In 2009, Strikeforce was arguably the No. 2 MMA organization in the world and was continuing to grow.
That year the company signed Nick Diaz, Dan Henderson, Muhammed Lawal and former Pride heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko.
Both Gilbert Melendez and Jake Shields won Strikeforce titles that year, and Cristiane Santos became the first female champion for the organization.
Over the course of the next two years, Strikeforce lost its heavyweight, light heavyweight, middleweight and welterweight champions to the UFC, was purchased by Zuffa, had its heavyweight division dissolved and Emelianenko lost his final three fights with the organization.
Although UFC president Dana White said that it would be “business as usual” for Strikeforce since the Zuffa purchase, it has been anything but that.
Although it appears the California-based organization will soon merge with the UFC, for now, Strikeforce will remain a separate company throughout 2012.
If Strikeforce wants to make any noise this year, though, it will have to bring in a ton of new talent.
Whether it is more well-known fighters who still have something left or younger fighters looking to make a name for themselves, Strikeforce needs to increase the quality and quantity of their roster.
Currently there are a little over 60 fighters on the Strikeforce roster.
The UFC welterweight division has nearly the same amount of fighters.
Strikeforce does not have to have that many fighters in one division, but when you only have roughly 11 fighters per division and your two top champions in Melendez and Santos have already taken out most of the top competition, things can get dull quickly.
It may appear Strikeforce may not have much of a future at this rate.
But if the company can some how bring in newer talent, continue to build up younger fighters like Tyron Woodly and Luke Rockhold and perhaps bring in fighters who could be exciting but just couldn’t cut it in the UFC (much like like Keith Jardine), things could begin to turn around.
If this does not happen, though, Strikeforce will be done by the end of the year.
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