There are a lot of good things going for Strikeforce after Saturday night's CBS event. Brett Rogers and Fedor Emelianenko put on what, right now, could be considered the fight of the year based simply on atmosphere and energy to go along with the platform and the stakes with which this bout was taking place. It was the biggest fight Strikeforce has ever put on, and it absolutely surpassed the (less than ideal) hype.
But while Strikeforce can boast the greatest MMA fight seen on network television, this event wasn't without it's issues, both on and off camera.
It started as the event began, with fans allowed to enter the building only minutes before they tossed the first preliminary card fighters into the cage. It continued on the undercard with the inexcusable cancellation of the prelim bout between Mark Miller and Deray Davis. Then the timing issues made their way to the CBS broadcast as they needed to get last minute approval to extend past the two hours they had set for the network broadcast.
With six fights scheduled on the night's prelim card, Strikeforce was still getting soundchecks and cues set for the night's television card close to 5:30 pm local time. The CBS event was slated for an 8 o'clock start and fans hadn't even been allowed in the building at this point. The first of the prelims finally got underway around 5:40.
A number of the proceeding bouts ended well within their alloted time, including Marloes Coenen's extremely impressive armbar submission of Roxanne Modafferi, a bout that was a highly unfortunate victim of timing on the CBS card, and yet Strikeforce had long stretches of no action. I'd estimate at least a half hour during the preliminary two and a half hours were spent with no fighters coming to the cage or fighting within it, and somehow Mark Miller and Deray Davis got absolutely screwed.
As Brent Brookhouse at BloodyElbow.com and others have been tracking over the last couple of days, Miller and Davis were the biggest casualties of Strikeforce and CBS's complete mis-management of time on Saturday. Their bout was passed over to make sure the Coenen vs. Modafferi bout had enough time to happen, and that one ended in minutes. The two of them were then told that their bout would be scrapped and the fighters received only their "to show" money. That means that both guys lost out on the chance for their win bonus as well as at least one of them losing all of their sponsorship money for the event, which would have been as much if not much more than what the organization was set to pay them.
This is the biggest issue I have with Saturday's card, as the others can be tuned up and worked on down the road, but this type of thing is absolutely unacceptable. These guys went through full on camps preparing for this bout, paying for their trainers, their cornerman making the trip with them and then also sold tickets to family and friends to come see their bout specifically. Flat out they were screwed out of money and it's absolutely on Strikeforce and CBS, because with how the night's other fights played out there was time for this one to go on.
Timing became an issue again as the night wore on and Jake Shields and Jason Miller put on a channel changing five round Title bout. As Jonathan Snowden chronicled at Heavy.com, Strikeforce had not sought approval for an over-run of their two hour timeslot ahead of time. As the minutes moved closer to the 10pm cut off, and it was increasingly apparent that Shields and Miller weren't going to be finishing their bout anytime soon, the broadcast team scrambled to get extra time approved for the show.
In extending the time, both entrances for the night's main event happened during commercial breaks. With the incredible reaction to the entrance of Fedor from that crowd on Saturday night, it was a missed opportunity to make the ultimate victory that he pulled off an even bigger deal for both him as a star in the U.S. and for Strikeforce. It's a shame that Miller's more "pro wrestling-esque" dance-a-thon entrance made the broadcast when the greatest fighter in the world getting an ovation rivaling those of the biggest stars in the UFC was left an unseen event.
But while those were some extremely negative things left by the wayside on Saturday night, the night will be remembered for what both Brett Rogers and Fedor did in the main event. Rogers proved to every MMA fan watching that fight live or that has watched it since that he absolutely has what it takes to be a top fighter in the next couple of years. He deserves to be ranked in the top ten, even with the loss, for giving Fedor more of a fight than any have in the last few years. Rogers bloodied Fedor with the first punch of the fight, swept him on more than one occasion in the first round and unleashed a vicious four or five punches in ground and pound before Fedor's superior experience got him out of that with a near armbar. So after eating the right hand that has felled many men, Rogers still emerged a universally respected fighter for the first time in his career.
