Strikeforce Going Out of Business

According to multiple high profile (and usually accurate) sources, Strikeforce will be closing it’s doors soon.  After two high profile fighters dropped out of the upcoming card, Showtime has decided to end the promotion.  This will be the second time Zuffa (owners of Strikeforce and the UFC) will have had to cancel a card.

Around 1.5 years ago, when Zuffa bought the majority stake in Strikeforce, UFC President Dana White claimed it would be “business as usual” for Strikeforce.  This lie had barely finished falling from his lips when Zuffa started taking all of the high profile fighters from Strikeforce and moving them to the UFC.  As Zuffa had already done with Pride Fc, WEC, and other (superior) promotions, they buy them and then work to dismantle them by taking all of their high profile fighters.

I have to say, my love of MMA is at an all time low.  Most of the promotions I loved have been dismantled and all that is left is a watered down WWE wanna be version that attracts the lowest common denominator in society.  The sport has become plagued with terrible reffing, horrible judges decisions and corrupt leaders.  I must not be alone in my feelings because UFC PPVs and TV ratings have been in the dumps for a while now (with a few exceptions here and there).  It’s sad that a sport which was once about skill and honor has become about over hyping a bunch of mediocre fighters and brainwashing fans.

I hope M-1 Global or some other organization can take Strikeforce’s place on Showtime.

Inside MMA ‏@InsideMMAaxstv
DEVELOPING @Strikeforce tenure on @sho_network potentially ending. Nov. 3rd event in jeopardy.
FrontRowBrian ‏@FrontRowBrian
Hearing @Strikeforce is being disbanded immediately. It is no more. Another promotion goes by the wayside.

@arielhelwani
Re: the Strikeforce rumors, according to a Showtime official in the know, as of tonight, 11/3 and beyond is a go for them.

FrontRowBrian ‏@FrontRowBrian
There was also a Facebook post from the wife of a Zuffa exec saying SF was shutting down. The post was then deleted. This was earlier todayFrontRowBrian ‏@FrontRowBrian

I got rumor from excellent source. Cross checked it with a high profile journalist who said he/she heard same thing from 4 excellent sources

Frank Mir is out of Cormier fight

In some disappointing news, Frank Mir is apparently injured and out of the Daniel Cormier fight.  Mir was going to be Cormier’s 3rd top 10 fight in a row.  I thought Cormier was going to crush Mir without much effort but it still would have been a good win for him.  I don’t know what the issue is these days but it seems like half of the scheduled fights never happen because someone always gets injured during training.  What in the world are these guys doing to hurt themselves so often anyway?!

I think at this moment, most of the Heavyweights are injured, on suspension or otherwise tied up already so there are not a lot of options for Cormier.  Two name guys who I think would be available and still probably have enough time to get ready are Cheick Kongo and Fabricio Werdum.  Kongo would pretty much be a give me fight for Cormier but Werdum would be an amazing fight.  Both guys have great stand up skills and are world class on the ground.  I hope a fight like that can be put together.  The other option would be to just bring Cormier over to the UFC now and let him fight Junior Dos Santos for the title.  Strikeforce GP champ vs UFC Champ, that makes more sense than JDS fighting Velasquez again already.

Frank Mir vs Daniel Cormier in Strikeforce Sept 29

 VS

The UFC is temporarily sending former UFC Champ Frank Mir over to Strikeforce to fight Strikeforce GP winner Daniel Cormier in Cormier's last Strikeforce fight.  After this fight Zuffa (who owns both the UFC and Strikeforce) is combining the Heavyweight divisions in the UFC.  Several Strikeforce heavyweights have already made the move, including Champ Alistair Overeem, Werdum and Bigfoot Silva.  The only question mark left now is who will Josh Barnett fight in his last Strikeforce fight?

I have to say, I didn't see this one coming but it's a good fight.  Both are top 10 but I fully expect Cormier to end Mir's night in the first round.  The only way he can lose this is to just into Mir's guard but I think he is smart enough to keep this on the feet. 

UFC 149: Epic Fail

I canceled my breakdown of this card last week because frankly, it looked horrible on paper.  There wasn't even 1 fight on the card I cared about seeing and it looks like that was a good choice since everyone online is saying it was one of the most boring cards of all time.

I said it when I canceled my breakdown of this card and I will say it again; if the UFC wants to be considered "big leagues" like they are always saying about themselves, they need to actually prove it by putting on good cards.  They are running so many shows now that 90% of the cards are complete garbage with no names on it.  No one wants to watch a few bums fight each other just because the name "UFC" is attached to it.  In all honesty, this is the worst era of MMA since the mid to late 90s and I think PPV numbers are going to continue to be terrible unless they really do something soon. 

I really hope everyone was smart enough to save their hard earned money and not pay Zuffa (UFC owners) for this lame card.  If people stop buying these they will be forced to actually up their game and put on worthwhile fights.  This card was so bad, I wouldn't even watch it if Dana White hand delivered it to me on DVD and even put it in my DVD player for me while serving me a pizza.

Anderson Silva vs Luke Rockhold

According to UFC Tonight, Anderson Silva wants a champion vs champion match against Luke Rockhold.  UFC MW Champ against Strikeforce MW Champ.  They really need to start cross promoting and making some interesting fights if they want to keep people interesting in the middleweight division.  Reports are that Silva vs Sonnen II did well, but that was 99% based on Sonnen talking a lot of smack and hyping the fight up for 2 years. 

I don't think Silva vs anyone else at 185lbs in the UFC would really pull very big numbers (besides maybe Cung Le or Wanderlei but neither one deserve a title shot right now).  The only other big money fights for Anderson Silva are super fights with GSP (who has been out for well over a year) or Jones, but the UFC seems content not giving the fans what they want.  Silva moving to 205lbs would also create several interesting match ups.  Silva is just as big as most UFC LHWs so it shouldn't be a problem for him to move up if he wants to challenge himself.   

Luke Rockhold holds notable victories over Ronaldo Souza, Keith Jardine and Tim Kennedy.

Gegard Mousasi talks about next fight

Gegard Mousasi talks about his next fight in Strikeforce, where he has been and if he is going to the UFC.  It stinks that Feijão is out for the next year, that is a fight I have wanted to see for a long time.  Maybe Mike Kyle will be available.  Regardless of who it is, I just want to see him active again.

UFC 149 Breakdown-Canceled

I just looked over this card, I'm not even going to bother to break it down because it's terrible.  There are literally 0 fights on this card I want to see. 

If the UFC really wants to claim to be the "big leagues" they need to start putting on cards that matter.  It seems like since Zuffa took over the cards have become more and more watered down to the point where I barely care about most of them.  Even the Strikeforce card that was on tonight (and they have been stripped of 90% of their fighters) was vastly better.