UFC buys Strikeforce!

Discussion in 'MMA' started by Pitfighter, Mar 12, 2011.

  1. Pitfighter

    Pitfighter Valued Member

    Just saw the interview with Ariel Helwani on mmafighting.com

    I think its amazing there is now a very real chance that at least some of the fantasy matchup us fans have been waiting for may now happen.

    I hope it all pans out and we get to see the top SF guys move up or back into the UFC.
     
  2. illumin7

    illumin7 Valued Member

    I thought this thread would have done numbers by now just saw this news on a non MA board and it's a few pages deep already.

    Some potential classics waiting to happen.
     
  3. Mushroom

    Mushroom De-powered to come back better than before.

    http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2011/3/12/2046485/ufc-purchases-strikeforce

    Heres the full 21mins interview. This is huge or possibly one of Dana White's biggest practcal jokes :D

    Apparently they want to keep things separate like WEC was purchased so dont look for Superfights.........................yet.

    I'm not sure if its going to be a good thing. He states that they have bought the company simply as they need more fighters. Yet after the purchasing of WEC they started ruthless cuts of roughly 2 losses and youre out (unless you're entertaining/make us money). Actually just going back, they were doing that just prior, but even more so after WEC.

    Technically now UFC in partnership with M1-Global and hence Fedor. Which must not be any fun for Fedor's people, especially since with the history Zuffa and M1 has with each other.

    To reiterate, Dana wants to keep things separate. Which means no co-promoting.

    Lets see how long that lasts.
     
  4. Hannibal

    Hannibal Cry HAVOC and let slip the Dogs of War!!! Supporter

    It will last until Coker pulls another one of his eff-ups and they need someone competent in charge.

    I think Daley and Barnett are probably done, and with Fedor not being in much of a position to bargain anymore (well, not at HW) I don't think he will be long before he moves on either.

    I am a little ambivalent about this - done well it could benefit both sides (although SF was and will remain div 2) as fighters are not cut from Zuffa on losses and could still find gainful employment.

    On the other hand, i always think back to WWE buying out WCW...*shudders*
     
  5. Mushroom

    Mushroom De-powered to come back better than before.

    When WWE bought WCW/ECW they did an awesome job with the brand war. Which is now essentially Smackdown/Raw. And the reason that ECW under the WWE banner didnt work...well it was corporate. Thats like saying "Greenpeace Ltd".
    And I think the same is sort of going on here. You got 2 shows under 1 company, shelling out the same entertainment style but with their own unique twists.

    With the Strikeforce buyout, I'm actually interested in who is assigned to deal with who. Zuffa in the end pulls the strings as they have the money, Dana White is the (obvious) face of the UFC and has vocally stated (in the above interview) that he will not be attending any Strikeforce events and will leave it to Scott Coker.
    Will Dana and Scott work together in a regular thing, or will Coker be forced by Zuffa to play a more visual position like Dana and up his profile?

    Now we come to the fighters. Overeem, Diaz, Melendez, Barnett, Daley.....and some Russian bloke...something that sounds like Laydor? I forget...anyway.

    "No co-promoting! No superfights" says Dana. "These guys have a contract with Strikeforce and Scott Coker and that will be honoured"

    In other words, when contracts run out and Dana wants the fighter...he's getting them. Overeem will run to UFC for the bigger money, definately. The only thing stopping him now, is due a contract agreement that a fighter cannot leave the company while holding a title.
    Ironically this is due to the loss of Jake Shields, while he was Champion he left and went to the UFC when his contract ran out and vacated the title.

    Barnett and Daley, obviously in the bad books of the UFC and I doubt Dana will change his mind about them, they will either stay with Strikeforce side of the company "He's Scott Coker's problem, not mine" or when their contract is up and they want to leave, their only choice would probably be Bellator.
    Japan obviously not an option at this point.

    Fedor! thats the guys name. Well...what can we say? Now this is where the politics really get interesting. When his contract runs out, what will he and M1-Global do?
    If he stays in Strikeforce, every MMA fan out their will wring his guts out and a complete profile dismantaling. M1G more or less have no more excuses to not go UFC when the time presents itself. Even with Fedor's diminished aura of invincibility, his motion into the UFC roster will still sell, regardless.
    But (and its a big one) there is also nothing stopping Fedor giving 2 fingers and say "I retire". He's done his thing, he's won titles, he went undefeated for years and was considered the top fighter for many years. (I can argue that point at another time).
    So what else does he need to achieve?

    Everyone here knows that if Fedor goes to UFC he will be demolished by the bigger, younger, stronger guys like Brock, Cain, JDS. Who would he have a chance with?
    Its got to be someone, who like Fedor was considered pound for pound the best, someone who also has a diminishing aura but still a sell out to anywhere in the World wheres theres a cage, what is the fight that would bring everyone out of the seats to watch?
     

