Strikeforce takeover EliteXC assets

dunkamania

Stirkeforce has picked up some of Proelite's assets.
I am optimistic that this will lead to bigger events for strikeforce. They have the experience and credibility to compete with the UFC.....

http://mmajunkie.com/news/13920/strikeforce-finalizes-deal-for-several-proelite-assets.mma


The long-rumored sale of many of the ill-fated ProElite organization's assets is finally complete.

Rumors of the sale initially surfaced on Wednesday evening as SI.com's Josh Gross received confirmation of the transaction from ProElite Chief Executive Officer Chuck Champion.

Today a press release by the California-based Striekforce organization confirmed that the company has purchased a significant portion of ProElite's assets, including some fighters' contracts and a video library of past CBS and Showtime-broadcast events.

"This is a tremendous development that will bolster the Strikeforce roster and allow us to produce even more competitive matchups between top fighters," Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker stated. "Some of these athletes have been on the sidelines for a while now and are eagerly waiting to return to competition. We look forward to providing them with the opportunity to do so in the next few months."

ProElite is the parent company of Elite Xtreme Combat, which in 2008, became the first-ever mixed-martial-arts organization to air on major U.S. network television.

No specific mention of which fighters' contracts were included in the acquisition was noted in the release, nor was any mention made of the CBS and Showtime television deals that ProElite had in place before it ceased operations. Immediate attempts by MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) to reach Coker and Strikeforce Director of Communications Mike Afromowitz were unsuccessful.

The CBS and Showtime television contracts in question would seem to be a driving factor behind Strikeforce's desire to purchase the assets of the crumbling ProElite organization. Strikeforce currently airs a weekly 30-minute program of highlights and fights from its video library on NBC. As MMAjunkie.com reported in late 2008, Strikeforce was in advanced talks to air live events on the Peacock Network, through a deal has yet to be reached.

Strikeforce and ProElite's other recently rumored suitors were also interested in the previously mentioned fighter contracts. ProElite held the contracts of such marketable commodities as Gina Carano, Eddie Alvarez, Jake Shields, Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson and Nick Diaz, though it's not clear which, if any, will be acquired in today's sale.

The release does not bring further details to the fate of the other ProElite-branded promotions King of the Cage, Cage Rage, Rumble on the Rock, ICON Sport and SpiritMC.

Strikeforce, which added MMA to its kickboxing offerings in 2006, has been one of the most financially successful fight promotions outside of the UFC. Its debut event set (since-broken) North American MMA attendance and live gate records. In 2008 the organization began hosting events outside of its California home and ventured to Washington and Colorado.

Strikeforce co-promoted two previous events with EliteXC. The most recent, "Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Le," featured Cung Le's upset of Frank Shamrock for Strikeforce's world middleweight title and drew more than 16,000 spectators.

rovert

Any rumours floating around who they have and dont under contract?

Dragan

More good news for Strikeforce as they also have a deal with Showtime.

The funny thing is, Dana has always been positive about Strikeforce in interviews, saying that they do things the right way and have a great product. I wonder if that will change now.

http://www.mmanews.com/other/Showtime-Joins-Forces-With-Strikeforce-For-New-Series.html

Fozzy

rovert wrote: »

Any rumours floating around who they have and dont under contract?

There was already a thread on this last night. Meltzer says they've got all the big names as well as shows on CBS

Derek Coleman

Hope Robbie Lawler aint part of it. Come back to UFC Robbie please.

Fozzy

Derek Coleman wrote: »

Hope Robbie Lawler aint part of it. Come back to UFC Robbie please.

If you read the other thread then you'll see that he is

Pride Fighter

Kimbo Slice vs Carano, make it happen strikeforce;)

rovert

Pride Fighter wrote: »

Kimbo Slice vs Carano, make it happen strikeforce;)

Moneys on Gina

Pride Fighter

rovert wrote: »

Moneys on Gina

Mine too:pac::pac: