Speculation has been swirling around the web for the better part of a week concerning the purchase of Pride by the UFC. Apparently the purchase has become a reality as reflected by the reports showing up on MMA sites and forums.

That being said, perhaps the most important announcement of this purchase took place on all places, ESPN, which has brought us Wrestlemania highlights but has rarely sough to promote MMA.

The article may be seen here: http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/news/story?id=2814235

Does this bode well for coverage of MMA from one of the largest focal points of sports information in the US? Should be interesting to watch and see.

GG

Source: UFC buys Pride for less than $70M

NEW YORK -- The majority owners of Ultimate Fighting Championship have agreed to buy their biggest mixed martial arts rival, Pride Fighting Championships, in a deal that will establish megafights among the outfits' titleholders and possibly attract huge pay-per-view audiences.

Company executives declined to comment on the sales price, but a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press that brothers Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta will purchase the Japan-based Pride for less than $70 million. The person was not authorized to speak to reporters and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The deal was completed Tuesday and was announced during a news conference in Tokyo, where Lorenzo Fertitta has been negotiating with Nobuyuki Sakakibara, the majority owner and chief executive of Dream Stage Entertainment Inc., Pride's owner.

"We have been talking to Pride for probably about 11 months," Lorenzo Fertitta said. "It's been a long, drawn-out process but we finally were able to put the two brands together."

To buy the company, the brothers created a new entity called Pride FC Worldwide Holdings LLC. The newly formed company will take over Pride assets, including its trademarks, video library and valuable roster of fighters, from Dream Stage. The Fertitta brothers, who own Las Vegas-based Zuffa LLC, the parent company of UFC, intend to keep the well-known Pride name and promote fights under that brand.

The acquisition marks a new phase in the brothers' quest to dominate the burgeoning world of mixed martial arts since they bought the struggling UFC in 2001.

"This is really going to change the face of MMA," Lorenzo Fertitta said. "Literally creating a sport that could be as big around the world as soccer. I liken it somewhat to when the NFC and AFC came together to create the NFL."

The deal allows the Fertitta brothers to broker the biggest MMA fights possible in the near future, increasing their influence in this sports entertainment business.

"We will be able to literally put on the fights that everyone wants to see," Lorenzo Fertitta said. "It will allow us to put on some of the biggest fights ever."

In the past, there has been at least one case in which Pride and UFC couldn't hammer out a deal to put their top fighters in the ring together. With Pride in their pocket, the Fertitta brothers intend to ensure that never happens again.

The sale gives Pride more financial backing to expand the business internationally after suffering a recent financial blow.

Major sponsor Fuji Television Network Inc. dropped Pride in June after a tabloid linked Pride to the Japanese mob -- something Sakakibara has denied vigorously. To help bolster Pride, the company staged two PPV fights in Las Vegas. Neither was a financial success. The fights gained exposure for Pride but lost money, making the sale of Pride more likely.

"I think it certainly weakened their position," Lorenzo Fertitta said. "One of our goals is to get back on a major platform back here in Japan."

Lorenzo Fertitta said he'll be looking to expand Pride internationally.

Buying Pride is the latest in a series of acquisitions that the brothers have made in the last six months. Zuffa snapped up World Extreme Cagefighting and World Fighting Alliance last year.

Similar to Pride, buying WFA gave UFC the rights to a popular fighter named Quinton "Rampage" Jackson. Jackson will face UFC's most popular fighter, Chuck Liddell, the current light heavyweight champ in Las Vegas, on May 26 on PPV.

In the combat world, the Pride deal leaves a fragmented group of upstarts and K-1, another Japanese company that promotes fighters skilled in various forms of kick boxing.

Thanks to a surge in popularity, the brothers' investment in UFC and MMA in general has begun to pay off.

Last year, UFC cracked $200 million in PPV revenue, putting it on par with World Wrestling Entertainment Inc.

UFC stages fights in arenas across the country and airs a clutch of successful television shows on Spike TV. It has also opened an office in London, looking toward establishing itself internationally.

The brothers also run Station Casinos Inc. in Las Vegas. Lorenzo Fertitta is president and Frank Fertitta is chairman and chief executive of Station Casinos, a public company that was recently agreed to be purchased by a private equity investor group that includes key members of the Fertitta family.

http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/news/story?id=2814235

Article posted for archival purposes.

only if they start having mma fights at the wsop.

Did anybody see the little docu of hendo on ESPN last week?

I literally think that Lorenzo Fertitta is literally excited.

Dana White specifically mentioned that he has "something" in the works with ESPN and is hopeful to get MMA on SportsCenter before the end of this year.

Dana White took part in an open forum Q&A chat on 1/18/07 on www.UFCmania.com. Apparently you had to pay $65 to be a member and actually get a chance to ask questions but a Sherdog member, RaiderBeast, was able to cut a paste a large amount of the Q&A on this Sherdog thread.

http://www.sherdog.net/forums/showthread.php?t=496998

Basic Summary:


If PRIDE is selling, Dana is interested. old news now
The UFC's main competition is PRIDE.
Serra and GSP will fight in April.
Chuck v. Silva will hopefully happen in 2007.
UFC in the UK will be the same production as fans are used to in the US.
The new season of Unleashed starts on January 25th.
White sees Diego Sanchez, Michael Bisping, and Rashad Evans as the future of UFC.
Tournament style comps will NEVER come back to the UFC.
White thinks the head guy at Sherdog.com is a dick.
White is actively working on getting an ESPN deal done this year and we might see MMA on sports center very soon.
The WEC is a competitor of the UFC and is not a feeder pool for the UFC. There are no current plans for any cross-promotional stuff between the UFC and WEC.
White is negotiationg with HBO to get MMA and UFC events on HBO.
UFC is trying to get a PPV broadcast from on board an aircraft carrier to benefit the troops.

