until it had established its place, even through fixed fights when it was needed. In his book The MMA Encyclopedia, Jonathan Snowden wrote about Takada: "He lost all [the fights], but it never seemed to faze him. He’d be back again and again, realizing that even though the fights were hopeless, the promotion needed his presence on the card to sell tickets." Pride (1997–2007) Challenge against Gracie Takada's debut against Gracie happened on October 11, 1997, at Pride 1. After circling around Gracie for some time, Takada stopped the first takedown attempt by grabbing the ring ropes, but after the restart, Gracie scored a double leg takedown and moved to mount position over him. Although Takada tried to hold him down from the bottom, Gracie captured his arm and executed an armbar for the win at the 2:32 mark. While the matchup was a huge economic success, which ensured new Pride events in the future, Takada's poor performance resulted in a comparable disappointment for Japanese audiences, drawing very negative comments and marked the beginning of the end of Takada as a main eventer. He was likened to a war criminal to Japan by specialized press. His own former trainer Karl Gotch commented unfavorably at the bout, stating: "that is not the Takada I know." Takada faced kickboxer Kyle Sturgeon at Pride 3, a match that was acknowledged as a fight fixed in order to attempt to rebuild Takada's status for a rematch. As planned, Takada overcame Sturgeon by heel hook and requested another fight against Gracie. The latter agreed, claiming "I feel Takada is a warrior and deserves the chance to try and redeem himself" in a subsequent interview, and the rematch was held at Pride 4. Gracie opened the fight shooting for a takedown, but Takada blocked it and held Gracie away from the ground with a tight clinch. After exchanging short knee strikes and stomps with Gracie, Takada dropped him with a hard knee to the midsection and blocked his subsequent guard pulling attempt. Gracie eventually managed to pull Takada down, but Takada stood up in order to initiate a leglock. Takada worked from the bottom, dismounting Gracie several times and transitioned into a heel hook attempt, but Gracie avoided it and applied an armbar for the win. Although the fight did not restore Takada's reputation, it was unanimously considered a much better performance, with some calling it