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« | Home | »

Strikeforce 4/17 in Nashville: A make-or-break event for the company on CBS

By Zach Arnold | April 17, 2010

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Venue: Bridgestone Arena (Nashville, Tennessee)
TV: CBS (all network affiliates)

Dark matches

Main card

Top stories heading into and out of the show

1. How much fatigue is there amongst MMA fans?

I suspect that there is heavy fatigue right now amongst most North American MMA fans in general. Yes, free is free, but most mainstream fans in America have watched a lot of MMA recently. Given the high PPV buyrate for UFC 111 in New Jersey (featuring St. Pierre, Mir, Carwin, Hardy) of over 700,000 buys, given the 1.2 cable rating for the Charlotte event featuring Kenny Florian & Roy Nelson, and given the UFC 112 event in Abu Dhabi with BJ Penn and Anderson Silva, UFC has practically sucked the oxygen right now out of the air for any of their rivals. (Don’t forget the UFC 3/21 Colorado event with Brandon Vera vs. Bones Jones.) No one is talking about Bellator’s weekly show right now online. The heat for this upcoming Strikeforce show, so far, is tepid. With so many guys under contract and so many events happening for UFC, will Strikeforce be able to emotionally strike a chord with fans to watch their event on Saturday night?

We know Dan Henderson was made into a superstar-level name after he destroyed Michael Bisping last July at UFC 100. But that was last July — we’re nine months later in the ball game here and Strikeforce is simply not in UFC’s league as far as being an effective promotional platform is concerned. We will find out what the value of Dan Henderson is and just how much brand power matters in MMA over individual star power.

2. Will Strikeforce be able to keep Jake Shields and Gilbert Melendez?

The great irony in Dan Henderson main eventing the Strikeforce show is that he was a free agent after his UFC 100 fight. Henderson’s opponent, Jake Shields, could become a free agent (though Strikeforce says they will work to keep him for at least one more fight). Same with Gilbert Melendez. I bet the UFC 155 pound division with Frankie Edgar as champion just got a lot more attractive for Melendez. Dana White has worked the media over and portrayed Strikeforce’s decision to have Shields fight here in the main event as an impending free agent to basically be a “f___ you” to Shields. I admit, I laughed when I heard it. As for Shields, it would be a mistake at this point not to take the money and head to UFC to become the next big rival for St. Pierre.

3. Will Jake Shields be able to stay competitive against Dan Henderson?

Jake Shields had some interest comments to make during a recent Sherdog video interview in regards to his upcoming match against Dan Henderson:

“I don’t worry too much about weight. I’m been trying to lift. I’ve been taking, I’ve got a good supplement program actually with the Tapout sports nutritionist, a guy wrote me a good program so I’ve been feeling stronger and recovering better but ultimately I’m not really trying to judge the weight, I’m trying for the best I possibly can that night and go out there and fight.”

“Yeah, I’m going in as a small 85 pounder, so hopefully that won’t be a factor you know, I’ll be going in there just a little bit over the 85 pound weight, you know, maybe a little over 190 which is… so I’m putting weight on but I’m not getting too massive. I think if I went over 200 pounds then I would have to worry about slowing down but right now I still feel fast and strong.”

“I’m always just trying to work and improve my striking so I’ve been doing a lot of striking like always. I’ve also been doing a lot of wrestling for this fight. I think Henderson’s weakest point is off his back, so I’m going to try to avoid his right hand and put him on his back, his weak spot and my strong point and put him away there.”

“It’s certainly not an easy fight but you know you got to take challenges in this sport, you know I’m the champ and if he wants this belt he’s got you know come and take it because I’m not giving it to him.”

“I’m willing to take on all challengers. If you want to be champ, you can’t go and pick your fights. You can’t look at style match-ups for you, so I’m willing to fight whoever they take and I think Henderson is a tough challenge but that makes me that much more excited and more motivated to go out there and fight him.”

4. What will Strikeforce’s future on CBS be after the event?

As I noted on point #1, UFC has sucked the oxygen right out of the air for most North American MMA fans. What I’ve also alluded to over the last couple of weeks is just how critical the UFC/Comcast business deal has become — not just for television programming, but for advertising. I have yet to see any ads for the CBS event in Nashville on television. I am an avid sports programming watcher, as almost all of my time is spent watching one sport or another. If I wasn’t an MMA writer and if I wasn’t so hardcore into this business, I would legitimately not know that there is a show happening this Saturday. Nobody that I know who is a casual MMA fan has any clue there is a show on Saturday, either. I had more friends ask about Bellator than I did about the CBS event.

