According to Sherdog.com, Pride president Noboyuki Sakakibara informed his staff that the sale of Pride to UFC has been agreed to in principal, but no contract has been signed as of yet. The sale of Pride to Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta, majority owners of UFC, is without question the biggest acquisition since the sale of World Championship Wrestling to Vince McMahon.As was reported this week on Tha O Show Radio Hour, the sudden announcement of the Chuck Liddell versus Quinton Jackson match led many to think that there were major plans upcoming for UFC and that this match needed to take place sooner rather than later.
Noboyuki Sakakibara confirmed to his staff that no one would be losing their job with the exception of himself. Sakakibara also told his staff what Dana White has been saying for many months, Pride will be run as a separate company from UFC existing primarily in Japan with plans of expanding across Asia.
Sakikibara also stated that UFC will allow fighters to compete in both promotions setting up potential "dream matches" and "Pride vs UFC" cards down the line, but nothing can be confirmed at this time. What we do know is that Mauricio Shogun Rua has signed a unique 4-fight contract that would see him fight twice for Pride and UFC respectively. The announcement of this contract signing signified that a deal to purchase Pride was imminent.
This announcement sets up over a year of fresh matches that will surely captivate the imagination of many MMA fans. Fighters such as Dan Henderson, the aforementioned Mauricio Rua, Wanderlai Silva, and Ricardo Arona are just some of the many internationally renowned fighters now under the UFC umbrella.
The sale of Pride ends months of speculation as to the future of the MMA promotion. World Wrestling Entertainment was even rumored to be among the perspective buyers as Shane McMahon has been interested in extending the WWE brand into MMA. One would think that since UFC now has access to every single legitimate star in mixed martial arts that WWE would be stupid to attempt such an undertaking.
The official announcement from UFC could happen as soon as next week. How this announcement affects upcoming Pride events such as the April 8th event at the Saitama Super Arena is unknown. One can only hope Joe Rogan will be brought in as the color commentator for all upcoming Pride events.
Dana White has officially become this generation's Vince McMahon.
4 comments: on "Pride Sold To UFC........Well Almost"
Damn...
Sounds like Dana and Vince both attended the Bill Gates school of buisness.
chuck vs fedor
Chuck vs Fedor? That's not even fair for Chuck. Emelianenko would run over him in three rounds ending in a KO.
If this sale does go through, I would hope that Pride stays in Japan. So far the two stateside shows haven't been all that great, with the exception of a few great fights...(Wandy vs Henderson being just off the chain).
Other than that, Pride has been "shooting themselves in the foot" with some of the things they've been trying to do. It's like I said in another comment, why build up a man who's not even your top fighter to be just that, only for him to lose to another guy that primarily fights in a lower weight class?
Don't get me wrong...but it was a great opportunity for Henderson and he took advantage of it. Do I think that he's a good as Fedor skill wise? Certainly not because Emelianenko is a damned cyborg. But do I think he's as good a Fedor pound-for-pound? Goddamn right I do....and Takanori Gomi is right up there with him.
Maybe it's just me, but Pride seems to be more or less a different fighting style than it is an organization. Here in the States, we're use to seeing guys compete in the octagon and in no-gi competition. Whereas in Pride, fighters are allowed to wear their gi, the round structure is a lot different depending on what event is running (Bushido, Open-Weight GP, normal). Also kicking and kneeing an opponent in the head is allowed considering the person is on their back, stomping is allowed, and oddly enough no elbow strikes to the head at all. To me, I believe that the way Pride is setup, that it belongs in Japan/Asia and nowhere else because they are more accustomed to that "style" of fighting.
As for Dana White being this generation's Vinnie Mac...I don't think so as much as it's Frank & Lorenzo Fertita.
I will say this though....and I said it closing out 06. 2007 is gonna be a very interesting year for MMA.
chuck said himself said he wanted to fight fedor in an interview. also its suppose to be made official that lesnar is fighting in LA in K-1. Also on the K-1 card is royce gracie
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