THQ is on the upswing

Three months ago and THQ was staring death in the face with horrible losses, lay-offs, their stock in the cellar and a desperate restructuring in an attempt to survive.

Fast forward several months and one release of a big brand video game and it appears that things are turning around for THQ,

"We are increasingly more optimistic on [THQ's] near term financial prospects as our focus shifts from near term liquidity concerns to their upcoming game pipeline where buzz is beginning to build," Mike Hickey with Janco Partners said in a research note on Wednesday.

"Management continues to rebuild credibility through execution on planned cost cutting, increased financial transparency and recent / upcoming product releases including UFC 2009: Undisputedthat meaningfully exceeded our initial expectations."

THQ posted losses of $431 million for fiscal 2009 on slow sales of games, performance that led the publisher to cut 24 percent of its workforce, or 600 jobs. THQ recently said it is on track in cutting $220 million in costs.

This is great news for THQ. Things have been slowly turning around for since the release of UFC 2009: Undisputed.

It is even better news for the UFC and Zuffa. The fact that the UFC brand was powerful enough to generate a big hit and contribute to the revival of THQ is a huge coup for Zuffa. The financial benefits are obvious but it also gives proof and validity to Zuffa's positions in  future corporate negotiations.