Strikeforce has the spotlight to itself. The long-rumored UFC event expected to counter the promotion's April 17 CBS offering will not take place, MMA Fighting has confirmed.
Earlier this month, the UFC explored the option, going so far as to inform likely broadcast partner Spike TV that the show was a go, but the company has apparently reversed course, and a Spike source said the network has been told by the UFC that the show is no longer happening.
At the time, rumors of potential matchups pitting Mike Swick against Matt Serra and Wanderlei Silva vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama were quickly extinguished for various reasons, making finding a headlining act a challenge.
Also complicating factors was the decision to put together a card on short notice; at the time, there was six weeks to assemble the event. The UFC had been able to do it once in the past, when it countered Affliction's first pay-per-view offering in July 2008 with a card headlined by Anderson Silva. But in this case, logistics could have been a factor as Zuffa already had UFC 112 scheduled for Abu Dhabi on April 10 and the pivotal WEC 48 pay-per-view on April 24, so adding another card would have strained the company's resources.
Now, it appears Strikeforce will air its anticipated show pitting three title fights free of live competition, though the Spike source said it's likely the UFC will at least air a prior pay-per-view event on Spike. A decision on that programming has yet to be made.
The Strikeforce event, emanating from the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, features title bouts between Dan Henderson and Jake Shields (middleweight), Gegard Mousasi and "King Mo" Muhammed Lawal (light-heavyweight) and Shinya Aoki and Gilbert Melendez (lightweight).
Comments (Page 1 of 1)
i think its a win win for us fans...now we wont have to dvr one and watch the other we can sit back watch them both live !!go hendo and mousasi kick some a**
The CBS card is sick! all 3 title fights are must-sees.
Three title fights on one card. Just goes to show what can be accomplished by not spreading one's self too thin. UFC needs to get a clue and realize one or more main cards per month isn't working. They need to have a lot more "Fight Nights" for the up-and-comers and contenders, and about half as many PPV cards but have them more stacked.
The UFC planning a counter to this great Strikeforce card with a Swick/Serra main event as rumored would've been absolutely laughable, and an insult to even their gullible fanbase.
and an even bigger insult to the fighters they asked to fight on it. i would hate to be a ufc fighter and have to fight on the samw night as this sick card. i'd rather be watching the fights at home with friends and family cause i sure as hell wouldn't wanna miss it.
and for those who will watch the ppv re-run, they are more than welcome to watch. strikeforce doesn't need them cause they aren't mma fans anyways. just mindless fanboys. everyone who knows what mma stands for will be watching strikeforce. except dana white. yeah right, he'll be watching too, and be all salty and bitter cause it's on cbs and featuring dan henderson.
wow pip, rage much?
everyday
Yeah Dana why don't you just worry about putting on the best fights possible on your own PPV shows. Instead of trying to smash the competition
Strikeforce would have moved their card back a week and dumped all over the WEC ppv debut. Thats the real reason the UFC didn't counter program.
i wonder about that too.
even if strikeforce kept their card where it was it would still kill any UFC card thrown together in a month and a half. It was a no win scenario for the UFC so I don't think they actually intended on putting a card together.
I am looking forward to the SF card. This will show the casual fans taht will tune into CBS what SF and MMA is all about.
@hsiunnu the UFC seems to be doing just fine and making a ton of money. But i do agree one PPV a month is fine or every 6 weeks with Fight Night cards. There was an artile on this site about how less PPV's actually paid the UFC more. So that would be something for the UFC to think about.
RJ I am and know a lot of UFC fans anshouldn't be stereotyped like the few that are gullible.
@Pip your right if I was a fighter asked to fight on a card against the SF card there would be no way in hell.Just because someone would watch the UFC instead of SF it is nothing to be slighted over. UFC is the brand that represents MMA. SF just needs to do some stuff to get their name out there and do everything they can to attract the "fanboys".
@afightfan - Dana White is doing the best thing for his business. It is competition and has worked well for him. he is doing with MMA what Vince McMahon did with WWE and making it the only recognizable brand.
Ban ban i totally agree with you I think Dana was just making SF nervous mentioning that UFC might put a card on.Thats why I say SF should just go about their business and sure you have to watch what the UFC does like free agants and such. But they shouldn't worry so much about them and just do what they have been doing.