PRIDE in Merger Mode with UFC
by: DarthMolen 1 year, 5 months, 3 weeks, 3 days, 15 hours, 18 minutes ago 0
Email Article Print ArticleWell it appears official, this time, maybe, do we get a recount??? Dana White was asked about the PRIDE / UFC acquisition at the UFC 71 press conference and he has some interesting answers.
"We’re still trying to figure out this whole Pride and UFC thing. The deal is done. We acquired the company yesterday or the day before” White told the media at the UFC 71 post fight press conference.
“Talking about all the Pride stuff, we’re going to work on that stuff over the next [weeks] now that the deal is officially closed. You can’t start running a business when you don’t own it yet. We’ve owned it for two days. I know we made the big announcement, but it might have been a little premature. The deal wasn’t done yet. The deal was pending, but we were far enough along where we felt comfortable announcing the deal. Now that it’s closed two days ago we’ll get that straightened out.”
When asked about all the fighters, Dana’s response was, “We’re going to have them all here. He’s [Wanderlei Silva] going to be here. They’re all going to fight....They’re all under contract.”
“We’re working on Fedor right now too. We’re working on everybody. Everybody means everybody, all of them. We’re trying to get them all. They’re all going to be here. If not now, eventually we’ll have them all.”
When asked about the PRIDE championship belts and how they would fit into the picture, “I don’t think we should disrespect the guys who have belts in Pride. They were champions in that organization, and they have belts too. We’ve still got to figure this thing out, but at the end of the day the great thing is that the best are going to fight the best. That’s all that really matters at the end of the day.”