Tag: Strikeforce on Showtime

Strikeforce Cancels Second Straight Event, Deathwatch Not Even Necessary at This Point

Well, it’s official: The debate should no longer be about whether or not Strikeforce is headed for an early grave, but whether or not we should allow their lifeless corpse to continue resting in its vegetative state or simply pull the plug. Less than a month after cancelling their September 29th card due to injury, word has just broke that Strikeforce will also be cancelling their event scheduled for November 3rd in light of another slew of injuries.

We know the discussion of the injury curse is beyond old news at this point, but is anyone else still having trouble coming to terms with the pure scale of devastation it has wreaked on the sport in 2012? Even the UFC has been forced to, as BG put it, scrape the bottom of the matchmaking barrel for available fighters and they’ve poached upwards of half the fighters that Strikeforce previously had under their banner, to the point that one key injury could completely undo a card. Thank God the UFC would never be forced to resort to such drastic measures.

In either case, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker was already looking to the future when discussing the second straight cancellation:

Due to a series of injuries, we were forced to cancel the upcoming card on Nov. 3, but are already working to put together a stacked card in January.

Yeah, Scott, we’re sure UFC 156 will be pretty great too.

Well, it’s official: The debate should no longer be about whether or not Strikeforce is headed for an early grave, but whether or not we should allow their lifeless corpse to continue resting in its vegetative state or simply pull the plug. Less than a month after cancelling their September 29th card due to injury, word has just broke that Strikeforce will also be cancelling their event scheduled for November 3rd in light of another slew of injuries.

We know the discussion of the injury curse is beyond old news at this point, but is anyone else still having trouble coming to terms with the pure scale of devastation it has wreaked on the sport in 2012? Even the UFC has been forced to, as BG put it, scrape the bottom of the matchmaking barrel for available fighters and they’ve poached upwards of half the fighters that Strikeforce previously had under their banner, to the point that one key injury could completely undo a card. Thank God the UFC would never be forced to resort to such drastic measures.

In either case, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker was already looking to the future when discussing the second straight cancellation:

Due to a series of injuries, we were forced to cancel the upcoming card on Nov. 3, but are already working to put together a stacked card in January.

Yeah, Scott, we’re sure UFC 156 will be pretty great too.

As you are likely very well aware of, the November 3rd event was supposed to be Daniel Cormier’s last fight under his Strikeforce contract. Unfortunately, the newly-crowned HW champ (among other fighters on the card), was not even made aware of this cancellation until the news was public knowledge.

Via Ariel Helwani’s Twitter: “I just spoke to @dc_mma about today’s news, and guess what? He had no idea. Incredible. His quotes coming to @MMAFightingshortly.”

Via Tim Kennedy’s Twitter: “Thank you @Strikeforce for letting me read about my flight being canceled on the Internet. I was 9 weeks into my fight camp. Awesome!”

Via Cormier’s Twitter: “Very sad about not fighting but at the end of the day something positive will come from it. More time to train. I am with a good company…”

Cormier spoke with Helwani shortly after being surprised with the news, and was slightly less empathetic to his soon to be former employers:

I wish somebody would have told me something. This is unbelievable. I’m very upset. I just want to be informed. That’s all. I don’t think that’s asking for too much.

No, Daniel, it wouldn’t be asking too much. Just like asking a sinking promotion that is holding some of the world’s best fighters to end their charade once and for all doesn’t seem like too much to ask either. But life has a way of complicating things.

So there you have it: Strikeforce is dead, and Vaudeville’s the box they’re gonna bury it in. The only question that remains is: How long do you give it? January? March? DARE WE SAY APRIL?

–J. Jones

Dana White: Strikeforce is Staying On Showtime; Announcement Will Come Next Week



(Apparently now the Zuffa is going to have to start trying again with Strikeforce.)

During today’s pre-UFC 140 press conference and media scrum UFC president Dana White revealed that his *other* MMA promotion will indeed be sticking around on Showtime and that he will lead the organization as it makes some changes in 2012.

“[Strikeforce is] staying, and hopefully I’ll have all the information for you next week,” White said. “Just sit and wait and watch what I do. Trust me, it’s going to be just fine. Like I said last time I talked to you guys about this, I’m getting into this, and I’m going to handle it. Watch and see. We’ll see what happens. I know I keep saying this every week, but that deal should be wrapped up any day now, and then I’ll make the decisions on who goes where and what’s going to happen. So we should know hopefully by Monday.”



(Apparently now the Zuffa is going to have to start trying again with Strikeforce.)

During today’s pre-UFC 140 press conference and media scrum UFC president Dana White revealed that his *other* MMA promotion will indeed be sticking around on Showtime and that he will lead the organization as it makes some changes in 2012.

“[Strikeforce is] staying, and hopefully I’ll have all the information for you next week,” White said. “Just sit and wait and watch what I do. Trust me, it’s going to be just fine. Like I said last time I talked to you guys about this, I’m getting into this, and I’m going to handle it. Watch and see. We’ll see what happens. I know I keep saying this every week, but that deal should be wrapped up any day now, and then I’ll make the decisions on who goes where and what’s going to happen. So we should know hopefully by Monday.”

White hinted to MMAJunkie that Strikeforce could be run under a similar model to the WEC, which was once considered a feeder league for the UFC.

“[The WEC] did work. We had a great television deal with the WEC. It was very successful,” he pointed out. “The fights were awesome. There were people that loved watching the WEC fights. It absolutely worked.”