“I don’t want this sport to become a monopoly. It will lead to lower paydays for the fighters.” Whatever, Fishman is not a true fan for MMA with a comment like this. To see the best fighters in the world under one roof would be an amazing opportunity for this sport. What about organizations like the NBA or NFL, I wouldn’t call them a monopoly what so ever. Day in and day out you’re watching the best of the best in those two organizations playing each other. I hope Zuffa can buy PRIDE right out from under Ed Fishman.

i hope fishman dies

ZUFFA doesn’t want to do that b/c PRIDE will come in and smash on the UFC.

If Zuffa buys Pride then Zuffa could still hold Pride shows. Then at the end of the year the champions of each divison could fight in one big PPV which would be awesome. Zuffa also owns the WEC and WFA so they could also have there best fighter in the PPV.

Good point, Anthony, about the NBA and NFL. National Mixed Martial Arts League = NMMAL. Not too sexy, but will do. I just want the UFC to stop being so protective of its big payroll fighters. Please? Joe Silva… you hear me?

“I pray that Fishman gets hit by a bus sometime this weekend.”

I’m having a LOST flashback…

Jaywalk-

I was going to reference that but I thought it would be “lost” on most readers. Nice!

JAY BANG

Thats a great idea man ive thought of the same. Keep Pride as sort of the National League of MMA and hold all the shows over seas and make the UFC the American League and keep them in the West (Include Mexico, Canada, etc.). Guys wouldnt have to be locked into either division though and every1 could fight every where. This would lead to great show downs in both divisions and a great “super bowl” of MMA at the end of every yr with the champions of champions card where every champ of each divisions weight class will show down. I know its wishful thinking but man that’d be a MMA fans dream.

If ZUFFA buys pride, ill piss in my own mouth and be happy about it!!!

Whats the difference if ufc doesnt get Pride…

The best can still go to the place that pays the best or where the competition is. Contracts only last so long.

I think its a win win situation either way it goes.

More money = better fighters should = better fights

If its all under one roof do you think there will be more money used to keep mma fighters from retiring… why do you think wwe sucks. No one really wonders what is in tna.

But everyone used to watch wwf and wcw.

Thats why I dont watch wrestling anymore.

They could still keep independant and have grudge matchs…

Where there is $$$ there is a will and where there is a will there is a way for it all to work out.

i definately dont want to see fishman buy it, the dude doesnt know anything about mma…so obviously he would buy it just for the money, not the love of the sport, obviously he wouldnt want to pay guys a lot of money..i think either Zuffa buys it and we are all happy, or Pride fighters will get sick of fishmans shit and come to the ufc anyway…or i hope so

Robin i dont think u can compare MMA to WWE. WWE sucks because they’re using ideas they used 10 years ago. When WWE bought WCW they could have kept serperate promotions and had joint PPV’s but they didn’t because Vince’s ego is to big and he wont have his poster boys lose to another promotion, even if he does own it. Zuffa buys Pride then we will get to see dream matches like Liddell vs Silva(fingers crossed). Do you remember we were promised buy Dana White that we’d see that fight, but the deal fell through. So UFC Pride = dream matches.

Here was my idea! Or maybe what the UFC is hoping to accomplish:

The UFC has said all along the WEC will be a seperate entity!
Well it is impossible to be a UFC competitior with low level talent, so they have to beef up the talent pool. How does Zuffa accomplish this.

1. Buy Pride take half of the talent pool and move it to the WEC! Guys like Shogun, Arona, and any other fighter that has a teamate within the Pride ranks at the same weight. This opens up for Chute Box fighters to hold multiple championships instead of being a gate keeper. Move fighters like Kharitonov who has lost numerous times to other Pride heavyweights. And fighters like Hansen ect who have basicly lost ground in the division with Pride, Just like they are doing with Riggs.
2. Also keep signing young talent like they already have in the WEC!

Why would the UFC breakdown Prides allstar roster?
1. If the UFC buys Pride they would need to trim the payroll quite a bit, to make it work financially in Japan. With no current TV deal and The US market may always be low for PPV buys (people can only afford so much each month)
2. Sign more European and Japaneese fighters along with other fighters, Pride would operate in a much smaller scale, but still would have huge events, there roster would not be as stacked. It would be much more like the UFCs current roster. This would make shows and PPVs more easily to finance each month.

