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Pride Sold to the Fertittas?

Gooner

Posted 11:04 am, 04/04/2007

subgenius

I am interested about the 265+ weight. What will Mark Hunt do now? That guy is going to have severe issues just to get under 265 when he is 290 naturally.



You know what, I've been wondering about this...
I know that Hunt has fought at K-1 at about 250. And to me, he still looks like he weighs roughly 250. However, in his last two fights in PRIDE the stats showed him to weigh 290. :confused:

I'm still not convinced that he actually weighs that much.
I mean, he didn't look much bigger than Fedor and he certainly didn't look much bigger than Barnett - who they had at 255.

Anyway, I think it's likely that PRIDE will keep the super heavyweights. But does Hunt want to fight those freaks? I think he'll be able to make 265 in case he doesn't feel like fighting Zulu &Co from now on.

AikaImmortal

Posted 10:35 am, 04/04/2007

I think he should go back to K-1 to be honest.. I miss seein him there and the HW division of K-1 needs a breath of fresh air to shut that loud mouthed punk Badr Hari up once and for all.

subgenius

Posted 9:29 am, 04/04/2007

Gygax

Nothing new there that hasn't been mentioned already except for the comment on Fedor's contract and the GARY Millen comment.



Yeah, sorry for that. In hindsight, maybe I ought to have gone through every post again to see what was repeated. At least two bits of data were new.

I am interested about the 265+ weight. What will Mark Hunt do now? That guy is going to have severe issues just to get under 265 when he is 290 naturally.

Crashsti

Posted 12:19 pm, 03/28/2007

so let me get this straight, Pride will remain the same but they will fight under the unified rules? does this mean an end to OWGP(which i thought was a bad idea anyway) and fights between opponents of differing weights. i see Frye is fighting Minowa and they are about 50lbs apart. what about the guys who fight at over 265? is Pride also going to adopt the weight class rules of the NSAC? it does make sense to have everyone fighting under the same rules and regulations but i am as curious as anyone what will be the same and what is going to change. what about the GP events where guys are fighting twice in one night to be crowned Champion? so many questions.

Gygax

Posted 10:02 am, 03/28/2007

Nothing new there that hasn't been mentioned already except for the comment on Fedor's contract and the GARY Millen comment.

subgenius

Posted 9:36 am, 03/28/2007

This may not be new news, and may have been commented on earlier in this thread, but I thought that I would post it. I think that there are some interesting points. A friend sent this to me.

Also, check out the press conference video:
The EvilMaster Report: PRIDE - Press Conference VideoSource: The EvilMaster Report

Following a press conference earlier in Japan, a conference call in the U.S. was conducted at 11 a.m. EST announcing that Pride has been acquired. I wanted to give you some of the details.

- The call was hosted by UFC president Dana White with Zuffa owner Lorenzo Fertitta and Pride CEO Nobuyuki Sakakibara also answering questions.

- The companies will be run as separate entities.

- A "strategic alliance" between Pride and the UFC began to be discussed "10 months ago," according to Lorenzo Fertitta.

- Dana sounded confident that Pride will get back on TV in Japan when asked.

- The idea of doing a Japenese version of The Ultimate Fighter was not ruled out. I guess it would be called The Pride Fighter.

- The "Super Bowl of MMA" concept with Pride vs. UFC mega matchups was discussed again. This seemed to be the big selling point as to why Pride being acquired is a good thing. Many reporters had questions about a proposed event (questions such as will it be held in Japan or the U.S., will there be multiple Pride vs. UFC fight cards during a calendar year, etc.) but little was offered in the way of detail. It sounds like a lot of things still need to be flushed out.

- When asked about changes to Pride, White quipped at one point "Pride will still be Pride and the UFC will still be the UFC." Fertitta and White were both careful when discussing this deal. They stated numerous times that "Pride isn't going to change." However, when pressed they gave some details, although I felt they had a reluctant tone. According to White, there will be universal rules in both Pride and the UFC. The rules they will be using will be NSAC rules. Elbows were addressed specifically by a reporter and the answer was "Yes." So there will be elbows in Pride. Also, there will be new weight classes. So despite the insistence that Pride isn't going to change, there will be at least a few significant changes.

- Pride will still have cards in the U.S. and will continue to be a global brand, as opposed to just an Asian brand. White also said that the UFC plans to expand into Japan. It sounds as though Pride's TV presence in the U.S. will increase. It wouldn't be a shock to see them come away with a new, major TV deal in the U.S. as a result of this transaction. The latter statement is just me speculating.

- Sakakibara will be stepping down after Pride 34 on April 7. When asked who the "new face of Pride" would be, Fertitta said they have someone in mind and that they are in discussions with this person. No names given. Besides the changing of weight classes and the adoption of NSAC rules in Japan, this was the most intriguing detail to come out of the news conference. Will it be a TV executive like Sakakibara, or will it be a former fighter who is revered by the Japanese?

- Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer asked about the Fedor rumors. Lorenzo Fertitta said that Fedor is still signed to Pride but added the caveat that they're "still trying to figure out the details of his deal." Dana or Lorenzo then added that if Fedor wants to fight the best, he'll stay in Pride. They did not sound 100 percent certain that Fedor can't fight anywhere else.

- They said that all of Pride's employees will be retained. Yet when someone had the stones to ask about Jerry Millen's status in the company the answer was "No comment."

- The idea of expanding into other Asian countries such as China was also addressed. Sakakibara also mentioned South Korea. Expansion talks in other Asian countries outside of Japan were already being worked on by Pride and will be expanded under the new ownership.