For Fedor, the latest in a career of highlight reel victories came in front of the biggest television audience he's had in the U.S. If there was any problem to selling him to the masses heading into this fight, there will be none when he returns to the Strikeforce cage in 2010. This was truly one of maybe two ways for Strikeforce that could have been considered the best possible outcome. Had Rogers finished Fedor late in that second round or even in the third, his star would be the brightest of any "homegrown" Strikeforce fighter; but with him taking all Fedor could dish out in the first round and having some success of his own before the finish, Fedor comes out looking more impressive with that knockout victory and fans everywhere will tune into Strikeforce the next time Fedor fights.
It was a great night for the organization in that respect, and they should get praise for a great main event and bringing a legitimate main event on network television. Still, they've got a long way to go, and the timing and organization of the night's card is evidence enough of that.
The event showed why Strikeforce isn't up to UFC's level yet. Zuffa has
been putting on huge events for 8 years now, they've got all the kinks
worked out. And if you read up on Zuffa's first 2 shows, you'll understand
just how steep the learning curve is.
If Strikeforce doesn't bankrupt themselves in their association with the
Russian mob I mean M-1, maybe 10 years from now they'll be where the UFC is
now. There's no shame being a solid #2 behind an established dominant
force.
Jared
10 Nov 2009, 01:30
I agree that there were timing issues (although I didn't realize it was as
bad as it was).
I also agree with Boles that they still have some kinks to work out, but I
guess that's to be expected.
One other thing that hampered the broadcast, from my point of view, that I
haven't really seen brought up was the announcing. Mike Goldberg definitely
has his faults, especially during fights when he makes cliched or
completely obvious statements (where Rogan verbally rolls his eyes), but he
is a great hype man. Goldberg is great at introducing the PPV and showing
enthusiasm for the sport. Gus Johnson is the inverse of Mike Goldberg. He's
pretty good during the fights, but he's not that good at hyping the card.
However, Gus Johnson was far from the weak link of the announce team. I
don't know what other people thought, but I thought Frank Shamrock was
terrible. If I didn't know who he was, I would think he knew little about
fighting. How many times was he asked about positioning or strategy where
he replied with an "I don't know"? I'm sure he said some correct things,
and I probably missed some, but there were too many moments where he
offered little insight. Rogan is repeatedly talking about fighters
jockeying for position, what the fighters are doing, and what they
could/should be doing. Rogan talks about what fighters should do to win
(the positions needed for submissions to reach their maximum effectiveness
etc.), or what fighters need to do to survive (rolling one way or the other
etc.)
Announcing is always important, but I think it is even more so in a "new"
promotion, and I think that the announcing on the show hurt it more than it
helped it.
John
10 Nov 2009, 01:44
What were Rogers' successes aside from opening a pre-existing cut on the
nose of Fedor?
roger
10 Nov 2009, 05:49
As a casual fan of the sport from outside of the U.S. (I'm in Europe), I
much preferred the C.B.S. broadcast to any U.F.C. broadcasts I've seen.
I find the heavy-metal music, blood splats and opening pan shots of drunken
rowdy fans shaking boobs and pulling faces at the camera highly
inappropriate. I also find the U.F.C.'s cheesy commentary quite difficult
to listen to and often mute the sound.
As an educated person from a non-American background simply interested in
the sport of M.M.A., I found the C.B.S. presentation much more palatable.
Jeff
10 Nov 2009, 11:42
as someone that is also new to MMA, I think the bully tactics of UFC (M1 is
mafia? with UFC around?) are very old and Dana White went from admiring to
annoying me. They pasted on the MMA women fighters that caught my
attention and now they are poor sports cause they don't have Fedor...
sounds like the old NFL vs AFL Battle again. As long as Strikeforce has
Fedor they will upstage UFC in heavy weight division. Lesnar beat Fedor,
possible but highly unlikely, Fedor has a team not just a ego- I guess
Brett Rogers didn't watch the 360 show, Fedor's coaches gave exactly what
they were going to do and Fedor delivered.. Rogers got to see the ceiling.
Jaime Santana
10 Nov 2009, 15:53
As long as the UFC is around and holds virtually all of the top fighters in
the lightweight to heavyweight divisions, no organization, no matter how
organized they can be, can compete without the PRODUCT. The fighters (big
names) make the show. Without big names you will find it hard pressed to
gain huge mass audiences like the UFC has. The worst UFC fight card, can
garner more viewers than a huge fight card like Strikeforce delivers and
only because Fedor was fighting. Without him they wouldn't have much to
offer. Only die hard MMA fans would be interested. That's my piece,
that's my opinion.
