If you were the UFC, would you buy Pride if you could?
3 years ago, your company was on the verge on shutting down. Now you are finally out of the red, and making some real cash. Then you go and buy the biggest international MMA promotion which will cost you multi-million dollars. Now you purchased a big company with great fighters, however, a good majority of those fighters are international and cannot speak English well.
The UFC is already making millions off of reality show up and comers who are actually very marketable for the most part.
To buy Pride would be great for the fans, but can you honestly see the UFC shelling out money for an organization that has many fighters which will be tough to market?
IMO there's too much exaggerating re: the importance of keeping mostly American fighters in the UFC. Sure the vast majority of NFL players are American, but that's not the reason why it's our most popular sport -- it's simply the most exciting of the major sports here. Think of all the countless other sports dominated by Americans that the mainstream doesn't give a shit about....
Successful marketing of a spotty product will only last so long. I'm not saying UFC is THAT spotty or the company is doing a bad job whatsoever, but at this pace it's quite far from lining every fight on every PPV card with superstars, American or not. That's a goal they need to fulfill ASAP -- then the marvel of product (MMA) will take care of itself, leaving even greater growth of the sport up to matters of politics and exposure
So eventually securing the superstars of Pride would be critical IMO
Well, I tend to agree with that statement RuleDogg. Eventually as more new fans become hardcore fans, they will realize the watered down product and demand high priced talent.
In response to Pain4Blood, the UFC would be wise in purchasing the promotion, not just the fighters because of the international reputation Pride has. Also, the UFC has spoken about running international shows. The acquisition of Pride would help a lot.
"Why would the UFC buy the organization and name? No one is suggesting that who has any business sense."
Well, the Pride name means nothing here in the USA, but it still means something in Japan. Zuffa could make a lot of money in Japan if they were able to get it back on japanese tv (and without the Yakuza connection, this might be possible).