A year ago Zuffa LLC dropped an absolute bomb on the MMA world: they were buying Strikeforce, the biggest competitor to their crown jewel, the UFC.
No one saw it coming, and aside from some underwhelming explanations about competition and others trying to move in and buy the promotion, there was never a huge amount of reasoning given for the purchase.
It more or less amounted to “we do MMA, we wanted Strikeforce, we bought it.” People in the know likely understand that attitude to greater depths than the average fan sitting on his couch, but at this stage of the game it matters far less than it did a year ago.
Zuffa owns Strikeforce. That’s where we are.
But where are they? It’s impossible to know for sure, but the hints are there to suggest that they’d rather not own Strikeforce, but it’s the hand they’ve been dealt (dealt to themselves?) and it’s the one they’re going to play.
The relationship with Showtime, broadcaster of Strikeforce, was incredibly rocky from Zuffa’s perspective. When they made the purchase, Dana White openly hated the suits running the cable subscriber and wasn’t shy about sharing it. It was getting better for a while, but White wanted more control of production and Showtime wanted him at arm’s length.
That’s not a bad thing, because it’s inevitable the charge would be to move Strikeforce closer to the UFC in terms of look and feel, and that’s not a good idea for a promotion that is still—at least technically—standing on its own two feet.
Still, it’s a headache that White and his Zuffa partners didn’t need. They’ve got the UFC to run, right in the middle of it’s biggest year since 2005, no less.
There have been other headaches as well, some far greater than the given example.
The Strikeforce Grand Prix was a veritable circus of the occult, with guys leaving mid-tournament to join the UFC, falling to injury or being completely debunked as the stars people thought they were.
A messy, hostile debate with Golden Glory Fight Team led to some of the more marketable stars in both Strikeforce and the UFC being released. Alistair Overeem and Marloes Coenen were the biggest names on the chopping block, and Overeem only rejoined Zuffa after leaving his team. Coenen is still without meaningful work and hasn’t fought since.
It all stemmed from Strikeforce, and while it wasn’t the biggest issue in MMA history, it was a headache that otherwise would have been avoided.
It’s not all bad, however. Perhaps important enough to trump the consistent, minor pains caused by running Strikeforce, is the influx of talent to the UFC from it’s adopted sister.
Overeem and Fabricio Werdum led a charge of heavyweights jumping ship, while Nick Diaz did the same at welterweight. It’s expected that Josh Barnett and Daniel Cormier will be en route soon as well, which will only pad the heavyweight class further.
However, even that ability to move guys back and forth may be cause for headaches. Many have asked why Diaz or this collection of heavyweights have made the jump, while guys like Gil Melendez and Tim Kennedy are left jonesing for regular fights in the stripped down Strikeforce.
There’s tremendous pressure from fans, a lack of viable options for matchmaking with the top-end talent of Strikeforce, and no one wants to leave the UFC to go over there and fight in an event they likely see as second rate.
Again with the headaches.
There’s no question that the Strikeforce acquisition has provided plenty of problems for Zuffa. Probably more than they even expected. Looking at some of the more prominent issues here—only listing what we know of, and even then it’s not the whole list—it’s clear there are many days Dana and the Fertittas wish they’d just let someone else take the thing.
But you know what? That doesn’t make it a mistake.
The whole goal when Zuffa bought the UFC was to create a global sport, a brand where all of the best martial artists in the world are in one place. With that goal as a sole focus, there’s no way purchasing Strikeforce can qualify as a mistake, because the purchase brought them a huge step closer to making that dream a reality.
Nobody said it was easy, and nobody needed to. Zuffa knows better than anyone how tough the MMA business is. Problems and concerns be damned, there’s no one in the world better equipped to make it work with Strikeforce.
For anyone else, by now the purchase would have been confirmed as a mistake. For Zuffa, it’s just one more mountain to climb.
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