When Nick Diaz vacated the Strikeforce Welterweight title and moved over to the UFC, he left the division in shambles as the rankings turned into a big cluster of contenders.
Strikeforce CEO, Scott Coker, has already came out and said with a win, Tyron Woodley can insert himself into a future title matchup (via Fiveouncesofpain.com).
Of course, Coker is just as confused as the rest of us as to who Woodley would face off against.
I’m going to have to sit back and talk with Sean (Shelby) and find out what they have in store for new guys coming in. It might be one of the old guys, it might be a new guy, Coker said. Sometime I think before summertime in 2012 you’ll see a welterweight title fight. T-Wood if he wins and another opponent.(Fiveouncesofpain.com)
What Strikeforce should do—instead of bringing in new talent or an older veteran—is hold another Grand Prix tournament for the Welterweight title.
The most obvious reason is due to how they ran the Heavyweight Grand Prix. The division was in a state of flux, just like the welterweight division. Champion Alistair Overeem wasn’t nearly as active as Strikeforce would’ve liked.
When Brett Rodgers receives a title shot coming off a win, you know a division is in trouble.
But Strikeforce got innovative and created a tournament to straighten out its heavyweight rankings and generated quite a bit of interest in the division. The same formula could be used again to reinvigorate a depleted welterweight roster.
Taking a look at the top guys in the division, Woodley is of course the main guy. He’s beaten quite a few good guys like Andre Galvao, Tarec Saffiedine and Paul Daley throughout his young career.
Woodley is also the biggest name left in the welterweight division and brings an impressive amateur wrestling background to the cage.
Jordan Mein, Woodley’s next opponent, finds himself thrust into the upper echelon of the division after defeating Evangelista Santos in his Strikeforce debut. A win over Woodley in only his second fight in the promotion would certainly make a case for Mein to challenge for the title.
Bobby Voelker has shown a knack for giving fans the brawls they want, but has relatively few fights in Strikeforce (his record is 4-1 in the promotion), and needs to prove he can handle the big stage.
Jason High sports an impressive 15-3 professional record and has a win over Mein, but only sports two division wins on Strikeforce Challenger cards.
Saffiedine was considered the No. 2 prospect behind Woodley until the two met in January of this year and Woodley emerged victorious. Saffiedine bounced back from the loss by defeating Scott Smith in July, but will be coming off a lengthy layoff.
The rest of the division are all either new to the promotion, or unproven on a big stage.
Strikeforce’s Challenger shows are a nice way to slowly build guys up, but the promotion can’t afford to plod along with building a welterweight champion.
A Grand Prix would allow the fighters to sort out the rankings and who the next champion would be. It wouldn’t need to be as large as the heavyweight tournament: Only two fights are needed to decide who should advance to a title shot.
Coker’s plan to have a title shot by the summer is still possible with a Grand Prix, and it would create interest in a division that surely needs it now more than ever.
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