It’s finally official, after weeks of speculation, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) has officially bought Pride Fighting Championships.
Background on the deal
According to reports from Newsday, the deal was for less than $70 million. The deal was announced at a press conference in Tokyo.
The Fertitta Brothers, who are Casino Moguls, bought the UFC six years earlier and have made it the most dominant brand in the Mixed Martial Arts business today.
Millions of fans tune in to watch the UFC each year, whether it be by the star-studded Pay-Per-View events, or their popular reality series, The Ultimate Fighter (TUF), or even Ultimate Fight Nights that showcase up-and-coming talent. Both TUF and Ultimate Fight Night can be seen on Spike TV
How this helps Pride Fighting?
Don’t worry Pride Fighting fans, the Fertitta Brothers intend on holding onto the namesake and will continue to promote fights under the Pride Fighting brand. The purchase gives Pride Fighting an opportunity to expand internationally and try to regain their fan base in Japan.
According to the Newsday article, the Fuji Television Network dropped Pride Fighting from their schedule after tabloid reports connecting Pride to the Japanese Mob. This caused a major setback for Pride Fighting and ultimately led to a sale.
How this helps the UFC?
For the UFC, it makes them the most dominating brand in MMA. Pride Fighting was considered a rival to the UFC, as many MMA fighters have fought for both brands.
Both Fertitta’s have been and will continue to purchase other MMA organizations.
What this could mean for fans?
The real winner in this deal is the fans. What does this mean, for some it’s a chance to see Pride Fighting star Wanderlei Silva take on UFC star Chuck Liddell. Silva in recent months has challenged Liddell to a fight in the Pride ring, or Fedor Emeliananko could take on Randy Couture.
With this deal done and taken care of, fight fans can now see dream matches between two superstars in each organization. Maybe the fans could see cross-branding title fights. This could lead to another title for Dan Henderson.
Will Pride Fighting be shown on Spike TV? It seems unlikely because Pride currently is apart of Fox Sports Net and it looks like it will be that way for awhile. Maybe we could see a Pride Fighting reality show? This deal helps Pride the most because it can get the exposure it has desired and deserved.