Over the last 3 weeks, I have not been able to escape UFC advertising on any of the primary sports channels. Comcast ran the UFC 112 PPV hype special over five times in seven days last week. I saw non-stop barker ads for ordering the PPV on Comcast systems — and I am not a Comcast subscriber, either. I saw local spots from various cable companies hyping up UFC 111 and UFC 112. I’ve seen ads for The Ultimate Fighter as well.

I have not seen an ad for the Strikeforce event.

This show will determine a lot about the future of Strikeforce on CBS. No Fedor. No Brett Rogers. No Alistar Overeem. Dan Henderson is all the star power they have. That’s it. If this show tanks in the ratings (the odds are in favor of it at this moment), I would be very skeptical about CBS having much faith in pushing Strikeforce much longer… at least as a live product anyways (a taped product might be a different story).

5. The horrible hype for the Strikeforce/DREAM interpromotion series

I’ve seen some horrible booking and some horrible promoting in professional wrestling, in boxing, and Mixed Martial Arts. However, I’ve yet to recall such lousy marketing and hype as I’ve seen for what was being billed as an interpromotional series that was going to be red hot. It’s practically stone cold.

The parties involved (the fighters, promoters) have no idea what they are doing here. An interpromotional series is supposed to be between two promotions who have a competitive grudge — friendly or unfriendly — against each other. There’s supposed to be heat.

HEAT THE DAMN THING UP!

Instead, we have gotten Scott Coker saying that he’s looking forward to “some of the cool match-ups” and Gilbert Melendez talking about fighting Shin’ya Aoki as a “nerve-wracking honor.”

Forget the fact that I’ve yet to see an ad for this show on CBS — where’s the anger, the intensity, and the passion for this interpromotional program? Aoki has been barking up a storm in Japan about how he wants to conquer America. The DREAM staff understands how to hype this feud up, but on the American side nobody is acting like they give a damn as far as telling the fans why they should care. Fans, especially casual ones that would watch the CBS event, want some drama and passion and a reason to care. They have yet to be given any reason to care about this interpromotional feud. The hype has been atrocious.

An interpromotional series, in theory, is not supposed to be a hard thing to book. You have two parties, they have a grudge, they want to beat each other up, and they talk loudly. You have fans who pick and choose sides and you go from there. The feud is supposed to end in some fashion after there are bragging rights or the other side is conquered.

A lot is on the stake for this weekend’s Nashville event. The backs are against the wall for Strikeforce. Can they pull this off?

Topics: Media, MMA, StrikeForce, Zach Arnold | 91 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

91 Responses to “Strikeforce 4/17 in Nashville: A make-or-break event for the company on CBS”

  1. Clint says:

    I’ve seen one spot for this on CBS, although it was during an episode of “The Big Bang Theory”. Not sure if there is a big cross over for their primetime viewers & the Strikeforce viewers or not.

  2. David says:

    I have a DVR so I quickly saw that I was scanning through a commercial, hopefully that won’t effect people who may have their interest piqued.

    Sad that the sport doesn’t get the respect that I think it deserves! Instead of them trying to build the sport like the Zuffa Myth :), they tried to go the freak show route, which is probably what I would do if I was at the helm, and that is simply not a long term strategy.

    On the Dana White front, I saw the tagline for an interview he did with ESPN (I think); he said “Anderson Silva doesn’t deserve a shot at GSP.” Now we all know who would win this fight, YES, even if it was at 170 I think Silva would have a tremendous advantage with speed and striking and reach, nullifying the the inside distance needed for takedowns.

    Anyway, Dana said Silva doesn’t deserve a shot at GSP after his performance at UFC 112. Almost seems like he is using Silva’s shitty performance after a TERRIBLE match-up as an excuse to avoid the GSP fight. Just give us the free Afghanistan event and shutup!

    • 45 Huddle says:

      I could care less about an Anderson Silva vs. Georges St. Pierre fight. Silva is a MW/LHW…. Why the obsession to see him fight a Welterweight? GSP is a small Welterweight by today’s standard.

      It’s just the internet MMA fans looking for something to complain about. Nobody was really clamouring for it until Dana White said it wasn’t going to happen. Then they felt the need to harp on it.

      And the comparison people like Michaek Rome are making that it’s just as bad as Manny/FMJ not happening is laughable at best. Manny & Floyd are both generally the same size. Both are competing in the same weight class right now.

      GSP and Silva compete in weight classes that have a 15 pound difference. That is like demanding that Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight Kelly Pavlik…. It’s stupid. I wasn’t a fan of GSP vs. Penn…. And I’m certainly not a fan of Silva/GSP.

      There are weight classes for a reason. If Silva wants more of a challenge, let him fight at LHW. Heck, he is about the same size as those guys anyways….

