Comments on: Making Hoffa proud: PRIDE fighters plan to unite; file class action lawsuit

By: bw

bw — Thu, 24 May 2007 23:53:18 +0000

its actually happening alot sooner than i expected though.

By: bw

bw — Thu, 24 May 2007 23:36:42 +0000

i had a pretty good idea something like this was going to happen a long time ago. like when dana denied having anything to do with the supposed takeover and thn shortly after was smiling like the cat that swallowed the canary. they woulndn’t let any wws or lws compete in the gpx from the ufc and signed alot of the best fighters from pfc. it was all a matter of time. the writing was on the wall.

By: St. Amour

St. Amour — Thu, 24 May 2007 22:34:00 +0000

Go UFC i hope u guys buy everything and unify one champ. N that champ would be the champion of the world. U guys know what i mean. No more Pride champ, no more icon champ etc. Only UFC champs.

By: machine

machine — Thu, 24 May 2007 21:15:06 +0000

This is a sad situation. I’ve got a gut feeling that we’re going to permanently lose the possibility of some Dream Matches over this.

By: Mamas Boy

Mamas Boy — Thu, 24 May 2007 21:00:22 +0000

(p.s. I hope Pramit is okay with me quoting from his email. Don’t sue me dude! I’m poor!)

By: Mamas Boy

Mamas Boy — Thu, 24 May 2007 20:57:55 +0000

There are so many organizations out there now… it’s a big friggin land grab.

I emailed “Pramit Mohapatra” (I pasted his name in to make sure I didn’t botch it), the reporter who covers MMA at the Baltimore Sun a little while back and he sent me his take on the acquisitions that are and will be going on:

“UFC/PRIDE and maybe one other conglomerate (comprised of the current EliteXC, K-1 Hero’s, Cage Rage, Strikeforce, etc.) will be the absolute top-level (= NFL) product and all the other promotions will serve as minor leagues. Most of these promotions will not enjoy the financial success of UFC or PRIDE but will be able to sustain at a lesser level because the interest in the sport is definitely there. Between UFC and/or PRIDE super cards, the hard core fans will have plenty of secondary choices to whet their appetite.”

Interesting to see if it plays out that way.
Thanks Pramit!

By: The Anomaly

The Anomaly — Thu, 24 May 2007 19:52:21 +0000

Legit. Make it all be one organization. Like Football, basketball, all other sports have one unified org where everyone competes, MMA needs that, looks like its that much closer to happening, why not have it be the organization that started it all?

By: JB

JB — Thu, 24 May 2007 19:30:01 +0000

Pride had large crowds in Asia. If Pride is in some way shape or form to be dismantled completely, then the UFC needs to establish a presence in that part of the world realitively quickly.

By: Stafo

Stafo — Thu, 24 May 2007 18:37:08 +0000

[quote comment=”63738″]I love it cause this is gonna mean that alot of these guys could end up with EliteXC and that would be good for competition.[/quote]

Forget this idea…..if any fighter is stupid enough to fight the current than they are destined to lose. The UFC is and will continue to be the biggest stage in MMA.

By: Stafo

Stafo — Thu, 24 May 2007 18:35:54 +0000

[quote comment=”63558″]Maybe it was the UFC’s plan all along. Reducing Pride to something like the minor leagues, further underscoring ‘ULTIMATE’ in Ultimate Fighting Championship (since many of their top fighters are now headed to the UFC). If you cant beat ‘em. Buy ‘em, right? From a business standpoint monopolies have always RULED and protecting/differentiating yourself in the market is top priority. If i owned the UFC, i’d do the same.[/quote]

This is exactly whats going on. I’m sure deep in our guts we all knew that PRIDE was going to get pushed to the side until something like this came around. This being contract issues, organization, those other than the big names being left out. I feel it was all set up to eventually eliminate PRIDE all together. Fighters become unhappy the easy way out is to compensate by cutting a check and releasing, therefore creating free agency. Guess who comes around to sweep all the key pieces. I agree with someone above who said that UFC has held it’s own in comparison to the supposed fighter supremacy PRIDE onced possed. Those days are gone, and with UFC fighters standing up and making things happen it’s changing the whole spectrum of the game. Only a couple more big names and it won’t matter where everyone else goes. Some careers might even be over. It Sucks! but it’s exactly how monopoly works