The MMA world was taken by surprise this Saturday (12), when UFC president, Dana White, announced the purchase of Strikeforce, the organization's biggest competition. In contact with the SUPER LTAS, athletes and coaches with a current contract with Strikeforce, commented on the negotiation between the biggest MMA franchises in the world.
Heavyweight Antônio Pezão was surprised by the negotiation, but is interested in fighting for the UFC.
“I just found out about the purchase. I'm at the mall with my family and my manager just called me. A surprise for us”, said Pezão, who does not know if the popular Strikeforce heavyweight GP will continue.
“I still don't know if the GP will continue or if I can still fight in the UFC in 2011. But I always want to fight against the best. Today the UFC has already proven that it is the biggest event in the world, and I have the desire to fight there”, he said.
Fabrício Werdum, who is scheduled to take part in Strikeforce in June, against the Dutchman alistair overeem, was also taken by surprise.
“I'm confused by this news, I still don't know what will happen in my next fight”, said the black belt.
André Benkei, coach of Strikeforce fighters such as Antônio Pezão and Guto Inocente, said that the merger of the biggest MMA events is bad for the sport.
“This negotiation was carried out completely in secrecy. None of my athletes have anything planned yet. All I know is what Dana White (UFC president) said, but everything he says is to honor the contracts,” he said. The coach, however, believes that a merger of events should happen soon, but believes that this will be bad for the sport.
“But there should be a merger soon, because it doesn’t make sense for the UFC to compete for itself,” he said. “In my opinion this purchase is bad. If you only have one event, you are obliged to accept the rules imposed by it. If it continues like this, the brand (UFC) will become stronger than the sport itself”, he concluded.
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