  3. 45 Huddle says:

    1. I’m a hardcore fan with MMA fatigue. I almost wish there was a 2 month offseason to get my interest peaked again. A few years ago I would have seen every event as soon as it happened. Heck, I watched UFC 111 the next morning because I made plans for that night.

    I don’t know if the UFC has done it on purpose… But by putting on so many events, it certainly sucks the air out of the competition. Heck, it sucks some of the air out of the UFC itself.

    2. Scott Coker said he has a 1 fight option on Jake Shields after this fight. I’m not sure it is true or not. And he said that right after the fight he will know whether he wants to use that 1 fight option. Basically implying that if he loses, he will not exercise the option. The thing Coker doesn’t understand is that he is not in a position to just let these guys leave. Shields might be boring, but he is a legit high level fighter, something they are lacking.

    3. Jake Shields might win this fight. There, I said it. Henderson has never done great at Middleweight. And despite being a wrestler, he has a bad history of over committing to strikes and being taken down. For Shields to keep his worth on the free agent market, all he has to do is not get KO’d against Henderson. If he doesn’t get KO’d, I think the fight will be close enough one way or the other for him to make the transition to the UFC.

    4. CBS has not committed to Strikeforce in any way. They have not made a long term deal with them. They have no heavily promoted the event. Which means the Fedor/Rogers ratings were not good enough for CBS to get into MMA full time. And honstly, I don’t see any Strikeforce show doing much better ratings then that last one. MMA’s popularity has leveled off. There is a definitive ceiling that just isn’t going to change. And shows like Shields/Henderson is likely to do worse, which will hurt them even more.

    5. Nobody cares about Japanese MMA anymore. Yes, a few internet fanboys who rank the fighters extra high do. Most people do not. Anybody can see that the level of competition over there is a step below what is happening in North America. And bringing over Zaromskis and Aoki the way they have done is HORRIBLE matchmaking. No hype. No build-up. Just throwing DREAM Champions right into the mix with no build up at all. How can the casual fans care? They can’t. Aoki is known by nobody in the states.

    Overall, this show is destined to fail on so many levels. It will get a smaller audience then Fedor/Rogers. It could lose 1 or 2 of it’s featured champions to the UFC. And the fights themselves have the potential to bore fans to death. I still think this show will end up being one of the more exciting cards of the year or one of the most boring. The match-ups are all there to make it happen.

    And let me go on record actually to say Dan Henderson will lose this fight. This is the Cro Cop syndrome all over again. Cro Cop signed with the UFC because he saw dollar signs and what he perceived was easier fights for the money. He went into the fights unmotivated and get beat up because of it.

    I see the same thing happened to Dan Henderson. Look at him during all of the press stuff. He is all smiles. Almost too relaxed. And when you don’t go in there with something to prove, you end up getting beat by guys who are lesser competitors then you. Shields is still high level, but no way should he beat Henderson at 185 pounds….

    But he is going to….

    • edub says:

      Ill give you that you made a great prediction with Edgar and penn. Although you’ve changed how you saw the fight 3 or 4 times.

      But, I see this particualr fight going about what we saw of Palhares vs. Hendo. Except I think Hendo gets the KO.

      You might be reaching a little too much with this pick. Then again you might be a genius again….

    • Dave says:

      What is funny is you said Edgar was going to take Penn for similar reasons and you were spot on.

    • Steve says:

      This is an awesome show. Your bias is, as always, too obvious. I’m expecting it to be better than most of the watered down cards the ufc is putting out.

      • 45 Huddle says:

        Here is a little proof as to how people overhype Strikeforce cards and completely underhype UFC cards…. The rankings are from BE and next to each fighter…

        BJ Penn (1) vs. Frank Edgar (7) was a horrible mismatch on paper according to fans… But Shinya Aoki (2) vs. Gilbert Melendez (8) is not.

        Anderson Silva (1) vs. Damian Maia (6) was an unworthy main event. But Dan Henderson (2) vs. Jake Shields (7) is the main event of “an awesome show”.

        Matt Hughes (8) vs. Renzo Gracie (UR) is a crap fight. But Gegard Mousasi (6) vs. King Mo (23) is great. Both are Top 10 guys against borderline Top 25 at best….

        The rankings are already biased against the UFC. And yet still, the UFC put on higher quality fights on paper. Anybody worthy of an opinion would have known that Frankie Edgar would have given hell to BJ Penn for the fight. Heck, I predicted it. But because it happened in the UFC, it was a one sided fight and a showcase fight for Penn…. yada, yada, yada…

        And don’t even make me compare it to the watered down card that was UFC 111…. It blows this show out of the water….

        Dan Henderson is the perfect example. Nobody cared about him while he was in the UFC. People complained when he headlined shows. Now he is headlining a Strikeforce card, and the show is now “awesome”. Give me a break.

