Well, all the hyperbole and speculation is out the window. They have officially announced in Japan that PRIDE is now a separate subsidiary of Zuffa, which also owns the UFC and WEC. Sherdog broke the news this morning reporting it from the news conference in Japan. Plus, this posting will be editted throughout the day as news comes out on this momentous deal.
Will the promised matches materialize? Will Zuffa manage to maintain the spectacular stable of fighters that PRIDE currently has or will they be siphoned off by BODOG / K-1? We don’t know yet but this is definitely an interesting and chaotic time for MMA in general where consolidation seems to be the name of the game.PRIDE will run autonomously under the umbrella of Zuffa, which the Feritta brothers and Dana White created in 2000 when they purchased the UFC. “We have been talking to Pride for probably about 11 months,” said Lorenzo Fertitta, according to an Associated Press report. “It’s been a long, drawn out process but we finally we were able to put the two brands together.”
Fertitta spoke of making mixed martial art equivalent to global sports such as baseball and soccer. “This is really going to change the face of MMA,” 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."
Sakakibara and Lorenzo Ferttita shake hands:
http://sportsnavi.yahoo.co.jp/headlines/images/20070327/20070327-00000021-spnavi-fight.html
AP on Fox:
http://msn.foxsports.com/boxing/story/6614284
FightOpinions continuing coverage:
http://www.fightopinion.com/2007/03/27/tuesday-media-turmoil-mma-wars-rage-on/
Dave Doyle on PRIDE Acquisition:
http://msn.foxsports.com/boxing/story/6615122 (note the little tidbit about using UFC rules across the board i.e. no head kicks to downed opponents or stomps or knees to the head)
WrestleMag:
http://www.wrestlemag.com/news/index.php?p=5029
NBC Sports (Non-Regurgitated with new quotes / BEST one so far):
http://www.nbcsports.com/ufc/1282716/detail.html
MMAWeekly with some great photos (Man those fighters look excited to be bought...):
http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/templates/dailynews.asp?articleid=3676&zoneid=2
Official Press Release:
http://presszoom.com/story_126710.html
MMAOnTap Live Blog of the Press Conference:
http://www.mmaontap.com/mma/entry/pride-press-conference-3-27-07-live-blog/
UFC’s take on the acquisition:
http://www.ufc.com/index.cfm?fa=news.detail&gid=4957
Review Journal (Another rehash but at least it ain’t the AP article):
http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2007/Mar-27-Tue-2007/sports/13414338.html