NEW YORK -- The majority owners of Ultimate Fighting

Championship have agreed to buy their biggest mixed martial arts

rival, Pride Fighting Championships, in a deal that will establish

megafights among the outfits' titleholders and possibly attract

huge pay-per-view audiences.

"This is really going to change the face of MMA. Literally creating a sport that could be as big

around the world as soccer. I liken it somewhat to when the NFC and

AFC came together to create the NFL."

-- Lorenzo Fertitta, one of UFC's majority owners

Company executives declined to comment on the sales price, but a

person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press

that brothers Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta will purchase the

Japan-based Pride for less than $70 million. The person was not

authorized to speak to reporters and spoke on condition of

anonymity.

The deal was completed Tuesday and was announced during a news

conference in Tokyo, where Lorenzo Fertitta has been negotiating

with Nobuyuki Sakakibara, the majority owner and chief executive of

Dream Stage Entertainment Inc., Pride's owner.

"We have been talking to Pride for probably about 11 months,"

Lorenzo Fertitta said. "It's been a long, drawn-out process but we

finally were able to put the two brands together."

To buy the company, the brothers created a new entity called

Pride FC Worldwide Holdings LLC. The newly formed company will take

over Pride assets, including its trademarks, video library and

valuable roster of fighters, from Dream Stage. The Fertitta

brothers, who own Las Vegas-based Zuffa LLC, the parent company of

UFC, intend to keep the well-known Pride name and promote fights

under that brand.

The acquisition marks a new phase in the brothers' quest to

dominate the burgeoning world of mixed martial arts since they

bought the struggling UFC in 2001.

"This is really going to change the face of MMA," Lorenzo

Fertitta said. "Literally creating a sport that could be as big

around the world as soccer. I liken it somewhat to when the NFC and

AFC came together to create the NFL."

The deal allows the Fertitta brothers to broker the biggest MMA

fights possible in the near future, increasing their influence in

this sports entertainment business.

"We will be able to literally put on the fights that everyone

wants to see," Lorenzo Fertitta said. "It will allow us to put on

some of the biggest fights ever."

In the past, there has been at least one case in which Pride and

UFC couldn't hammer out a deal to put their top fighters in the

ring together. With Pride in their pocket, the Fertitta brothers

intend to ensure that never happens again.

The sale gives Pride more financial backing to expand the

business internationally after suffering a recent financial blow.

Major sponsor Fuji Television Network Inc. dropped Pride in June

after a tabloid linked Pride to the Japanese mob -- something

Sakakibara has denied vigorously. To help bolster Pride, the

company staged two PPV fights in Las Vegas. Neither was a financial

success. The fights gained exposure for Pride but lost money,

making the sale of Pride more likely.

"I think it certainly weakened their position," Lorenzo

Fertitta said. "One of our goals is to get back on a major

platform back here in Japan."

Lorenzo Fertitta said he'll be looking to expand Pride

internationally.

Buying Pride is the latest in a series of acquisitions that the

brothers have made in the last six months. Zuffa snapped up World

Extreme Cagefighting and World Fighting Alliance last year.

Similar to Pride, buying WFA gave UFC the rights to a popular

fighter named Quinton "Rampage" Jackson. Jackson will face UFC's

most popular fighter, Chuck Liddell, the current light heavyweight

champ in Las Vegas, on May 26 on PPV.

In the combat world, the Pride deal leaves a fragmented group of

upstarts and K-1, another Japanese company that promotes fighters

skilled in various forms of kick boxing.

Thanks to a surge in popularity, the brothers' investment in UFC

and MMA in general has begun to pay off.

Last year, UFC cracked $200 million in PPV revenue, putting it

on par with World Wrestling Entertainment Inc.

UFC stages fights in arenas across the country and airs a clutch

of successful television shows on Spike TV. It has also opened an

office in London, looking toward establishing itself

internationally.

The brothers also run Station Casinos Inc. in Las Vegas. Lorenzo

Fertitta is president and Frank Fertitta is chairman and chief

executive of Station Casinos, a public company that was recently

agreed to be purchased by a private equity investor group that includes key

members of the Fertitta family.