On Nov. 24, 2002, Pride Fighting Championships was in the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan, for Pride 23.

In the main event, Kazushi Sakuraba beat Gilles Arsene by third-round submission. The win got him back into the win column after back-to-back losses to Wanderlei Silva and Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic.

The card featured several other legendary fighters competing. Kevin “The Monster” Randleman won his second consecutive fight as a new Pride fighter, Ricardo Arona took a decision over Murilo “Ninja” Rua in another installment of the Brazilian Top Team versus Chute Boxe rivalry, Fedor Emelianenko earned a title shot by stopping Heath Herring in one round, Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira defended his heavyweight title with a triangle submission win over Semmy Schilt, Wanderlei Silva ran through Hiromitsu Kanehara and Hidehiko Yoshida took a technical submission victory over Don “The Predator” Frye.