Zuffa LLC/UFC Buys Strikeforce: Breaking It Down

This is a breakdown of what UFC President Dana White's statements regarding the deal of Zuffa LLC, owners of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, buying Strikeforce.

(courtesy The Telegraph)



Zuffa, the parent company of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, announced Saturday that it has acquired Strikeforce, its biggest rival MMA organisation in the USA, making it a single powerful entity. Strikeforce will stay as it is, for the time being, with Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker remaining in place. The company will be run with “business as usual” for the foreseeable future.

With rumours leaking out, UFC CEO Dana White stepped out ahead of a major news announcement rumoured for Monday March 15, and explained the outline of the takeover to MMAfighting.com Saturday afternoon UK time.

The implications of the UFC takeover of the Strikeforce MMA organisation are broad.

Breaking down UFC CEO Dana White’s explanations in broad terms:

“We needed more fights, more fighters.”

“Strikeforce is liked by fans. It made sense. Our job is to put on the big fights – in other countries.”

“It [the deal] happened quickly.”

No disclosure of financial settlement. White admitted that Pride buy-up was bigger.

Strikeforce will run ‘business as usual’, with CEO Scott Coker at the head of it, on Showtime (in the US). On Primetime, in the UK (exclusive current deal).

UFC fighters may go to Strikeforce; and vice versa once out of contract.

Lorenzo Fertitta, not Dana White, will most likely deal with Strikeforce.

There will be no super fights between UFC and Strikeforce champions. White: “We don’t co-promote.”

Fighters banned/suspended/out of favour with the UFC “will have their Strikeforce contracts honoured”.

White: “I’m still not a Paul Daley fan. He will never fight in the UFC. His Strikeforce contract will be honoured.”

Background to the deal and Strikeforce set-up:

Strikeforce, owned jointly by Scott Coker, its CEO, and Silicon Valley Sports & Entertainment, which runs the NHL’s San Jose Sharks, was rumoured to be looking for a business partner. On March 1, Coker described whispers of a UFC takeover as “crazy”. It is believed that ProElite Inc, also interested in acquiring the company, had been offered Silicon Valley’s share for $20 million, and a $20 million capital investment. Draw conclusions from there about the sums the UFC would have paid for what Dana White described as “a very good deal”.

The UFC have bought Strikeforce’s licensing rights as an MMA organisation, all the fighter contracts, and its entire video library. Power tools indeed. Strikeforce have a television deal with Showtime until 2012 (in the US). In the UK, they have a deal with Primetime, owned by media mogul Richard Desmond. Desmond also has Channel 5, two national newspapers, and a magazine empire.

The UFC have systematically acquired PRIDE, the WEC, and now Strikeforce. The next Strikeforce event will be in San Diego, on April 9. The move may create sticking points with fighters who have individual contracts with Strikeforce. That could include the likes of Fedor Emelianenko.

With the UFC reducing its roster to around 30 fighters per weight category, Strikeforce may become crucial as a feeder arena for developing talent, along with experienced, popular fighters who may be sliding down the rankings.

The Telegraph breakdown on the future…

The way forward…Strikeforce should dissolve its championship belts and have men’s Grand Prix and women’s titles.

The effect and the implications it will have on the world MMA scene, are severalfold. The main implications are that Zuffa have eliminated a rival organisation which was looking at expansion outside the US.

For now, Strikeforce will be run as a separate entity, with their current roster of fighters under contract, led still by CEO Scott Coker.

Strikeforce has recently been aggressively going after the UK market for the first time, doing a television deal in the UK, pay per view in Australia, and were talking about doing a show in Japan. They were at least showing the ambition to become the second truly international MMA organisation. Strikeforce already has an exclusive deal with Primetime in the UK, with some free to air events, and other pay per view events.

Even Pride did not have the ambition to do anything other than be a Japanese organisation until the very end, when they were bought out by Zuffa.

Other implications:

It strengthens Zuffa’s position in the global TV market.

When the UFC bought the WEC it was not long before some of its champions, Carlos Condit and Chael Sonnen to name two of them, moved into high positions in the UFC.

One of the conundrums for the UFC is that it does not make sense to have two world champions in the same division under the same umbrella organisation.

The UFC have always said that there is only one champion in a limited number of divisions, that (pre-WEC merger) there were only five UFC champions, and at that, the real champions.

Based on what happened with the WEC, the UFC are likely to be looking to amalgamate the Strikeforce leading fighters when it is contractually viable, and makes sense.

Arguably, given that problem with dual world champions, maybe Strikeforce should have a super-middleweight division with the likes of Dan Henderson, and a new roster of fighters such as Rashad Evans, Michael Bisping and others who are not big enough to be light-heavyweights in the UFC.