The UFC objective with Pride could be:
1. Buy it and run it, but have the current owenrs set up match making ect. This keeps the ties with the Japaneese fans as apposed to having Americans running a Japaneese show.
2. Obviously with a new owner try to get a TV deal ect!
3. And follow Prides current model with expansion.

The result:
1. 3 major titles in MMA (UFC, WEC, PFC)
2. Superbowl type events thru out the year.
For example. Shogun (WEC Champ) Vs Liddell (UFC Champ)
Unification matches.
3. Easy fighter movement for bigtime main events!
For example. Tito Ortiz has no were to go for a major title and/or a bigtime main event! Why not have Tito fight Silva for the Pride Title or Shogun for the WEC Title!
If Arlovsky was to stay in the UFC and Big Tim retains his title, no one really wants to see him fight Sylvia a 4th time, so why not a move to the WEC Vs Big Nog or Kharitonov!
Fighters tend to lose there options after a period of time in one spot.

Side note:

You could also see a European Title for UFC Europe, this may or may not be a good idea, but is possible.

Unification matches make for huge PPVs. It would look alot like boxing, the diff is Zuffa controls it and there are no politics ie promoters not coming together like you see all the time in boxing.

Many people think the UFC would not have any insentive to put on bigtime fights and pay two fighters a mil each if they hold the cards.
This could not be more wrong. Having a main event that draws 500K buys and paying 1 mil for the champ and 50-100K for the challanger is good and all, but the UFC more than makes up for a mega fight paying each fighter 1 or 2 mil each and getting 800-1 million buys!

yeah that might be cool…beefing up WEC…but then again, i hate how there are so many different belts in boxing, its ridiculous…i think if the UFC buys Pride they should just let it be..its a good thing in Japan, some fighters like the ring better than the octagon…Fighters can switch over from Pride to UFC and vice versa easier..so if Shogun wants a belt but doesnt want to fight Silva, than he can come to the UFC, and then there can be showdowns between the two organizations whenver they want…I hope they leave it two major organizations..there will be better/more competition in each..and we wont keep having to talk about Cro Cop vs Gabriel Gonzaga, and Bisping Vs ELvis…and we wont have to talk about dream matches, because they can be done

The Thing with the NFL or NBA is that it’s really not the same thing at all. Their are different owners for each team and each team is based in a city which would be difficult for MMA and would demand a much larger popularity. They are simply governed by a set of rules and regulations that allow the league to form competition.

That being said I think part of the reason why wrestling is in decline is because of the lack of competition, you will always need to have strong competition to thrive and force yourself to improve. I think the other problem is that pro-wrestling blows especially once you start watching MMA as it looks stupid to see someone get fake punched in the head fifty times and see all these cheeze ball story lines.

I have no desire to see Zuffa purchase Pride as I feel that it is beneficial for the fighters to have different options. Not everyone is going to get along with Dana white or Sakikabara so then what happens to them if they get forced out of the main organization even if they are a great fighter? Competition also is what will continue to drive up fighters pay which is badly needed in the lower echelon (a lot of newcomes to ufc still get only 3k for a fight).

MMA dude, I don’t understand your points on Fishman. He’s been working with Pride for several years as the head of the US division and cares a lot about the sport. He also has tons of business connections and a lot of money making him almost perfect in my mind as someone who can come in and get things done.

Most importantly though I think instead of one big Zuffa organization if all the major organizations could come up with a commission that help put on bouts between the major fighters then that would be a win win for all. Also Fishman said he would seriously look to make that happen between Pride and UFC which is another reason he would be great.

You may not like having a # of differant belts but for PPVs it is the way to go. Holding a belt also makes these fighters more of a superstar. Just having good fights doesnt always do it. If Jardine was to beat Shogun lets say for the WEC title he would be a bigger draw than just beating Shogun!

And the WEc needs talnet otherwise it is a feeder not another MMA option/competitor like we are hearing. And eventually it would just die. The WEC needs PPVs to become a big player and you need bigtime fighters to carry big #s!