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+--- Thread: UFC part deux (/showthread.php?tid=12269)
- Gooch - 03-27-2007
Zuffa-Controlled: DSE Cedes PRIDE to UFC Bosses
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
by Sherdog.com Staff
After revitalizing the struggling Ultimate Fighting Championship, and as a result lifting the sport of mixed martial arts world wide, Lorenzo Fertitta, a Station Casinos magnate alongside his older brother Frank, confirmed the purchase of the PRIDE Fighting Championships from Dream Stage Entertainment Tuesday in Tokyo.
DSE and PRIDE CEO Nobuyuki Sakaibara also announced that as part of the agreement he would resign effective April 8, following PRIDE 34 at the Saitama Super Arena.
Joined by UFC president Dana White and the company's matchmaker Joe Silva at the Roppongi Hills Arena, Fertitta discussed the creation of a mixed martial arts commission for which he would act as president.
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."
The NFL's Super Bowl came as a result of the NFC-AFC merger, and Fertitta envisions "Super Bowl" type cards between UFC and PRIDE fighters, including Randy Couture (Pictures), Tim Sylvia (Pictures), Chuck Liddell (Pictures), Matt Hughes (Pictures), Diego Sanchez (Pictures), B.J. Penn (Pictures) facing PRIDE stars such as Fedor Emelianenko (Pictures), Wanderlei Silva (Pictures), Mauricio Rua (Pictures), Dan Henderson (Pictures), Shinya Aoki (Pictures), Tatsuya Kawajiri (Pictures), Takanori Gomi (Pictures) and Hayato Sakurai (Pictures).
"We will be able to literally put on the fights that everyone wants to see," the former Nevada State Athletic Commission member said. "It will allow us to put on some of the biggest fights ever."
UFC president Dana White made curt statements, suggesting other MMA promoters pale in comparison to what Zufffa now offers with UFC and PRIDE, as well as the much smaller WEC, under its umbrella. The aggressive UFC boss received a warm reaction before discussing potential dream fights between the organizations' champions and stars.
One of those men is Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic, who was responsible for the first real battle won between Zuffa and DSE when he defected to the American company earlier this year. During a taped message to the nearly 1,000 fans in attendance, the 2006 PRIDE Open-Weight Grand Prix champion said he wanted to come back to PRIDE and get a second crack at PRIDE champion Fedor Emelianenko (Pictures), widely regarded as the world's best heavyweight.
But before "Cro Cop" and Fedor face one another again, the first in-ring clash following the merger will feature Jeff Monson (Pictures) against Kazuyuki Fujita (Pictures), who step into the PRIDE ring on April 8.
- Gooch - 03-27-2007
Blog: Live From the PRIDE Press Conference
Sherdog.com's Stephen Martinez reports live from Tokyo, Japan where it is expected that Dream Stage Entertainment will announce at a press conference that it has ceded control of the PRIDE Fighting Championships to UFC owners Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta.
5:27 Tokyo Time: Little movement on stage, which is a miniature version of the production PRIDE was famous for during shows at Saitama Super Arena. More than 1,000 fans are present at the Roppongi Hills Arena, along with a strong contingent of Japanese and International press. There are two big screens featuring PRIDE bouts.
5:44: PRIDE highlights continue to play on the giant televisions. The attitude in the area feels more like PRIDE is saying "thanks for everything" rather than promotion. Fedor Emelianenko's (Pictures) manager, Vadim Finkelstein is here.
5:55: Japanese fighters have begun to arrive. Recent fan favorite Shinya Aoki (Pictures), whose gogoplata victory over Joachim Hansen (Pictures) made the world know it was possible, as well as Ryo Chonan (Pictures), and leglock master Masakazu Imanari (Pictures) have started to file in.
6:02: Virtually all of the Japanese fighters who have participated in PRIDE throughout the organization's decade-long history appear to be here.
6:07: Ultimate Fighting Championship matchmaker Joe Silva has shown his face. He is the first UFC representative to appear at the press conference. This is the first indication that the rumor Sherdog.com first reported on March 19 is indeed true: DSE and Zuffa have agreed to a deal of some sort that would have the companies working together.
6:24: PRIDE CEO Noboyuki Sakakibara is addressing the media. It's heartbreaking. He talks about PRIDE's history and his goals during his tenure of the organization's boss after Naoto Morishita committed suicide on Dec. 31, 2002.
