The mega-merger between the world's two top mixed martial arts promotions, the Ultimate Fighting Championship and PRIDE FC, has sent shockwaves that are still reverberating throughout the inner circles of the sport.
However, promoters in the sport don't appear to view Tuesday's news that way.
While some promoters we spoke with are concerned and others are looking to protect their investments, a la the super-alliance on display at the K-1 press conference Tuesday in Los Angeles, the overwhelming sentiment has been a cautious wait-and-see attitude. Still others such as the IFL's Gareb Shamus see the merger as a positive for his young fight league.
While longtime fans ponder the future of a sport sans a true foil for the consensus top dog, promoters understand the task at hand hasn't really changed despite the confluence of the game's biggest players.
"We're gonna keep doing what we do," said ICON promoter T.J. Thompson. "That's just dealing with what's in front of us like we have for the last 10 years."
One of the first major reactions to the announcement of the PRIDE sale came into focus only hours after the press conference in Japan publicly disclosing the merger. Fight Entertainment Group (FEG), parent of K-1, held a press conference to publicize an ambitious plan to hold a MMA show in the 92,000-seat Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on June 2.
The press conference also aimed to make it known that a number of the biggest promotions outside of UFC and PRIDE were jumping on board with FEG to create an alliance that would allow them to better compete in the ever-changing MMA environment.
Showtime-backed EliteXC, California's Strikeforce, Bodog Fights, England's Cage Rage, and Korea's Spirit MC, along with FEG's K-1 HERO'S are hoping to make a statement come June, but may have an uphill battle in their fight for a share of the MMA market.
FEG boss Sadaharu Tanikawa acknowledged the gravity of the merger, telling Sherdog.com, "I feel that it's a huge impact with that news." He also made it clear that K-1 is here to compete, whether that is directly with UFC/PRIDE or in a complimentary capacity.
The sport's continued global proliferation was also on the mind of the FEG headman: "I think the UFC has the power to expand MMA worldwide," he said. "But also at the same time I feel strongly that our content is strong enough to expand around the world."
Another member of the collaborative effort is the British promotion Cage Rage. Once a strategic partner of PRIDE, Cage Rage promoters Andy Geer and Dave O'Donnell liked what they heard from FEG and the rest of the group. With a head-to-head showdown against the UFC looming on April 21, Cage Rage jumped onboard with an eye on creating strength in numbers.
Of the promoters interviewed, Geer and O'Donnell, perhaps spurred on by the direct threat imposed by the UFC invasion of their home turf, were the most outspoken in their desire to meet the UFC head on.
"We really thought if the UFC come to England we would have helped them out," O'Donnell declared. "But they didn't. They come plotting on the same day. A lot of people said maybe we should roll over. We're British: we don't role over for no one. It's as simple as that. And we've just got bigger and more people have backed us. Sky (television) got right behind us. We thought 'Oh, shall we do this?' Sky was straight behind and we'll go head to head with the UFC. And when you've got big brothers behind you like that, it doesn't matter: we will go head to head with the UFC."
"What people don't realize in the U.S. is we're a bigger brand in Europe than the UFC," Geer added. "We have five times the TV coverage that the UFC gets and we fill arenas every other month, easily. So we weren't too worried about them coming to town. You know what, I met with Dana White and the Fertitta brothers and we just said you know it's no problem if you want to come in. There's no point in us date-crashing. There's plenty of room. The UK is actually quite a big country believe it or not. But they chose to compete with us head to head and date-crash."
On the other end of the spectrum sits the International Fight League's co-founder Shamus. The pop culture magnate is optimistic about the consolidation of the industry's top entities. The IFL, said its chief, is newly anchored in the market with a pair of television properties, including a network presence on MyNetworkTV, and will benefit from the added exposure this blockbuster deal will bring to the sport of MMA.
"Anything that gets people talking about the sport of MMA is great for the IFL," said an upbeat Shamus.
The declaration that PRIDE will switch to the Unified Rules of MMA also spurred some debate among the promoters. While pundits debate the necessity of creating symmetrical regulations on each side of the pacific a number of the remaining top promoters have taken varying stances in regards to their organizations following suit.
FEG indicated at their Tuesday presser that the Unified Rules would be an option in the future. They will have to implement them for their California show, but Tanikawa seemed open to the idea of using them on a permanent basis.
Neither Cage Rage nor the IFL, which share a "no elbows to the head" rule on the ground, is in a hurry to see that lifted. The IFL also uses a four-minute round structure that they feel keeps the fights moving along at a faster pace.
"We were half in-between, but there's a governing body just raising its head now in the UK and we have got to lose the open-guard rule," chimed in Cage Rage's Geer. "But we still won't have elbows on the ground. We feel it's a boring spectacle and some career-ending cuts result from those elbow shots."
Shamus elaborated on the importance of the rules used by the IFL, detailing the reasoning behind the decision to disallow elbows. "We can't go to a major advertiser and pitch them when the product includes athletes covered in blood," he said.
Noting the IFL's intentions to continue running shows with their augmented rule structure, Shamus plainly stated, "We feel we have a product that translates well to the marketplace and are positioned well within the industry."
ICON's Thompson, who runs out of Hawaii where MMA is not subject to Unified rules, uses DSE-era PRIDE rules and may have the biggest decision to make regarding guidelines for his matches.
In typical Thompson fashion, the long-time Hawaiian promoter imparted a bit of his island wisdom. "I think whenever anything major happens there's an effect," he started. "But that ripple, when it gets to Hawaii is usually a lot, a lot smaller."
The fact remains that there is an enormous pie to be carved up by promoters and the ones who do it best will continue to have a place at the table. Save concerns about over-saturation, the sport has never been healthier.
"We don't know what the future is, whether to work together with the UFC or battle with them," summed up Tanikawa. "But what we know is we have a great future for MMA."