Sakikabara-san Laughs Last

Posted on | June 9, 2008 | No Comments

In March of last year the UFC attained its ultimate victory over longtime MMA nemesis PRIDE when Zuffa owners Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta purchased the Japanese organization for 65 million US dollars. It was to signal a new era. Loyal fans of MMA and fans of the now defunct Japanese organization were promised Superbowl caliber fights between the best MMA practitioners on the planet. With mixed feelings, spectators salivated over the thought of Fedor Emelianenko fighting Tim Sylvia, of Minotauro Nogueira facing off against Randy Couture, and of Wanderlei Silva going blow for blow with Chuck Liddell. Zuffa, it seemed, would hold the MMA universe in the palm of its hand.

Since then, less than a year after the ultimate victory for the Ultimate Fighting Championships, substantiated rumors have begun to circulate that the Fertittas are looking to possibly sell the UFC brand. The Fertitta Brothers and Zuffa are locked in litigation with former PRIDE owners for failing to produce a PRIDE event as promised. PRIDE 35, complete with a diapered Takada and a familiar banshee-like announcer, appeared under the alias “Sengoku,” while PRIDE 36 came in as “Dream.” The network television premier of Mixed Martial Arts occurred on the Fertittas’ watch, but without their branding. An upstart clothing company called Affliction has a card upcoming which, unless a rash of injuries break out, will outstrip the talent of even the best UFC shows this year. And to make matters even worse for a hubristic and over-competitive Dana White, a line up of current UFC belt holders looks suspiciously similar the Blue Corner roster of PRIDE 25: Body Blow (except for BJ Penn, of course).

How could this happen? This certainly isn’t the vision Zuffa’s top Brass had for the future of their companies. Could UFC’s ultimate victory actually have shaken loose its own stranglehold of American MMA?

What didn’t occur to Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta at the time, probably because this can’t happen in a Parker Brothers game of monopoly, was that the foreign organization was actually helping to maintain Zuffa’s dominance in the US. Fighters who sported a large fan base and/or great talent but who weren’t signed by the UFC were mystically whisked away across the ocean to a far off land where they would be paid, shelved, and could never threaten to bolster a Stateside fight card or pay-per-view broadcast ever again. Even the American fans of MMA who chose to look elsewhere for their fight entertainment were left picking between King of the Cage type events and Pride. With this choice before them, most fans picked the Japanese based fight organization, leaving Zuffa firmly in control of Western MMA.

But with this outlet for talent gone for almost a year before Dream and Sengoku debuted, fans and fighters were forced to turn to other organizations. Organizations like the IFL, Elite XC, and Affliction. Rogue international talent, which might have been drawn to Japan during an earlier era, flooded the United States.

Elite XC found some much needed wind added to their sails in the form of Pride veterans Phil Baroni, Charles “Crazy Horse” Bennett, Renzo Gracie, Murilo Ninja, Alistair Overeem and many others. PRIDE prospect KJ Noons and a PRIDE deified Nick Diaz also joined their ranks. On the Affliction card Fedor Emelianenko, Aleksander Emelianenko and Josh Barnett add their personalities to the broadcast. With them is Pedro Rizzo, a UFC fighter who had been contracted by PRIDE and might have otherwise been fighting in Japan. So too might have Andre Arlovski signed with Pride in days gone by. For these fighters, Sengoku and Dream simply do not cut it. Without PRIDE, they will fight in America.

MMA is on the rise in the world, and undoubtedly a host of new and talented fighters would have eventually put an end to Zuffa’s domination… but with Pride gone, that day will come sooner rather than later.
-Shaun McCoy