UFC Purchases Strikeforce: Dana White Says No Superfights

The announcement came without warning.

Zuffa has purchased Strikeforce.

For some this is sad news—for others, it's a cause for celebration.

Love it or hate it, the biggest question for most casual fans is simply what this will mean for future match-ups and future fights.

Dana White quickly put an instant damper on such speculation by saying that it's "business as usual and that there will be no super-fights."

Don't expect that to last for long.

Up to this point, the UFC has purchased the WFA, PrideFC, the WEC and now Strikeforce.

The WFA was collapsed almost instantly, with the UFC picking off their best assets, Lyoto Machida and Quinton Jackson.

PrideFC did not continue as an active promotion, and many fighters were quickly brought into the UFC.

But the most relevant example to keep in mind is the WEC, a promotion that the UFC had at least intended to keep around for a while, for various reasons.

Last year, Dana White found himself in a predicament where he was lacking star power for some UFC events. With almost no warning, he moved up plans to merge the WEC into the UFC so that he could turn stars like Jose Aldo and Urijah Faber into pay-per-view commodities.

Strikeforce will be no different.

The UFC could keep up business as usual, but guys like Fedor Emelianenko, Alistair Overeem, Gegard Mousasi, Mo Lawal, Ronaldo Souza and Nick Diaz could be far more valuable as commodities for the UFC.

If Cain Velasquez defeats the winner of the Brock Lesnar vs. Junior Dos Santos fight, who is next? The winner of the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix seems the most obvious marketable choice, especially if it's Alistair Overeem. That kind of fight could sell a million pay-per-views. Strikeforce couldn't even dream of doing that kind of business with Overeem.

If St. Pierre vacates the UFC welterweight title, there will be few more marketable challengers for the UFC's belt than Nick Diaz.

So while White may say that it's business as usual, the minute there's a string of injuries, or a lack of compelling title challengers in the UFC, expect Dana White's trigger finger to start getting itchy.

Strikeforce's best talents will wind up in the UFC. It's now just a matter of when.