News broke Saturday that Zuffa, the parent company of UFC, has struck a deal to purchase the mixed martial arts organization Strikeforce.
Seen as the number two MMA league in the United States, the group plays domestic host to fighters like Fedor Emelianenko, Nick Diaz and Alistair Overeem. Yet despite some solid talent and network exposure on CBS, it has failed to threaten UFC from a mainstream standpoint.
Although most are skeptical given UFC’s history of ultimately absorbing Zuffa’s purchases, including PRIDE and WEC, the group’s president Dana White maintains that Zuffa plans to run Strikeforce as an independent entity for the foreseeable future.
“I know you have heard this from me before, but we have no intention of making any changes,” said White to Yahoo! Sports. “One thing we always do is honor our contracts. Showtime has a contract with Strikeforce and it will continue. They pull decent ratings. Showtime is happy with Strikeforce and Strikeforce is happy with Showtime. We plan to operate them as they are now, as a separate company from the UFC.”
All of the existing talent and television contracts will remain in place, meaning none of the contracted Strikeforce talent will jump over to UFC and the Showtime television shows will still occur as planned.
White attributed the deal to a need for increasing the number of high-profile fights, especially given UFC’s ambitious intentions to expand internationally. Though he has repeatedly ripped Strikeforce, he admitted in an interview with MMAFighting.com that the promotion has developed a fanbase and draws “solid ratings” on Showtime.
Scott Coker is currently to remain at the helm of the independently-run Strikeforce.