When Strikeforce held its final event on January 12, 2013, the MMA world asked: Who would officially make the leap to the UFC?
Better yet, could a Strikeforce competitor prove a dominant force inside the Octagon? Would the Strikeforce talent pool spawn the same surprises that the WEC merger produced?
We haven’t had much time to formulate accurate answers to those questions yet, but we’ve seen some surprising work from a handful of Strikeforce standouts thus far. At this point, it’s too early to predict future UFC champions who once campaigned as Strikeforce regulars, but the potential certainly looks to be there.
Look at Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva, for instance. He will challenge Cain Velasquez for the heavyweight title at UFC 160. Will he enter that bout as a favorite? No, absolutely not. But the fact that he’s challenging the best in the world says quite a bit.
These Strikeforce imports are no scrubs!