participants have been booked, along with three “superfight singles” matches.

Featuring a unique 5-on-5 team grappling event, Quintet Ultra takes place Dec. 12 at Red Rock Casino in Las Vegas and streams live on UFC Fight Pass. While the events often feature big-name mixed martial artists, Quintet Ultra will see teams representing the biggest promotions in MMA history face off with Team UFC, Team Strikeforce, Team WEC and Team PRIDE.

MMA Junkie today learned from Quintet officials that four new fighters have agreed to compete at the event, with current welterweight contender [autotag]Gilbert Burns[/autotag] joining team UFC, former light heavyweight champion [autotag]Muhammed Lawal[/autotag] added to Team Strikeforce, 15-year veteran [autotag]Cub Swanson[/autotag] repping Team WEC and submission ace [autotag]Gregor Gracie[/autotag] joining Team PRIDE.

Quintet founder, MMA legend Kazushi Sakuraba, said he was thrilled to announce all of the additions, but as a former Gracie hunter was now happy to have a member of MMA’s founding family on his side.

“You can’t have PRIDE without Gracie,” Sakuraba said. “I’m very happy to welcome one of the new generation of Gracie fighters to the team. Gregor has fought in Quintet, and he always goes for the win, so he’s a great addition. Hopefully he’ll make things easier for this old man!”

In addition to the team competition, three singles matches were announced, with some notable names in both the MMA and grappling world, with [autotag]Craig Jones[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Fredson Paixao[/autotag] and [autotag]Pearl Gonzalez[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Danielle Kelly[/autotag] joining a previously announced matchup of Gordon Ryan vs. Aleksei Oleinik.

More details on participating grapplers and team rosters will be revealed in the weeks to come. The card will stream live at 10 p.m. ET on UFC Fight Pass.

The current Quintet Ultra lineup includes:

TEAM UFC

  • Anthony Johnson (captain)
  • Sean O’Malley
  • Gilbert Burns

TEAM STRIKEFORCE

  • Gilbert Melendez
  • Jake Shields
  • Muhammed Lawal

TEAM WEC

  • Chad Mendes (captain)
  • Glover Teixeira
  • Cub Swanson

TEAM PRIDE

  • Kazushi Sakuraba (captain)
  • Takanori Gomi
  • Gregor Gracie

SUPERFIGHT SINGLES MATCHES

  • Craig Jones vs. Fredson Paixao
  • Gordon Ryan vs. Aleksei Oleinik
  • Pearl Gonzalez vs. Danielle Kelly