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Scott Coker Excited for Strikeforce’s Heavyweights in 2011

Filed under: StrikeforceWith Fedor Emelianenko, Alistair Overeem, Fabricio Werdum and Josh Barnett among the names on the promotion’s roster, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker has singled out his heavyweight division as the one he’s most excited for in 2011….

Filed under: Strikeforce

With Fedor Emelianenko, Alistair Overeem, Fabricio Werdum and Josh Barnett among the names on the promotion’s roster, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker has singled out his heavyweight division as the one he’s most excited for in 2011.

“I think we’re going to finish [2010] off strong and I look forward to 2011 cause I think the thing we’re getting real excited about is our heavyweight division,” Coker said on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour. “And I think you’re going to see some great heavyweight matchups that people have been dying to see in the past.”

Although Coker would not reveal any exact details, announcements could be made as soon as Dec. 4 during the promotion’s year-end “Henderson vs. Babalu” event.

Scott Coker Probably Can’t F*cking Wait for 2010 to Be Over

(Sometimes the metaphor is just … too perfect. PicProps: Showtime)
So … not to be overly cynical … but we find it pretty hard not to start snickering from the very first line of USA Today’s recent holiday weekend interview with th…

(Sometimes the metaphor is just … too perfect. PicProps: Showtime)

So … not to be overly cynical … but we find it pretty hard not to start snickering from the very first line of USA Today’s recent holiday weekend interview with the Strikeforce CEO, when the newspaper boldly (read: blandly) proclaims: Scott Coker is approaching 2011 with optimism.

Well yeah, no shit. We’d be stoked about the new year too if we’d just witnessed our MMA company spend much of 2010 looking like a scared stray dog trying to work its way across a busy four-lane highway during rush hour traffic. Just to recap, this year Strikeforce — among other fails — staged an enormous brawl on national television, watched its awesome-sounding middleweight tournament go tits up before it even got past the planning stages, gave its middleweight champ to the UFC, stood dumbfounded when Fedor Emelianenko fucking lost to Fab Werdum, gaped while two Brazilian dudes nobody has ever heard of captured gold in two different weight classes, showed a complete and total inability to book the right fights and continued to slap itself on the proverbial forehead while suffering the whims of its largely absentee heavyweight champion.

Somehow, the stray dog made it to the other side of the Interstate but frankly we’d rather hit our own dick with a hammer than endure a year like the one Strikeforce just had. So forgive us if we can’t quite take Coker at face value when he implies that 2011 is “about more than surviving” for his company. It’s actually all about surviving and as much as the boss promises a 33 percent increase in Strikeforce programming next year, we can’t help but notice that for the bulk of this interview Coker just sounds like a dude who is taking it one day at a time.

The MMA Hour Featuring Couture, Bonnar, Smith, Coker, Herrig and Curran

Filed under: MMA Videos, UFC, Strikeforce, FanHouse Exclusive, VideosThe MMA Hour returns on Monday with another two-hour live edition. Below is who you can expect to hear from on the show:

* MMA legend Randy Couture, who will discuss his future fight…

Filed under: MMA Videos, UFC, Strikeforce, FanHouse Exclusive, Videos

The MMA Hour returns on Monday with another two-hour live edition. Below is who you can expect to hear from on the show:

* MMA legend Randy Couture, who will discuss his future fighting plans and his involvement in the 2010 World MMA Awards.

* UFC light heeavyweight Stephan Bonnar, who faces Igor Pokrajac at The Ultimate Fighter 12 Finale on Saturday night.

* Strikeforce welterweight Scott Smith, who faces Paul Daley on Saturday at Strikeforce in St. Louis.

* Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker.

* MMA veteran Jeff Curran, who returns to action at XFO 37 to face David Love.

* And female MMA fighter Felice Herrig, who will also compete at XFO 37 against Amanda LaVoy

And of course, we’ll be taking your calls. Give us a shout at: 212-254-0193 or 212-254-0237.

Watch the show live below beginning at 1 PM ET / 10 AM PT. Download previous episodes of The MMA Hour on iTunes here.

Strikeforce: Henderson vs. Babalu Conference Call No. 2 Notes

Strikeforce held a media conference call on Tuesday ahead of its December 4 Henderson vs. Babalu show in St. Louis, MO. Taking part in the call were the promotion’s CEO Scott Coker, former Olympian Matt Lindland, Octagon refugee Paul Daley, and Strikef…

Strikeforce held a media conference call on Tuesday ahead of its December 4 Henderson vs. Babalu show in St. Louis, MO. Taking part in the call were the promotion’s CEO Scott Coker, former Olympian Matt Lindland, Octagon refugee Paul Daley, and Strikeforce sluggers Scott Smith and Robbie Lawler.

Though there weren’t any shocking revelations that came out of the call, one thing that stood out was how terrible and predictable the questions were.

I guess most of these MMA "journalists" as we’re so often referred to as being, didn’t bother to read Ben’s list of questions you shouldn’t ask when interviewing an MMA fighter:

The highlights are after the jump:

Strikeforce: Henderson vs. Babalu Conference Call Notes

Strikeforce held a conference call on Tuesday ahead of its next major event December 4 in St. Louis. Besides CEO Scott Coker, also on the call were the card’s two main event fighters, former Pride welterweight and middleweight champion Dan Henders…

Coker has intimated that the winner of the bout will likely be next in line for a shot at current Strikeforce 205-pound champ Rafael "Feijao" Cavalcante, so the implications are much bigger than just a rematch that fans want to see.

The pair first squared off in 1999 under the Rings banner where Henderson took the split decision. Although Sobral says he isn’t approaching the fight as being his shot at avenging the debatable decision, but it’s clear that he still has a bitter taste in his mouth from the loss.

The highlights of the call are after the jump.

Scott Coker Talks Co-Promotion and Negotiations with Fedor, But is Conspicuously Mum About CBS Negotiations

("CBS? They suck. I’m not sure I want to work with them anymore.")During today’s Strikeforce: Henderson vs. Babalu conference call, the promotion’s CEO Scott Coker touched on some pressing questions, but was noticeably mum on others.
"Yo…

("CBS? They suck. I’m not sure I want to work with them anymore.")

During today’s Strikeforce: Henderson vs. Babalu conference call, the promotion’s CEO Scott Coker touched on some pressing questions, but was noticeably mum on others.

"You’re going to see big things," Coker teased when speaking of the California-based promotion’s plans for next year, but he didn’t say whether or not a return to CBS is in Strikeforce’s stacked deck of cards. In an interview he did earlier this month with Sherdog, Coker said that a reputable TV deal would have to be in place for him to entertain a co-promotion deal with the promotions, which could be a telling sign that CBS has taken his number off of speed dial.

He did mentione Showtime when discussing the ongoing, yet unfruitful negotiations with Fedor Emelianenko’s M-1 Global management team, but didn’t give a clue about the status of Strikeforce’s relationship with CBS, which many assume is dead in the water thanks to the Team Cesar Gracie-Jason Miller brawl that took place during their last telecast in April.

"It’s been quite a long road here with the M-1 camp trying to get this done. I agree with [M-1 director of operations] Evgeni [Kogan] that there’s some light at the end of the tunnel," Coker explained. "We would welcome Fedor to have a long term deal with Strikeforce fighting on Showtime and we’re trying to get this done. It’s not done yet, there’s nothing signed. So really there’s nothing to announce."