Parent company of the UFC, Zuffa LLC, purchases Strikeforce!

[pwcmed]

Holy molly!!! I did not see this coming at all!!!!

http://www.mixedmartialarts.com/news/309456/Parent-company-of-the-UFC-Zuffa-LLC-purchases-Strikeforce/

[Apoptosis]

I didn't see this either...

so are they going to keep the two brands or lose one?

[Sowser]

I was surprised as well. We'll see if this light a keister fire under Fedor. It looks like Strikeforce will remain a seperate entity for now but will eventually be rolled into UFC. There is speculation about UFC having to get a monopoly exemption and maybe a formation of a fighters' union like other pro sports have.

[Major_A]

maybe a formation of a fighters' union like other pro sports have.

Good. That's my biggest complaint with the UFC. Sure it's nice if you're a Fertitta or Dana White. But the fighters make peanuts compared to other pro sports. These guys are full time athletes that train everyday. What do the under card fighters make on average $5,000? That's hardly an income that can sustain a family.

The last fighter profile showed Cain Velasquez's home and it looked like the guy makes squat.

[Sowser]

This was the payday for UFC 125:

Pay-Per-View Bouts
Frankie Edgar, $51,000+$51,000=$102,000 vs. Gray Maynard, $26,000+$26,000=$52,000
Brian Stann, $21,000+$21,000=$42,000 def. Chris Leben, $46,000
Thiago Silva, $55,000+$55,000=$110,000 def. Brandon Vera, $60,000
Dong Hyun Kim, $35,000+$35,000=$70,000 def. Nate Diaz, $33,000
Clay Guida, $31,000+$31,000=$62,000 def. Takanori Gomi, $50,000

ION Televised Preliminary Bouts
Jeremy Stephens, $18,000+$18,000=$36,000 def. Marcus Davis, $31,000
Dustin Poirier, $4,000+$4,000=$8,000 def. Josh Grispi, $15,000
Brad Tavares, $8,000+$8,000=$16,000 def. Phil Baroni, $25,000

Preliminary Bouts
Diego Nunes, $10,000+$10,000=$20,000 def. Mike Brown, $23,000
Daniel Roberts, $12,000+$12,000=$24,000 def. Greg Soto, $8,000
Jacob Volkmann, $12,000+$12,000=$24,000 def. Antonio McKee, $15,000

Post-Fight Bonuses ($60,000 for each fighter)
Fight of the Night: Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard
Submission of the Night Clay Guida
Knockout of the Night: Jeremy Stephens

The GATE for that night was 2.1 million dollars which is quite low for a typical UFC. Most are in the 3 million range with really high draws upwards of 7 million. This doesn't take into account the pay-per-view of course. Salaries are coming up as the sport continues to mature.