Dana White: Dissolving of PRIDE Fighting Championships a “Possibility”

[boxingcar]

No shit....I personally knew pride was DEAD asa dana & the fertitas were in charge...
They never gave a fuck about the future of pride fc.
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Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta, owners of Zuffa LLC (the UFC’s parent company), finalized their purchase of PRIDE Fighting Championships last month, and UFC president Dana White hasn’t ruled out the possibility that the UFC will simply take PRIDE’s best talent and then disband the Japanese-based organization.

White talked about the possibility with the Houston Chronicle‘s Steve Sievert.

Since the sale was first announced in March, PRIDE shows have been canceled, its future has been uncertain, and most notably, some of the organization’s top talent has been signed by or are rumored to be signing with the UFC and World Extreme Cagefighting (which is also owned by Zuffa). Mauricio “Shogun” Rua is the latest PRIDE fighter expected to compete in the UFC, and PRIDE welterweight and middleweight champion Dan Henderson will fight UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton Jackson at UFC 75 to unify the two organizations’ 205-pound belts.

Sievert asked White about the possibility of moving PRIDE fighters to the UFC permanently and ceasing operations under the PRIDE name. White didn’t rule it out.

From Sievert’s Brawl Sports blog:

“It’s a possibility. There’s a lot of different things we could do right now. That is definitely one of the possibilities.“

PRIDE was purchased with a rumored price tag of $75 million. Upon the initial announcement, White and other UFC officials discussed the possibility of unified rules between the two organizations, holding cross-promotion “SuperBowl-like” MMA events, and creating a new management team that would run PRIDE as a separate entity.

Despite all the grand plans, little has been accomplished thus far — other than PRIDE fighters heading to the UFC.

For UFC fans, it simply means an influx of talent and potential answers to who are the world’s best fighters in each weight class.

However, for PRIDE fans, it could mean the end of a 10-year era.

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[Smith]

Fucking cunts......

.........still, they may get off with it for a year or so, but then the japanese fans will become restless, and in under no circumstances will accept ufc as there main mma organisation. What this leads to is a repurchase of the pride name, or formation of a pride part 2 if you will. Also, haaving so many fighters in the ufc will eventually backfire guaranteed, and their will be havoc!

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I personally don't think they will dissolve it though, the name is worth to much outside of America for them to do this..




(man, could you imagine no pride events, there the most spectacular and well thought out/organised events you get, instead of plain all american ufc!!!!!!!!!)

[AJAX]

well at least we get the fights we want. instead of talking about who is the best we get to see who is.It's better than becoming like boxing and having dozens of belts and champs who never fight other champs. UFC is monopolizing the sport and it's actually the best thing for the fans.although having pride around wouldn't hurt because there is so many fighters that need to be active to make an impact.

[scurlaruntings]

Monopolising is never good for anything.PRIDE was by far the better org with the better fighters.Dissolving it is the worse thing the UFC could have done. They will simply rape it for all its talent and the best fighters int he world will never get to compete on a world stage purely because Dana destroyed PRIDES tradition and heritage.This isnt surprising but its bad bad news.

[cross_trainer]

If they destroy it, there are two options: Either the UFC manages to penetrate the Japanese market (which does not appear to have been successful thus far; rather the opposite), or another Japanese organization rises from the rubble to cater to that fanbase, and the "titles" get split again. K-1 Heroes may manage the trick, as could Shooto or Pancrase.

[AJAX]

Monopolising is never good for anything.PRIDE was by far the better org with the better fighters.Dissolving it is the worse thing the UFC could have done. They will simply rape it for all its talent and the best fighters int he world will never get to compete on a world stage purely because Dana destroyed PRIDES tradition and heritage.This isnt surprising but its bad bad news.

Sports like this are definatly better monopolised, Boxing is a perfect example what happens when you don't. with shogun and Vanderleigh comming over and probobly Fedor there will be more great matchups.It sounds like your more interested in the show itself rather then the fighting, although I think the UFC should adapt a few Pride rules.

[alewaboy52]

im a little dissapointed, i have a feeling this might happen, my biggest problem is there are going to be a lot of talented free agents, good thing about htat is a lot of independant shows like icon, strikeforce, cage the rage etc., are gonna have good fighters headlining their cards, but the shitty thing is as far as the ufc goes, there are only so many fighters you can showcase if you are only holding one event a month, theyre gonna have to put on like one show a week and that could quite possibly saturate teh mma market and make it to the point where people can get burned out (fans)

[AJAX]

true enough that's why they should still have shows to keep guys active, there is too much talent just for the UFC to hold. The UFC should consider doing a show in Japan. That's a huge market that is ready for more fights, i'm sure Dana will do something with it.

