#1: Yes, pride was awesome. They had the best middle weights and heavy weights. They understood how to build a fighter in the eyes of the audience, way before the UFC learned the trade, and they had walk outs & stare downs that would give you goosebumps.
#2: Why it failed? Read paragraph 4 of the wiki -
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pride_Fighting_Championships
"In 2006, DSE started to have financial issues, as a scandal revealing ties between the company and
yakuza resulted in the end of multiple lucrative contracts with Japanese broadcasters.
[3] In March 2007, DSE sold Pride to
Lorenzo Fertitta and
Frank Fertitta III, co-owners of
Zuffa, which, at the time, owned the
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
[6] While remaining as legally separate entities with separate managements, the two promotions were set to cooperate in a manner akin to the
AFL-NFL merger. However, such an arrangement did not materialize, and in October 2007, Pride Worldwide's Japanese staff was laid off, marking the end of the organization as an active fight promoter. While the top and most popular fighters were brought to the UFC. As a result, many of the Pride staff left to form a new organization alongside K-1 parent company
Fighting and Entertainment Group. That new organization, founded in February 2008, was named
DREAM.
[7]
In 2015, Pride's co-founder and former president Nobuyuki Sakakibara established
Rizin Fighting Federation in Japan with the same philosophy and ambition as for the defunct Pride organization.
[8]"
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Bottom line: without a TV deal, there was no ad money. UFC got what they needed out of the deal - Fight contracts and more importantly global recognition as the premier MMA event.
