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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
A move to pay-per-view long appeared to be the end game for Strikeforce as an organization, and the purchase of the organization by Zuffa appears to be only expediting the procedures.
According to a report from MMAWeekly.com, Strikeforce's first pay-per-view event is "all but official" for July. No location or date has been revealed for the July card, but one potential fight for the pay-per-view event would pit light heavyweights Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal and Roger Gracie against one another.
Lawal was initially slated to take part in Strikeforce's June 18 event in Dallas, a card which will feature the second set of quarterfinal bouts in Strikeforce's Heavyweight World Grand Prix, but according to the report his fight is now likely to be a part of the pay-per-view card.
Additionally, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker said in a media conference call last week that Fedor Emelianenko's return was expected to come on their July card as well.
Penick's Analysis: A move to pay-per-view was going to be needed for Strikeforce from a financial standpoint, something highlighted by SVSE looking to sell and move on with their other endeavors which lead to Zuffa's purchase of the organization. With Zuffa having tried the pay-per-view approach once with the WEC, we'll see how much brand viability Strikeforce has on that front, and at what level they can sell. They'll need to put together a pay-per-view worthy card, and this Lawal vs. Gracie fight is a good start to building that card. Fedor's inclusion will be good as well, but with two straight losses they shouldn't headline the event with his fight. We'll see what they can put together for a different headliner in the next several months, but this was a move that was definitely going to come out of this sale.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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