The Everyday Economist

Gary Shaw, a former boxing promoter, recently formed a mixed martial arts organization that was designed to showcase the best fighters in the world — regarless of their company affiliation. The Fertitta brothers, who own the parent company of the UFC, have decided that they have a better idea to bring the best fighters to one stage. They are buying all the competition. The AP reports:

The majority owners of Ultimate Fighting Championship have agreed to buy their biggest mixed martial arts rival, Pride Fighting Championships, in a deal that will establish megafights among the outfits’ titleholders and possibly attract huge pay-per-view audiences.

Company executives declined to comment on the sales price, but a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press that brothers Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta will purchase the Japan-based Pride for less than $70 million. The person was not authorized to speak to reporters and spoke on condition of anonymity.

[...]

Buying Pride is the latest in a series of acquisitions that the brothers have made in the last six months. Zuffa snapped up World Extreme Cagefighting and World Fighting Alliance last year.

Similar to Pride, buying WFA gave UFC the rights to a popular fighter named Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. Jackson will face UFC’s most popular fighter, Chuck Liddell, the current light heavyweight champ in Las Vegas, on May 26 on PPV.

I have previously highlighted the rise of the UFC since the Fertitta’s took over in 2001 here.