Zuffa purchases Strikeforce

[REDDzone]

http://www.mmafighting.com/2011/03/12/z ... rikeforce/

[Posey H8er]

listening to the Helwani/White interview now...

[Cammo101]

You scooped me. I was just about to post this.

This is HUGE news.

[singh_shady]

HOLY F*CK!!!

[Cammo101]

My computer at work has no sound, so I can not listen to White's interview. Any word on whether the UFC will swallow up Strikeforce or keep it seperate? If seperate, will they at least get the Overeem's and Fedor's to the UFC? Will the UFC get the CBS timeslot in this deal? Coker kept around? Daley sent packing...again?

I need details dammit!!!

[singh_shady]

Ok looks like they're going to stay separate, just watching the interview now. It's "business as usual" as Dana put it

[Cammo101]

Ok looks like they're going to stay separate, just watching the interview now. It's "business as usual" as Dana put it

I would scavenge the big names and then use Strikeforce as a minor league feeder for the UFC.

[REDDzone]

Dana says everything will stay completely seperate.

No SF guy will fight in UFC while under contract with SF. Says when the SF contract is up he will go after who he wants, says when guys leave/get cut from UFC Coker has the opportunity to sign them if he is interested.

Says there will be absolutely no co-promotion and the TV deals are seperate.

Seems like to me that the only thing that changes is that we will be seeing advertisements for SF on UFC shows and vice versa, along with some presentation improvements Dana implied UFC would help SF with.

Dana says he doesn't even have anything to do with where SF decides to hold their shows.

[REDDzone]

I think Dana is holding firm to his "business as usual" comments in order to dispel rumors of UFC taking SF fighters from SF early on.

But I can't see the UFC/SF being in competition for fighters and bidding eachother up like Dana seems to imply it would be. Dana will get his man every time when it comes down to it.

Not to mention, considering the lack of existence of WEC/Pride at this point, I'd be shocked if we didn't see a merger in the next year or two.

[Cammo101]

Keeping guys like Fedor, Overeem, and Diaz in Strikeforce now that this has happened is going to be a tough sell to the fans.

[REDDzone]

The good thing I see (if they are keeping seperate) is that the UFC will keep pressure on SF to step their game up in terms of production/putting on consistent shows/getting their crap together in terms of the HW tournament, etc.

[Cammo101]

The good thing I see (if they are keeping seperate) is that the UFC will keep pressure on SF to step their game up in terms of production/putting on consistent shows/getting their crap together in terms of the HW tournament, etc.

At face value, this seems to help Strikeforce a lot more than the UFC.

[Posey H8er]

UFC gets a huge video library too. SF has all of the old Elite XC footage as well so they can finally advertise Shields outside of him punching the bag.

[Cammo101]

UFC gets a huge video library too. SF has all of the old Elite XC footage as well so they can finally advertise Shields outside of him punching the bag.

The best thing about this is that it seems to set up the possibility of a 24 hour MMA network. UFC, WEC, Strikeforce, Pride, Elite XC, and IFL all have their libraries owned by Zuffa. HDNet has the rights to Dream, K1, MFC, XFC, WVR and other minor leagues. Dana and Cuban need to get together and turn HDNet into MMANetwork.

[Posey H8er]

^that's a very interesting thought. and i actually think hdnet earned some rights to use zuffa content recently.

JoshGrossESPN Josh Gross
The UFC/Strikeforce split is all about contracts. Once they're fulfilled with Showtime, I'm told a WEC type merger is planned.
8 minutes ago

[damo[23]]

Isnt that exactly what they said when they bought Pride ?

[singh_shady]

^that's a very interesting thought. and i actually think hdnet earned some rights to use zuffa content recently.

JoshGrossESPN Josh Gross
The UFC/Strikeforce split is all about contracts. Once they're fulfilled with Showtime, I'm told a WEC type merger is planned.
8 minutes ago

Yea I was going to post this same sentiment, it seems the only thing holding a merger back right now is the Showtime deal. SF and UFC clearly have different business models, but until the two companies can legally get themselves on the same page a true merger really isn't feasible.

[Justin33]

The one thing Coker has been good at is the small shows and making money on it.I think that is
the main reason they re-upped him.

[singh_shady]

The good thing I see (if they are keeping seperate) is that the UFC will keep pressure on SF to step their game up in terms of production/putting on consistent shows/getting their crap together in terms of the HW tournament, etc.

At face value, this seems to help Strikeforce a lot more than the UFC.

Ultimately this will help the UFC brand in the long run. This helps SF even if the only superficial change in the immediate future is the fact that UFC will run advertisements for SF during their cards. It will help get the Strikeforce name out there and it will help further build their fighters, which will all result in the eventual merge being an even bigger deal.

[singh_shady]

The assisted marketing has already begun (via UFC's twitter)

RT @ufc And since we don't have to hide it anymore - Diaz vs. Daley tickets for April 9th are on sale today!

This is great for MMA