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By Anthony De Franco  March 18, 2010, at 3:49 pm  After all the talk of who the UFC was going to use to counter Strikeforce’s CBS card, it looks like the answer was no one.
According to MMA Fighting, the San Jose based company will get to run it’s card completely unopposed.
Strikeforce has the spotlight to itself.
The long-rumored UFC event expected to counter the promotion’s April 17 CBS offering will not take place, MMA Fighting has confirmed.
Earlier this month, the UFC explored the option, going so far as to inform likely broadcast partner Spike TV that the show was a go, but the company has apparently reversed course, and a Spike source said the network has been told by the UFC that the show is no longer happening.
At the time, rumors of potential matchups pitting Mike Swick against Matt Serra and Wanderlei Silva vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama were quickly extinguished for various reasons, making finding a headlining act a challenge.
So, what does the mean for Strikeforce? Well, for one, they won’t have to worry about half their audience tuning into Spike TV instead. The other is that they now have no one to blame but themselves if this card bombs in the ratings. They were the ones that couldn’t get Fedor on the card because of his bloodsucking management team. They were the ones who decided having three title fights was more important than have five good ones. They were the ones that decided that Bobby Lashley should be on the undercard.
Personally, I think we are at a pivotal moment in the history of Strikeforce. If they prove they can draw without Fedor, suddenly all the bargaining power is in their hands. If not, then they are going to be faced with a situation where they have to cave to The Last Emperor’s every demand.
Nonethless, every single one of you should watch Gilbert Melendez defend the pride of our country against the Shinya Aoki and his stupid magic pants on April 17th. I’m a firm believer that it could be fight of the year.
By Anthony De Franco March 12, 2010, at 4:04 pm It was Late July last year when Josh Barnett single-handedly sunk the Affliction promotion by peeing in a cup. When he tested positive for a third time, he ruined a potential bout with the world’s best heavyweight, Fedor Emelianenko and forced the card to be canceled and the the promotion to be shut down. Since then, Barnett has not sniffed a fight.
As usual, here come the Japanese to welcome another substance abuser into the fold. At a DREAM press conference, the Japanese promotion announced that Barnett would be on their 13th card.
He doesn’t have an opponent yet, but SI’s Josh Gross reported a possible matchup with “Mighty Mo” Siliga.
The question is, how relevant is Barnett at this point? Does America really care about Josh Barnett at this point? Is anyone going to rush to the TV to watch Barnett fight? The answer to that question is likely no. However, Barnett may have his own version of a saving grace. Fedor’s management has decreed that they would like to fight him at some point, and it isn’t impossible to think that Strikeforce would allow Fedor to fight in DREAM so that Barnett wouldn’t have to pass a steroid test. Remember, DREAM and Strikeforce have a co-promotional deal where they share fighters. That’s how we ended up with Nick Diaz pummeling Marius Zaromskis.
You’ll have to excuse me if I remain somewhat apathetic to Barnett until he fights in the states, or fights Fedor.
By Anthony De Franco March 8, 2010, at 3:55 pm We’ve been lamenting the effect that Fedor has had on Strikeforce for sometime now. He costs too much for a company that was building slowly, and since he’s come in there has been nothing but trouble for Scott Coker and company. Now, it turns out the Fedor could miss serious time. From MMABay:
MMABay Radio can EXCLUSIVELY reveal that WAMMA heavyweight champion, Fedor Emelianenko has suffered a hand injury in training that could see him sidelined for a number of months, putting his latest fight with Fabricio Werdum in doubt.
The news was revealed to Chris Greenman while on the floor at the Arnold Exhibition today in Columbus, Ohio while discussing the state of the Strikeforce heavyweight division with a source close to the situation. It has since been confirmed by a further two reliable sources.
Strikeforce have been in negotiations with M-1 Global and Fedor over the fight with Werdum on May 15th in St. Louis, Missouri for a number of weeks, although it has been well publicised that these talks had not been going well. Now with the news of an injury surfacing, this fight could be pushed back to the end of the summer at best if contract wranglings can be sorted out.
Oh, well. Now, Strikeforce can actually keep some money from that show and call it “profit.” Crazy idea.
I’m being a little unfair. It’s really not Fedor, it’s M-1 Global his management company that insists the Fedor is good enough to be worth special rules and other things of the like that make me angry. For example, M-1 takes almost half the television revenue from each event that The Last Empereor appears on. How is Strikeforce supposed to survive like that?
Trust me, the longer he is out, the better off the San Jose-based promotion is.
By Anthony De Franco March 5, 2010, at 3:27 pm Speaking of things that don’t make sense, It appears that a battle between Matt Serra and Mike Swick is being lined up according to Figure Four Online:
Dana White confirmed today that UFC is running a show on April 17th, head-to-head with the announced Strikeforce show on CBS. The event would air most likely on Spike TV. The Wanderlei Silva vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama match is not the main event. The only thing confirmed is they are trying to finalize a Matt Serra vs. Mike Swick [co-main] semifinal fight today.
