IMHO to UFC fans the Strikeforce show is clearly more important. You might actually see a number of the guys on the Strikeforce show in the UFC eventually, or at least you may eventually see the Strikeforce guys fighting your fave UFC names if they leave the UFC.

Similarly, a guy like King Mo may go on to do big things (notoriety, marquee matches, UFC?). He also may not, but there is clearly a chance. The same can’t be said about anyone on the WEC card. So to a “super”-casual fan like me there was more importance to his fight than anything on WEC. Those guys may be ranked, but they are either contending for shots against champs I don’t follow, or even worse for a paper belt @ 155.

And Cung Le, like I said not a worldbeater but certainly a bigger attraction stylistically than the WEC main event. To the extent I care about being entertained this made the Strikeforce card more important and relegated the WEC card to DVR material for later in the week.

I don’t know how you’re using total number of fights as a criteria for a given weightclasses’ depth when the WEC’s most recognizable champ at this point is Brian Bowles.

Masakatsu Ueda has twelve fights.
Joseph Benavidez has eleven.

But wait, this is a hideously irrelevant criteria thats the result of you conflating multiple meanings of the word ‘important’ and driving this discussion into the ground.

Strikeforce’s problem is they don’t have a deep rooster. They have a few top level fighters, Fedor, Mousai, Henderson, Shileds (at 170lbs not 185),etc and some good prospects Jacare, Mo, Woodley, etc. Insipte of that, last night’s card was good. If they putting on more frequent events, let’s see how things shake out with their matchmaking. I think they will hae the sames issues that the UFC has had with too many cards, and given what happened with the Robbie Lawler fight, they can’t withstand any injuries from disrupting their cards.

Scott Smith is way underrated. The trainers at Faritex in Bangplee told me he hits like a truck and everything is extremely hard, kicks, elbows, knees, etc. Tough dude, and more skilled then you give him credit for. Cung Le may have been quicker and put on a show, but got beat by a tougher fighter in the end.

So did we all imagine 3 years of BIZ BIZ BIZ BIZ? And imagine 3 years of you defending rap fights because they were better for BIZ?

What are you arguing about? Jones was the official headliner for the TUF Finale, which was watched by a whole lot more people than any WEC event ever. Bader has been on major PPV and TV undercards for the UFC. They’re clearly more relevant than Yahya.

Purely opinion based.

Exactly. The problem, as has been argued by others including myself, is that the talent runs out at a shallow point. I mean, you are scraping for dudes past the 50/60 mark. Heavyweights might have more lousy fighters, but they have more fighters. Disparities in talent will be more evident when you have a larger sample size.

I don’t think I’ve ever commented on the size of the crowds for the Shamrock/Ortiz fights.

You’ve commented on their importance. What, they don’t matter now? Did MMA media act in an unethical fashion by covering them more than Shooto the same month?

Your basic logic is that the Bantamweight Division is not very deep and therefore has less meaning. That is really what you are saying in order to justify Strikeforce’s event being treated as a bigger event.

That is not my “base logic”. You’re arguing that the WEC was the more important event for MMA because it had more ranked fighters. “Depth of division” is completely ignored, as are other indicators like attendance, TV ratings, live gate, etc, in favor of this singular point. Of course, that argument is something you’re willing to throw out for women’s MMA, based on a set of not-so-well-defined criteria.

Mo Lawal is a much better athlete than Bader, and the biggest difference is that Lawal has explosive speed and power and finishes people, as opposed to laying on top of them.

As for Jon Jones, he has plenty of hype too. In fact after his fight against Hamill I said he is one of the 5 best 205ers in the world. So now your entire point is moot.

Jacare is one of the most talented grapplers to ever compete in mma, and unlike most other high level jiu jitsu guys we have seen, he is also a beast physically, and seems to have improved his striking as well. Who from the UFC would you pick over him at 185? Anderson probably, maybe Marquardt, and that’s it. He is a better athlete and striker than Maia, and on the ground they cancel each other out.