Filed under: Strikeforce, News
NEW YORK — For some fans, it’s easy to look past Strikeforce. They don’t run as many events as the UFC, they don’t have a bombastic frontman, and they haven’t been around as long. But it was hard to ignore what they were doing on Tuesday afternoon, when eight burly men demanded and received the attention of a city that usually can’t be bothered.
The field of the Strikeforce heavyweight tournament came to town, with a free fan experience at Manhattan’s famed Roseland Ballroom that drew around 2,000 fans. The message was simple: With the brutal tournament format generating a battle of attrition, the promotion and its fighters believe that the man who emerges as the last man standing out of the original eight will be able to make the claim as the world’s best heavyweight.
While the championship is not in play, in some ways, the stakes are higher than any single piece of hardware.
“I love tournaments,” said Alistair Overeem, the man who holds the belt for now. “Tournaments decide who’s No. 1. This tournament will decide who the No. 1 heavyweight in MMA is, no doubt.”