- Just as a general comment, Fertitta and White handled the whole announcement very gently (although Dana did have a few Danaisms, blasting the IFL, scoffing at the notion that K-1/EliteXC/Strikeforce/Bodog/Cage Rage will be hosting a press conference in LA later today, and saying he wants to bring his fighters over to Japan and "kick Pride's ass). As I alluded to earlier, they were careful in saying that Pride isn't going to change (even though it will on certain levels). I think Zuffa is very aware of the difficulties that could come with a U.S. company taking over a Japanese company and were careful not to say anything that would startle diehard Pride fans in Japan. They are doing their best not to come off as conquerers and are really selling the idea that the acquisition will be good for MMA fans.

RustyShackleford

Posted 8:33 pm, 03/27/2007

Definitely a shame to lose knees and headkicks. My beef with stomps is more often than not the guy is grabbing the ropes to keep his balance. Not only is it cheating, but the added leverage and stability is when they become dangerous imo.

BlingDogg

Posted 7:16 pm, 03/27/2007

Only thing I'm mad about is the rule change. Pride just won't be the same without the stomps, soccer kicks and knees to the head. Too bad they gotta change them. I was hoping when the first reports coming in said that Pride will remain the same, that their rules wouldn't change. Guess not.
Makes me wonder how much it'll affect guys like Wandy in the long-run.

The article also said that the Ferittas will now have the decision about which fighters remain in Pride, and which will be in the UFC. I hope they don't mess around and take out all of Pride's good fighters. There's some good matchups I wanna see, but not if it'll weaken Pride's fighter pool.

Also, it'll be interesting how they decide to deal with all the different weight divisions and champions for each.

RebLMunkE

Posted 4:50 pm, 03/27/2007

Do you dare doubt Randy !!!!!

Like I said before I'm sure Dana will have a lot of say in matters but he is really busy just running all the UFC stuff and PRIDE will probably be run mostly by someone else.....So it won't be totaly like WWE that is just one big fake story, This is real fighting and seeing how these guys wins and loses are not set before they fight its much harder for them to setup those fights so I can see how it will still be PRIDE vs UFC to an extent.

The WWE and MMA stuff is so old and don't even belong in the same sentence IMO they are totaly different things, WWE is closer to a movie then MMA.

I wish all the WWE fans would just stay out of the real world.....

LoL FYI this had a lot more to do with an MMAWeekly article I just read then anyones post :p

Kentified

Posted 4:30 pm, 03/27/2007

Fedor vs Couture? That could be scary.

AikaImmortal

Posted 4:22 pm, 03/27/2007

Stomps make for very interesting guard passes, although they fail more times than they suceed.

RebLMunkE

Posted 4:13 pm, 03/27/2007

sitnspin

What's weird is that Dana got interviewed last month (either on CBS or Fox, I forget which), and he said that while he hates soccer kicks and stomps, he's in favour of knees on the ground because it gives strikers a better way to guard against takedowns from wrestlers. So that part of the decision probably didn't have anything to do with him.

Edit: Oh, come to think of it, I think it's just to unify the rules in accordance with the American athletic commissions. Pride had to ditch soccer kicks and stomps for their American shows, but if you'll recall, they chose to omit the elbows to the head that the NSAC would have allowed.



Yeah they probably just changed the rules so that guys don't have to fight one way in Japan and another here or when they come over to fight in the UFC.......I recall Dana talking about wanting to get kicks and knees allowed so maybe they will do that down the road but until then this is probably good...Its up to the NSAC to allow that stuff.

LoL I don't know if I would go as far as saying elbows to the head pussify the rules :p

And stomps are not that great in the fights anyway only the knees and headkicks are worth anything good most of the time at least.

sitnspin

Posted 3:57 pm, 03/27/2007

What's weird is that Dana got interviewed last month (either on CBS or Fox, I forget which), and he said that while he hates soccer kicks and stomps, he's in favour of knees on the ground because it gives strikers a better way to guard against takedowns from wrestlers. So that part of the decision probably didn't have anything to do with him.

Edit: Oh, come to think of it, I think it's just to unify the rules in accordance with the American athletic commissions. Pride had to ditch soccer kicks and stomps for their American shows, but if you'll recall, they chose to omit the elbows to the head that the NSAC would have allowed.

Gooner

Posted 3:51 pm, 03/27/2007

AikaImmortal

No, I am pissed off. Dana is already saying they are going to pussify the rules.



Yeah, no knees on the ground, soccer kicks or stomps.

I don't care about the stomps, but losing the knees and kicks sucks balls.

AikaImmortal

Posted 2:23 pm, 03/27/2007

Millen was serving refreshments and being used as a footladder so the japanese crew could reach high enough to hang the banners.

Dirty Fighter

Posted 1:40 pm, 03/27/2007

PrideOwnsUFC

LOL. yeah, its official, as soon as I have enough points I have to change my name lol. Even now it seems terribly dated.



How about Fertittaownsall? LOL.

Awesome pics Gygax. Nobody invited Gary Millen?:D

Flying Triangle Choke

Posted 12:28 pm, 03/27/2007

marnold

UFCownspride, has a good point.



LOL. yeah, its official, as soon as I have enough points I have to change my name lol. Even now it seems terribly dated.

Flying Triangle Choke

Posted 12:27 pm, 03/27/2007

Gygax

Sweet! The story of the Fertittas buying Pride has made the front page of ESPN.com.

ESPN.com - MORESPORTS - UFC to buy rival Pride, plans to stage megafights



Not only that, but it was like one of the very first headlines listed.

Dirty Fighter

Posted 11:07 am, 03/27/2007

RebLMunkE

Dress him up as a lightning bolt he could be the new PRIDE mascot :)



There you go, dress him up in a lightning bolt and make him hand out the free programs at the gate.

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