Is Pride falling apart??

GSPALLTHEWAY · 12-02-2006, 12:57 PM

this is a serious thread at this point.... fedor leaving possibly for good... pride making a move to the US and leaving japan... pride is now moving into a market dominated by UFC fans... i dont know if there is the market for pride in the US as well.... possibly why they were talking to the WWE to get some of their fans...? what are your thoughts????

why is fedor leaving?
why is pride leaving japan where the fans there love it?
is there any market in the US??
How does this impact other organizations??

Ryduce · 12-02-2006, 12:59 PM

Fedor is leaving for one fight.

It's not the end of the world.

GSPALLTHEWAY · 12-02-2006, 01:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ryduce

Fedor is leaving for one fight.

It's not the end of the world.

his contract is up after his next pride fight... then hes fighting in bodog... theres alot of talk of him maybe signing with them after that....

and it is a big deal... if chuck all the sudden has his contract finish up then he went to go fight in another organization it would certainly raise some eyebrows... and now all of the sudden there are no planned japan pride shows?? i think its at least worth talking about

bloodfist · 12-02-2006, 01:25 PM

i say god damn fedor leaving could start a trend hell he might go fight tim silva
just to prove he can or aleksander might.pride leaving japan is not smart concidering there biggest fan base is in japan.you never know he might just want to fight in his home country something pride probley never gave him a chance to do and then resign his pride contract. as for market in the usa it will probly be that mutch harder with there best fighter in another org they will probley pump up the mirco hype and try to get a rematch fedor vs crocop
in the u.s. as for other org's someone might try to snatch him up and pump up ther own org's and make money alot

angryjonny · 12-02-2006, 01:34 PM

There is no market for MMA in the USA?

GSPALLTHEWAY · 12-02-2006, 01:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by angryjonny

There is no market for MMA in the USA?

well there is... im not really making any points or opinions im moreso asking others.... the majority of MMA fans in the US are UFC fans, alot of which are newer fans...and lot of which dont have a full understanding of what pride is and how good hte fighters are.... coupled with prides historically bad marketing, i just assumed they would have trouble

angryjonny · 12-02-2006, 01:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GSPalltheway

well there is... im not really making any points or opinions im moreso asking others.... the majority of MMA fans in the US are UFC fans, alot of which are newer fans...and lot of which dont have a full understanding of what pride is and how good hte fighters are.... coupled with prides historically bad marketing, i just assumed they would have trouble

Well the majority are UFC fans because that is what most were introduced by. UFC hasn't really had competition so it would be good for both organizations if Pride were to fully enter the US market. And as for a lot of people not understanding Pride...well they have to start somewhere, ya know? If they do make that move they won't be instantly as huge as they are in Japan. And you can't really say that Pride's marketing is bad. Maybe in the USA but that is hardly the case in the other countries such as Japan, Brazil, and many parts in Europe. I've said many times before that is like criticizing UFC's Japan marketing, which doesn't even exist.

GSPALLTHEWAY · 12-02-2006, 01:47 PM

true... but the UFC isnt trying to enter into the market in japan.... whereas pride is trying to come into the US... so their previous marketing to that country does come into play

Ryduce · 12-02-2006, 02:54 PM

Fedor will not leave Pride.

His contract merely allows him to fight in his home country,and he is taking advantage of it for a big paycheck.

GSPALLTHEWAY · 12-02-2006, 03:20 PM

whether he leaves pride or not doesnt change the fact that in the US more people know who chuck and tim and tito are then who he is.... as pride moves their shows to the US... still creates a problem and opens up other questions

MTKrav911 · 12-02-2006, 04:15 PM

In the sense that they have to start talking to WWE? Yes.

That obviously is a revenue thing. And bastardization of everything MMA is about. That's sacrilige for Pride to even entertain ANYTHING that pro wrestling is about.

Their fighters would simply go elsewhere if Pride were to go under. So my answer to the organization and it's future? Who cares?

You're bound to catch up with the Pride fighters at some other major event events or organizations.

angryjonny · 12-02-2006, 04:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MTKrav911

In the sense that they have to start talking to WWE? Yes.

That obviously is a revenue thing. And bastardization of everything MMA is about. That's sacrilige for Pride to even entertain ANYTHING that pro wrestling is about.

Their fighters would simply go elsewhere if Pride were to go under. So my answer to the organization and it's future? Who cares?

You're bound to catch up with the Pride fighters at some other major event events or organizations.

You do know that Pride is owned by DSE which owns a pro-wrestling organization, right? And just because they "entertain" the idea of anything WWE probably isn't anything besides financial backing. I doubt they are going to WWE and saying hey we want to start having fake MMA matches instead of what we've been doing for nearly 10 years.

