Zuffa purchases Strikeforce

Discussion in 'MMA - Mixed Martial Arts' started by Run BJM, Mar 12, 2011.

  1. Run BJM

    Run BJM Heavy lies the crown. Staff Member Global Moderator

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    WTFFFFFFFFFFF

    Short article + 20 minute Helwani interview with DFW here:
    http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/ca...parent-company-buys-Strikeforce?urn=mma-wp105

    And a general summary:
    http://www.sbnation.com/mma/2011/3/...keforce-dana-white-talks-showtime-scott-coker

    Fedor is still the first thing that pops into my mind. Seems like he'll probably never fight for SF/UFC as long as Dana is against co-promotion.

    The second is that I can't fuckin wait to see Melendez, Diaz, and Hendo back against UFC competition but it sounds like that isn't happening any time soon. I've seriously considered making a thread about where people would rank him in the UFC 155 division a few times recently but decided I'd wait until after his next fight.

    And with Diaz/Daley, would DFW let them back into the UFC if he did merge the rosters down the line? SF has, what, maybe 10 fighters that could actually hang in the UFC and those are two of them. A Diaz/GSP fight is a dream of mine and they'd both be good additions to an already loaded division where most of the top guys have fought one another.

    But, like Dana says, SF is going to run independently and Coker is still in charge of everything and making his own decisions. I agree with the idea that the TV deals were a big factor in this purchase. Wonder how being a part of Zuffa affects SF from here on out and how long Dana would wait to merge the rosters. SF has done decently running independently but really many of its cards have uninteresting fights before the main/co-main event.

    No more SF/Dream co-promotion too then?

    I suppose the women's divisions are destined to be destroyed and I can only assume those fighters will head over to Bellator.

    Who from SF do you think would hang in the UFC? Melendez, Diaz, Hendo right off the bat. Fedor for pure namesake but I can't see M1 letting him fight in the UFC and with his two losses hes not that much of a priority. Anyone else from the lightweight division? Perhaps Noons. Anyone else from WW? I can't think of any besides Daley. At 185 they'd probably let Jacare in based on his champion status, Cung Le would probably be on the bubble since he never fights and I think he'd have to win to stay in, Mayhem could hang but I don't think he'd do that well, guys like Tim Kennedy, or Scott Smith could get some low level fights I reckon but they'd be ousted pretty quickly if they lost I would imagine. 205 has some keepers with Hendo, Moussassi, Feijao, and King Mo. Babalu and Sokoudjou are done. And then at HW Fedor is in if they could ever agree to a deal but thats unlikely IMO. Alistair is in, Bigfoot Silva is in, Werdum would warrant another shot, Karitonov would probably get picked up, not sure about Rogers but I think they'd add him for depth and see if he can win some undercard fights.

    So that's 11 guys who I think have the talent to hang but some of them have question marks as to whether Dana would let them in (Fedor, Diaz, Daley, Le). There are a number of other guys who could get in but would probably immediately be on the chopping block.
     
  2. Mamba

    Mamba The King is Back Staff Member Global Moderator

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    Fuck me in the ass...what just happened?
     
  3. Chocolove

    Chocolove Active Member

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    wow, pretty big deal right there, I was pretty stunned at first. But after reading a bit of the transcript I think no big merger or anything big in general will happen in the near future (like 1-2 years), SF will probably operate like the WEC did for a while. I wonder how this affects cards with DREAM co-promotion (I am thinking the Aoki fight specifically).
     
  4. Run BJM

    Run BJM Heavy lies the crown. Staff Member Global Moderator

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    Watching the interview, the question about co-promotion was whether the UFC would let an SF guy fight one of their fighters (Helwani used Alistair fighting Cain to unify the W belt) and Dana said no way. Never said SF couldn't co-promote with DREAM, M1, etc. and in fact repeated many times that Coker's got relationships and contracts in place and nothing in that respect will be changed. In fact almost nothing will be changed at all. Coker continues to run SF as he pleases and Dana said over and over Coker's got all those relationships and contracts and they'll continue. We'll see though.
     
  5. Mamba

    Mamba The King is Back Staff Member Global Moderator

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    Someone has to have more power than Dana--obviously it has to be the money men, the Fertitta brothers. I really hope they put their foot down and tell Dana that there is some serious money to be made in a cross promoted card.
     
  6. truebluefan

    truebluefan Administrator Staff Member Administrator

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    Damn! Seems they want a monopoly.