        Dan Henderson headlining a UFC card was average. Which makes this card average. The real main event is Melendez/Aoki, but Strikeforce has done such a horrible job promoting anybody coming over from Japan that nobody knows or cares who he is. And Lawal fighting for the Strikeforce title is nothing more then a joke. They have nobody else so he got the shot by default.

        Go watch the career paths of Jon Jones or Phil Davis in the UFC to see how true contenders are supposed to PROVE themselves before getting title shots.

        So my bias is obvious? Or people are shamefully overhyping yet another non-UFC card just like they did with the WFA, Affliction, IFL, Bodog, and any other card that isn’t under the Zuffa banner….

        • Alan Conceicao says:

          I like the attempt at making Mo and Gracie equivalents. I think Mo’s entire career has been fought in the period between Gracie’s fight for EXC and appearance at UFC 112. LOL

          If the UFC is even a quarter serious about cutting Anderson Silva, then apparently their belts don’t matter either, so I consider that a push.

          Last, its a free show. Those UFC shows cost money to see legally. Kind of a difference in perception.

        • 45 Huddle says:

          King Mo’s biggest win is against Mike Whitehead. In the last few years, Renzo Gracie’s biggest win is over Frank Shamrock. So yes, there is a fair comparison.

          Putting King Mo in a title fight would be like the UFC giving Phil Davis a title shot right now. It’s pathetically bad.

          And don’t fool yourself on the free vs. pay thing. The only reason it is free is because Strikeforce couldn’t make a profit if they charged. If they could, they would be charging for it.

        • ajz123 says:

          I’m just curious 45…..who in Strikeforce is ranked appropriately in your opinion?

        • 45 Huddle says:

          In general…

          Fedor Emelianenko, Fabricio Werdum, Brett Rogers, Gilbert Melendez, & Jake Shields.

          The guys who are not…. Mousasi should be #9 or so in the world, not borderlining the top 5 based on a win over Renato Sobral. Alistair Overeem’s best win in the last few years is over Paul Buentello and has no business in the Top 10. Henderson should not be in anybodies LHW ranking. He should be Top 5 MW, but not #2. As somebody posted a few days ago, in the last 4 years he is 2-2 in the division with losses to Misski & Silva and wins over Palhares and Bisping. Hardly the stuff to be #2 in the world. And Nick Diaz is in a lot of people’s Top 10’s now which is bogus. He beats Zaromskis and then gets as high as #6 or #7 is comical.

        • Alan Conceicao says:

          So three years of total inactivity is irrelevant in this instance. I see.

          As for “being fooled”…well, it is free, so it is a point of comparison.

        • 45 Huddle says:

          The point is that neither have anything to offer at this point based on their record…. I know you like to tip-toe around stuff like that… But calling a spade a spade…. King Mo is a prospect. The UFC has tons of them…. You don’t see people making a huge deal out of them fighting on every card. The vast majority end up sizzling anyways….

        • Zack says:

          Rankings are supposed to be a measure of your accomplishments. They don’t really have a lot to do with how two guys match up. For instance, Maia was highly ranked, but most people knew it was a dog shit matchup which Maia had little chance to win. Look no further than the oddsmakers who make their living setting lines on that stuff.

          These three Strikeforce fights are near pick ’ems because they are super competitive. It’s hard to pick winners for this show and the odds reflect that.

        • edub says:

          To Zack:

          You do realize you just spoke about odds of a show where a 7-1 underdog beat a heavy favorite.

          Henderson vs. Jake Shields should be viewed in the exact same way Anderson vs. Maia was looked at.

          But it isn’t and 45 makes a very good point about it.

        • 45 Huddle says:

          Yeah, those odds and predictions did so well on Edgar/Penn…

          It was a quality fight the second it was signed. People refused to acknowledge it because they sh!t on everything the UFC does and downplay good fights when they are right in their faces.

        • Alan Conceicao says:

          MMA blawgers go crazy for all those prospects the UFC has, even on unaired prelims. Who are you kidding?

        • edub says:

          Go crazy for them as what they are…prospects. King Mo is still a prospect, and he is being pushed by SF as a title title challenger. It woulld be like Antwone Smith or Mike Jones challenging for Berto’s WBC welterweight title if you want a boxing comparison.

      • 45 huddle says:

        Good point. That is why Alistair Overeem beats Paul Buentello and is now in the Top 10….

        And when UFC fighter Stevan Struve beats Buentello…. People don’t even think about putting him in the Top 10 discussion….

        Or Mousasi beating Babalu gets him #6 in the world and many times in the Top 10… but Jon Jones beating Brandon Vera and is lucky to even see the #10 spot. Both are about equal wins.

