Rumors swirl of PRIDE being sold to a new company 03/09/03 By Zach Arnold
Big news today from our man in Japan, Todd Atkins:

"Kakutogi Tsushin, Japan's #1 MMA publication is also reporting that Pride 25 may be the last DSE Pride, though it is not 100% certain. It also mentions a possible buy out for Pride 26."

Literally hours after receiving this news from Todd, we received an e-mail from someone who wanted to remain anonymous confirming Todd's report that PRIDE is being in the process or already has been sold (from Hiromichi Momose & Nobuyuki Sakakibara of Dream Stage Entertainment) to another company. The e-mail also stated that there are plans for a Super-Heavyweight Title and that the rumors of Bob Sapp vs. Dan Bobish on 6/29 in Sapporo at Hokkaido Prefectural Sports Center on a WJ Pro card are true.

The rumors of Bob Sapp being in Thailand "training" for Muay Thai are true.

I hope the new owners will start more weight classes like the super heavies rumor, and give Silva some better fighters for the title.
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This sounds like a good thing. Hopefuly they promote it as a sport and not a farce like DSE does/did.

Originally posted by Creed
This sounds like a good thing. Hopefuly they promote it as a sport and not a farce like DSE does/did.

In a way, I kinda like the DSE mentality. They try to make the shows as entertaining as possible, and they've had some great results with their formula. If Pride becomes exactly like the UFC, I think it'll take away from the MMA scene in general.

I kinda like the unpredictablity of Pride, and I also like the predictability of the UFC, so to speak. The differences are what make each of them as entertaining as they are.

I guess its a personal preferance squezze. I hate just hate the idea that PRIDE seems to think that Keven Randleman and Jens Pulver are in the same weight class

Oh nooooooooooooooooooo, what happens if Inoki bought it!

I agree with Creed. I want a real sport where Sapp isn't a possible a opponent for Sak. I want to see who is more skilled not who wins because they got 100lbs on their opponent.