[scurlaruntings]

Sports like this are definatly better monopolised, Boxing is a perfect example what happens when you don't. with shogun and Vanderleigh comming over and probobly Fedor there will be more great matchups.It sounds like your more interested in the show itself rather then the fighting, although I think the UFC should adapt a few Pride rules.The UFC should get rid of the Octagon have a ring instead, move there shows exclusively to Japan with mostly Japanese refs, allow knees on the ground, soccer kicks and stomps, ban any redneck between 19-40, and rename there Org to PRIDE. That ought to do the trick..;)

[SweetScienceFan]

At this point, it doesn't really matter. There are so many organizations out there. Does it really make a difference whether or not they kept Pride and UFC seperate, when we all know that they are owned by the same people anyways? We may as well get to see all of the best fights at all times.

With Showtime throwing their hat in the ring, the IBF, ect... there are plenty of other organizations to keep the UFC in check. The UFC is always going to be the powerhouse, because the fans are already sold on it. Whenever HBO gets into the mix, we are going to see a lot of changes. UFC had better get on that boat ride with HBO, or HBO is going to end up swallowing them with their deep pockets and willingness to give the huge contracts.

[Dostoevsky]

I agree with scurla.
MMA should be fought in a ring,the restarts are annoying at times, but the ring makes the fighters fight more and brings them together for more action.
Also it adds a touch of class.The cage is seedy and gives the entire production a backyard brawl feel to it.
To truly legitimize the sport it needs to have a ring.

It will never happen though as the cage is established.

[Beebs]

I agree with scurla.
MMA should be fought in a ring,the restarts are annoying at times, but the ring makes the fighters fight more and brings them together for more action.
Also it adds a touch of class.The cage is seedy and gives the entire production a backyard brawl feel to it.
To truly legitimize the sport it needs to have a ring.

It will never happen though as the cage is established.

How on earth can something that inherently stops action bring about more action? If I never see a bunch of people slapping and fighters hands or hear the words "stop, don't move" again, the MMA world will be a better place. There is no advantage to using a ring, all it does is endanger the fighters and interrupt the action.

[Smith]

The UFC should get rid of the Octagon have a ring instead, move there shows exclusively to Japan with mostly Japanese refs, allow knees on the ground, soccer kicks and stomps, ban any redneck between 19-40, and rename there Org to PRIDE. That ought to do the trick..;)

Haha im in total agreement, then it would be proper

[Smith]

At this point, it doesn't really matter. There are so many organizations out there. Does it really make a difference whether or not they kept Pride and UFC seperate, when we all know that they are owned by the same people anyways? We may as well get to see all of the best fights at all times.


You obviously dont know anything about the history and tradition of pride, and the legions(if not more than ufc) of loyal fans around the world, with such a stupid statement!

[Smith]

. There is no advantage to using a ring, all it does is endanger the fighters and interrupt the action.

Thats your opinion, leave it out.

[Beebs]

Thats your opinion, leave it out.

Suck my dick :good

[Koa]

One thing the UFC can do is meet prides weight classes halfway. Increasing cap on weight limits by a little and removing the cap for heavyweight so naturally huge guys can come in and fight, like Mark Hunt. It's not like its going to be a freak show, if you get fat lops in there they are going to be dismantled quickly.

Maybe another thing they can do is keep their lightest weight class as is? I don't remember off the top of my head what the weight classes were, but then they might also introduce a yearly, or bi yearly Grand Prix, with everything from lightweight to middleweight compete, and everything from light heavy and heavy compete.

Thats just the best way I can picture it. It allows for more belts to be held, more cards and more opportunity for so many fighters.

For Grand prix fights, maybe they could be held in a ring with rules as close as possible to prides, and have them held out of country where rules can be more easily adjusted.

[Smith]

Suck my dick :good

Mate, you don't have a dick. You continually embarress yourself with your opinions on this, especially your picks on the ufc ultmate card.:patsch

Oh dear, go and read some books fuckwit

[Dostoevsky]

How on earth can something that inherently stops action bring about more action? If I never see a bunch of people slapping and fighters hands or hear the words "stop, don't move" again, the MMA world will be a better place. There is no advantage to using a ring, all it does is endanger the fighters and interrupt the action.

