Putting together the eight-man Strikeforce World Grand Prix tournament was likely a monumental undertaking when dealing with so many fighter personalities and issues. For instance finishing negotiations with Fedor Emelianenko and his management, getting him signed on is a big plus for the tournament. Other issues like fighter injuries in order to time the tournament so a fighter like Fabricio Werdum would be healthy enough to participate. And ensuring all of the participants are licensed, such as Josh Barnett who is currently un-licensed.
These are just a few of the issues that Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker had to deal with to bring this tournament together. All the while receiving criticism from fans for not putting the promotions heavyweights into the cage. Well it seems Coker has the last laugh on that one.
Mike Chiappetta of MMAFighting.com spoke to the Strikeforce CEO about the tournament and the ambitious undertaking to make it happen. Here are a few quotes from that interview.
A tournament like this is ambitious and quite challenging. Why did you decide to do it?
Scott Coker: When we were in the process of collecting all these heavyweights, and signing these top 10 guys, the only fighter we really had to extend was Fedor, which as you know took a long time. I went to Showtime with this plan about 3 months ago. I saw what they did with the Super Six tournament in boxing. I thought it was a great format and definitely made some more stars in the boxing world. They definitely created more hype and more stars in that sport. I thought it’d be a good way for USA fans to get to know some of these top heavyweights that we have fighting, like [Sergei] Kharitonov, like having Josh [Barnett] back in America. It’s a great way to unveil it and roll it out.Why include your champion in the tournament, instead of having a fight with him as the final. Would it be him sitting too long, or is there another reason?
Scott Coker:We originally thought he could fight the tournament winner, or fight a superfight. But when I talked to [Overeem’s management] Golden Glory, they said he wanted to fight in the tournament. And then when I talked to Alistair and Bas Boon, his manager, over the weekend when I was in Japan, Alistair came to me and said, ‘I want to fight Fabricio Werdum. You have to give me that fight.’ And I said, ‘Let’s do it.’ It’s something he wanted to do. He wanted to avenge that loss from three or four years ago, so it’s good for everybody.You spoke of Werdum-Overeem, but how did you decide the other pairings?
Scott Coker:The pairings were done on some timing. Fabricio is coming off surgery of his arm, so he was not available until March anyway. And those two wanted to fight each other. Fedor wanted to fight Jan. 29, or even Jan. 7. He’s ready to go. He’s itching to get back in there. We felt Bigfoot [Antonio Silva] was the perfect opponent for the first round. You never know what’ll happen in MMA when you have two buys guys. As far as Kharitonov, he’s coming off a win in Japan. And [Andrei] Arlovski is ready to go. These guys are ready, so let’s put them in a cage and let them go.
This is really a great interview with Scott Coker as he talks about many other aspects of the tournament and it’s participants. He addresses the issue of Josh Barnett’s licensing, matching Fedor Emelianenko with Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva, who the No. 1 alternate is if a fighter gets injured, plus a whole lot more. So be sure to check out the interview, just click the link above.