Penick's Take
PENICK: Strikeforce women's tournaments a great step to create viable divisions
Aug 16, 2009 - 12:17:31 PM PENICK: Strikeforce women's tournaments a great step to create viable divisions

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After the face of women's MMA went down last night to ground and pound from Cris "Cyborg" Santos, the future of women in the sport may be contingent on Strikeforce's next move with their division and their new Champion. Fortunately for all involved, it seems their next idea is one that could develop many names to be featured in the division in the near future.

Thus far the concern has been the lack of names to sell as a challenger to whomever had come out of last night's title fight the victor. Quite simply no one's been featured enough outside of Gina Carano and Cris Cyborg.

That may change with Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker discussing plans to hold tournaments for both a 135 lb and 145 lb women's tournament. The 135 lb. tournament would likely crown the first women's Champ in that division, and the 145 lb. tournament would determine a challenger for that Title currently held by Cris Cyborg.

What will happen is they'll start with eight women in each division, with the winners of the opening round competing in the semifinals on the same night. The winners of those semis would then match up in a tournament final on another card. This type of tournament is precisely what is needed to begin developing a women's division that can be a continually viable division outside of just Carano and Cyborg.

By giving eight deserving women a shot in each tournament, especially with the semis where those that win will face off in the finals are featured on the same card, they build up more and more exposure for each one. The same way Carano and Cyborg were built up with their wins on CBS, the women involved in this tournament, at least those that win, will have three higher profile fights, likely on Showtime, where they will showcase themselves as a challenger. Add what looks like the likely debut for Marloes Coenen in an immediate Title shot against Cris Cyborg and they are adding more names that can be built up with strong performances.

Cris Cyborg alone atop the division can not sustain it. As a non-English speaking Champion to an American audience, combined with the fact that she does not contain the mainstream appeal Gina Carano would have had as the Champ, she will need to have a number of challengers built up in order to sell her Title fights. Had it been Carano coming out the victor, it's a large likelihood that she herself would have continued to sell whatever fight she was in. Cyborg's got some star appeal, but it's in no way to the level that Carano would have had as a Champion.

Now Carano is not done as a draw despite the loss. She can keep or regain her status as the "face" of women in the sport in the public eye, though that will likely take another solid win to get her back in line for a rematch with Cyborg. But her fights will still bring fans, and people will still want to see her.

The tournament set up will not only develop Title challengers or Champions, but it will set up a larger base for a division to match these women up with one another. There are any number of matchups that can come out of the tournament, and the seven that do not win will find themselves with a much larger audience to ply their trade than they've had thus far. It will also bring more women in to face off against Carano in high profile fights that can be big, if sold properly, for Strikeforce.

Strikeforce is taking the steps necessary to showcase legitimate women's mixed martial artists, and they should be commended for that. Last night was a big step, and while it wasn't their star coming out on top they're putting pieces in place to keep these women a staple of Strikeforce and a staple of this sport.