Sakakibara announced his resignation and has just introduced UFC co-owner and Station Casino magnate Lorenzo Fertitta. There is discussion of a mixed martial arts commission, which Fertitta will act as president. PRIDE will be run separately but under the umbrella of Zuffa, which also controls the WEC.
Sakakibara becomes very sentimental and says he will step down following PRIDE 34 on April 8.
6:46: Current PRIDE president Nobuhiko Takada (Pictures) will remain with the new company. Takada has joined the stage, and begins to address the audience. Pride will run separate from UFC but under Lorenzo Fertitta, said the main who fought Rickson Gracie in the main event of the debut PRIDE Oct. 11, 1997.
Fertitta has the microphone and said PRIDE will continue world-wide. He discusses his love for the style of MMA PRIDE promoted, and wants to make the sport of MMA like baseball or soccer. Fertitta discusses a mixed martial arts "Super Bowl" with UFC fighters like Randy Couture (Pictures), Tim Sylvia (Pictures), Chuck Liddell (Pictures), Matt Hughes (Pictures), Diego Sanchez (Pictures), B.J. Penn (Pictures) facing PRIDE stars such as Fedor Emelianenko (Pictures), Wanderlei Silva (Pictures), Mauricio Rua (Pictures), Dan Henderson (Pictures), Shinya Aoki (Pictures), Tatsuya Kawajiri (Pictures), Takanori Gomi (Pictures) and Hayato Sakurai (Pictures).
6:56: Last year's PRIDE Open-Weight Grand Prix winner Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic says he wanted to come back and fight Fedor again in a recorded.
UFC president Dana White has come on stage and says that all mixed martial arts organizations are a joke next to UFC or PRIDE. White receives a good reception from Japanese fans. He is now talking about potential dream match-ups becoming a reality:
Fedor Emelianenko (Pictures) vs. Randy Couture (Pictures)
Takanori Gomi (Pictures) vs. Georges St. Pierre (Pictures)
Dan Henderson (Pictures) vs. Anderson Silva
Chuck Liddell (Pictures) vs. Wanderlei Silva (Pictures)
Also official PRIDE 34 matches have been revealed:
Jeff Monson (Pictures) vs. Kazuyuki Fujita (Pictures)
Ikuhisa Minowa (Pictures) vs. Don Frye (Pictures)
Wanderlei Silva (Pictures) vs. TBD
7:02: Jeff Monson (Pictures) and Kazuyuki Fujita (Pictures) have appeared on stage and are being billed as the first UFC vs. PRIDE encounter. Fujita promises to crush the UFC.
7:16: The press conference is over. No questions were fielded from the press.
- diceisgod - 04-07-2007
I'm looking forward to seeing GSP in action tonight at on UFC 69. The other fight that looks interesting is Diego-Koscheck. I hate Diego less so I'm leaning towards rooting for him. This card seems really really weak overall but i'll buy it anyway since i'm bored.
- diceisgod - 04-07-2007
There's some great smack talk going on for the Diego-Kos fight:
[quote]Not only is he a better fighter than he used to be, but Sanchez believes the difference between himself and his opponent isn't close.
"He is a competitor," Sanchez said of Koscheck. "His ideal is he wants to compete with Diego: ‘I want to be the first to beat Diego.'"
Sanchez then sat up straight and quickly changed his tone of voice.
"But my mentality is, I'm a warrior. I'm here to kill this guy. I'm here to put him to sleep. That's the difference between the two of us I'm an animal, he's not." [/qoute]
And quite a bit of bad blood as well:
<embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/BbmRw-ymOnk" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed>
- Gooch - 04-07-2007
looking forward to this as well. crowd coming to watch this one. The only issue i have is i hope some of the other matchups are good too. GSP has a pretty good shot to tear thru Serra quick...and other than that and this one, only Mike Swicks match looks interesting.
- Gooch - 04-08-2007
wow..this was a night of surprises.
((SPOILERS BELOW))
East Meadow's Matt Serra is Welterweight Champ of the world, knocking out GSP.
Diego takes his first loss in a stinker.
Huerta vs Garcia was fight of the night, at the very least.
Swick gets beat.
Dana White presents another new HW.... Antonio Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira. The man who beat Crocop.
- Galt - 04-08-2007
<embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/x4YWDnyFWAc" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed>
- Keyser Soze - 04-23-2007
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- HedCold - 04-23-2007
we're all continually impressed by the fact you read deadspin
- Keyser Soze - 04-23-2007
why?