| Re: Huge Rumor: Fertitta Brothers Buy PRIDE for 65 Million?
I know most of you are sick of the rumors surrounding the possible sale of PRIDE Fighting Championships to Frank and Lorenzo Fertittas, the primary owners of the Ultimate Fighting Championship.However, once I posted the first rumor, I knew I had committed myself. I now feel it’s my duty to keep up on the latest developments.
With that in mind, I want to pass along the latest report from Sherdog.com’s Greg Savage and Josh Gross.
And it’s perhaps the most convincing report yet.
According to the duo:
Sherdog.com’s sources continue to suggest the sale is imminent, going so far as to say an announcement could come a week from Tuesday. Various reports attributing Sherdog.com as suggesting an announcement would come this Wednesday are erroneous.
On Monday evening MMAWeekly.com claimed to have confirmed the rumor of Dream Stage Entertainment’s sale of PRIDE, yet their report, which cited an anonymous PRIDE executive, stopped short of calling it a done deal.
Although rumors such as this have heated up a few times in the past, they usually flamed out after a day or two. The fact that this rumor isn’t dying a quick death is certainly intriguing.
Another potential hurdle the report addresses is the status of Ed Fishman and his one-time desire to buy PRIDE. Aside from the Fertittas, he was largely considered the most likely candidate to purchase the Japanese-based organization.
However, according to Savage and Gross, Fishman no longer has any interest in purchasing the organization. In fact, he’s taken a large step toward suing PRIDE.
What Fishman did confirm, though, was the validity of the $65-million purchase price that’s been associated with the latest rumor.
From Sherdog.com:
PRIDE USA president Ed Fishman, who today filed papers in a Nevada court against Dream Stage Entertainment for breach of contract, told Sherdog.com Sunday that he’d heard nothing about the sale of PRIDE to the Fertittas, who in 2000 purchased the struggling UFC and in the span if six years turned it into the lynchpin of one of the fastest growing sports in the U.S.
When asked about the rumored price tag, Fishman suggested it was similar to what he offered for control of PRIDE. The casino entrepreneur also expressed that after doing his due diligence, he is no longer interested in purchasing the organization that currently houses Fedor Emelianenko.
The evidence of a pending sale is surely mounting, but a deal of this magnitude would require a vast amount of legal wrangling to pull off. Any number of considerations can bring a possible deal to a screeching halt.
But given this latest report, you’d have to assume something’s not only in the works, but quite possibly close to completion |