Från Sherdog.com: "PRIDE will be run separately but under the umbrella of Zuffa, which also controls the WEC."Det verkar som det blir Zuffa som kontrollerar Pride ändå. Det snackades mycket om att Bröderna Fertitta bara skulle bli minoritetsägare i ett nytt företag som skulle kontrollera Pride. Jag tror det till viss del är sant men framförallt vinklat på det viset för att Japaner inte är särskilt förtjusta i att "Gaijins" kommer in och tar över deras saker.
Några andra saker från presskonferansen:
- Crocop vill möta Fedor igen
- Pride kommer fortsätta skötas separat
- Prides LW GP som är planerad kommer fortsätta som planerat och man kommer fortsätta ha GPs.
- Det kommer hållas en supershow varje år med fighters från båda organisationerna.
Jag tror faktiskt det här är bra får både Pride och MMA i helhelt. Pride har tappat popularitet i Japan, blivit av med tv-kontrakt och totalt misslyckats med att marknadsföra sig i USA trots att man har haft 10 år på sig. Och under iaf 5 av dom har UFC haft en klart sämre produkt. Men man såg inte möjligheterna och när man väl såg dom var det försent och man var inte bra nog på att sälja sig till den Amerikanska publiken.Det är en otroligt spännande tid att vara MMA fan just nu.
Från pridefc.com :On Tuesday, March 27th, at the Roppongi Hills Arena in Tokyo, PRIDE Executive Director Nobuhiko Takada and UFC President Dana White appeared together to announce that the two largest MMA organizations in the world, America's UFC and Japan's PRIDE FC, will finally come to blows.
Since the dawn of the sport, PRIDE FC and the UFC have continued to be the driving forces behind mixed martial arts. Under the new leadership of PRIDE owner Lorenzo Fertitta, the MMA world is one step closer to determining who truly is the world's toughest man. This momentous event will similarly resemble baseball's World Series, soccer's World Cup, and football's Super Bowl.
In addition, DSE President and CEO Nobuyuki Sakakibara announced that his resignation from PRIDE FC will take place immediately after PRIDE.34, scheduled to take place April 8th at the Saitama Super Arena in Japan. Lorenzo Fertitta will assume Mr. Sakakibara's responsibilities as PRIDE's new owner.
Details of the press conference will be posted here shortly, so stay tuned for updates!
Kom också ihåg att jag skrev om det redan den 9e mars. :)
UPDATE: Huruvida det blir så att Pride hamnar under Zuffas kontroll eller inte är för tidigt att säga. Det verkar som det. Men ägandet är helt i bröderna Fertittas händer under nyskapade Pride FC Worldwide Holdings LLC. (Limited Liability Company)
Läs mer hos MMAWeekly eller Associated Press.
UPDATE2: Angående reglerna säger Dana White enligt reviewjournal så här:
Any fight held with the Pride banner would continue to be in a ring. UFC fights are in a cage.
This is a sport and we're going to follow the unified rules that were established in New Jersey and then in Nevada," White said. "It's a sport -- mixed martial arts -- and the sport should have the same rules everywhere. As far as I'm concerned, if an organization doesn't follow these rules, it's not MMA. It's something else, but that's not MMA.
UPDATE3: Wrestlingobserver har lite mer information och detaljer, ett "litet" utdrag:
The battle plan will be to run separate shows and maintain separate staffs. The attempt will be to make the promotions competitive rivals, even though they would no longer be business rivals. No specifics were given, but they only seemed to indicate minimal mixing of talent. There would be a Pride roster of fighters and a UFC roster. There would be matches of champions in each promotion, although when and how often had not been determined. The indication was the mixing of talent would be limited to occasional champion vs. champion matches, perhaps once per year in each weight class, where neither specific title would be at stake. Although White or Fertitta would bring up any names of specific dream fights to the U.S. press, in the Japanese meeting he brought up Fedor Emelianenko vs. Randy Couture, Chuck Liddell vs. Mauricio Shogun Rua, Dan Henderson vs. Anderson Silva, Josh Barnett vs. Andrei Arlovsky and Georges St. Pierre vs. Takanori Gomi as potential matches.
Pride would continue holding matches in the ring and be, as Fertitta called it, a "Japanese-centric" organization while UFC would be an "American-centric" organization. The only significant change talked about would be worldwide unified rules would be put in place, which would be the same rules UFC fights under, with the elimination of knees to the head on a downed fighter, stomps and soccer kicks in Pride, but adding elbows. White said Pride would keep its judging criteria for fights in Japan, but obviously, when running in the U.S., would use the commission-dictated ten-point-must system. Pride will also have weight classes change for worldwide consistency, and will crown champions at 155, 170, 185, 205 and heavyweight. Currently Pride has champions at 161 (Takanori Gomi), 183 (Dan Henderson), 205 (Henderson) and heavyweight (Fedor Emelianenko).
No new television deal, which Pride desperately needs in both Japan and the U.S. to be viable long-term, were announced. White did mention hoping to get back on the Fuji Network. Pride will run shows in the U.S., although no date for a next show was announced. UFC is looking at running shows in Japan.
UPDATE4: NBC Sports har publicerat en bra artikel. Några punkter:
(Dana) White said he would have no input in the day-to-day operations of Pride.
"Someone else will run Pride," he said. "I will come over to Japan with all my guys and kick their asses as I've waited to do for seven years."
• Both UFC and Pride will run shows globally, with them criss-crossing into each other's original home countries
• Pride will continue to be produced with the same "Japan-centric" production values as its fans have become accustomed to
• Pride will hold its fights under the Unified Rules, so fights will feature the same rules everywhere; however, Pride will continue to be fought in a ring while UFC bouts will remain in the octagon
• Fertitta expects Pride to regain a TV deal in Japan shortly
• Despite his future bout with upstart BodogFight, Fedor Emelienenko is expected to stay with Pride. "The reality is that if he wants to fight the best fighters in the world, he's going to want to stay with us," Fertitta said.
• China is a key part of both group's expansions into international markets
Update5: Sherdog har ännu en artikel uppe.
Update6: OC Register har en avskrift från ett konferenssamtal dom hade med Lorenzo Fertitta, Dana White och Nobuyuki Sakakibara. Mycket bra och läsvärd avskrift.
