The two biggest mixed martial arts companies in the world are now owned by the same organization, meaning the best fighters in the world will now square off against one another. This synergy figures to push MMA into the American mainstream, with the sale being reported on the front page of websites MSNBC.com and LA Times to name a few.

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Zuffa LLC, the parent company of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, purchased Japan-based Pride Tuesday for less than $70 million according to an anonymous source. This deal will provide fans worldwide with superfights between champions of Pride and UFC that will garner huge pay-per-view audiences.

Brothers Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta bought a struggling UFC back in 2001, and built that franchise to record heights. Zuffa intends to keep the two organizations separate, but will have huge megafights at least once a year between the organizations title holders.

“This is really going to change the face of MMA, literally creating a sport that could be as big around the world as soccer,” stated Lorenzo Fertitta. “I liken it somewhat to when the NFC and AFC came together to create the NFL.”

Zuffa has been negotiating with Nobuyuki Sakakibara, the majority owner and chief executive of Dream Stage Entertainment Inc., Pride’s owner when the Japanese company suffered a recent financial blow. Pride was dropped by Fuji Television in June when the company was linked to the Japanese mafia.

“We have been talking to Pride for probably about 11 months,” said Fertitta. “It’s been a long, drawn-out process, but we finally were able to put the two brands together.”

Zuffa plans on expanding Pride with its strong international brand name. Pride routinely has fights in Tokyo in front of 60,000-plus fans, and is widely regarded to have the best fighters in the world.

The UFC was on its deathbed back in 2001 before the Fertitta’s bought the company. Now, the UFC is a major force in the American sports world, earning more than $200 million in pay-per-view sales last year alone.

“Pride and UFC are the two biggest and best MMA organizations on the planet,” Fertitta noted. “Guys are making more money now than they ever have, and they will only make more money.”

These superfights will only increase MMA’s exposure and pay scale, but it is still undetermined whether the bouts between Pride and UFC champions will take place inside a ring or a cage. Pride fights take place in a ring, with 10-minute rounds while UFC takes place in an Octagon cage, with rounds lasting five minutes.

“We will follow the rules of the NSAC (Nevada State Athletic Commission), we want uniform rules across the world like soccer,” noted UFC President Dana White. “At the end of the day it’s about the fighters’ legacy, to be one of the pound-for-pound greatest fighters of all time.’

Brad Young can be reached at byoung@vegasinsider.com.