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Looks like the honeymoon's over.
MMAweekly.com is reporting that multiple fighters under contract for Dream Stage Entertainment (the PRIDE FC parent company), are apparently unwilling to have their contracts assigned to PRIDE FC Worldwide, the new company born of the anticipated buyout from Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta.
Simply put: Not all the Whos in Whoville are happy about working for the Grinch.
While the lawsuit seeks unspecified damages, no doubt the real goal here is to prevent fighters from being forced to go where the buyout dictates. Freedom to compete in alternate organizations or be paid for lost wages that resulted from cancelled PRIDE shows seems like a reasonable request.
But if DSE is like most greedy companies, they're not going to just roll over. They may have no intention of holding anymore shows, but they could still try and hold fighters hostage under the PRIDE banner until the company is no more.
That process could take months or even years.
Not exactly the kind of position you want to be in if you're a fighter in his prime or even worse, the twilight of your career.
Suddenly the rash of recent PRIDE signings like Minotauro Nogueira and possibly Shogun Rua reek of agenda.
Many fans of this site are asking the same question: If you're going to sign all of PRIDE's best, then why do you need the rest of the company?
I'm not sure where things go from here, but we'll be sure to keep tabs on this story and update you as it develops.
One thing is for certain folks: This one's gonna get ugly.
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