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Think competition for the UFC is a good thing? Well, if you do that’s just too bad because their last standing competitor just sold out to MMA giant ZUFFA LLC.
When the UFC bought Pride it was a good thing, when they bought the WEC they were able to showcase the lighter weight fighters and build a brand around them. They then folded Affliction and now they bought the number 2 global MMA promotion, Strikeforce.
UFC President Dana White spilled the beans this morning to MMAFighting .com and this interview is the only bit on insight on the acquisition as no other details of the purchase have yet been released.
"Strikeforce is going to continue to run business as usual," White told MMAFighting.com. "There are contracts in place. These guys are on Showtime. Strikeforce pulls good ratings for Showtime. I think Showtime is happy with them. All those contracts will be honored. These guys are going to remain Strikeforce fighters.
"Could guys from the UFC leave and end up over in Strikeforce? Yeah."
According to reports, Scott Coker will remain in place and handle the day-to-day operations of the promotion.
White also clarified that some UFC fighters will probably go the way of Strikeforce but wants the fans to know not to expect any champion vs. champion super fights. The message is, Strikeforce is its own business, and it will operate business as usual.
"That's a separate business that has their own income," White said. "They have their own budgets and everything else that they do. They have their own television deals. If they're that interested in acquiring (a fighter), it's no different than it was before."
Additionally, fighters such as Josh Barnett and Paul Daley who are both on the UFC’s blacklist will still be able to compete under the Strikeforce banner as employees of ZUFFA LLC.
On the Brightside of things, with all the talks of Melendez vs. Edgar, GSP vs. Diaz and Overeem vs. Velasquez, making these fights that at one time seemed impossible may actually be more probable than not in the future. At least their checks are getting cut from the same cloth now.
When the UFC bought Pride it was a good thing, when they bought the WEC they were able to showcase the lighter weight fighters and build a brand around them. They then folded Affliction and now they bought the number 2 global MMA promotion, Strikeforce.
UFC President Dana White spilled the beans this morning to MMAFighting .com and this interview is the only bit on insight on the acquisition as no other details of the purchase have yet been released.
"Strikeforce is going to continue to run business as usual," White told MMAFighting.com. "There are contracts in place. These guys are on Showtime. Strikeforce pulls good ratings for Showtime. I think Showtime is happy with them. All those contracts will be honored. These guys are going to remain Strikeforce fighters.
"Could guys from the UFC leave and end up over in Strikeforce? Yeah."
According to reports, Scott Coker will remain in place and handle the day-to-day operations of the promotion.
White also clarified that some UFC fighters will probably go the way of Strikeforce but wants the fans to know not to expect any champion vs. champion super fights. The message is, Strikeforce is its own business, and it will operate business as usual.
"That's a separate business that has their own income," White said. "They have their own budgets and everything else that they do. They have their own television deals. If they're that interested in acquiring (a fighter), it's no different than it was before."
Additionally, fighters such as Josh Barnett and Paul Daley who are both on the UFC’s blacklist will still be able to compete under the Strikeforce banner as employees of ZUFFA LLC.
On the Brightside of things, with all the talks of Melendez vs. Edgar, GSP vs. Diaz and Overeem vs. Velasquez, making these fights that at one time seemed impossible may actually be more probable than not in the future. At least their checks are getting cut from the same cloth now.
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