Strikeforce
STRIKEFORCE NEWS: Strikeforce on CBS staying firm with April 17th date
Mar 13, 2010 - 1:31:18 PM STRIKEFORCE NEWS: Strikeforce on CBS staying firm with April 17th date

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Strikeforce's April return to CBS will stay on April 17th, according to Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker in comments made to MMAJunkie.com. With the UFC working on an event to counter Strikeforce: Nashville on the 17th, Coker had mentioned the possibility of Strikeforce moving dates to the 24th in order to avoid the head to head with the UFC, though that now will not take place.

"It's the 17th and it's full steam ahead," said Coker in the MMAJunkie.com report. "The 17th was always a good day when we chose it. We still feel the same way, and so does CBS."

"We purposefully went out of our way to avoid all the other fight shows that month, whether it was the WEC, the UFC, or whatever. I don't think [Zuffa, LLC] has come out publicly and said that they are [counter-programming], and I think there's just a lot of rumors floating around."

Strikeforce: Nashville features a three Title fight main card with the Middleweight, Light Heavyweight and Lightweight Titles all being contested on the card. The main event features new Strikeforce acquisition Dan Henderson taking on Jake Shields, while Gegard Mousasi meets Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal and Shinya Aoki comes to Strikeforce to face off with Gilbert Melendez.

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Penick's Analysis: Keeping the event on the 17th was probably the most feasible move, regardless of any reasons Strikeforce publicly gives for sticking with the date. With Showtime's Super Six boxing tournament on the 24th they would have had split production crews for the event and it likely was a headache that Showtime, CBS and Strikeforce all wanted to avoid. They were going to have to contend with the UFC eventually anyway, and despite Coker stating that "it seems so unnecessary" for the UFC to counter them and try to hurt them, that's the way the UFC works against any organization that appears to be competing with them.

Coker's right that Strikeforce being on free TV is a good thing for the sport, but in the eyes of the UFC it when it's not them being the ones on free TV it doesn't help them and their brand. The UFC is going to do what they feel they need to do to push out the competition so all of the top talent is in their organization, and Strikeforce is another potential victim in a long line of organizations that have tried to take even a part of the UFC's market over the last few years. It's just the way it is, and Strikeforce is going to have to do their part to keep themselves a float.

Coker said CBS will be giving this event a big marketing push during March Madness, and they're going to need it. They are going to have to do a much better job marketing this card than they did the November event, and they absolutely need to push the fighters that are on the card to get people to tune in for the fights.