Just because two companies have a working relationship doesn't mean one becomes the other.

And it being about revenue is bastardizing MMA? How do you figure that? Everyone talks about how business savvy Dana is when it comes to his penny pinching ways. Is the UFC bastardizing MMA as well? No, they are putting out a product that people want. It's no different from what Pride has been doing.

lwbfl · 12-02-2006, 06:02 PM

It's not like they are leaveing Japan, they will have at least six events there in 2007.

Jras0001 · 12-02-2006, 07:46 PM

Pride is doing some downsizing as well. They are going to end the Bushido promotion to focus on their numbered series of Pride shows. It talks about it in this article on MMAWeekly.com.

http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/...3033&zoneid=13

MTKrav911 · 12-03-2006, 01:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by angryjonny

You do know that Pride is owned by DSE which owns a pro-wrestling organization, right? And just because they "entertain" the idea of anything WWE probably isn't anything besides financial backing. I doubt they are going to WWE and saying hey we want to start having fake MMA matches instead of what we've been doing for nearly 10 years.

Just because two companies have a working relationship doesn't mean one becomes the other.

And it being about revenue is bastardizing MMA? How do you figure that? Everyone talks about how business savvy Dana is when it comes to his penny pinching ways. Is the UFC bastardizing MMA as well? No, they are putting out a product that people want. It's no different from what Pride has been doing.

With all due respect

What else would Pride be talking about with WWE?

Lots of companies are co-owned by lots of other companies.

What you DO NOT DO, is have a major MMA organization (like Pride with all their supposed clout, talk to a freakin fake pro wrestling organization).

Pride is in the same predicament the first UFC owners were in. Is it a legit sport? Or is it a freak show? Pride seems to want to go down the freak show avenue just so it can save it's own hide financially.

Which is why the UFC will be worldwide inside of 5 years.....It will be THE ONLY organization for MMA independent. And they'll also steal all the pride fighters in the interim! This is a financial fact!

Or,what I'd really think would be better. Is to merge Pride and the UFC into one organization. Then you'd see some greatness in the world of MMA and it'd smoke boxing within 2 years. In fact if that happen in my opinion, it'd kill boxing outright.

subgenius · 12-03-2006, 01:50 PM

PRIDE Fighting and Ultimate Fighting are in MMA to make money. If you think that anything else trumps the bottom line, then I think that you do not know what makes the world go around (that would be money). In the first half of 2006, the WWE had $57 million available in net worth. The WWE could totally buy out the UFC. The average WWE pro-wrestler is making more than some of the champions in the UFC.

As Jonny noted, PRIDE Fighting is part of DSE, which owns HUSTLE; that is a Japanese pro-wrestling promotion that follows the WWE model of sports entertainment (gimmicks and circus atmosphere matched with action and storylines). So, it is not really all that strange that PRIDE Fighting would be in any sort of talks with the WWE. PRIDE needs a boost into the market of the United States, and the WWE can do that little thing.

And, do not forget that TUF1 rode into the mainstream on the coattails of Monday Night RAW when the WWE was on Spike TV. It did not stop any of us from watching the UFC shows on TV when it came on after RAW. None of us thought that the WWE would ruin the UFC or TUF because it came on before TUF. That is what I think that the talks between WWE and PRIDE Fighting are all about.

The WWE has power and it can get a TV contract rolling for PRIDE Fighting on the USA Network. PRIDE Fighting can then get a TV time slot that will run immediately after RAW on Monday night. The pro-wrestling fan base is huge. It is bigger than MMA. The WWE fills stadiums and arenas three times a week without any appearance of subsiding. The WWE fans will (most likely) watch a PRIDE Fighting TV program that airs after RAW. This would get PRIDE out of the obscurity of FSN/CSN.

Nimmy · 12-03-2006, 01:55 PM

who is fedor going to be fighting?

jonnyboyee · 12-04-2006, 11:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ryduce

Fedor will not leave Pride.

His contract merely allows him to fight in his home country,and he is taking advantage of it for a big paycheck.

his fight on dec 31 will be the end of his current contract unless he resigns

Crashsti · 12-04-2006, 01:54 PM

Pride does seem to be having alot of problems since they lost thier TV contract and had rumored ties with the Japanese Mafia. that can really put a damper on business.

2Shae · 12-04-2006, 02:38 PM

we'll just have to See how the WWE Thing goes. Wouldnt surprise me if Vince McMahon Bought Pride from DSE. Vince McMahon started a Football League once called the XFL and it only lasted a year because he didnt know anything about Football. So if he takes over PRIDE it will fail because he knows nothing about MMA