        Would you like me to go and on and on about the double standard? A UFC prospect has to do twice as much to earn his Top 10 ranking….

        • Alan Conceicao says:

          Jon Jones is lucky to see the 10 spot? People can’t stop talking about the guy. He’ll probably rise in the next set of rankings, given that the fight with Vera happened less than a month ago, and the fight before was a controversial, albiet still recorded loss.

  4. A. Taveras says:

    Not sure I understand point 5 in Zach’s article. If they even talk about DREAM on the broadcast the idea shouldn’t be to hype a rivalry. DREAM is a non-entity, that won’t mean a thing to a soul. The point that should be made is simply we are bringing the best available challenger from overseas.

    I do think you are on point re: fatigue. If anything kills off the fledgling ‘national’ promotions that will be it.

  5. David M says:

    The only Strikeforce commercials I have seen are of Dan Henderson hitting a heavy bag and folding his arms. Unbelievably bad. Why don’t they show clips of Mousasi or Mo? Mo has serious charisma and both of those guys are super exciting, whereas Dan has the charisma of a shoe. If Kimbo has taught us anything, it is that looks and charisma matter more than fighting ability in selling a fight to a TV audience.

  6. IceMuncher says:

    It’s interesting, the Aoki/Melendez fight and Hendo/Shields fight are almost the exactly same fight stylistically. Great BJJ guy with no striking vs a top wrestler with very good striking. I’ve got both wrestlers winning handily via sprawl and brawl. I was hoping to make easy money with Melendez, but the bookies made him the favorite.

  7. smoogy says:

    This event is going to be great. Considering all the ad spots on CBS, I wouldn’t be surprised if the main event surpasses the peak rating from the Fedor fight.

    • 45 Huddle says:

      Your joking right?

      This is a perfect example of people overhyping guys outside of the UFC.

      This is the same Dan Henderson that was drawing 300,000 PPV Buys for the UFC at a time when the company was doing everything north of 500,000. The UFC has never been able to make Randy Couture into a huge draw, the same goes for Dan Henderson. Some guys just don’t have the mass appeal.

      This show will do right between the Fedor/Rogers and Lawler/Smith cards in terms of overall viewers. Which isn’t very good.

      • smoogy says:

        Why are you blabbering about PPV buys? Nobody has to pay a dime to watch Saturday. If we’re throwing around numbers, how about this one: Dave Meltzer says 16 million people saw Henderson decapitate Bisping at UFC 100, if you combine all the TV replays and stuff like that.

        Last fall, you were here loudly whining to anyone who would listen that Fedor isn’t a huge star and that SF was doomed with him as their headliner. You mocked Josh Gross for his prediction of how many viewers would tune into that fight. Then it turned out his prediction was dead-on, and that Fedor actually was a big enough star to headline the card. So forgive me for feeling a bit of deja vu re: your hysterical approach to predicting certain doom for SF. I think you’ll be proven wrong again. The overall rating might not blow anybody away, but the peak for Henderson vs. Shields will be big.

        • 45 Huddle says:

          Fedor isn’t a huge draw. He can’t carry a PPV and a show headlined by him on CBS did a 40% drop over reruns during the same time slot.

          And now they are looking for more money, but nobody can justify it… Why? Because he isn’t a big enough draw to warrant the more $$$$$…..

          The fact that Coker won’t put him in there with Werdum and give into M-1’s demands is a pretty good sign he isn’t worth the money….

      • Alan Conceicao says:

        Sounds like it makes him 3 times the star Fedor was on PPV. LOL

        I think this does probably slightly better than the Fedor fight did on CBS, because Henderson is a bigger name to the fans that watch MMA at house parties than Fedor is to anyone. It doesn’t do anything crazy, doesn’t fail miserably, and they’re back for a third show where everyone revisits the same “OOOH FAILURE” thing we’ve seen before.

  8. Zack says:

    I don’t think this is a make or break show for CBS. It mirrors EXC and their 2nd show (although this one is tons better for hardcore fans.) I’m stoked for this & the Pavlik fight on HBO on Sat.

    In fact, this Strikeforce show is really everything I want in MMA: promoters working together to bring the best fights in a non-PPV model. I hope it does well.

    • Bryan says:

      I don’t know what CBS you guys have been watching, I’ve seen a bunch of ads, as well as some on MTV and Comedy Central (which I’m sure because both are Viacom stations).

  9. Grafdog says:

    Hopefully the mute underselling of these three title fights being the stylistic antithesis of the much touted terribly tepid trio of matches which headlined ufc 112 will result in conversely exciting fights..

  10. Fluyid says:

    I’m DVR’ing the CBS fights and watching HBO live.