It is one way that Zuffa could get around this conundrum, by changing the divisions slightly. Perhaps Strikeforce should drop all its champions, disintegrate its belts, and give its champions over to the UFC to fight in unification contests with champions in the UFC ?



In Strikeforce, perhaps they should consider having just Grand Prix champions, and women’s divisions, so they stay as a separate entity. Or arguably, a feeder organisation.

For example, should Jake Shields now be able to carry the Strikeforce middleweight championship into the UFC ?

One answer could be twelve Strikeforce events a year for women’s title fights and for men’s Grand Prix titles. That way, it would give Strikeforce a chance to have their own identity separate from the UFC, and not just have B-listers as a feeder fighting organisation.

It is not bad in any real sense for MMA globally. Better for the fans, certainly. The UFC will still need smaller organisations like Bellator and BAMMA for prospects to come through, just as Formula 1 needs Formula 2 and Formula 3. The winner of F1, is the ultimate racing driving champion.

Jeet Kune "Done"

Bruce Lee’s philosophies and the concepts of Jeet Kune Do have guided me in my martial arts journey but I am not a JKD practitioner. Personally I’ve found too much political conflict within that community and feel that movement has become many of the things Lee was originally against when he coined the name for his art. It’s ironic that an approach founded on the principles of evolution and freedom has become more about preserving the old and staying within the “way.”

When I train my focus is continuing Lee’s example of growth and expansion. The fact is Bruce Lee died at a young age and it’s preposterous to believe he had all the answers. Dan Inosanto has noted Lee was continuing to experiment and was evolving his “expression” up until the day he passed away. Since that time progress has been made in the field of martial arts/combative sports/self preservation and frankly I want to keep up in this modern era.

There are those whom I follow who are still part of the Jeet Kune Do universe, but they are part of the new wave of innovators in the field leading the way to new frontiers of effectiveness instead of clinging to old “dated” ways. One of the final lines in the “Tao of Jeet Kune Do” talked about leaving the boat behind after crossing the river. I left the “boat” behind long ago.

I like gyms that do not get into martial arts politics and pointless debates prevalent in those circles. I want focus on training and personal development, not talking about doing so.

Besides, as Bruce said “man is more important than any style or system.”

Anthony Pettis Matrix Kick

This is the kick that everyone is talking about. The final kick thrown in World Extreme Cagefighting's history(since it will merge into the UFC.)

Anthony "Showtime" Pettis runs off the cage to land his foot on Ben "Smooth" Henderson's face. Pettis used the move in the closing seconds of the 5th round of the lightweight championship and went on to win by unanimous decision. It would have been the perfect ending to the WEC's run if the kick and/or the follow up punches on the ground merited a ref stoppage.

Pettis and Henderson each earned a $10k bonus for Fight of the Night honors. $10k is pale next to the $100k bonuses the UFC gives, but that won't be an issue in the future since both will now fight in the Octagon.

Nontheless this is one of the most exciting moves ever pulled off in MMA's brief history.

Lea Michelle, GEEZUS!

People are up in arms over the sexy GQ spread featuring some stars from the cast of Glee. They say it's too provacative since the actors play high school teens. That's not the reason why I posted this entry.

I'm especially fond of Lea Michelle(Rachel Berry) getting her 'sexy' on in some white cotton panties. I'm a fan!






I watch the show, and thought she had nice ass. Her pics from the shoot pretty much dispute any claim otherwise. DAMN THAT THING IS NICE AND TIGHT.

Anticipation + Timing = Any Technique Can Land

This is simply an amazing piece of timing, as well as anticipation. The fight features a Kung-Fu practitioner against a Tae Kwon Do stylist. From watching it seems like no face punching is allowed, and this changes the dynamic of the fight. Also no takedowns are allowed, and the possibilities presented when they are "clinched" are numerous since both are wearing Gi jackets. Despite what the rules are, there is some impressive calculating and reading by the Kung-Fu guy.



Any technique can land provided you time it right, and you perfectly anticipate the opening created when the opponent is in transition(prior to initializing a strike or recovering strike to it's original position.)

Standing Guillotine - Nick Diaz

You may hate Nick Diaz's antics, or think he's too "ghetto" and unprofessional. But the guy has skills, and a technical fighter in both his boxing and grappling. When it comes to BJJ and submissions you would expect nothing less from a Ceaser Gracie blackbelt. I'm pleasantly surprised with Nick's wrestling knowledge w/ this video he shot with teh guys from Damage Control MMA.