March 12, 2011 – By now, surely the vast majority has the heard the latest blockbuster that Zuffa LLC, the parent company of the Ultimate Fighting Championships has officially sealed the deal on purchasing the Strikeforce Promotion. Announced in today’s interview of Dana White by Ariel Helwani of MMA Fanhouse, this news came as a surprise to many in the MMA community.
Though largely a shock in terms of timing, the deal shouldn’t be that much a surprise in terms of the UFC’s acquisition strategy as they’ve previously bought out other established organizations – chief amongst them Pride Fighting Championships (2007), World Extreme Cagefighting (2006), and the World Fighting Alliance (also 2006).
Like an other large business looking to grow as a strategic initiative, the UFC (Zuffa) acquisition strategy is rooted in the principle of taking sound business risks while obtaining key assets that could aid them in their business goals. For the UFC, these purchases can be driven by a multitude of different factors, such as: being able to acquire key contracts, as in that of one Quinton “Rampage” Jackson via the WFA purchase; gobbling up a key competitor in order to absorb their history, as in with Pride FC and their video library; or as a means to enhance their own growth prospectives for the UFC, as in the WEC purchase and subsequent absorption of their lighter weight classes.
In this case, it can safely be assumed that the UFC’s purchase of Strikeforce involved the above, along with a myriad of other factors. As Dana White expounds in the video interview with Helwani below, its to be business as usual for Strikeforce at the moment as they look to honor their current contracts and broadcast deals. Most companies say that as a standard upon large acquisitions but rest assured, look for synergies and other big chances to take place as time goes by and they have the opportunity to evaluate all their purchased assets. After all, it was business as usual during the WEC purchase as well until such time was ripe to integrate them into the UFC’s brand. That may not be the immediate case here, as existing contracts may not run out for some time, as in the Strikeforce-Showtime deal – not set to expire until 2012.
Bottom line, who knows what will happen in the future, both near-term and far-ahead. One thing is for sure though. With Zuffa and the UFC continuing to lead the way, rest assured Mixed Martial Arts is in good (experienced) hands. Heck, with their backing in both business and politic lobby, the sport may even eventually find its way to the Olympics and beyond. Hang on to your hats folks, whether you know it or not, this purchase and all that came before it is exactly what we wanted. It sure is going to be fun to speculate on what will be next!
