One of the hallmarks of the UFC under the Fertitta Brothers/Dana White ownership has been the purchase of rival MMA promotions. Be it PRIDE, WEC, WFA or Strikeforce, Zuffa has made massive waves in the MMA world through their aggressive acquisitions.
However, White was recently speaking in Brazil and made it clear that a Bellator purchase is not in the cards (via MMA Fighting):
“There’s nothing there,” White told the media. “If you look at any other company we ended up buying in the past, there was value. There’s no value to that company whatsoever.”
…
“If you look at Pride, look at all the contracts we got from Pride, all the guys that came over,” he said. “Look at Pride’s library. Amazing library, with some of the most talented fighters of all times. When we bought (World Fighting Alliance), we bought it because Rampage had a contract with them. When we bought Strikeforce, we bought their library. Just the fights we had with Nick Diaz alone were worth buying that company.”
When you think about it, he’s not exactly wrong.
Zuffa cut Mo Lawal, they haven’t ever seemed particularly desperate to sign him back. Tito Ortiz and Rampage Jackson were cut by the UFC and there’s no interest in bringing them back, yet Bellator needed them to try to sell their first PPV effort.
Michael Chandler and Eddie Alvarez would be guys the UFC would love on their roster along with a handful of other guys. But nobody that drives big business and there is very little else that would be desirable for Zuffa in terms of owning the promotion.
It’d be another trophy and nothing more.
About the author
