Zuffa purchases Strikeforce!

[aholbert32]

Re: Zuffa purchases Strikeforce!

Dumb question, but if SF is still going to be it's own league, just owned by the UFC, is the matchmaking not going to be controlled by Joe Silva/the UFC?

Still its own league but owned by the UFC. Some UFC fighters may be transferred over to SF. Silva and Coker will work together on matchmaking.

[SidVish]

Re: Zuffa purchases Strikeforce!

Dumb question, but if SF is still going to be it's own league, just owned by the UFC, is the matchmaking not going to be controlled by Joe Silva/the UFC?

Yes. They are still 2 separate entities that will run like they normally do. For example, Dana said that Paul Daley will never fight in the UFC again. However, if Coker wants to sign him to Strikeforce then it'll happen. Dana kept saying in the interview that it'll be business as usual.

He did say when the fighters' contracts are up they're free to negotiate with Strikeforce or the UFC. It's pretty wild.

[aholbert32]

Re: Zuffa purchases Strikeforce!

Interesting tweet from Josh Gross at ESPN:

"The UFC/Strikeforce split is all about contracts. Once they're fulfilled with Showtime, I'm told a WEC type merger is planned."

[SidVish]

Re: Zuffa purchases Strikeforce!

Dana White has some beef with Showtime execs to so he said he won't be at any Strikeforce events because he doesn't want to make any of them uncomfortable. He said that the Fertitta brothers will probably be at the Strikeforce events.

[VanCitySportsGuy]

Re: Zuffa purchases Strikeforce!

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm stunned. I never saw this coming considering how Dana White likes to bash Strikeforce.

As a MMA fan (mostly UFC), I'm thrilled.

I don't buy his once contracts expire than he will try to bring fighters to the UFC BS. Zuffa owns Strikeforce which basically means they own the contract right now. I also laughed when he said Coker would still be trying to get fighters and basically going head to head with White. Considering Dana White is now Coker's boss, you really think he would lose a "bidding war" to Coker. There's no chance in hell this is going to happen. Zuffa isn't going to bid against itself for fighters.

I want to see guys like Diaz, Overeem, Silva, etc.. join the UFC right away.

This is a terrible day for fighters though. They have no leverage now. UFC and Strikeforce pay the most by a wide margin. What other company is going to pay Hendo $250,000 per fight? Nobody.

One angle that hasn't been discussed is Fedor. I think he's going to retire now. There's too much bad blood between the two sides.

[p_rushing]

Re: Zuffa purchases Strikeforce!

Will they even bother to complete the "tournament"? The way it is going, the 1st round won't be complete this year, so why even finish it.

[Fiasco West]

Re: Zuffa purchase Strikeforce?

Wow, this came out of nowhere.

This is great news for the UFC, whether the plan to use Strikeforce as a minor/developmental league or they plan merge like they did the WEC after all the contracts run out. Hard to believe this will be 'Business as usual' for too long.

As for guys that have problems with the UFC, I just wonder where they will go.

[ex carrabba fan]

Re: Zuffa purchases Strikeforce!

Interesting tweet from Josh Gross at ESPN:

"The UFC/Strikeforce split is all about contracts. Once they're fulfilled with Showtime, I'm told a WEC type merger is planned."

Hmmmmm

So I'm still really confused.

Anyone care to lay out what this will mean in plain terms?

So basically before we see SF fighters against current UFC fighters, their contracts will need to expire first?

How does M-1 now factor in currently? I don't get it.

And how soon does this go into effect?

[jeremym480]

Re: Zuffa purchases Strikeforce!

I just saw this on Tim Kennedy's Twitter. This is freaking amazing. The possibilities are endless. Mayhem vs. Diaz as the next TUF coaches please. I guess that I need to watch the interview.

[aholbert32]

Re: Zuffa purchases Strikeforce!

Hmmmmm

So I'm still really confused.

Anyone care to lay out what this will mean in plain terms?

So basically before we see SF fighters against current UFC fighters, their contracts will need to expire first?

How does M-1 now factor in currently? I don't get it.

And how soon does this go into effect?

OK. The Showtime contract is 2yrs long. So SF will continue to air on Sho as a seperate promotion until that ends or unless Sho decides it wants out of the MMA business.

Because of the Sho deal, the UFC wont be able to just slide Overeem or Diaz over to the UFc. They will need to wait until Overreem's contract is up (or the Sho deal ends) then they can negotiate a new deal with Overeem.

This is different than the Pride deal or the WFA deal (that brought Rampage and Silva to the UFC) because SF will still exist after the purchase. So the UFC cant just transfer over fighters yet.

The M-1 deal is a ****ing mess. M-1 has a seperate deal with Showtime and will start airing their own fights in April/May. So the chances of seeing Fedor in the UFC are very slim. What's likely to happen is that once the SF/Sho deal expires, M-1 will slide into SF's position at Showtime and try to be a new #2 MMA promotion. Fedor will likely stay with M-1 or retire.

The deal was signed last night.

[jeremym480]

Re: Zuffa purchases Strikeforce!

^^ That's a shame. I was actually looking forward to the possibility of Hendo vs. Fedor

[aholbert32]

Re: Zuffa purchases Strikeforce!

^^ That's a shame. I was actually looking forward to the possibility of Hendo vs. Fedor

You will probably still get to see that fight. Remember right now SF is still a separate entity.

[Sandman42]

Re: Zuffa purchases Strikeforce!

What in the world.

When I first saw this on twitter I thought it was a joke. Completely out of left field.

[redsrule]

Re: Zuffa purchases Strikeforce!

^ I know. I am confused, but excited at the same time.

[The Chef]

Re: Zuffa purchase Strikeforce?

This entire deal makes no sense to me, while I was excited when I first heard it Im more and more believing that its meaningless. Dana says that Coker and Strikeforce will have their own budgets and revenue streams, so what exactly does Dana have to gain from this? Strikeforce is going to continue with the same business model, same commentators, same fighters and Dana will still compete with Coker for contracts of fighters when they become free agents so I really need someone to explain to me what Dana is gaining with this move. From everything Ive heard so far this sounds like an insanely stupid decision but Im hopeful that Im just missing something.

EDIT- Alright, one thing I just read stated that Strikeforce fighters will be able to float between promotions once their Strikeforce contracts are up so when Hendo's last fight is up with Strikeforce he could still resign with them but would be signing with Zuffa allowing him to either fight on a Strikeforce card or a UFC card depending on matchups.

I still dont understand why Dana would basically want to bid against Coker for talent, or in other words bidding against himself, so if someone can explain the reasoning behind that it would be appreciated.