    Attached Files:

  6. Freeform

    Freeform Fully operational War-Pig Supporter

    Strikeforce are pro-female fights, will this open the possibility of women fighters getting on a UFC card and therefore gaining more credibility in the sport?
     
  7. Mushroom

    Mushroom De-powered to come back better than before.

    Dana White is actually pro-female fighters. His problem is, in the World of Dana, is that the talent pool is not deep enough.

    I personally say, not enough money thrown at it, as well as audience interests. This is currently a male dominate sport and the acceptance of female fighting MMA in the west is still quite a ways away. But theres plenty of female fighters out there.

    And of course, unfortunately the heavy male audience will always be more interested in the more attractive female fighter, rather than skill.

    Carano/Cyborg as an example. Strikeforce was praying to whatever God will listen in hopes that Carano will win. She has/had a higher profile, sexy as Hell and can fight. Very easy to "sell" to any non-MMA fans and garner further interest.
    Instead she got destroyed by Mrs Cyborg, who not as attractive and is 100% devoted to fighting, like how all the best fighters should be.

    In any case, WUFC (Women Ultimate Fighting Championships) wont be around anytime soon. It will however have a gestating home in Strikeforce and Scott Coker.
     
  8. Metal_Kitty

    Metal_Kitty Valued Member

    But didn't he once say that women had no place in UFC?? And shortage of talent? That's a ridiculous excuse! He should open his eyes and take a lot at the female fighters out there!
     
  9. Pitfighter

    Pitfighter Valued Member

    The Reem's contract was signed before that clause was added to SF contracts. No one knows the details of The Reem's contract cuz he won't spill the beans but he has indicated in the past he would be open to fighting in the UFC after his SF contract expired and that was prior to UFC's purchase of Pride, I mean SF :0 . That is something I hope can happen as soon as the HW grand prix is over. I can't wait to see The Reem demolish Lesnar. I just personally like seeing guys beatdown Lesnar.
    Despite various debates with other ppl I am still of the opinion that Barnett is a complete waste of space. Once upon a time in like 2003 he was a legit fighter. I don't know why ppl still think he's worth more than $5 after years of inactivity, cheating, and fights with cans. Only a definitive sweep of the SF grand prix would make it palatable for me to bear watching him re-sign with the UFC.

    Daley is totallly awesome, I don't care what he did. If he wins most of his fights in glorious fashion I don't think Dana White would have any other choice but to cave in to fan demand and re-sign him.

    And I know you didn't mention the other guys on Dana's list but Frank Shamrock, Mauro Renallo, and that NBA dude have to go as soon as their contracts are gone.

    Pat Militech is the only commentator I want to hear in the entire Zuffa promo machine. He's even better than Goldberg and Rogan.

    I think Fedor already said he was goina retire after his loss to Silva.
    Anyways M-1 shoots itself in the foot too much. Their cash cow wants to move on and I'm sure he will after his contract. And with him goes M-1.

    "Flushing sound"

    I think at this point Zuffa should setup a FIFA for MMA with all the smaller promos and find a way to officially give every fighter a clear pathway to the top. If the UFC is serious about being global I think they should model themselves after real football (soccer) not the NFL (Handegg)
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 17, 2011
  10. Mushroom

    Mushroom De-powered to come back better than before.

    I'll love to see the Ubereem demolish everyone. I think the closest person to give him any trouble would probably another hard hitter like JDS ( I would say possibly also Shane Carwin, but unless he sorts out his cardio, he's just going to be a constant 1 punch wonder)

    Regarding the contract, Scott Coker did try for that clause to be added in. Whether or not it was managed to be bought in for Overeem is as you said unclear. However in an interview with Fighters Only Magazine, I think there was a slip saying that when the contract is up, then he may move.
    And it'll be a smart move as
    1) thats where the money really is
    2) Dana would probably bring him in despite the recent comments of him being "not a top 10 MMA fighter"

    I totally agree about the awesomeness of Daley, been following his career for a while. But he has burned a few too many bridges, especially after his outburst after the buyout, and even made threats to leave the title shot against Nick Diaz.
    When he left, he did say that he'll KO everyone in his weight class to the point that Dana would have no choice BUT to hire him back.

    Will see what happens, but I dont think we'll be seeing Daley unfortunately in the UFC for a while. He may however be either content in staying with SF or go back to BAMMA, where he recently won a fight.

    I dont think they'll go. Who would commentate during SF?

    Fedor knocked those comments regarding retiring back and will review. However nothing stopping him going ahead, especially with how they're tied in with Zuffa now. Also wonder how they'll legally wrangle this as they are a separate entity as M1G and not SF.
     
