Penick's Take
PENICK: Scott Coker shouldn't leave the door open for Jose Canseco
Mar 16, 2010 - 3:43:34 PM PENICK: Scott Coker shouldn't leave the door open for Jose Canseco

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

After Herschel Walker made his Strikeforce debut in January, former Major League Baseball player and steroid whistleblower Jose Canseco began a campaign to get a fight with Walker. Initially, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker had the correct reaction and said it was a fight they wouldn't consider booking, but things have since changed.

It started with Cesar Gracie offering to train Canseco for the bout, and led to an eventual meeting with Coker and other Strikeforce officials. While nothing came of that meeting and there is no imminent bout being put together, Coker has left the door open for the fight to be possible.

In comments to MMAJunkie.com, Coker stated "I can tell you this: If Cesar Gracie says to me, 'Jose's training with me, I'm going to get him ready, and I'm going to do it in four or five months,' and Cesar's telling me this? That will have a lot of weight on what we decide."

Further, MMAJunkie spoke with Gracie last week, who said "Scott said if Jose wants to train, he'll put him in a Challenger series (event) if it's not the Herschel Walker fight."

"There are a couple of other organizations that are interested in Jose that I'm meeting with next week."

It's all well and good that Gracie is willing to train Canseco for a fight against someone his age and help him in trying to get a serious MMA fight following his appearance in the "Super Hulk" Tournament in DREAM last year, but Strikeforce needs to distance themselves far away from this bout and even the notion of allowing Canseco on one of their events.

Canseco has done nothing to suggest he's into this for anything other than a payday, and he wants the fight with Walker because of the publicity garnered in January. If Strikeforce gets themselves pulled into this for the sake of pulling in some extra viewers they'll be facilitating a mockery of all the things they're trying to represent as one of the top MMA organizations.

Strikeforce is too big an MMA organization to allow a coveted spot on a Showtime or CBS event to go to someone like Canseco, as they have their own fighters under contract that would benefit much more from getting on these cards and into those televised slots. Canseco in MMA at all is hard enough for fans to swallow, but to allow him into the number two organization in the U.S. is simply a joke that Coker shouldn't even be considering. It's not a good idea and I hope it never comes to fruition.