Dana White made historic announcement of Strikeforce purchase 12 years ago on this date
On this day in 2011, Dana White announced that the UFC had purchased Strikeforce in a move that changed the MMA landscape forever.
At the time, Strikeforce was a direct competitor and the coup was seen as a major move in the MMA market. The UFC had also previously purchased competition before, taking over the Japanese PRIDE Fighting Championships back in 2007.
As part of the original deal, Stikeforce was to remain its own separate entity from the UFC, unlike PRIDE, which saw its fighters all contracted to the UFC immediately. Strikeforce would eventually fall to the same fate in 2013.
The UFC president confirmed the deal whilst sitting down with MMA Fighting's Ariel Helwani. At the time, the pair hadn't yet had their infamous falling out and it was unsurprising to see the two interacting.
During the 2011 interview, White said:
"That is true [UFC acquiring Strikeforce]. Like I say to you guys all the time, every year we take this thing to another level. Some of the deals that we're working on right now, internationally and everything else and obviously acquiring Strikeforce now. It's literally official right now, we've just closed the deal."
Check out the historic announcement from Dana White here:
Mar12.2011
12 years ago today,
Dana White made an industry changing announcement to @ArielHelwani that the UFC had purchased Strikeforce.
https://t.co/ByYSBcsvYB
Dana White pleads with Merab Dvalishvili to change his mind and face Aljamain Sterling
This past weekend, Merab Dvalishvili stated that he would wait his turn for a shot at the UFC men's bantamweight title, which is currently held by his close friend Aljamain Sterling.
Dvalishvili dominated Petr Yan in the main event of UFC Fight Night 221, winning every round on all three judges' scorecards. The win for the Georgian fighter means he is currently on a nine-fight win streak and is seemingly more than deserving of his first title fight.
Following the Power Slap League finale, Dana White sat down with the press and addressed 'The Machine' and his decision to rule out facing 'Funk Master'. According to White, Dvalishvili should rethink his position or risk losing out:
"You can still be friends and want what your friend has. It would be a really bad idea for Merab to go down that path... Does Merab want a shot at the title? Or would Merab rather have people under him jump over him and him have to take on all these different tough guys when he's not even getting a title shot when he's next in line for it. That's a personal decision that he needs to make, if that's what he wants to do. I can tell you how that story ends, it's not a good ending to that story. He's a big boy, he can figure that out on his own."
Catch Dana White's comments here: