7 UFC fighters who cut their teeth in Pride FC

Alistair Overeem will fight for the unique distinction of holding a title in four different promotions when he faces Stipe Miocic for the heavyweight crown at UFC 203 on Saturday. Minutes earlier, former adversary Fabricio Werdum will aim for his second victory over Travis Browne in the co-main event.

Overeem and Werdum are two of many to fight their way through the ranks of the now-defunct Japanese promotion Pride FC, before embarking on their own UFC runs. Several, despite reaching championship-level heights in the latter, were arguably at their peak in the former.

Here are seven fighters - Werdum and Overeem included - who earned their stripes in the land of yellow cards, soccer kicks, and WWE-reminiscent promos:

Alistair Overeem

Not only did Overeem fight a full two weight classes lighter in Pride, his since comatose submission game was his preferred path to victory.

"The Reem" may have left the promotion without a championship, but he faced the best it had to offer. The results were admittedly mixed, but he did notch victories over Vitor Belfort (twice) and the stout Igor Vovchanchyn.

By his 2011 UFC debut, Overeem - now a heavyweight - had fully converted to kickboxing, laying a drubbing on Brock Lesnar in under three minutes. He rides a four-fight win streak into his upcoming match with Miocic, three of which he's ended by knockout.

Fabricio Werdum

Werdum's Pride FC tenure lasted all of six fights, and like Overeem, he wouldn't hit his stride until after leaving the promotion in 2006.

While in Japan, "Vai Cavalo" defeated promotional mainstay Tom Erikson and delivered Overeem his first career submission, a defeat "The Reem" would avenge years later in the Strikeforce cage. Werdum also went the distance against fellow divisional elites Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Sergei Kharitonov.

After Strikeforce folded, the Brazilian rejoined the UFC, defeating the likes of Roy Nelson and Mark Hunt, and evening the score with Nogueira en route to dethroning Cain Velasquez for the heavyweight crown at UFC 188.

Wanderlei Silva

Armed with a Muay Thai background, an endless motor, and a near-demonic killer instinct, Wanderlei Silva's eight-year run in Pride quickly became the stuff of legend.

"The Axe Murderer's" resume includes wins over Quinton Jackson (twice), Guy Mezger, and a sweep of his trilogy with Japanese MMA royalty Kazushi Sakuraba. Jackson once described his losses to Silva as "two of the biggest ass-whoopings of my life."

A former Pride middleweight champion, Silva's 22 wins and four successful title defenses are promotional records.

The Brazilian couldn't replicate his Pride success in the UFC, but his penchant for fireworks remained intact. Silva's fights with Chuck Liddell and Keith Jardine earned him the 2007 Fight of the Year and 2008 Knockout of the Year, respectively.

Quinton Jackson

Before riding his boxing to knockouts of Chuck Liddell – which won him the UFC light heavyweight belt – and past foils Marvin Eastman and Wanderlei Silva, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson actually wrestled in Pride.

In fact, not only did he wrestle; he took great pleasure in literally slamming his way out of trouble, as he did with devastating results against Ricardo Arona at Critical Countdown 2004 (above). Jackson's lengthy Pride career involved far more than single-handedly ravaging Arona's legacy, as he also notched victories over Liddell (his first), Murilo Rua, and Kevin Randleman.

Outside the ring, Jackson's show-stealing promotional skits, expletive-laced pre-fight interviews, and howling entrances made him the Pride equivalent of a WWE superstar.

Mauricio Rua

There are few MMA runs as utterly destructive as Mauricio Rua's first eight fights in Pride, the last of which - a KO victory over Ricardo Arona - won him the 2005 middleweight Grand Prix. Along the way, the Brazilian finished Overeem, Jackson and Randleman.

"Shogun" would ride that momentum to the UFC, eventually unseating Lyoto Machida for the 205-pound belt by first-round knockout at UFC 113. Rua again made history three fights later, when he and Dan Henderson beat each other bloody for five rounds at UFC 139. Their war was anointed 2011's Fight of the Year.

Fun fact: Rua's brother Murilo, nicknamed "Ninja," enjoyed a lengthy run of his own in Pride.

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira

One of Pride's triumvirate of world-class heavyweights is also the greatest Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner in the weight class' history. Along with Fedor Emelianenko and Mirko Filipovic, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira held court over Pride's heavyweight contingent for years.

Boasting world-class grappling and crisp striking, "Minotauro" schooled Heath Herring to become the promotion's inaugural heavyweight champ in 2001. His 11 submission victories are tied with Sakuraba for the most in Pride history. Dan Henderson, Mark Coleman, and Filipovic (above) were just a few of Nogueira's many victims.

After joining the UFC, Nogueira not only vanquished all-time great Randy Couture, but also claimed the interim heavyweight crown with a win over Tim Sylvia by – you guessed it – submission.

Dan Henderson

After winning UFC 17's middleweight tourney in 1998, Henderson took his talents to Japan, where he became Pride's first fighter to simultaneously hold belts in two weight classes.

"Hendo" edged Murilo Bustamante for the welterweight crown at Pride's 2005 Grand Prix, and KO'd Wanderlei Silva for the middleweight strap at Pride 33 in 2007. His victory over Silva was his last in Pride, after which he'd go the distance with Jackson in a cross-promotional light heavyweight title unification at UFC 75. Henderson lost the highly contested classic by decision.

Henderson capped his second UFC run with a beatdown of Michael Bisping at UFC 100, good for 2009's Knockout of the Year. He'd win Fight of the Year two years later with the above-mentioned battle against "Shogun."

"Hendo" will look to win UFC gold in his last career fight when he meets Bisping again - this time for the middleweight strap - at UFC 204 in October.

Honorable mention: Mirko Filipovic

Unlike Fedor Emelianenko, Filipovic tried his luck in the UFC looking to cement his legacy as one of the sport's foremost heavyweights. To the dismay of his Pride following, the foray yielded a mixed bag.

"Cro Cop," who'd ruled Pride with his deadly arsenal of kicks, went a mediocre 5-6 in the UFC. Ironically, the hallmark of his stint in the latter promotion found him on the receiving end of a head-kick KO, courtesy of Gabriel Gonzaga at UFC 70. Filipovic avenged the loss last April.

The Croatian native earned 18 wins in Pride, good for second all time, and his 16 finishes are tied with Silva for most in promotional history. One of them, a patented head kick knockout of Silva, was named 2006's Knockout of the Year.

Despite a Rolodex's worth of knockouts, Filipovic's Pride pinnacle was a decision loss to Emelianenko, in a 2005 Fight of the Year many assumed would determine the era's greatest heavyweight.