Bloody Elbow.
After a number of deals falling through at the last minute, it appears Pro Elite has either been sold or is in the very final stages of being sold as of this morning. Under the terms of the sale, the buyer would likely return to CBS television with live events this year.
The most likely buyer is Strikeforce. The other leading contender was King of The Cage, but industry sources have suggested that Pro Elite fighters are much more willing to fight for Strikeforce than KoTC, and the ease of signing new contracts may have played a part in finalizing this deal.
If the buyer is Strikeforce, the contracts are probably not transferrable, but the vast majority of fighters will likely be happy to just move over and fight there just to get on with their lives.
This is great news for fighters who are finally free from limbo to pursue their careers. If Strikeforce is the buyer, every fighter will have a choice to either move over to the new organization or pursue free agency. As the UFC learned when they bought Pride, personal service contracts are generally not transferrable, especially in a right to work state like California.
[UPDATE] by Nick Thomas: Scott Coker from Strikeforce the new owner of ProElite?:
http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2009/2/4/...te-nearly-sold
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If this is true its the best turnout possible. I have nothing but good things to say about Scott Coker. Really Really bad timing though with the economy. Not sure it will work but I will be rooting so hard for this to work.
This won't be as simple as suddenly having all 8 sub companies suddenly get reborn. I expect this to be a skeleton sale with most of the sub companies folding. Perhaps a contract crossover with replay rights? EliteXC and Pro Elite are so tainted I am very surprised at this so a partial purchase makes sense to me.
If Strikeforce is the buyer, every fighter will have a choice to either move over to the new organization or pursue free agency. As the UFC learned when they bought Pride, personal service contracts are generally not transferrable, especially in a right to work state like California.
I wonder if/who will choose to pursue free agency. I'd like to see Lawler and a couple others, but if not, Strikeforce has been very good at business and you don't hear Dana talking about Coker.
Absolutely true. Dana has praised Strikeforce and Coker countless times. Coker knows how to run a MMA show although I am concerned that they haven't run a show in so long.
As far as free agents...I am 100% sure Lawler will have the UFC logo on his gloves asap.
EDIT: Also Jake. Gina? I dunno...she has to be the centerpiece of Coker wanting to do this.
Last edited by Evan; 02-04-2009 at 08:12 PM.
Dana wants no part of Gina unfortunately. I'd like to see Jake in there too -- won't hold a belt in the UFC.
Naw brother...he has stated several times he wants her in the WEC now.
With WEC going to PPV sometime this year (not all, some) she would be perfect.
and triple juggy
Gina=my money.
Gine = my pants.
I win.
LMAO mma
What does "LMAO" mean?
anyone?
laughing my ass off
ok thanks.
Stretch...what does it mean to "laughing my ass off mixed martial arts"???????
I think he is making fun of the sport.
Ah I see. The wittyness confused me.
Higher plane of thinking by stretch, of course.
Oh for sure...Mavs fans are the most intelligent after all haha.
why would wec go ppv? are there any cards/matchups you would want to pay to see? it would have to be a star studded card like with all 4 les up for grabs. or maybe if the wec somehow signed yamamoto v. faber or torres then that would be ppv worthy.
i would love to see a faber/torres match up (will likely never happen but in my dreams). but i think a benevidez match with torres could be pretty damn good too.
It wouldnt be a 45-50 dollar PPV...maybe 5 or 10 tops.
robbie380
I suspect they have an awful deal with Versus since nobody expected MMA to take off like it did. Perhaps they really want to do PPV or perhaps this is just 'saber rattling' to get a batter TV deal which is very likely.
My guess is they dearly want the WEC on ESPN and the UFC on PPV & e (who gives them a lot of control.)
wec on espn would be absolutely stellar if they got that done. i love the wec product and i think it would really take off if it got the espn exposure.
i think 5-10 bucks would be an annoyance rather than a revenue generator.
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