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Originally Posted by BonesKnows  Well Hendo seemed to pull it off pretty well. UFC 75 was actually called Champion vs Champion and UFC 82 was called Pride of a Champion.
Correct me if im wrong, but didnt Hendo come out with the Pride belts for both fights? |
Pride had a huge fan-base and UFC knew it. They wanted this fan-base. Pride was big enough to give these fighters great exposure/hype, during its time. I'm sure this is why UFC did as you said. Stirkeforce on the other hand was mediocre at best. Sure the die-hards watched and payed attention to what was going on within the organization. But they definitely didn't give the fighters they had anywhere close to half the exposure Pride had given theirs. That being said, I doubt the UFC really banked on gaining much of a 'new' fan-base from the absorption, like they had when taking over and absorbing Pride. Because the Champions don't have as much weight behind their names yet. I mean, look at what happened to Jake Shields when he came over. And he actually had a little bit of that weight behind his name.
@ Mr. Cornute,
How many of these WEC Champs got an immediate Title Fight when they came over after WEC was absorbed? I don't think your comparison of these 'situations' hold any water because, as I stated above, it is actually a completely different situation. The only similarity with this is that they were absorbed by the UFC. You can't necessarily dismiss the organization known as Pride, its fan-base, and what it stood for within that fan-base to compare these situations. Pride gave its fighters a heck of a lot more exposure/hype, even after its death, because of its legacy. This is what the UFC feeds off of to further hype and sell their fights. Strikeforce didn't come close to giving it's fighters this kind of exposure, even during its prime. So they can't be compared.