How long till Vince buys HUSTLE?

I can see it now... Wrestlemania 24 main event..... Triple H vs HARD GAY!

If the UFC buys Pride, does that mean they'll get rid of ten minute opening rounds, stomps and soccer kicks?

On the topic of ESPN and MMA, Dan Patrick interviewed Chuck Liddell in this months ESPN the Magazine, page 138. Here is a snip it of the questions...

Dan Patrick: You vs. Shaq: What would be the outcome?
Chuck Liddell: Well, what would happen if I played basketball against him?
Patrick: It would be that much of a mismatch?
Liddell: Yeah. A guy that big who isn't a trained fighter is going to ruin into problems.

Patrick: What role did you play in The Postman Always Rings Twice?
Liddell: I was an extra. When I put that on my website, people said, "We watched that. You're not in that movie." I was like, "Hey, jackass, I was 11. I didn't have a Mohawk."
Patrick: Who did you meet on set?
Liddell: Jack Nicholson. We had a food fight in that movie. It was a good time.

A american enterprise buying a japanese one... What is this? Bizarro world!?!

If the UFC buys Pride, does that mean they'll get rid of ten minute opening rounds, stomps and soccer kicks?

Look for it to be the other way around. Dana White stated that Pride & UFC will have universal rules. But that Pride will keep its ring. So look for soccer kicks, and stomps to be discontinued, but elbows to be added.

I really hope this doesn't change the presentation of PRIDE. Apart from the possible rule changes that have already been mentioned, that I hope don't happen, I much prefer the actual production style of PRIDE rather than UFC.

I see the difference as being roughly the same as the difference between Formula 1 and NASCAR; Formula 1 features drivers that have made their bones in international road racing and endurance racing, NASCAR features drivers whose backgrounds are typically in regional short track and/or dirt racing. In other words, when was the last time you saw a Judo gold medalist in UFC competition? Now, when was the last time you saw one in PRIDE? That's not to impugn the talent and skill of teh deadly Iowa boys, I just like an open international perspective rather than "and now this fighter has come to America to see if he can really fight, because all that other **** doesn't count for anything when you enter The Octagon™"

Which brings me to my last point, I loathe the the actual TV presentation of the UFC. The whole "we're yelling at you, here's some shitty rock played loud, now start feeling your testosterone you 18-25 year old loser!" package. Even the PPV stuff has that "extreme marketing" feel to it, and I'm right with Maddox (http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=xtreme_bullshit) in how I feel about that. By contrast, PRIDE is much more of a "We're Japanese and therefore weird in your eyes, but we've got some of the world's best fighters here to fight for your entertainment. Seriously though, this is world class stuff."

All that said, finally, I do hope the PRIDE mismatches die a horrible death.

There are and have been multiple olympic competitors and medlal winners in the UFC. And the only judo goldmedalist is Yoshida (who pride treated horribly and threw into mismatches and let get beat). As for production/presentation, Pride is pretty damn silly too. They just market to japanese, not americans. I'm sure whatever they do is the extreme sport stick equivalent.

There are and have been multiple olympic competitors and medlal winners in the UFC. And the only judo goldmedalist is Yoshida (who pride treated horribly and threw into mismatches and let get beat). As for production/presentation, Pride is pretty damn silly too. They just market to japanese, not americans. I'm sure whatever they do is the extreme sport stick equivalent.
Probably helps my liking PRIDE that I know nothing of their internal operations, then. I actually misrepresented my case (because I hadn't had breakfast), the point I meant to make wasn't about Olympians so much as seeing different fighting styles; a greater representation of Judo, for instance. From my limited viewing of PRIDE, and less limited viewing of UFC, it seems like most of the UFC competitors have similar backgrounds.

Anyway, I can't wait to see how Dana tries to spin Fedor's entry into the UFC (or why he isn't entering the UFC), since he's probably going to come out on top and ruin Dana's previous assertions that UFC had the best heavyweights anywhere.

Probably helps my liking PRIDE that I know nothing of their internal operations, then. I actually misrepresented my case (because I hadn't had breakfast), the point I meant to make wasn't about Olympians so much as seeing different fighting styles; a greater representation of Judo, for instance. From my limited viewing of PRIDE, and less limited viewing of UFC, it seems like most of the UFC competitors have similar backgrounds.
For the Judo thing: Karo Parisyan. But I think I know where you're getting at. UFC has USA, Canadia, and a spattering of others. All the Pride fight's I've seen were more international. But the UFC does include a lot of people from a smorgesbord of styles.


Anyway, I can't wait to see how Dana tries to spin Fedor's entry into the UFC (or why he isn't entering the UFC), since he's probably going to come out on top and ruin Dana's previous assertions that UFC had the best heavyweights anywhere.
Well, since UFC owns Pride now it DOES have the best Heavyweights. :evil5:

Also: Fedor will crush all competition like little beatles. All fights he's in are mismatches.

Oh, and about the mismatches: I hope Yoshida gets a fairer chance now and can get some real good fights under him.

Yoshida (who pride treated horribly and threw into mismatches and let get beat). .

The Thompson fight was disgusting. Yoshida drops on his neck and they make him keep fighting. Same with Sakuraba, he gets lambasted and the ref does jack to stop it. What is it with Japanese organizations and letting their fellow countrymen get the **** kicked out of them under unreasonable circumstances or injury?