PRIDE Producer Dead at 67

Former PRIDE producer Hiromichi Momose was found dead in his apartment Sunday morning.

According to information released by Tokyo police and revealed in Japanese media reports, an acquaintance of Momose's visited him at approximately 2:30 a.m. at his home and found the former PRIDE financial backer unconscious in the bathtub. Although an emergency crew responded to the scene, Momose was pronounced dead later that day around 3:30 p.m.

The 67-year-old Momose may not be familiar to many fans. He was prominent in the earlier years of PRIDE, during which he was a recognizable staple in his business suits and baseball caps.

The son of a mob boss, Momose was a mobster himself, having spent six years in prison on gun charges before giving up crime to become a writer, poet and self-professed "negotiator."

Although he referred to himself, partly in jest, as a "strategic planner," Momose was one of the most powerful figures in the Japanese fight game. He was a man of renowned connections and a close friend of Japanese icon Antonio Inoki. In fact, Momose put forth the first 50 million yen to begin former PRIDE parent company Dream Stage Entertainment.

Following the suicide of DSE President Naoto Morishita in January 2003, as well as DSE's fracturing of ties with Antonio Inoki, Momose's prominence in the fight game waned, and he no longer played a visible role in the company.

Police said the cause of death is under investigation.