QUOTABLES: Scott Coker on the significance of Zuffa's purchase of Strikeforce

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

"My first thought was 'wow'. This was a big operation and it was impressive to see how many great staff they had running each department. They have an amazing staff with amazing backgrounds, and they have a machine there that is impressive. I think that was my first impression. The deal had only happened on Saturday, and by Monday I'm sitting in Dana's office doing a conference call. It was just surreal to me...

On a business level, I think it's significant. I think it might have merit as the biggest deal in history. I would say PRIDE was a big deal, but at that time there was a lot of other leagues and a lot more MMA going on. It's definitely going to be significant...

No, [I don't think the UFC has created a monopoly in MMA with this purchase]. Two years ago, Strikeforce was a regional show. I promoted the Frank Shamrock and Cung Le fight in 2007, but it took us awhile to get our TV contract. But from 2009, when we got our Showtime fights, it took us two years to this point. It took a lot of hard work, but it can be recreated. Somebody out there has to step up and put the money behind it, and they can create the business just like I did and move from a regional promotion to a national promotion...

[Fedor's contract] had nothing to do with [needing to sell]. It really had to do with my guys wanting to get back into developing their core business. They wanted to make the Sharks perform better. They're looking to bring an NBA basketball franchise into the Bay Area, and I can't fault them for that. That would be a big item."

-Scott Coker talks to HeavyMMA about the significance of the UFC's purchase of Strikeforce.

Penick's Analysis: With more information coming out about the behind-the-scenes stuff with Strikeforce's partners at SVSE, the sale was simply an inevitability, and Zuffa was the one to scoop them up. It made sense for SVSE with wanting to get into the NBA and bring a team there, as well as re-focusing on the Sharks as well, that they wanted to move on from Strikeforce, even if they were in a better spot than they were when SVSE partnered with them in the first place. It's a hugely significant deal, and we'll see just how big it will be over the next several years as the UFC expands with Strikeforce under Zuffa control.

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/Affliction2/article_8985.shtml

Ao Hailin Shinya Aoki Andrei Arlovski Ricardo Arona