Brydon on MMA: The Strikeforce conundrum
Posted December 20, 2011 2:14 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
It has been an interesting week for Strikeforce.
On a conference call last Thursday, it was announced that Strikeforce had a new broadcast deal with Showtime. Despite speculation to the contrary, Strikeforce was very much alive.
The organization’s CEO Scott Coker and UFC president Dana White insisted that Strikeforce is not a second-tier organization. It will be going after the best talent and building new contenders and champions that MMA fans will be able to get behind as much as the No. 1 organization in the world, the UFC.
Then on Saturday its two longtime champions Gilbert Melendez and Cristiane Santos displayed their continued stranglehold on their respective divisions, even after long layoffs.
Melendez had a five-round whitewash of Jorge Masvidal; only one judge gave one round of five to the challenger, who was touted as a stronger striker, but Melendez ended with nearly double the amount of strikes thrown (500-272) and landing more (122-100) in a bout the champion didn’t even bother trying to take to the ground (where he might have had the bigger advantage) since he was doing just fine on his feet.
Afterward, Melendez, who is on six-fight win streak but has only fought three times in the past 24 months, called himself the best striker in the 155-pound division.
That sounds like something that would be great to test against some of the best in the UFC and until last week, most people thought that’s where he was headed. Trouble is, that’s no longer the plan. He’s going to remain in Strikeforce and continue to defend his belt many times to come.
White said Melendez was excited about that opportunity. And Melendez himself was saying some of the right things: “I have faith that Strikeforce and Showtime will bring me someone really tough to continue to prove myself in this sport.”
But he also said he’d like to see some of the top contenders moved over from the UFC. That’s not the right thing to say after last week’s announcement. But, let’s be honest, who is left in Strikeforce to challenge him?
He said K.J. Noons looks to be the No. 1 contender. But does he (or any of us) we really think Noons, who barely pulled out a decision over Billy Evangelista on Saturday to snap a two-fight win streak, would pose much of a threat? A potential challenger was lost when Justin Wilcox was knocked out in 13 seconds by Caros Fodor, who could be an up-and-comer but is still a bit green, even on a five-fight win streak.
Melendez is clearly the top lightweight in Strikeforce, and one of the best in the world, but until he faces off against the likes of Frankie Edgar or Ben Henderson, that belt around his waist will serve as nothing more than a boasting tool (perhaps that’s what he’s excited about).
Switching to the ladies, Cyborg, with a 16-second dismantling of Hiroko Yamanaka (in which strikes were 12-0 for the champ) proved what White said last week that Cyborg IS the women’s 145-pound division in Strikeforce, where it appears there are even less potential challenges.
Afterward the 26-year-old Brazilian mentioned she’s ready to take on former Olympic judo medallist Ronda Rousey (who is now 4-0 in MMA, 2-0 in Strikeforce). But is Rousey truly ready for Cyborg? I think that’s a bit premature for the 24-year-old, who is yet to have her standup tested by anyone close to that of the female steamroller who fights out of the Chute Box Academy in San Diego.
Cyborg was off for nearly a year-and-a-half because there were no legitimate challengers. It could be another equally long layoff while another No. 1 contender is groomed.
But let’s just say she does fight six months from now. Can you imagine Cyborg competing for a total of 16 seconds in two years while she’s supposed to be touted as one of your two to carry the torch for the women?
White has always said the women’s division isn’t deep enough to be part of the UFC and it seems he’s very much correct. But if it’s not deep enough for the UFC, then how is it so for Strikeforce if you claim it is not a “secondary” promotion?
While one reason could be the frequency of events — Strikeforce will hold 6-8 shows vs. 34 for the UFC in 2012 — it seems like a contradiction.
White isn’t the only one.
CEO Scott Coker insisted last week that Strikeforce is not a secondary brand, saying Cyborg, Melendez and middleweight champion Luke Rockhold were not “secondary fighters.”
I’ll buy that, as far as the fighters go. But when there aren’t enough challengers to make enough challenges for them, or enough interesting fights for the fans, how can you not consider it a “secondary promotion.”
It also doesn’t help when your former heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem said on a conference call Monday ahead of his Dec. 30 tilt against Brock Lesnar that the UFC is “100 times bigger than Strikeforce.”
Of course, you have to take that comment with a grain of salt, considering he was released by Strikeforce and stripped of the belt because of “scheduling dispute.”
But I think his comment echoes how most people in the sport view the two organizations. Really, how do you run two top-tier organizations owned by the same company and call them on the same level?
They say they’ll be looking for the best talent out there and signing the best talent. But at some point you have to choose to sign a new fighter to the UFC or to Strikeforce and it’s not going to be random. One is going to get the best, and the other the second-best.
There’s also been discussion about fighters being moved from the UFC to bolster Strikeforce’s roster. But, again, the very top fighters aren’t going to want to make that move. Nevermind the prestige, there’s a lot more money in the UFC.
Asked how they’ll let fans know that Strikeforce is not a secondary brand, White said it’s going to be clear.
“Wait and see what we do (with Strikeforce),” White said.
I’m anxiously waiting. Because as of right now, I’m really not sure what Strikeforce has to offer, for its fighters or its fans.
NOTES: Overeem was asked Monday about whether he feels pressure for his No. 1 contender fight at UFC 141, his first fight in the Octagon. His answer was a good one (although again, not if you’re a Strikeforce exec): “The UFC is huge, and there’s a lot of media attention on it. But the nice thing about me is the bigger the fight is, the bigger the media attention, the more people that come to watch … the better I achieve in the ring.” … Overeem, who is also a former K-1 kickboxing champion, said the UFC title is the only thing missing from his collection. “I’ve cleaned up everything outside of the UFC. I went to K-1 and got the K-1 title, which I think was a historic achievement and which I’m very proud of. The UFC title is the only thing left to achieve.”