  11. Pitfighter

    Pitfighter Valued Member

    Definitely keep Pat Militech on board and may I suggest BAS RUTTEN!Boom!

    Actually y'know who else was a surprisingly great commentator although he made absolutely no sense was Don Frye I think I saw him and Bas Rutten do an EliteXC show together if I remember right, Pure Gold!


    Fedor is tied to SF, they ironed out any loopholes with M-1. As far as I can tell he is contracted as a SF fighter and in this case M-1 is treated more as his management team but can advertise their promotion on SF.

    Basically, I have no proof of this but this is just deductive reasoning. I think SF locked up his contract so that M-1 couldn't shelve him with legal technicalities in exchange for getting a crack at negotiating a one on one deal with Showtime. The Zuffa merger wouldn't affect any of the short term goals of anyone.

    Fedor, IMO, looks like he doesn't want to fight anymore. He just has this look in his eyes that he wants to be somewhere else. I think that physically he still has what it takes. Despite over 30 fights he rarely took severe beatings.

    To me he just lacks the motivation. I was watching Werdum in an interview after Fedor's loss to Silva. Werdum basically said Fedor needs to change camps if he wants to grow as a fighter. That is totally true IMO but I don't think Fedor wants to. I think Fedor wants to grow as a person and just see what else is out there. Without that fire I can't see him staying willingly in the sport. I think he's just giving his last few contracted fights a last go cuz he has to.
     
  12. Freeform

    Freeform Fully operational War-Pig Supporter

    A dead rabbit being eaten by a crow would make a better commentator than 'Bert and Ernie'.

    Goldberg: "Those two men appear to be... fighting, Joe.

    Rogan: Slaps forehead....
     
  13. ben moak

    ben moak Valued Member

    Fedor, aside from his speech at the end of his last fight, has already announced he wants to fight dan henderson. so i dont think this is the end of fedor's carreer but he is getting older
     
  14. Pitfighter

    Pitfighter Valued Member

    No one really knows exactly what Fedor's thinking but I just get the feeling he's just trying to finish up his contract. Maybe he's always had an itch to fight Hendo especially after Hendo won the Pride MW championship and SF LHW championship. They've both been around quite a while.

    I'm pretty sad Daley lost but I like both him and Diaz and that was a badass fight. I hope Daley can finish SF with a streak of wins. I wanna see him back in the UFC. I know what he did was wrong but god damn I love his smack talk. Dude won't last in the UFC though cuz he's got no ground game.

    Barnett pssshhhtt. I hope Rogers puts him away so that he can go away.
     
  15. Southpaw535

    Southpaw535 Well-Known Member Moderator Supporter

    Pretty sure Dana said after the deal was announced that he stands by his word and Daley won't be back. Obviously White's word doesn't mean much but I'm pretty convinced on this one
     
  16. Hannibal

    Hannibal Cry HAVOC and let slip the Dogs of War!!! Supporter

    Daley certainly did not help his cause by threatening to boycott the Diaz fight because Zuffa owned it.

    But if a liar, fraud and cheat like Sonnen can get a second go (inexplicably) then I fail to see why Daley can't
     
  17. Southpaw535

    Southpaw535 Well-Known Member Moderator Supporter

    I imagine the excuse will be Daley was explicitly banned and told he wouldn't get another shot after his actions in a UFC fight whereas Sonnen's major issues like the fraud case are not with the UFC but in his personal life.
     
  18. Hannibal

    Hannibal Cry HAVOC and let slip the Dogs of War!!! Supporter

    And his testosterone cheating and subsequent lies to cover it up?

    Not defending Daley, but Sonnen disgraces the sport far more IMO
     
  19. Southpaw535

    Southpaw535 Well-Known Member Moderator Supporter

    You know I followed that story the best I could and I actually ended up more on Sonnen's side at least it wouldn't be hard for him to prove he's always used those supplements and I think I did read something from Dana confirming it but I can't remember. In any case illegal substance use isn't anywhere near as bad as cracking someone after a fight like Daley did in my opinion, hell Thiago admitted to juicing and I doubt anything's going to happen to him. This is without mentioning Rampage's road rage incident a while back and he's still in the UFC.

    On a purely personal level though I have some respect for Sonnen as a fighter and he seems a lot like Kos in chatting crap for the sake of hyping a fight. I don't like it but it works. Daley on the other hand I see as as much of a dick as Diaz just with a lot less skill. His attempt at finishing Diaz at the weekend was embarrassing.
     
  20. Hannibal

    Hannibal Cry HAVOC and let slip the Dogs of War!!! Supporter

    A fair point vis a vis Daley, but Sonnen is a douche.

    He lied about speaking to a doctor
    He had the nerve to accuse others of cheating at sports
    He then lied that he had even said it

    He is a disgrace - and unlike Kos he continues to talk like a douche even after the event
     

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