Comments from Pride Worldwide Owner Lorenzo Fertitta

I'm very happy tonight to announce the combination of the two biggest and two most important MMA organizations in the world. I've been a fan of Pride for many years, and I have enormous respect for what Mr. Sakakibara and the rest of the Dream Stage team has been able to accomplish over the last 10 years.

It was about 7 years ago that I was sitting in my home in Las Vegas and I had the opportunity to buy a show on PPV. It was a new show for me, and it was called PRIDE. And for me, that was the beginning of the love affair with this brand. I sat there and watched an epic battle between Kazushi Sakuraba and Royce Gracie that lasted for an hour and a half. And I saw the production and the quality of the show and I was completely blown away.

And a short time later, I was invited to come out to a live event, and I had the pleasure of going to the Saitama Super Arena to see Wanderlei Silva beat Kazushi Sakuraba in another great epic battle. After seeing the event live and seeing the incredible level of the production and the quality of the fighters and the athleticism, I was hooked on PRIDE forever.

PRIDE