News hit last night that Strikeforce’s run was officially going to end in January and that the UFC was already in position to start adding fighters to their roster, including Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate. Naturally, Twitter reacted in force to this huge news.
Dana White gave us his usual Twitter reaction to positive news for the UFC (and negative news for his competition):
🙂
— Dana White (@danawhite) November 9, 2012
Brian Stann was his usual classy self, and wished everyone well:
Just landed in LA to find out women in the ufc and strikeforce fighters coming to ufc. Awesome news congrats to all!!
— Brian Stann (@BrianStann) November 9, 2012
Cesar Gracie poured a proverbial 40 oz. on Strikeforce’s curb in honor of the time spent there by proteges Gilbert Melendez, Nick Diaz and Jake Shields:
I’m hearing January marks the end of Strikeforce. We had some great fights there
— Cesar Gracie (@CesarGracieBJJ) November 9, 2012
Miesha Tate, unsurprisingly, was quite pleased to still have a job, considering how close women’s MMA came to dying:
So Stoked to be fighting for the @ufc it’s been a dream of mine for along time! SO happy it’s finally come true:-D
— Miesha Tate (@MieshaTate) November 9, 2012
Sarah Kaufman congratulated her competition and then gave a polite nudge to Dana White to send her a contract, too:
Great news as @rondarousey and @mieshatate are part of @ufc. Congrats and planning on seeing you there. Excited for all the women and fans
— Sarah Kaufman (@mmasarah) November 9, 2012
Kenny Florian was his now-typical journalist self and plugged the news itself, rather than giving a real reaction:
W/Strikeforce shutting down @ufc is now in the biz of promoting women’s #mma with the signing of the sport’s biggest name @rondarousey
— Kenny Florian (@kennyflorian) November 9, 2012
Josh Thomson, one of the lesser-known but still good, lightweights in Strikeforce spent his night tweeting Dana White to ensure he has his chance in the UFC:
Alright everyone, u all know that @strikeforce is coming to a close so I want all of u to let @danawhite know who u wanna see me fight 1st?
— Josh Thomson (@THEREALPUNK) November 9, 2012
MMA veteran but relative UFC newcomer Cristiano Marcello gave a big shout-out to the female fighters:
Irado! Chegou a vez da mulherada! Bem vindas ao UFC! Girls time congrats ! Well come to UFC!
— Cristiano Marcello (@CristianoBJJ) November 9, 2012
Cris “Cyborg” Santos stayed quiet but did retweet well-wishers, just to keep some fuel on the fire that is her rivalry with Ronda Rousey:
@criscyborg , agora só falta a nossa assinatura com o #UFC , pois a nossa amiga parece q assinou.
— RAFAEL ALEJARRA (@ALEJARRAMMA) November 9, 2012
Lightweight champion Benson Henderson said the likely addition of Strikeforce’s top lightweights had him “fired up”:
Always said I’ve wanted to face the best in the world, w/this new @ufc deal, looks like deepest WC gets a lil deeper…#BullseyeOnMyBack
— Benson Henderson (@BensonHenderson) November 9, 2012
Last but not least, we’ll leave you with some Paul Kelly wise-cracking:
“@andyc1arke: @paulkellymma Everyone is saying Ronda Rousey is the first woman in the @ufc , err.. what about Gabe Rudiger?” Haha
— paul kelly (@paulkellymma) November 9, 2012
Perhaps tellingly, the vast majority of actual Strikeforce fighters have been silent on the subject. The incredibly outspoken Josh Barnett, who is usually one of the first to react to big news, has been on Twitter but has not mentioned the fact that he might already be unemployed.
Other fighters who are typically active on Twitter, such as Luke Rockhold and Tim Kennedy, have been quiet in regard to their long-time promotion closing up.
Keep an eye on Bleacher Report and Twitter for more reactions and news on these developments.
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