    • Alan Conceicao says:

      This.

      • mr. roadblock says:

        Me too. The boxing shows are the only fights ive really been looking forward to lately. Ive got May 1 circled on my calenar.

        • Alan Conceicao says:

          There’s a run of boxing right now through the middle of June that’s off the charts. Probably as good as I’ve seen it in a long time, and I only have to buy one PPV during the whole run.

    • edub says:

      I really have to get Tivo. Switching back and forth is gonna be tough.

  11. Mark says:

    I remember last year I got shouted down for saying too much MMA is going to hurt the sport. And now some of the same people who strongly disagreed with me are admitting they’re burned out on MMA.

    It’s true: too much of anything, no matter how much you love it, is a bad thing. If you ate your favorite kind of cake every day you’d be sick of it. If you had sex with the same Victoria’s Secret model every day you’d get sick of her (even Adriana Lima, if that’s possible.) And if you get MMA every weekend it’s going to get old.

    The Strikeforce show certainly won’t do monster ratings. I don’t think it will do as bad as the feared Lawler-Smith II Elite XC show but it’s not going to do better than any of the other MMA on CBS shows.

    And yes, the summer of 2009 was as big as MMA is ever going to get. I don’t even think Brock Lesnar can top Brock Lesnar. The fairweather fans aren’t nearly as interested. And the ones that stuck around are educated enough to pick and choose what they want to see and aren’t going to simply buy something with the UFC brand name slapped on it. So I doubt they’ll do a million buys again. And if they did they’d have to have a supershow that would ruin the rest of the cards for the next 6 months which would be idiotic.

    And oddly enough that popularity level is way below soccer.

    • IceMuncher says:

      I’ve routinely had steak every week for years. Still not getting old. Give me good MMA every week, I won’t get sick of it either. I also promise I won’t get sick of having sex with Adriana Lima if you can make that happen for me 🙂

      Also, I think Brock vs Carwin is going to get past 1 million fairly easily, no matter the rest of the card. There were 750k (+/-) PPV purchasers that watched Carwin steamroll Mir, and Brock is the biggest draw in the sport. There’s going to be a huge demand for this fight.

      • Mark says:

        There are people who are so obsessed with MMA that they watch it every day. If an event isn’t on they put on a DVD or watch Unleashed or something. But that’s a tiny minority, probably smaller than the “MMA internet community”. The majority of the public gets burned out on things, and the majority of the public makes or breaks how you’re viewed as a success. Dave Meltzer compared too much MMA to the public burn out on when “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire” went from one day a week to every single day and the interest in the show dropped quickly. Not saying MMA is going to be abandoned, but you’ll never get a 1.7 million buyrate again. And 700-800K will be the new mega-blockbuster event that only happens once or twice a year if Brock or Kimbo is fighting or they have a really stacked card.

        • 45 Huddle says:

          I think a 1.7 Million buyrate for a Brock Lesnar fight is a possibility.

          But with the burnout, it’s the rest of the shows that will suffer….

      • edub says:

        Completely agree.

        I already have a bet with a couple boxing site editors that Lesnar Carwin will cream Pacman’s last fight.

        • Fluyid says:

          Did you guys agree on a definition for “cream”?

        • edub says:

          Ok the bet was just whose would be higher. I just put cream in there. Probably woulda been able to defend this sooner if my comments didnt have to be moderated.

  12. Mark says:

    Considering the Clottey fight only did 700,000 buys and UFC has already beaten that with the GSP-Hardy show that’s not much of an exciting bet to troll boxing sites about.

    1.7 million will never happen again since a lot of things went right for UFC 100 beyond Brock Lesnar. Especially since Frank Mir also being a tremendous salesman in his interviews (which the fairly dull Shane Carwin is not) also helped. Also the whole UFC 100 was stacked with star-studded fights.

    I don’t know if they can come close to that since they’ve had most of their champions fight too close to July and other big fights like Liddell-Franklin or Rampage-Rashad are happening on other shows and Edgar-Penn II is probably going on the next event. Maybe GSP would be ready but they’d have to rush a #1 contender not named Jon Fitch which I don’t know if they could do.

    Right now what they do have penciled in is Wanderlei-Akiyama and the rematch between Bonnar and Soszynski which are hardly Bisping-Henderson or GSP-Alves.

  13. Miller says:

    I think it could do a million with a good co-main, but not 1.5 million.

    Maybe there would be bigger interest if we didn’t see Carwin look like half Lesnar’s size next to him already. Everybody knows Lesnar isn’t dumb enough to stand and trade with Carwin like Mir and that he’ll easily take him down.

