He said, “You never know, anything is possible. I don’t want to say the Pride name is dead. It’s still a strong powerful brand. But the reality is that us running Pride in Japan, that completely fell apart.”

Pride FC was founded October 1997 in Japan. The organization was home to some of the world’s top fighters, including Fedor Emelianenko, Wanderlei Silva, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, Mirko Cro Cop, and Anderson Silva. After running into financial problems, the promotion was sold in March 2007 to Zuffa, LLC, parent entity of the UFC.

Since the purchase, no Pride events have been held. Many of the fighters were brought into the UFC, while others fledged to different promotions. Most notably, Emelianenko, arguably the top pound-for-pound fighter, opted not to sign with the organization.

With the large library of Pride fights under their ownership, the UFC created a Best of Pride FC series, which recently began airing on Spike TV.

UFC President Dana White told Cagewriter, “We were trying to not go the same night as boxing but these [expletive] guys can’t get out of their own way. I have never seen anything so unorganized, selfish and dysfunctional as boxing. It’s a joke!”

The last time the UFC and boxing went up against one another was on September 19, with UFC 103: Franklin vs. Belfort drawing an estimated 375,000 pay-per-view buys, and Mayweather vs. Marquez topping the 1 million mark.

Despite the date change, UFC 113 will still eminate at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The card is expected to be headlined by a light heavyweight title rematch between champion Lyoto Machida and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, and co-headlined by Josh Koscheck vs. Paul Daley.

Despite recent speculation that UFC 113 will be moving to another date in May, UFC President Dana White told the Las Vegas Review Journal, “We are going May 1st still.”

This would be the third time that the two sports go up against one another with big events. The most recent head-to-head battle was on September 19, with both UFC 103: Franklin vs. Belfort and the Mayweather vs. Marquez card being held on that day. The estimated pay-per-view buys were 375,000 for UFC 103, and over 1 million for Mayweather vs. Marquez.

UFC 113 will take place at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The event is expected to feature a main event light heavyweight title rematch between champion Lyoto Machida and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, along with Quinton “Rampage” Jackson vs. Rashad Evans, and Josh Koscheck vs. Paul Daley.

Koscheck announced the news Monday on his Twitter account. He said, “Ok, here we go. Let the s*** talking start. I am fighting Daley, May 1, co-main event at UFC 113. This kid is going 2 get what he is asking 4.”

Ever since losing to Paulo Thiago at UFC 95 last March, Koscheck has been on a tear inside the Octagon, earning two consecutive wins in impressive fashion against Frank Trigg and Anthony Johnson. A victory over Daley could certainly put him in the number contender spot for the welterweight title.

Daley (23-8-2) has also been on a roll in the UFC, attaining two knockout wins in a row over Martin Kampmann and Dustin Hazelett. He is currently on a four-fight win streak.

UFC 113 is expected to feature light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida vs. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua in a main event title rematch, and a highly anticipated grudge match between former TUF 10 coaches Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Rashad Evans.