Pride 21 on June 23, 2002. In a fight that many consider to be one of Pride's most exciting matches, Frye and Takayama clinched in a hockey fight pose, each holding the head and hitting, with Takayama finally going to the body after more than a full minute of unrelenting, undefended shots. This would happen three times in the fight, until the referee stopped the bout after Frye mounted Takayama, who was visibly much worse for the wear. On August 28, 2002, he took on Jérôme Le Banner in a kickboxing match at the K-1/Pride co-promoted event Pride Shockwave, fighting in front of 91,107 people. Frye had mentioned in an interview prior to the fight that (besides knee strikes) he had never thrown a kick in his life and his disadvantage was obvious as he couldn't use his wrestling skills and was repeatedly thrown when he tried to tie up with Le Banner. After being given a standing eight count early on, he was forced into a corner and knocked unconscious with a right hook at the 1:30 mark of the first round. Riding a new wave of popularity, Frye's next outing was a return to MMA at Pride 23 on November 24, 2002 to face Olympic gold medalist judoka Hidehiko Yoshida. Taking his first loss since fighting Mark Coleman in 1996, Frye was submitted by Yoshida via armbar in the first round. While Frye did not tap out, the referee stopped the bout in fear of serious injury. Frye took seven months off following the losses to Le Banner and Yoshida, and next fought at Pride 26 on June 28, 2003 to try to avenge his loss to Mark Coleman. In a rather long battle, Frye lost a unanimous decision to Coleman after three rounds. Another rematch was on tap for Pride Shockwave 2003 on New Year's Eve, 2003 when Frye faced Gary Goodridge for the third time. The fight lasted only 39 seconds; Goodridge scored a vicious high kick to the head, knocking Frye out completely. K-1 and Hero's (2004–2006) Don Frye departed Pride on the back of four consecutive losses and next appeared fighting under MMA rules in K-1. His first fight, with Yoshihiro Nakao at K-1 MMA ROMANEX on May 22, 2004 ended in a no contest when Frye could not continue due to a cut sustained from an accidental headbutt early in round one. Don