  14. Alan Conceicao says:

    This fight might be exciting to someone, but honesty, its garbage technically. Mo gassed in the first round and Mousasi not long after, and now the 4th just started and its sloppy as hell. The most impressive thing are Mo’s takedowns, which Mousasi hasn’t been in any way, shape, or form able to prevent.

  15. Jonathan says:

    I am surprised at how easy Mo was able to take down Mousasi or how impossible Mousasi found it defend takedowns.

    The 5th is over, and I think King Mo has it on the cards.

    • 45 Huddle says:

      I’m not shocked at all. Mousasi had no back game against the UFC reject in soko. Nit a shock he has nothing here. This has been his huge weakness. His stil is now gone. He is in Strikeforce long term with no real prospect. Killed his career.

      King Mo is perhaps at the level of other UFC prospects. Nothing more nothing less.

      This show had the potential to start if boring. So far it is.

  16. David M says:

    Mousasi literally landed twice as many strikes as Mo did. Mo’s face is swollen beyond recognition. Why are Euro fighters so bad at defending takedowns? Has wrestling not been invented yet on the Old Continent?

  17. Jeremy (Not that Jeremy) says:

    So the Independent World MMA Rankings had Mousasi at 5th in LHW going into the night.

    Gegard overrated coming in, or Mo underrated?

    • Alan Conceicao says:

      Gergard overrated, obviously.

      • 45 Huddle says:

        Gegard overrated. Should have been lower top 10 not top 5.

        Lawal should now be #9 or #10. That us the correct ranking.

        • Alan Conceicao says:

          I wouldn’t even say he’s that. Maybe #11-12 at best. Mousasi lost to a guy that was below him in the rankings by a pretty healthy degree no matter how you slice it, and not only that, he was totally exposed as lacking in the most fundamental area of MMA. Mo won and looks totally one dimensional with a tiny gas tank. Heck, he’s not even very big for 205. I bet money he could make 185 and not even cut too much. He’s right there with Ryan Bader, I think.

        • edub says:

          Alan he has said in the past that he could stll make 185. Thats where he wrestled on the international level.

          I also agree on every point u made.

    • Jeremy (Not that Jeremy) says:

      I guess there’s a third option as well, that they were correctly ranked, and that there was just a quirky style matchup.

      No fighter is going to be able to defeat everyone below him on the rankings every time.

  18. Jonathan says:

    “Can I use your shirt?”

    Most classic line ever!

  19. Alan Conceicao says:

    Just came back to this after Bute’s KO win on HBO – Aoki is getting handled. Its hard to picture there not being a number of guys being able to follow this gameplan either.

  20. Jonathan says:

    I wish fighters would start trying to fight to win instead of fighting not to lose. It is great sport, just not all that awesome to look at. This seems to be a problem that is universal to current day MMA.

  21. David M says:

    King Mo would beat almost everyone in the UFC at 205. Strikeforce rules aren’t as favorable to wrestlers as UFC rules are because of the lack of elbows, but Mo is basically a better, more athletic version of Bader.

    Aoki has no business fighting at 155 in America; he needs to go back to Japan where people don’t cut weight and the refs allow him to buttscoot all over the ring like a bitch, or move to 145 and get KTFO by Jose Aldo.

  22. David M says:

    Jonathan: Definitely didn’t bet money on Aoki; it was pretty obvious he wasn’t physically big enough to deal with someone as good as Melendez.

  23. 45 Huddle says:

    Exactly as I predicted. A bunch of boring fights. Ot really exciting ones. This card had the potential for it.

  24. David M says:

    I’m glad I didn’t go to this show. Without Fedor, this is meh.

  25. Jonathan says:

    Career performance by Jake Shields. Showed some real heart in that fight and came back from the brink of defeat.

  26. Jonathan says:

    What the fuck was that during hte interview?

  27. David M says:

    wow, that was the most exciting moment of the night. However I’m worried that is going to screw Strikeforce because the media is going to call MMA barbaric again and Im worried CBS will cave and not show them again. Argh.

  28. 45 Huddle says:

    StrikefOrce is screwerd!! Bwahahaha!!

    Shields beats Henderson and goes to the UFC!! Strikeforce is idiots!!

    • Jonathan says:

      I love you showing your true colors here 45 Huddle about wanting everything that is not the UFC fail.

      • 45 Huddle says:

        True colors? Or the truth. Strikeforce bet everything on Henderson and now the UFC is going to sign the guy who beat him.

        Coker failed big time. He bey the house on Henderson…. You never bet the house on anybody!!

