The problem is that of the best women in Japan, most of them are fighting at lower weight classes (under 120 pounds). You have six or so women fighting at 120 that might be willing to fight up to 135, and then you have a good collection of women at 135, but then you have the Gina problem, where she’s always having trouble getting to 135.

It is my opinion that you can’t have a division where your titleholder or at least a top contender never makes weight (don’t get me started about Alves).

The following list includes only women between 120 and 140 who are probably available (except one in Jewels and one in Valkyrie), but some of them have been inactive almost a year now. The five starred were last active in EliteXC or ShoXC. Daly last fought in Cage Rage. The ones with a hash mark seem to have been inactive.

Carina Damm#
Ana Michelle Tavares#
Aisling Daly
Lisa Ward#
Rosi Sexton*
Tara Larosa
Hitomi Akano
Cristiane Santos*
Shayna Baszler*
Roxanne Modafferi
Amanda Buckner#
Takayo Hashi#
Kelly Kobold*
Gina Carano*
Sarah Kaufman#

I think you need at least ten of these women, and you have to convince them to fight at 135 to be able to have a respectable belt class, and you may not be able to get that (some may not be willing to fight at that weight, some may not be able to fight at that weight, and some may well have decided to call it a day on the fight game).

If you wanted to create a women’s division, the way you start is by getting those contracts, but wanting to do something and actually achieving it are two different things. You’re going from a zero percent chance to like a 30 percent chance.

The second problem is that you have maybe 30 rankable fighters at this point across all weight classes. I think you need at least 10 fighters to have a workable belt division inside a promotion, and Gina Carano just doesn’t fit into any scenario where you can put together ten fighters at one weight who are also competitive.

1. Limit the number of weight classes they use. EliteXC was using 7 weight classes, which is just too much for only 12 shows a year. Especially when it sounds like a few of those shows will be up & coming fighters. I would hope they use no more then 4 or 5 weight classes.

2. Make the titles the priority. It never looked good for guys like Jake Shields when he was defending his title on the undercard of a Kimbo Slice fight. Just like with Zuffa, the title fights need to be the main event.

3. Stick to Strikeforce titles only. No WAMMA. No multiple titles on the line for a title bout. The fewer belts in an organization the better.

4. Have a full woman’s division, not just one or two fighters. EliteXC just tried to build up Carano. If Strikeforce wants to do women’s MMA correctly, they need a stable of women fighters, all in the same weight class. And don’t promote based on s#x appeal. Promote based on skills. If the best woman fighters happen to be good looking too, that’s an added bonus.

There’s room for growing companies that aren’t going to compete with the UFC right away… and I think that’ll be Strikeforce’s strategy.

They should be able to run a good promotion on Showtime as long as they don’t go head to head. They’ve avoided biting off more than they can chew, which is what WAMMA and Affliction are guilty of. Stay away from that fallacy, and they’re much better situated for the future.

Oh, and stay off CBS. For better or worse, I think Showtime will do the right thing to let Strikeforce grow organically. I believe CBS will cheerfully run the organization into the dust just to get some short-time value from it.

Strikeforce has been successful running medium sized shows. They’ve been in more than one market, but they are definitely a Pacific/Western promotion still instead of an international one. EliteXC ran shows in Florida and Hawaii (by co-promotion), so we’ll see how that shakes out.

I think most of the EliteXC fighters would fit in well with the portfolio of fighters that Strikeforce has already. I do expect co-promotion or at least fighter sharing with Affliction to continue (Babalu holds the Strikeforce LHW belt now, and I could see some of Affliction’s heavys fighting Bigfoot if he is still eligible for a fighter license and his contract transfers over).

I think Icemuncher has a good point about the danger of letting CBS run the show. Strikeforce has always stayed in control of their product in the ring, and has had a portfolio of broadcast partners. If CBS is deciding who fights, what venues, and how the production is done, we could see some radical changes in Strikeforce that take them away from their historical core competencies.

Yes, I am talking about post #16. And clearly you dont know how to read either. Since you apparently didnt read it, I’ll write it again…for the THIRD TIME: “I think this is really great news for MMA fans and the sport.”

If you dont overly read into this and take at as pure and simple english…all I’m saying is that this is good for fans and the sport. How does this mean that I am optimistic that they will be very successful and able to compete with the UFC? Where did I say that? Where did I ever say I was optimistic? I said it was great. Thats all. No more, no less. I like watching fights. I dont care if its two guys in a barn fighting all alone. If its a good fight, I like it. I dont care if its UFC, Pride, strikeforce, or me kicking 45Huddle’s ass…if its entertaining I like it. I couldnt care less if strikeforce puts on a couple good shows and then goes belly up. Or if they get bought by UFC. I dont care if they are successful, if they make money, if their viewership numbers are high or low, or non-existent, I just want to see good fights…and I think the sport is made better by having more fights. Thats all I meant, and thats all anyone should be getting out of it. If you somehow interepreted my comments as declaring, in any way, shape or form, that strikeforce will be successful or be better than the UFC..then you simply do no know how to read…

Its one thing to disagree with my opinions if I say something like “Strikeforce will be soon be the #1 promotion in the world and put UFC out of business” or “I think strikeforce willl do great on CBS and revolutionize the sport.”

But If I say…”I think this is good news” then just move on with your life….