debut fight. Warned of Igor's reputation as a powerful striker, Goodridge took him down, but a mistake allowed Igor to scramble back to his feet. The UFC fighter pressed on, bloodying Vovchanchyn and taking him down again, only for Igor to break the clinch and land two solid left hooks that knocked Goodridge out on his feet. Following a brief return to the UFC in 1999, when he quickly submitted Andre Roberts at UFC 19: Ultimate Young Guns, Goodridge met Olympic judoka Naoya Ogawa at Pride 6. He landed blows against the inexperienced Ogawa, but the judoka eventually took him down and started attempting submissions. In the second round, Ogawa swept Goodridge and finally locked an ude-garami, making him tap out. It was rumored that Goodridge had been paid to throw the fight, but Gary himself said in an interview that, although he was effectively proposed an anonymous money bribe to let Ogawa win, he rejected it and fought for real, thus losing legitimately to Ogawa. He added that PRIDE executive Nobuyuki Sakakibara had promised him "to write his own ticket" if he defeated Ogawa in order to increase his motivation. PRIDE Grand Prix and gatekeeping On January 20, 2000, Goodridge took part in the sixteen-man, open weight tournament PRIDE Grand Prix 2000. His first opponent was a debutant, former professional wrestler Osamu "Tachihikari" Kawahara, whom Goodridge defeated via choke in under a minute. His quarter-finals adversary would be Igor Vovchanchyn, who knocked out Goodridge for the second time after a battle contested mainly with punches. Goodridge was eliminated from the tournament, but continued to cement his status as PRIDE's gatekeeper, which gave name to his official biography. His short tenure in the tournament was echoed in the results of his next two matches, starting with a match against highly regarded grappler Ricco Rodriguez. The debutant Rodriguez attempted repeated takedowns in the first round, but Goodridge was able to block most of his offense and land opportunistic strikes. In the second round, however, Rodriguez scored an early takedown and dominated the Trinidadian with ground and pound, ultimately gaining the decision win. The second bout was a short affair against RINGS Japan veteran Gilbert Yvel at PRIDE 10. Both men looked to strike, but Yvel moved first and landed a left roundhouse kick to the head, knocking his opponent out. Goodridge finally bounced back against Yoshiaki Yatsu, another professional wrestling veteran