Former WWE star Batista Strikeforce deal dead after UFC buyout

"Excuse me, Vince McMahon, but we've got Dave Batista on line one."

When Zuffa purchased Strikeforce, they assumed ownership of the contracts of around 140 fighters. That number does not include the various fighters the San Jose organization was in negotiations with at the time of the buyout.

One of those men is former WWE superstar Dave Batista.

As far back as July 2010, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker had stated he was open to the idea of a heavyweight attraction bout featuring the former professional wrestler. His reasoning? "Look at Brock Lesnar."

As soon as the UFC got involved, however, those comparisons disappeared and any talk of bringing old Dave on board ceased to exist, as he tells TMZ.com:

"(The Strikeforce thing is) done. We were (negotiating) but UFC bought 'em out and never said anything to me about it. I'm disappointed. I was talking to a couple other federations but I really had my heart set on Strikeforce and I thought we had a deal. ... (Talks) didn't break down until they sold out. I just had no idea, nobody ever said anything, Scott Coker never said anything to me. They just... We had a deal on the table and we were just trying to fix a few things and the next thing I know we got bought out. It is what it is."

There you have it.

Surprising? Not likely to many and definitely not to Batista, who was still distraught at losing out on what was sure to be a rather large payday with much less wear and tear on his 40-something year-old body than his wrasslin' days.

Now that his mixed martial arts aspirations are potentially buried he just may have to tuck tail and return to the squared circle, scripted apology in hand.

But with the success of Tough Enough, as opposed to The Ultimate Fighter (featuring Brock Lesnar), maybe he's got an avenue back in.

Anyone disappointed ... anyone?