Michael Rome over at Bloody Elbow seems to think so.
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 ProElite 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.
Though I don’t agree with how ProElite has handled this whole situation, this is great news for the fighters who have been in limbo for far too long now. It is also interesting to note that Strikeforce has been one of the few organizations that Dana White has praised for going about business in the right way. I wonder what he will have to say now that they seem to be making strides to become a more significant force in the industry.
Let’s hope this isn’t another false alarm. These fighters deserve to continue competing as soon as possible.
Note from Steve: It’s important to view this just as a rumor for now. It may very well be true, and not that I don’t trust the guys at BE, but we’ve heard this same story many times before from trustworthy journalists. If it is, I’d imagine we’ll hear solid confirmation soon.
Quick update: The same BE post has an update claiming there will an announcement made tomorrow or Friday, according to Sherdog radio.
Update II: Deal not done according to Strikeforce exec Mike Afromowitz.
“That’s incorrect. Any reports of a done deal are a complete fantasy…It’s complicated, and that’s why I don’t want to speculate. If anything is done, it will be very technical. It’s not as straightforward as you think.”
Update III: Sam Caplan says the deal is done. New post coming…
Leave a comment
Subscribe to MMAConvert
Share on Facebook
Submit to StumbleUpon
Submit to Digg
I’m also very interested in seeing if Dana’s tune changes about Strikeforce should they make a significant move to compete for Zuffa’s market share.
If it is indeed Strikeforce who purchases Pro Elite and they do manage to get on CBS, I think that will be enough to upset Dana. It sounds as if Pro Elite didn’t get the greatest deal in the world from CBS, and now everyone knows it. If Strikeforce is inheriting this deal, to some extent, Dana will be able to easily point this out as a dumb business move on their part.
I don’t think Dana will come after StrikeForce because StrikeForce hasn’t come after Dana/UFC. Affliction and ProElite both said they were going to take down the UFC, and said negative things about the UFC. The guys at StrikeForce haven’t done that. I also think that even though many of the fighters may be open to joining StrikeForce, there will be a handful that will choose not to.
Yeah you never know with Dana. Even if he doesn’t call them idiots are whatever, I’d put money down that they’d at least try to counter-program them if they end up on network tv
Josh Gross is also reporting this. I’m hoping something happens soon. There are a lot of pro-Elite fighters I want to see back in action.
Yeah, it definitely sounds like its more than just a rumor at this point. Hopefully it won’t fall apart last minute like it has before.