Feb 25 2009
The New Rivalry?
Every major sports league has had it’s share of rival organizations; the NFL had the AFL, NBA and ABA, and my personal favorite the NFL and XFL. In Mixed Martial Arts there have been a few organizations that have tried to be the ABA to the UFC’s NBA.
Everyone constantly points out that the now defunct EliteXC was the biggest challenge to the UFC which was clearly not close. The fact is, as UFC President Dana White pointed out, EliteXC was never on the UFC’s map and therefore the rivalry never existed.
The one organization that was a great rival for the UFC for quite some time was infact the PRIDE Figthing Championships in Japan. The PRIDE roster bolstered some of the best talent in the world, much of the fighters are now in the UFC.
PRIDE was the UFC’s competitor, but it also was the best thing that ever happened to the UFC because it forced the UFC to put on better fight cards. In the end, it was the UFC that won the rivalry and the UFC bought the PRIDE FC and most of the fighters contracts.
The newest rival for the UFC is not very happy about being called the rival organization, that is of course the Strikeforce Promotion. Strikeforce bought the remains of EliteXC and also some of the fighter contracts from the Promotions roster.
Strikeforce is now the number 2 Promotion in the United States, easily better then Affliction, but will they be successful competitor for the UFC? Only time will tell, but the one thing Strikeforce will not say is they are going to tear down the UFC, they just want to put on great MMA shows.
J.M.Saucedo
