
- Sunday 11.24.2002
- U.S. Broadcast: Pay Per View
- Promotion: Pride FC
- Ownership: Dream Stage Entertainment (DSE)
- Venue: Tokyo Dome
- Location: Tokyo, Japan
- Enclosure: Ring
- TV Announcers: Stephen Quadros, Bas Rutten
- Attendance: 52,228
- MMA Bouts: 9
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Promotion Links:
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Fight Card
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Pride FC Middleweight Championship
KO/TKO, Towel
3:40 Round 1 of 36Main Event
205
10 + 5 + 5 Three Rounds
Referees
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Yuji Shimada
Silva vs. Kanehara (6)
Pride 23 Wiki Update Wiki
In a triumphant return to form for the promotion, Pride 23 featured several exciting and game-changing fights, with Ricardo Arona defeating rival Murilo “Ninja” Rua, Fedor Emelianenko emerging as top contender in the heavyweight division by decisively finishing Heath Herring, and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira finishing kickboxing champion Semmy Schilt with a Triangle Choke in the first round.
In one of the featured bouts, 1992 Olympic Judo gold medalist Hidehiko Yoshida made his MMA debut, submitting Don Frye with an Armbar in the first round. In the main event, Middleweight Champion Wanderlei Silva defended his title by knocking out Hiromitsu Kanehara.