The Unreleased Pride Card Collection Series 2

In late 2006, the Pride Card Collection appeared at a pivotal moment in mixed martial arts history. Issued as an official product of PRIDE, then one of the sport’s most influential organizations, the GP Edition centered on the Grand Prix tournaments and quickly drew interest from MMA collectors. Less widely known is that PRIDE/DSE and the manufacturer intended the release to be the beginning of a longer-running card series.

Plans for a second installment were already in place before the first set reached collectors in December 2006. Scheduled for the following spring, Broccoli’s Bushido + ’06 Otoko Matsuri Edition was designed to highlight the Bushido brand and PRIDE’s New Year’s Eve 2006 Otoko Matsuri event. The proposed set was announced on PRIDE’s official website, advertisements and several promotional cards, including the PR-1 card which carried advertising for Series 2 on the back.

Those plans were overtaken by events in early 2007. On March 27, it was announced that PRIDE had been purchased by Lorenzo Fertitta, owner of the UFC. Although there was initial speculation that PRIDE would continue as a Japanese promotion under new ownership, the organization instead entered its final chapter. Pride 34, held on April 8, 2007, became the promotion’s last event, bringing the planned continuation of the Pride Card Collection to an abrupt end.

The abrupt end of the series leaves collectors to imagine which notable cards might have followed.