My Take

Recently Pride FC announced some major changes to their programming, and I gotta say they’re pretty smart moves. Moving in the the American market is not going to be easy for them, so copying the UFC style of programming is a good move considering the recent PPV buy figures.

Let’s start with Sakakibara saying the 6 of the 12 Pride events in 2007 will be held in the U.S. They may not get the PPV buys the UFC has initially, but the best way to compete for the American public’s attention is to be in their face as often as possible. (Does anyone even remember the WFA at this point?) It would also benefit them greatly if they could move their free programming from FSN to a bigger audience. As anyone who follows MMA closely knows, it is pretty much impossible to watch Pride on FSN without TiVo. Having another major organization doing regular shows in the U.S. is going to be great for MMA fans and MMA fighters.

The second major change is that Grand Prix’s will be held once every four years (Four weight classes = One grand prix per year).  I believe this is another good idea.  By increasing the time between Grand Prix’s Pride is increasing the hype and anticipation behind each event.  Only getting a chance to win a Grand Prix every four years will increase its significance to fighters around the world.  Imagine what its going to be like for Gomi (after losing this year) to have to wait four years for a chance at redemption.  This will also help reduce the number of rematches that we see.

Finally, having at least one Pride champion defend his title on every show is going to be great.  People love the drama of a good title bout, so if you want to sell PPV you need to have some drama.  The UFC does this, and as we know PPV buys have been through the roof.  Now, if Pride can just get off of FSN, and on to a channel with a regular programming schedule, there’s no telling how much they can grow.

Eddie Mott