Strikeforce Emerges as Top Contender to UFC

In what should prove to be an industry-shaking move for years to come, the California-based Strikeforce MMA promotion announced late last week that they had purchased select assets of the now-defunct ProElite, Inc., including around one third of the EliteXC contracted fighters.

While the new deal may come as a disappointment to some fans, both hardcore and casual, in that fan favorites such as Jake Shields, Robbie Lawler, and Nick Diaz will not soon find themselves in the UFC, a prospect that had seemed all but a foregone conclusion sometime in 2009, the essential merging of the Strikeforce and EliteXC fighter pools will provide much-needed depth to a promotion outside of the Zuffa-owned Ultimate Fighting Championship. Besides, the UFC can only produce so many events annually, so adding in a few Strikeforce events every year should provide MMA fans with a double dose of high quality events on an almost tri-weekly basis.

The news will also undoubtedly ease the financial concerns of many of ProElite’s top contenders, whose own contracts had been locked up by the failing company with no predictable end in sight. With the merging of these two pools of fighters, ranging across the majority of the most widely-recognized weight classes in the sport, Strikeforce should soon surpass Affliction as the top contender and challenger to the UFC, although neither promotion is likely to come up with the resources necessary to realistically compete with White and company anytime soon.

Shields (still a maybe), along with Diaz, Lawler, Gina Carano, Scott Smith and—perhaps regrettably—Ferguson will now join a competent group of contracted Strikeforce fighters including Frank Shamrock, Gilbert Melendez, Renato Sobral, Josh Thompson, and Cung Le, providing a plethora of mouth-watering match-ups for MMA enthusiasts.

Another announcement, surfacing later the same day, should come as a relief to fans who want to view upcoming events on a somewhat regular basis, as the promotion also announced a deal with Showtime to produce up to sixteen live events per year, with an option of putting up to four of those events onto CBS in 2009, presumably to occupy the 9:00 pm timeslot vacated by EliteXC.

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Fans and pundits alike should breath a little easier with the acquisition, as Strikeforce, although lacking the promotional and financial muscle of the UFC, has demonstrated a professionalism and objective broadcasting perspective that EliteXC lacked severely, and I for one would much rather the San Jose-based company be featured on primetime network television than the over-hyped and overblown antics of Kimbo Slice—in the main event, while legitimate top ten athletes such as Shields and Lawler are relegated to the undercard.

As always, only time will tell.

By Steven T. Kelliher
ProFighting-fans.com Staff Writer