Zuffa, LLC, the parent company of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, made a big addition to their fighting family today.
UFC president Dana White announced on Saturday that the company has purchased San Jose based promotion Strikeforce in what he calls a “good deal.”
With the big news comes a series of questions regarding the future of Strikeforce, but White says things will remain the same for the time being. In the video interview exclusive with MMAFighting.com, White stated that “Strikeforce is going to continue to run business as usual,” and that CEO Scott Coker will remain on with the company.
White was open to the idea of UFC fighters possibly heading to Strikeforce, though cross-promotion with the UFC is out of the question, and says that current broadcast deals, business partnerships, and fighter contracts will remain unchanged. Fighters like Fedor Emelianenko, Josh Barnett and Paul Daley will remain under contract to Strikeforce.
“There’s contracts in place,” White said. “These guys are on Showtime. Strikeforce pulls good ratings for Showtime. I think Showtime is happy with them. All those contracts will be honored.”
UFC officials told HeavyMMA.com that a press conference is scheduled for Monday morning to make the official announcement. The UFC announced today that tickets for the next Strikeforce event are currently on sale, and a commercial for the event is expected to air during next Saturday’s UFC 128 broadcast.
Stay tuned to HeavyMMA.com for more news and speculation following the historic purchase.
