April 2, 2007 Observer Newsletter: UFC purchases Pride, WWE WrestleMania 23 advance

In two separate press conferences in Tokyo, one for the Japanese media and another for the U.S. media, it was announced on 3/27 that Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta, the owners of the UFC, had purchased the assets, contracts, tape library and all marks related to the Pride Fighting Championships from Dream Stage Entertainment.

The purchase price has been reported by various sources at being between $65 million and $70 million. The Fertittas will create a new company called Pride Fighting Championships Worldwide Holdings, LLC, keeping it separate from their Zuffa, LLC company, which runs both UFC and WEC events.

Lorenzo Fertitta, Dana White and Nobuyuki Sakakibara spoke at both press conferences. Nobuhiko Takada also spoke to the Japanese press and about 2,500 fans at Roppogi Hills in Tokyo. The Japanese press conference also featured most of Pride’s big name Japanese fighters as well as UFC matchmaker Joe Silva. It was announced that the companies would be largely kept separate, with distinct rosters, and have separate front offices with the Pride office remaining the group that currently worked for DSE with the exception of Sakakibara, who is leaving the company.

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