There had been talk of a possibility that if UFC scheduled a show on that date, CBS may move the Strikeforce show to April 24th, which would go head-to-head with the WEC PPV in Sacramento.
Even though the April 17th show was not announced yesterday, the issue of the Observer that came out yesterday has a lead story analyzing the whys of this head-to-head battle.
Let’s look at the tactics being used here by the UFC. They are counter-programming a Strikeforce card that is on national television, which they could not do when Fedor stepped into the cage on American soil for the first time. That was the height of the injury-plague that the UFC suffered in late 2009.
As for this fight, I don’t particularly get it. Swick is coming off two consecutive losses and needs a win badly. Serra is coming off a quick knockout of Frank Trigg, but is late in his career and not really in much of a position to fight for titles. Why do they need to fight?
The crazy thing is this simply isn’t an easy win for Swick. While Swick’s striking is crisper and faster, it doesn’t have the same kind of knockout power that Serra posseses. On the ground, Serra should have a leg-up with his BJJ black belt from Renzo Gracie. However, the long limbs of Mike Swick might cause problems for Serra, who is just 5′6.
Swick should have gotten someone he could have beaten and got back on track, not a fight that is almost a toss-up.
Update (3/5): Swick told the world on his twitter that there was no truth to this rumor.
Not fighting Serra guys. Most likely having surgery soon. @oxphos Any truth to Serra fight 4/17? Seems unlikely unless ur arm is better
So much for that one.
By Anthony De Franco March 2, 2010, at 12:23 pm Welcome to Strikeforce news day. We already touched on Fedor, so let’s move onto the guy who actually holds the belt that Fedor doesn’t seem to care too much about.
Alistiar Overeem hasn’t fought in America in since 2007. People have been calling for his head for a number of reasons, including steroid accusations. Now, he will finally make his return to Strikeforce against Brett Rogers.
In a non-title fight. Here’s the news from MMA Junkie:
“The Strikeforce heavyweight champion said he is likely to meet Brett Rogers (10-1 MMA, 2-1 SF) in a non-title fight on an as-yet-unannounced card set for May 15 in St. Louis, Mo.”
Rumored card so far:
- Fedor Emelianenko vs. Fabricio Werdum
- Alistair Overeem vs. Brett Rogers
- Andrei Arlovski vs. Antonio Silva
Now, after all the time we’ve spent criticizing Overeem, he is finally coming back. However, how much longer is this guy going to hold this belt and not have to defend it? It’s becoming a joke at this point.
Overeem is an excellent kickboxer, and thanks to the Mark McGuire workout plan, he’s added a ton of weight in the last few years. However, Rogers is a natural 265 and holds a ton of power in his hands. In the fight against Fedor, Rogers showed more than anyone thought he had on the ground and he showed he understood position and used it effectively.
Neither of these guys want to be on the floor, so we’ll see some fireworks. Don’t be shocked if Rogers upsets the Dutchman.
By Anthony De Franco March 2, 2010, at 10:55 am Did not see this one coming, did ya?
We’ve been waiting for quite some time to hear about Fedor’s next fight and many assumed that it was going to be against Fabricio Werdum. However, it appears that Fedor’s people (Read: The Russian Government) are more interested in Josh Barnett. For those who don’t remember, Barnett was supposed to be Fedor’s opponent on the ill-fated Affliction Trilogy card.
From Sports.ru:
“I personally think that Alistair Overeem did not reach the desired level to challenge Fedor. He beat a lot of no-name opponents in Mixed Martial Arts. Overeem defeated Paul Buentello and then disappeared from the United States for more than two year, which is simply ridiculous. Also, pay attention that Werdum beat Overeem when they were fighting in Pride, four years ago.”
“We do not fight for the Strikeforce Heavyweight Title. Strikeforce are our partner, and any titles whether it is UFC, Strikeforce, WAMMA, Dream… they are just medals. Fedor is above these things. We are interested in the level of our opponent and his popularity among the audience.”
“Exactly. We are more interested in fighting Josh Barnett, who is currently disqualified until September. When he returns from his suspension and if he tests clean, we might consider fighting him
Fedor is above titles? Really? We’re going as far as to say that the belt doesn’t really matter? I’m sure Scott Coker and Strikeforce just love that.
So, here we have one of the biggest stars in the world allowing these people to essentially renegade his career. They are making tons of bad decisions that really make me wonder about who’s best interest they have in mind. However, the Barnett-Fedor fight does intrigue me. There are just a lot of problems with making it happen. First off, Barnett has to get re-licensed. He tested positive for Steroids, and didn’t choose to show up for many different hearings. Second, Barnett is not currently under contract with Strikeforce. He could hold them for ransom knowing that Fedor wants him as an opponent.
Third, at some point Fedor is going to have to fight for the belt. Otherwise, the champion is going to end up like Tommy Gunn in Rocky V, or Mason Dixon in Rocky Balboa. People will start calling him a paper champion and that doesn’t end well.
Let’s just be honest, Fedor is screwing up Strikeforce.
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