    We need a federation strong enough to contend with the UFC
     
  7. Mamba

    Mamba The King is Back Staff Member Global Moderator

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    It isn't going to happen. In all honesty, the average fans thinks that the UFC is the only thing in MMA. The average fan just watches the UFC to get drunk and watch people try to kill each other.

    I have no issues with Zuffa buying SF, I just hope that eventually, it leads to some damn good matchups.
     
  8. Run BJM

    Run BJM Heavy lies the crown. Staff Member Global Moderator

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    I liked that SF existed to compete with Dana and the UFC but ultimately you knew the UFC was going to be the monopoly after a while. Every other major sport does fine in a monopoly. Fans get to watch all the best of the best competing in a single elite league.

    Do the fighters have a union right now? Seems like that may be a necessary step to ensure the UFC doesn't screw them.

    And now that SF is a part of Zuffa I'm guessing that means Dana will stop scheduling UFC events the same night as SF events? There'll be a card damn near every week it seems. They better get on a better TV deal soon because fans can't afford to drop $60 a week or whatever it is.
     
  9. speeds

    speeds $2.50 highball, $1.50 beer Staff Member Administrator GFX Team

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    Did not see this coming, wow.
     
  10. truebluefan

    truebluefan Administrator Staff Member Administrator

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    An event a week is too much imo. When I was forum manager, one of the forums was a successfull MMA forum and when UFC would hold events close together, the traffic to the forum, support for the event was not as good when ppvs were a month apart. Granted the actual card could have also been the problem, but I dont think it was just the card.

    Now if the UFC has more televised events, then maybe!
     
  11. ktrulez

    ktrulez blessed era

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    wow this came out of the blue..
     
  12. speeds

    speeds $2.50 highball, $1.50 beer Staff Member Administrator GFX Team

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    Credit: Gordo1581

    [​IMG]
     
  13. ToCool74

    ToCool74 Member

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    Read this on another forum and i must admit i was initially shocked.

    Kinda reminds me of what the WWE did with WCW which is eliminate the competition by owning it lol.

    Unlike that incident however it appears Strikeforce will run mostly the same.
     
  14. speeds

    speeds $2.50 highball, $1.50 beer Staff Member Administrator GFX Team

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    Over/under: The Strikeforce brand still exists (as in shows being put on under the Strikeforce banner) in 12 months?
     
  15. Run BJM

    Run BJM Heavy lies the crown. Staff Member Global Moderator

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    Praying for under but I think over. Took them a while (several years?) to absorb WEC and it seems the minimum possible wait period will be until all of SF's contractual commitments run out. Dana said there's 2 years left on the Showtime deal. I know Nick Diaz just signed a new "multi-year" contract wit them in December and they've probably got a few more guys under contracts that have either multiple years or enough fights left to last a year or two at least.

    Seems like even Dana doesn't know what the long term plan is for SF. I don't think it really makes sense to have two different brand name MMA promotions owned by the same company. But is there any benefit to keeping a separate promotion around? Would Dana consider morphing SF into a sort of minor league where young prospects can star in shows and build up their name recognition and fading veterans can draw viewers and try to revive their careers?

    Most likely they just absorb SF into the UFC eventually. But soon they'll really need a network TV deal because there's just way too many events for people to keep paying for. Spike broadcasts = dog shit.
     
  16. Chocolove

    Chocolove Active Member

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    You know I was just thinking about this some more and I just realized that this is a major blow for the fighters because they just lost a major bargaining chip in SF.
     
  17. bbwtrench

    bbwtrench BBW Member

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    Zuffa now owns boardwalk and parkplace on the monopoly board. Its over!
     
  18. speeds

    speeds $2.50 highball, $1.50 beer Staff Member Administrator GFX Team

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    Perhaps but UFC fighter salaries have risen over the years and that trend will continue.
     
  19. Run BJM

    Run BJM Heavy lies the crown. Staff Member Global Moderator

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    Dana now says crossover fights will happen.
    Also Paul Daley may be considering bailing on the Diaz fight and his SF contract:
    http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/news;_ylt=AvvZVGdGMTcN3CgVyACkAkA9Eo14?slug=dm-strikeforce031411
     
  20. Mamba

    Mamba The King is Back Staff Member Global Moderator

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    Daley is a one trick poney, anyways. Stay in the UK, please. Fucking Daley, Hardy, and Bisping make me hate British people.
     

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