The sale of PRIDE FC to the Fertittas this morning has raised more questions than answers. I'm still plowing through the insane amount of emails that came in -- rest assured we'll get back to you as soon as possible.
However, I hope to answer some of those questions with this post.
First check out footage of the press conference here. (Thanks to "YouTapped" for providing the link). It is definitely interesting to see the vast difference between how the two organizations represent and carry themselves.
For some reason, it was decided that it was a good idea to bring Jeff Monson and Kazuyuki Fujita up on stage to promote the first rivalry between UFC and PRIDE FC. Last time I checked, "The Snowman" wasn't even on the Zuffa payroll.
Whatever.
UFC President Dana White, as well as Lorenzo Fertitta and others, also get some air time.
In addition to news that PRIDE FC will soon begin to follow UFC rules, WrestlingObserver.com also has some nice updates on weight classes and scoring.
Here's a snip:
"Pride would continue holding matches in the ring and be, as Fertitta called it, a 'Japanese-centric' organization while UFC would be an 'American-centric' organization. The only significant change talked about would be worldwide unified rules would be put in place, which would be the same rules UFC fights under, with the elimination of knees to the head on a downed fighter, stomps and soccer kicks in Pride, but adding elbows. White said Pride would keep its judging criteria for fights in Japan, but obviously, when running in the U.S., would use the commission-dictated ten-point-must system. Pride will also have weight classes change for worldwide consistency, and will crown champions at 155, 170, 185, 205 and heavyweight. Currently Pride has champions at 161 (Takanori Gomi), 183 (Dan Henderson), 205 (Henderson) and heavyweight (Fedor Emelianenko)."
As more news and updates trickle in, we'll be sure to pass them along.
Here are some press conference shortcut links:
PRIDE CEO Nobuyuki Sakakibara kicks off press conference (translated in English)
Sakakibara introduces Lorenzo Fertitta
Fertitta introduces Dana White
Nobuhiko Takada
Announcement of Monson-Fujita and Japanese fighters
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