So much for the myth of PRIDE superiority.

There used to be a line of thinking considered conventional wisdom among hardcore fans of mixed martial arts, which went something like this:

PRIDE is the greatest fighting force known to mankind. The worst heavyweight in PRIDE could wear a blindfold and beat the best UFC heavyweight. Anyone who disagrees with this clearly just started watching the sport and doesn't know what they're talking about.

These lines were repeated with a level of obsession usually only found at Star Trek conventions, and were uttered so often they were almost universally accepted as true.

And they even might have been true, as recently as a couple years ago. But not today.

Matches between fighters traditionally associated with PRIDE against fighters traditionally associated with UFC have been ongoing for several months, and, well, the results haven't been pretty:

*PRIDE 33 in Las Vegas on Feb. 24 was all but designed to make PRIDE fighters look superior to UFC, but things didn't quite work out according to plan. Frank Trigg and Nick Diaz are mainly known as guys who had their chance to get to the top of the UFC welterweight division, but didn't. On this show, though, Trigg decisioned 2006 PRIDE Bushido champion Kazuo Misaki; and Diaz handed PRIDE lightweight champion Takanori "Non-title" Gomi a submission (though the fight has since been changed to a no-contest by the Nevada State Athletic Commission due to Diaz's marijuana suspension).

*Jeff Monson, coming off a one-side loss to Tim Sylvia in his UFC heavyweight title challenge at UFC 65, submitted Kazuyuki Fujita at PRIDE 34.

*Former PRIDE lightweight Dokonjonosuke Mishima has been soundly beaten by Joe Stevenson and Kenny Florian in his two UFC matches.

*While this isn't UFC vs. PRIDE related, MMA novice Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou, a judoka who has only been working on his all-around game for about a year, made quick work of Antonio Rodrigo Noguiera and Ricardo Arona on back-to-back shows. While this does signify Sokou is legit, it also doesn't help the arguments the message board warriors have long made about the depth of the PRIDE heavyweight division.

*Then there was UFC 70, in which Gonzaga displayed no fear in taking out the most menacing kickboxer in MMA, Mirko Cro Cop. If Gonzaga had simply gotten in a lucky punch, that would be one thing. But Gonzaga pushed the pace from the outset and dominated the fight. On the undercard, former UFC heavyweight champ Andrei Arlovski had his way with PRIDE vet Febricio Werdum.

The scoreboard hasn't been entirely one-sided: Anderson Silva posted a mediocre record in PRIDE, then shot straight to the UFC middleweight championship and gave Rich Franklin the worst night of his career in the process.

I'm not suggesting, here, that UFC was better than PRIDE all along. Not by a longshot. But the whole notion that PRIDE was so much better than UFC that real MMA fans wouldn't even deign to discuss the matter has been, well, KOd with a big right kick to the head.

Other UFC 70 thoughts:

*I am convinced that Couture-Gonzaga will be as big, money-wise, as Couture-Cro Cop would have been. Last night was Gabriel Gonzaga's "a star is born" moment. There's a huge buzz about what happened last night, the fight is linked to Deadspin, and I personally was flooded with IMs about the kick from people who aren't MMA fans the moment I logged on to my computer this morning. Couture-Cro Cop would have been huge, but if marketed right, Couture against the monster who beat Cro Cop at his own game and can give Couture fits on the ground could be even bigger.

*I'm not as down on Arlovski as everyone else seems to be today. Yes, it wasn't the most exciting fight of the year. But Arlovski came out looking strong in an exciting first round, and from there, basically knew he had the fight under control. He wasn't going to go to the ground and get caught in Werdum's trap. By the third round, he knew Werdum would have to come at him if he wanted to win, and for whatever reason, Werdum didn't. The last two rounds were boring, but I can't say I blame Andrei for his approach.

*Nice win for Michael Bisping last night. Elvis Sinosic was brought in specifically for what he brought to the table last night. Sinosic can take a pounding, and he's a cagey vet who can catch you if you make a mistake. That's precisely what happened when Sinosic took a beating in the first round, then came out in the second and caught Bisping with a hellacious knee, then nearly ended the fight with a kimura. UFC matchmakers were looking to see how Bisping would respond under such pressure, and he aced the test by maintaining his composure and rebounding for the victory.

*How frustrating is it watching Cheick Kongo? You see Kongo's power and his striking ability and think he could make it to the top, then you see him look absolutely defenseless when he gets taken down. Maybe Kongo is better suited for straight Muay Thai fighting. If nothing else, don't expect him to become a serious contender until he get serious about his ground work.

*Terry Etim made his mark with a tremendous comeback win over Matt Grice. As if there weren't enough hungry young 155s out there already ...