It makes them fight because there are 90 degree right angles.
Due to these right angles it is much easier to cut a fighter off,hem him in and force him to start fighting.

Since the octagon is so massive and essentially circular in shape, a fighter can dance around and move away from the opponent alot more easily.
PRIDE fights are for the whole, more exciting than UFC fights,because the ring forces them to fight.

The restarts? big deal, it takes 5 seconds to put the fighters to the middle of the ring.
The ring is dangerous? I always thought that claim was bullshit,how many fighters have fallen out the ring and injured themselves that they can't continue to fight? few,if any

[Smith]

It makes them fight because there are 90 degree right angles.
Due to these right angles it is much easier to cut a fighter off,hem him in and force him to start fighting.

Since the octagon is so massive and essentially circular in shape, a fighter can dance around and move away from the opponent alot more easily.
PRIDE fights are for the whole, more exciting than UFC fights,because the ring forces them to right.

The restarts? big deal, it takes 5 seconds to put the fighters to the middle of the ring.
The ring is dangerous? I always thought that claim was bullshit,how many fighters have fallen out the ring and injured themselves that they can't continue to fight? few,if any

Mate, don't even humour the guy beebs, he doesnt know what he's talking about!

[Beebs]

It makes them fight because there are 90 degree right angles.
Due to these right angles it is much easier to cut a fighter off,hem him in and force him to start fighting.

Since the octagon is so massive and essentially circular in shape, a fighter can dance around and move away from the opponent alot more easily.
PRIDE fights are for the whole, more exciting than UFC fights,because the ring forces them to fight.

The restarts? big deal, it takes 5 seconds to put the fighters to the middle of the ring.
The ring is dangerous? I always thought that claim was bullshit,how many fighters have fallen out the ring and injured themselves that they can't continue to fight? few,if any

A fighting arena should be uniform and safe, the cage is neither. The biggest fighter in the sport, in the biggest fight in the sport, fell through the ropes in a fairly high paced point in the fight and was lucky not to have been a few more inches out or Fedor vs CroCop would have ended as a big dissapointment.

Ropes encourage fighters who are being GnP'd to duck under the ropes and get a restart, taking away from the advantage gained by the offensive party. Groundfighting is just not ment for a ring, look at Ebenezer Fontes Braga triangling Brandon Lee Hinkle using the ropes as part of the choke, or the ref dragging an unconscious Sakuraba back in through the ropes against Smirnovas giving him extra time for him to set up his amazing comeback, but also setting him up for further brain damage. Fedor vs Lindland was another fight that showed the ring as being a pain in the ass.

You can grab both a cage and a rope (although you can get your whole hand around a rope), but you cant duck under a cage, and you can't fall through a cage, assuming the idiot in charge of securing the door does his job. (Southworth vs Irvin)

The cage is a more pure form of MMA than the ring, which forces frequent interference of a third party, which stops momentum and just flat out looks stupid.

[Beebs]

Mate, you don't have a dick. You continually embarress yourself with your opinions on this, especially your picks on the ufc ultmate card.:patsch

Oh dear, go and read some books fuckwit

Believe me, I've seen more MMA cards than you have fights, and the cage is the consistantly better arena for MMA.

Also, I explained my picks are on an expected value system, and I didn't see anybody else with the balls to post their picks, except for ufoalf who said he picked everybody I didn't. People also thought I was crazy for picking Kos over Diego, or Hendo over Silva.

[Smith]

Believe me, I've seen more MMA cards than you have fights, and the cage is the consistantly better arena for MMA.

Also, I explained my picks are on an expected value system, and I didn't see anybody else with the balls to post their picks, except for ufoalf who said he picked everybody I didn't. People also thought I was crazy for picking Kos over Diego, or Hendo over Silva.

I picked kos over diego, and hendo over silva, fact! And by you saying youve seen more cards than i have fights just shows me how ridiculous you are, how the hell would you know that or prove it, even if it was true?:nono

[Beebs]

I picked kos over diego, and hendo over silva, fact! And by you saying youve seen more cards than i have fights just shows me how ridiculous you are, how the hell would you know that or prove it, even if it was true?:nono

Estimation based on the fact that you only seem to have any information or opinon, bias and wrong as both may be, on one organization, rather than the sport as whole.

[Smith]

Estimation based on the fact that you only seem to have any information or opinon, bias and wrong as both may be, on one organization, rather than the sport as whole.
Get a grip smart guy

[bigG]

i prefer the cage....i think it gives more elements of 'real world' combat to mma......the ring has its plus points too, but i really think the cage gives ufc franchise a usp that other ring based combat lacks...