    • ttt says:

      shields vs fitch in the ufc 😀

    • Mark says:

      You’re using your short term memory to ride the vicarious high horse. Elite and Strikeforce are hardly the only companies to put everything on one or two fighters. Before UFC was big they “bet the house” on Tito Ortiz to be their poster boy, then he got in a contract dispute so they “bet the house” on Chuck Liddell until he got KOed by an old grappler. PRIDE “bet the house” on Takada until he was an embarrassment then “bet the house” on Sakuraba which actually worked out for a few years. It’s what you do until you can get a strong roster of fighters over time as the UFC has.

  29. Alan Conceicao says:

    LOL I go to look between rounds as Pavlik is getting his face cut apart on HBO to see Henderson nearly KO Shields then back off after a body kick and then gets handled. Then I see a bunch of people wrassling around in the cage and its Mayhem Miller. LOL at this. Glad to see we have a challenger for GSP everyone can agree on!

  30. David M says:

    I wonder if how much Dana paid Mayhem Miller to do that..

  31. ajz123 says:

    Take a breath 45. Settle down, and type slowly. The correct sentence would be “Strikeforce is IDIOTIC!!”

    Thank you Diaz brothers for behaving appropriately as usual.

  32. Mark says:

    I felt sorry for Strikeforce about the post-fight brawl until they REPLAYED IT IN FULL after the commercial break. Shame on them. I expect that out of Nick Diaz but I was shocked Shields threw the first punch. Mayhem was just doing what Tito has done 1,000 times, or even the king of the cleancut class acts GSP has done: hype up a fight. To swing at the guy for 5 words is ridiculous. This will not sit well with CBS.

    As for the fights, Henderson looked old and Shields showed great control but the punching power of a toddler. Aoki was insane for not training in a cage and it’s no surprise he got dominated by a guy who looked twice his size. I think Mousasi took some kind of downers before his fight as he looked more lethargic than usual with the Mayhem Miller flopping rag doll takedown defense. All in all everybody who lost deserved it. So it was the anti-UFC 111.

    And if Shields goes to the UFC they’re going to want him as a Middleweight since they’re way beyond stacked at 170. I’d like to see what he could do against Marquardt first.

  33. CapnHulk says:

    What a disappointing card, other than Shields/Henderson. I didn’t watch the post-fight but, from what I gather, Miller ran into the ring and started a brawl? Really? What the hell is that about?

    • Mark says:

      He didn’t start the brawl, he came into the cage and said “How about a rematch?” and Shields shoved him through his banner and swung at him which caused his camp to give him a bully beatdown (come on, you knew the easy reference was coming) and Mayhem didn’t look like he was fighting back even, just covering up as he got ganged up on. Just because you come in the cage doesn’t mean you can be beaten up. And Maro asskissed Shields saying Mayhem was the “disgusting” one. He’s an idiot.

  34. Alan Conceicao says:

    And if Shields goes to the UFC they’re going to want him as a Middleweight since they’re way beyond stacked at 170. I’d like to see what he could do against Marquardt first.

    With who? Paul Daley and Ben Saunders? No matter who you name, more people just saw Jake Shields win a fight against a name opponent. Might as well just throw him in immediately.

  35. Mark says:

    GSP has plenty of contenders. Anderson Silva has Vitor Belfort and the Sonnen fight nobody cares about. He’s in more immediate need of a contender. Especially since Shields is now known as a Middleweight with this being his biggest win.

    Plus do you want to tempt fate with a possible Shields-Fitch fight? I’ll have nightmares about it tonight just thinking about it now.

    • Alan Conceicao says:

      Shields just beat Henderson. If he can make 170, he’s the most interesting guy that isn’t named Anderson Silva that’s a potential fight for GSP. He’s strong, he’s a good wrestler, he might force GSP to work on his feet. The alternative is what? GSP laying on Koscheck for 25 minutes this time? Pfff.

      • 45 Huddle says:

        Shielded is the best possible opponent for GSP right now. Too bad Strikeforce signed a guy for big money who lost to a guy who will go to the UFC. This is what happen when you vey everything on te house!!

  36. […] Strikeforce 4/17 in Nashville: A make-or-break event for the company on CBS | […]

  37. EJ says:

    Dana must be laughing his ass off after this debacle, SF is officially the new Elite XC that was beyond pathetic. Congratulations Hendo you are the new poster child for what happens for guys who chase the big money outside the UFC and end up getting embarrased. Now you know how AA and Sylvia feel, hope that SF check keeps you warm at night when you just got worked over by a WW.

    And speaking of Shield great performance, but he is no challenge to GSP his striking is horrible and he won’t outwrestle or outgrapple GSP. But hey good for him that he can now call his shot but don’t be surprised if he stays with SF because he knows that he would get destroyed in the UFC at WW or MW.

  38. Vic Mackey says:

    They let way too many clowns in the cage after a fight

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