Pride FC
Pride was so good that even the widespread corruption that everyone knew was going on doesn’t really deter from its legacy, in fact it sort of adds to it a little.
What makes Pride FC the most corrupt for this list is the amount of match-fixing allegations that have been made against the organization. While match-fixing allegations have been thrown at the UFC as well, most notably by Wanderlei Silva (who many believe was the beneficiary of many fixed fights in Pride), the amount of widespread fixed fights that seemed to go on in Pride gets them ranked #1 on this list. That is not to say that Pride was still not an awesome organization, because it was. Pride was more corrupt than EliteXC and yet gets remembered way more fondly, that’s a testament to how awesome it was to watch those old Pride shows.
Many believe that after the suicide death of Pride chair Naoto Morishita in 2003 that the organization became overrun by organized crime, that is to say the Yakuza.
The most popular allegations are that Pride would fix fights to allow Wanderlei Silva to look strong, but guys like Rampage Jackson and Gary Goodrich have come out and said that as many as 90% of Pride fights were fixed. It doesn’t seem possible for that many of the fights to be rigged, but many believe that the level of corruption that existed in Pride really was that deep.
