PRIDE vs UFC

[MentalTwitch]

So i searched around a bit but couldn't find much. So it is said to be happening in 07' for sure. When? what fighters? Anyone?

[Rodja]

There is nothing to confirm. Dana has only hinted about having these "Superfights," even though it will probably never happen.

[MentalTwitch]

YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.

Something going down check this. And not so clearly at the end it says UFC vs Pride within the last 10-12 seconds. OR is this older?

[Rogue Drone]

That's one of the Fertitta Brothers aka Zuffa at the Pride purchase news conference.

Call me a cynic, I'm in the "Believe when I see it" camp when it comes to the talk from The Bros. and their boy, Dana White.

I'm inclined to favor this speculation piece from UFC Junkie

PRIDE is Dead. Long Live PRIDE?
Posted by Performify on June 3, 2007 at 3:02 am ET

"CBS Sportsline’s Sam Caplan has published an excellent essay on his personal blog FiveOuncesofPain.com covering the potential death of the PRIDE organization, entitled “Is Pride really finished?“

Caplan’s essay builds upon posts from Zach Arnold’s FightOpinion.com, most specifically an article from FightOpinion.com that we previously covered here on UFCjunkie.com (see: Report: PRIDE Fighters Planning Lawsuit Against DSE).

Caplan put together a fantastic stream-of-consciousness personal blog post which summarizes the situation and draws some rather interesting conclusions. Caplan writes:

The speculation is that Zuffa has abandoned plans to continue running Pride. Due to the way the Japanese dO business, Zuffa couldn’t get DSE to open their books until an agreement was made to purchase the company. Basically, when the announcement that Pride had been sold on March 27, nothing had been really signed. It was just a verbal agreement. I think it was similiar to how things worked last fall when we all thought Wanderlei Silva and Chuck Liddell were going to fight. An agreement to negotiate in good faith was reached and they made a premature announcement. When it came time to finalize everything and cross the t’s and dot the i’s, the whole thing unraveled.

…

While it’s speculation on my part, it really sounds like Pride as we know it is done. In fact, I’m not even sure we’re going to see a “new” Pride. Again, nothing is official and White did say during a pre-UFC 71 conference call that they would be figuring out in the next few weeks what they’re going to do with Pride. If I was a wagering man, I think they’ll sign a decent amount of Pride fighters to new deals and assign some to the UFC and some to the WEC. Once they do that, I think Pride will be disolved. There are just too many obstacles in trying to re-establish Pride in Japan. And trying to run a full-time promotion in Japan could become a real money pit. The fact that Japanese fight fans might not be willing to accept an American-owned promotion running full-time in Japan could be the biggest obstacle of all. And without a TV contract in Japan, Zuffa will run into many of the same problems with Pride that DSE had encountered.

I suggest heading to FiveOuncesofPain.com to read the entire essay.

I was actually discussing the future of PRIDE with Iggy (of Guinness and Poker fame) on Friday night and drew many of the same conclusions myself during that conversation. Ultimately I too share the opinion that PRIDE as we know it is dead. The news we are seeing out of sources like Fight Opinion seems to support that hypothesis, especially when combined with the recent rash of direct signings of top PRIDE talent such as Dan Henderson, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Paulo Filho to Zuffa contracts.

I am beginning to think that when Dana repeatedly says “We’re going to have them all” in reference to the top fighters, he is no longer speaking hypothetically or as a general philosophy of aggressive acquisition of talent, instead he is giving us a direct hint of what is to come. Unfortunately I fear we have seen the last of PRIDE, and it is merely going to take a few more days to get a formal confirmation that PRIDE is in fact dead.

It is ultimately hard to say at this juncture whether or not the hypothetical death of PRIDE is a good thing for the sport of mixed martial arts. While in theory competition at corporate levels is a good thing, the consolidation of talent in to a single production organization could in fact be the best thing that ever happened to mixed martial arts. We will just have to wait and see. I do not imagine we will have to wait too long…"

[MentalTwitch]

I agree, won't belive it till tickets are on sale or it's on. I came here casue i know there are some good followers around here. i am in and out but not as in depth as you guys.