Via MMA Frenzy:
Zuffa, LLC, the parent company of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, has purchased top rival Strikeforce, UFC President Dana White announced Saturday in an exclusive interview with MMAFighting.
White said both promotions will continue to run as usual, with Strikeforce talent remaining on a separate roster and all existing deals to be honored, including its broadcasts on Showtime.
“I dont wanna disclose any of the details of how the deal was done. We now own Strikeforce”, White said. “Strikeforce is gonna continue to run business as usual. There are contracts in place (with fighters and Showtime). All those contracts are going to be honored. Could guys leave the UFC and end up in Strikeforce? Yes, absolutely. We’ve signed a deal with Scott Coker to stay on.”
That includes the likes of Fedor Emelianenko, Alistair Overeem, Dan Henderson, Nick Diaz, and Paul Daley, who according to White, will remain in Strikeforce.
“We honor contracts. We honor the deal. We will do the same there. M-1 (Global) has a deal with Showtime that is completely separate. Fedor (Emelianenko) will continue to fight in Strikeforce on Showtime.”
According to White, the acquisition was primarily to add more fighters, but felt they got a “good deal” on the promotion.
“We need more fighters. We need more fights,” White said, before dismissing potential superfights between the promotions. “There wont be any superfights…we dont co-promote.”
Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Strikeforce’s upcoming schedule includes “Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Daley” on April 9 in San Diego and the continuation of the Strikeforce heavyweight grand prix on June 18 in Dallas, which both will air on Showtime as scheduled.
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Original Story:
http://mmafrenzy.com/17877/ufc-purcha...
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