It’s official:
Zuffa-Controlled: DSE Cedes PRIDE to UFC Bosses
PRIDE IS HERE TO STAY: FERTITTAS ACQUIRE PRIDE
Long story short, it was announced today that Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta just bought Pride FC, the UFC’s main competitor. Took me completely by surprise, I had no idea it was even being discussed. So far, fans have been mostly excited and are comparing it to when the AFL/NFL merger of 1970. Thoughts?
Well, so far they are claiming that the two will be run as independent businesses, so although they will not be financial competitors Pride and the UFC will not become intermingled, if you will.
I hope they can stand firm on that idea. I like the different atmospheres of the two promotions. And frankly, although I like the idea of fighters being able to easily move back and forth in order to generate some nice “Superfights”, I can only envision the mess that’s resulted from WWE purchasing WCW and ECW.
I always looked at it like this: Pride is where former UFC champs go to make more money and fight less by only doing super fights and the occasional tournament. I don’t see that changing much.
So now the Fertittas control the UFC, Pride, WFA and WEC.
I think this can be great if, and I stress IF, they don’t constantly cross guys over. That’s what has gotten WWE in trouble: there’s no distinguishing between their different brands because everyone is on every show now.
The most obvious fights to come out of this are Wanderlei vs. Chuck (assuming Chuck gets past Rampage in May) and a Fedor vs. Cro Cop matchup in an octagon.
I’d be interested to see a Silva vs. Ortiz fight, since the last one was a long time ago and Silva’s a different fighter now.
The interesting thing is how this will affect former UFC fighters who left for Pride under questionable circumstances, like Barnett.