Rich Hansen's Take
HANSEN: Strikeforce killing momentum, hurting their Heavyweight Grand Prix by delaying second set of quarterfinals
Feb 23, 2011 - 2:45:43 PM HANSEN: Strikeforce killing momentum, hurting their Heavyweight Grand Prix by delaying second set of quarterfinals

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By: Rich Hansen, MMATorch Columnist

NEWS: Remaining Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix Fights Will NOT Happen on April 9 As Originally Announced

(Or "Scott Coker determined to destroy Strikeforce more efficiently than even Dana White could do").

How many fights does Josh Barnett have to steal away from MMA fans before promoters stop hiring him? Strikeforce will reportedly now be running in California on April 9, which means that since Josh Barnett failed to piss clean on three separate occasions, refuses to cooperate with the CSAC, and refuses to give one half of one percent of a damn for you, me, and all the other MMA fans in the world, the Barnett-Rogers fight and the Overeem-Werdum fights will be delayed for at least a few more weeks, if not much longer.

Sherdog reported late Monday night that the April 9 event is now looking to have co-main event fights of Gilbert Melendez vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri and Nick Diaz vs. either Paul Daley or Tyron Woodley, with the second set of Heavyweight Grand Prix quarterfinal bouts no longer taking place on the card.

Of course, Daley has a fight scheduled for February 26 and might be smart enough to not want to fight Nick Diaz a mere six weeks later. And that's assuming he defeats Yuya Shirai on that night. As for the possibility of Woodley accepting the Diaz fight, Woodley also might be smart enough to not take a fight with Nick Diaz on six week's notice as well. And he's probably smart enough to know that going from Tarec Saffiedine in his last fight to Nick Diaz in his next might be too large of a step up in competition.

So because Scott Coker decided to sign and back an apparently un-licensable Josh Barnett when he could have just as easily slotted a deserving Daniel Cormier into the back-end of the Grand Prix bracket, the following side-effects will damage his company:

1: It looks like we are all going to have to wait at least another month or two (Strikeforce isn't planning on running an event in May, although that might change now) for the quarterfinals of the Grand Prix to finish. The first two fights of the Grand Prix delivered Showtime their best ever ratings for MMA, and that momentum is going to be severely stunted as a result of Josh Barnett's existence in the tournament.

2: If Daley declines to fight Diaz on short notice, if Daley loses in Japan, or if Woodley declines to fight Diaz, then the April 9 card is going to be weak, at best. And once you consider the relative weakness of the March 5 card, that'll be two shows in a row that appear weak on paper. And yes, I realize that a show that is weak on paper can be the best show of the year, and vice versa. But considering how hot Strikeforce has been recently, this would be a real body blow.

3: Strikeforce's credibility will be shot if they can not come through with the remaining quarterfinal fights on the exact date they promised. Strikeforce will forever etch into granite their reputation of being the promotion whose tail wags the dog if they can't deliver what they promise. It is one thing to float ideas, like they did with their abortive Middleweight Grand Prix. It's one thing to get railroaded by the Russian mafia. But like my daddy* used to say, "Once is a fluke, twice is a trend, and three times is time to cut bait.**"

*I never called him 'Daddy.'
**He never actually said that.

4: There is now a MAJOR competitive disadvantage in the tournament. Let's theorize that the remaining quarterfinal fights happen in May. Let's say after those two fights that the two winners (let's call them Barnett and Overeem) want a reasonable 13 weeks between fights. That places the semi-finals somewhere in the middle of August. That would mean Barnett and Overeem on three months notice would be fighting against Kharitonov and Silva respectively on six months notice. Those disparities are, believe it or not, the BEST case scenarios. Check this out...

Showtime and Strikeforce both know that the number one reason that the Fedor vs. Silva card drew so heavily was because they marketed the show as a "Grand Prix." Showtime will of course want the semi-finals to commence as quickly as possible, so as to re-establish the momentum of the Grand Prix. Would you really put it past the corporate overlords at Showtime to pressure Coker, Overeem, and Barnett into accepting semi-final fghts in five or six weeks notice? As if the unbalanced bracket wasn't unfair enough, now we're working short rest into the equation as well? And here's yet another worst case scenario...

Imagine if Overeem and Barnett advance in dominant fashion, and one of them gets slightly injured. Not torn ACL bad, but just bad enough where they might need four or five months instead of three months before either man is ready for the semi-finals. Now that the tournament, which was originally slated to end by September, has already been delayed, would Coker replace a slightly injured fighter for the sake of expediency? Imagine if Alistair Overeem knocks out Fabricio Werdum in 30 seconds, but breaks a bone in his hand and can't take a semi-final fight booking until three or four weeks later than Ken Hershman and Scott Coker want. Do they slot Fedor into his spot? Shane Del Rosario? Do they delay the tournament another handful of weeks, knowing that the world will blow up if they made everyone wait forever for the first round to finish, but then replace a fighter in an attempt to speed things up?

On a personal note, I am just so pissed off right now. I feel betrayed and completely used. I spent so long resisting Strikeforce's charms, and just when I finally got sucked in, when I finally made it known to anybody that would listen that Strikeforce was not only hot but completely solid, they kicked me square in the crotch. Right now, I feel like the Jennifer Aniston character in all of the s***ty movies she gets cast in.

All of this begs the following poll question:

Who's in charge of Scott Coker's promotion?

A) Ken Hershman
B) The Fighters
C) Scott Coker
D) Both A and B
E) Anybody but Scott Coker

If you answered E, you are correct. Coker has officially lost control of his company. The lack of response to this report along with several tweets from reporters talking about how people within the company having no clue what's going on for this event attest to that. And wouldn't you know it; he lost control at a time when Strikeforce was flying higher than they had ever flown. Poor Icarus.

[Editor's note: Strikeforce has yet to comment on the Sherdog report, but has not yet denied that these Grand Prix fights will be moved off the April 9 card either. With the event expected to take place in just over five weeks, they have also yet to officially announce a venue or location for the card, and reports suggest multiple rumored states for the event have not even been approached by the organization to host the event]