[AJAX]

I prefer the cage also. nothing worse then guys going under the ropes or through the ropes, it's more realistic of a "real" fight where a guy can get pinned against the cage and pummeled.And having 10 japs all slapping your hands when you grab the ropes is very humerous.

[Koa]

After all I've seen against the cage I think it can be sorta lame at times. Your allowed to stuff a guys head against it and use it as an indirect weapon, then I sorta feel guys should be able to grab onto it and use it to hold themselves too to prevent from being slammed. In one sentence we say it bring real world into the picture, but in the next sentence we say they cant actually hold onto the cage which is why I would rather see all or none. Just me though, I prefer to see full work on the ground, I don't really enjoy seeing guys getting stuffed against it and not being able to use it defensively.

[Nuke]

After all I've seen against the cage I think it can be sorta lame at times. Your allowed to stuff a guys head against it and use it as an indirect weapon, then I sorta feel guys should be able to grab onto it and use it to hold themselves too to prevent from being slammed. In one sentence we say it bring real world into the picture, but in the next sentence we say they cant actually hold onto the cage which is why I would rather see all or none. Just me though, I prefer to see full work on the ground, I don't really enjoy seeing guys getting stuffed against it and not being able to use it defensively.



I agree plus I also agree with the guy earlier that said the ring gives it alittle more class, this is a big reason why it took so long for the sport to get big in the states, the japanese have been holding these types of events for years and never had that "human cock-fighting" stigma to it. Oh and as far as being dnagerous with guys falling out of the ring do what the IFL did and put a 4 foot wide platform around the outside of the ring, works pretty good for them.

[SweetScienceFan]

The ropes hold up action too much. Also, The ring gives you too much room to move around. I would much rather see the cage fights.

[Strike]

Make the cage a bit smaller. Problem solved.

[achillesthegreat]

What is the argument for keeping Pride? If there isn't one or at least a strong one then get rid of it and put MMA under one banner. UFC would be smart to manifest in the east with Russia, Japan etc

The amount of potential growth MMA still has in it, is just nuts.

[INFIGHT]

If you can't beat them, then buy them I guess. This is really dissapointing as I found Pride FC fights to be much more exciting then the ones presented by UFC.

[Koa]

What is the argument for keeping Pride? If there isn't one or at least a strong one then get rid of it and put MMA under one banner. UFC would be smart to manifest in the east with Russia, Japan etc

The amount of potential growth MMA still has in it, is just nuts.

Argument for keeping it is that it attracted a lot of great fighters that were not only from the U.S. It was already for the most part a world wide metropolitan organization. Had some problems with Yakuza influence, but then the UFC is building a bad rep when it comes to pay. Sukodjou for example is an exciting fighter who the UFC should be giddy to have in thier organization. To me it seemed to be an organization for the REAL who's who of MMA in its prime. It at least seemed to be all about the matchups and finding out who truly was the best, you could become an instant star there. To hang there you really needed to be a superb fighter.

Tradition was great as well. I remember hearing introductions by some fired up woman which was friggin exhilerating. I'm not saying the long ceremonies between fights is a good thing for an international audience, but it did provide a certain flavor. Truly entertaining in its hayday, don't get me wrong. I like the UFC as well, its working on becomming a Metropolitain sport with events going on around the world, but it needs to work on being more appealing on an international level.

[Smith]

What is the argument for keeping Pride? If there isn't one or at least a strong one then get rid of it and put MMA under one banner. UFC would be smart to manifest in the east with Russia, Japan etc

The amount of potential growth MMA still has in it, is just nuts.

Are you kidding? The fucking argument is it has legions and legions of fans, traditon and so on and on......What a stupid thing to say, its like saying whats the arguments for keeping Ring magazine......If you think UFC can expand into Japan successfully and be as big as Pride over their you obviously dont know anything about the scene there.

[scurlaruntings]

Are you kidding? The fucking argument is it has legions and legions of fans, traditon and so on and on......What a stupid thing to say, its like saying whats the arguments for keeping Ring magazine......If you think UFC can expand into Japan successfully and be as big as Pride over their you obviously dont know anything about the scene there.Hey Achilles is new to MMA go easy on him:good

[Beebs]

Yay for rings :nut
z-3b2_1Vk8M

[Smith]

Hey Achilles is new to MMA go easy on him:good

:think :good