Issue 098

March 2013

After nearly seven years in the MMA game, Strikeforce is on life support – and quickly fading. I must admit, the only thought that comes to mind is, ‘Good riddance.’

It’s not that I’ve always felt that way about the former independent promotion. Quite the contrary, in fact. Beginning in 2006, Strikeforce always seemed to have a knack for putting on entertaining fights. Just look at the names that took part in the company’s very first MMA show: current high-profile competitors Nate Diaz, Cung Le, Gilbert Melendez, Clay Guida, Josh Thomson, Krzysztof Soszynski, Brian Ebersole and Mike Kyle for starters, not to mention Frank Shamrock, Cesar Gracie, Eugene Jackson, Daniel Puder, Crafton Wallace and more.

Strikeforce executives put on a fantastic co-promoted card with EliteXC, they hosted shows at the Playboy Mansion, they held an entertaining single-night tournament, they fostered the women’s game and created stars out of Gina Carano and Cristiane ‘Cyborg’ Santos, plus they kept Fedor Emelianenko competing in front of US fans. 

In short, Strikeforce was always a home for entertaining fights, even if those contests were never going to determine the world’s best fighter.

But Strikeforce’s time is done.

It’s tough to get anyone to speak on record about what happened behind the scenes. Executives for both Zuffa and its broadcast partner, Showtime, have generally preferred to remain silent and avoid worsening the rift that so obviously exists between them (not to mention risk bringing litigation). But the details hardly seem to matter at this point. I’m just ready to move on.

If there’s one thing I do lament about the demise of the organisation, its not knowing what UFC president Dana White’s plan was to save the promotion. Throughout the past year, he continuously hinted that he had masterminded a strategy to not only save Strikeforce but also to see it flourish. 

Most pundits guess it was likely as some sort of feeder system for the UFC, which would make perfect sense. After all, the UFC can’t necessarily sign a talented 3-0 fighter to a major contract, but if it had a place to send such athletes to hone their skills and develop a marketable name, that could certainly keep upstart companies like Bellator from stocking up their rosters with premium prospects. 

Ditto for fighters who may be on the tail end of their career, or need a few wins to regain confidence. Why let those athletes move on when you could still keep them under the Zuffa umbrella?

Alas, we may never know. 

But for now, the most important thing is that every fighter under the Zuffa banner now has a chance to fight for what every athlete in MMA covets: a UFC title. Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez has long been considered one of the best 155lb’ers in the world. Now we’ll get to know for a fact where he truly stacks up. The same goes for Strikeforce middleweight champion Luke Rockhold and heavyweight grand prix winner Daniel Cormier. Both appear to be the real deal, but one never knows for sure until they’ve competed inside the Octagon. 

Thank you, Scott Coker, for seven (well, let’s be honest – you can probably take 2012 out of there) years of entertaining matchups and fun fight cards. But the time is now appropriate to carve one more name in White’s famed promotional tombstone. Let’s get these Strikeforce fighters busy.

Will Ronda Rousey prove UFC-ready?

I must admit, I’ve been a Ronda Rousey fan since before it was cool. I was fortunate enough to be ringside for two of her amateur MMA bouts, and it was immediately evident she was a special talent. Now Rousey is on the verge of a UFC debut, I am completely intrigued.

I’m constantly aware there will always be a portion of people that simply can’t stomach watching two men locked into a cage. With that in mind, imagine how much smaller the number of people who enjoy watching women do the same must be.

But Rousey’s attitude is as ferocious as any male fighter, and her grappling prowess speaks for itself. Add in her ability to throw out Chael Sonnen-esque prose, and it’s easy to see why so many mainstream outlets that generally avoid MMA coverage have scrambled to cover Rousey. But can that sell the UFC? Only time will tell. 

By John Morgan, former Fighters Only Awards ‘Journalist of the Year’