On March 27, Station Casinos Vice Chairman Lorenzo Fertitta and UFC President Dana White announced in a Tokyo press conference that the sale of the PRIDE Fighting Championships to Zuffa had been agreed upon, and that the deal would be consummated on May 1.

Yet three weeks after the consummation date, the deal was slow to close, as Zuffa attorneys did their due diligence on PRIDE assets. In a conference call with the media on Thursday,White denied that the deal had been closed.

However, two sources tell Sherdog.com that the deal has in fact been finalized, and that former PRIDE CEO Nobuyuki Sakakibara has said as much in the last 48 hours.

Citing issues with several PRIDE fighter contracts, on Wednesday MMAWeekly.com reported that there is a class action lawsuit on behalf of PRIDE fighters looking to get out of their contracts. White, in a conversation with the media on Thursday afternoon, denied any knowledge of the dispute.