The Zuffa, LLC. purchase of the Strikeforce promotion yesterday has many fans worried about its effect on the overall scope of North American MMA. However, with a basic understanding of business principles, such concerns may be laid to rest. (Photo courtesy of Zuffa, LLC.)
UFC President Dana White announced today that its parent company Zuffa, LLC. purchased the California-based rival MMA promotion Strikeforce. The reactions of the MMA community were immediately evident as the questions about the implications of the purchase began to pour out of every media outlet and Twitter feed in the MMA world. However, many of the concerns and speculations on everything from potential fight match-ups, to the future of certain Strikeforce fighters, to the continuation of Strikeforce’s Women’s MMA (WMMA) divisions are based largely on the general public’s lack of knowledge into how a business deal of this nature truly works.
The purchase was not a corporate raid or hostile takeover. Zuffa simply purchased a company and while they could change things in the future, it is Scott Coker, not Dana White, who is in charge of the operation of Strikeforce which is still a completely separate company from the UFC. As White said in his MMAFighting.com interview, “It’s business as usual…That’s a separate business that has their own income. They have their own budgets and everything else that they do. They have their own television deals. If they’re that interested in acquiring [a fighter], it’s no different than it was before.” Continue reading »
