UPDATED: What Happened to Mark Miller vs. Deray Davis?

by Brent Brookhouse on Nov 9, 2009 4:05 PM EST in News Comment 82 comments

During the undercard portion of Saturday's Strikeforce show the Mark Miller v. Deray Davis fight was skipped over from it's scheduled slot to make sure the women's bout would have adequate time to get in before the start of the CBS broadcast. The ladies only took a few minutes to get their fight taken care of and there were thirty minutes left before the show went live. Still, the Miller/Davis fight didn't happen. We were told in the media section that the fight was going to be moved to after the main event. I'm not sure who provided that update but it was passed around from media member to media member.

After the post-Fedor madness cleared from the cage we were told to get upstairs for the press conference and it was clear that the Miller/Davis fight wasn't taking place. I tried to ask the few executives I saw walking around for the story and no one seemed to know.

However I have since found the following from Chicago Now:

Mark Miller vs Deray Davis was canceled by fight organizers due to lack of time. A real un-cool decision. Both fighters prepared for this evening and were told with no advance noticed what-so-ever. At the moment they would be walking out on the floor for their match, Miller and Davis were informed that they were canceled! Fighters stood stand-by in shock trying to understand how this became their evening's destiny.

As impressed as I was overall by how smoothly things seemed to run from the Strikeforce side, how the hell does this happen? Two hometown guys have been put through a training camp, all the mental and physical preparation, the weight cut only to be told seconds before walking out to the cage that the fight is canceled. It's a massive ball drop, especially considering that the Jeff Curran / Dustin Neace and Marloes Coenen / Roxanne Modafferi fights both ended in under three minutes. It isn't as though every fight went to the judges and time just became completely unavailable.

I'm sure Strikeforce paid both guys, but fighters want to fight and it's a real shame that Strikeforce fell down so badly on this contest.

UPDATE by Brent Brookhouse:

As posted in the comments as well as this fanshot by Scott Haber it appears both men were paid their contracted "show" money but no win bonus as well as no opportunity for other bonuses. Also, one of the men reportedly lost all sponsorship money since he was never out in front of the crowd to fulfill his side of the contract.

I have requested a response from Strikeforce. Here is an excerpt from said request:

Does Strikeforce wish to issue a statement to BloodyElbow to the following questions?

- What does Strikeforce feel are it's obligations as a promoter to afford the fighters the opportunity to fight for their contracted win bonus?

- How did the show hit the point where when two undercard bouts ended in under 2 minutes and a third ended in the second round that there was no room for one of the scheduled bouts?

- What responsibility does the promotion take in the damaging hit to the livelihoods of these fighters as well as the professional toll taken on them? These men were put through training camps, gathered sponsorship contracts and then were not given the opportunity to compete.

- Why did the bout not take place when there were 30+ minutes left prior to the start of the CBS broadcast and no other remaining preliminary bouts?

Updates to follow as available. Stay tuned.

Update 2 By Brent Brookhouse:

ULTMMA pointed us back to their site via this fanpost which covers a discussion they had with Mark Miller's management. The highlight:

From a email with Oren Hodak of KO reps

"He (Mark Miller) obviously wanted to fight. I can't charge his sponsor since he didn't actually fight. We will try and transfer most of them to his next fight. One problem is that 2 of the sponsors were Chicago based, hopefully they will still support his next bout.

Strikeforce did pay him his 'show' money, but they still took out the 'corner man fee'."

Strikeforce still has not replied to my request for a statement and I will be following up with a phone call shortly.

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Comments

That's pretty unprofessional

They could’ve had them fight after the other prelims and then aired it in case something went too short. Even though the latter is pretty unlikely with Werdum and Miller on the card.

by asa on Nov 8, 2009 7:56 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

In addition to the Davis-Miller cancellation, CBS once again showed they have no idea how to manage the pacing of an MMA event to keep it within it’s timeslot. They had massive problems on this front with EliteXC and last night was more of the same.

It is already a struggle to get affiliates to show MMA live rather than pre-empting it for syndicated programming such as ‘Legend of the Seeker’, and blowing past their time slot once again won’t make anything easier. I guarantee that CBS is going to have some very unhappy affiliates this morning. They absolutely HATE it when they have to delay their local news shows.

Online fabnboys like to talk about how crappy the UFCs production is, but they miss the forest for the tres. Hate on the Gladiator and the mist boxing all you like, there is still no one in the industry who comes anywhere near them when it comes to getting the basics right … basics like ending within your time slot.

by Steve4192 on Nov 8, 2009 7:59 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Everyone I’ve seen is praising Strikeforce for their show last night. I’d like to see how this changes it.

By straight up cancelling their fight? That shows a complete lack of class on Coker’s part.

by joseph. on Nov 8, 2009 9:07 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

I thought they did a pretty good job with pacing but this crap does suck. I wonder if this was a CBS decision (they blew their side of the show pretty badly last night) or a Strikeforce decision?

by who me on Nov 8, 2009 9:52 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I thought they did a pretty good job with pacing

Seriously?

They only had four fights in two-and-half hours, canceled a prelim bout because they were worried about getting the show started on time, and ran way over their time slot. How is that doing a good job with their pacing?

by Steve4192 on Nov 8, 2009 9:57 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

not to mention the break from when shields-mayhem ended to when Fedor-Rogers started, all commercials for what seemed like forever…and we didn’t get entrances for the main event which seemed kinda weak….

by Reaser16 on Nov 8, 2009 10:03 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Yea they should of showed the ring entrances but that wasn’t a pacing issue it was a CBS decided to show a couple of commercials instead of the ring entrances issue. The pacing was the same it’s just a difference in production values for the show (which sucked).

by who me on Nov 8, 2009 10:08 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

makes sense, except your use of a “couple commercials”…think that was more than a “couple”…

by Reaser16 on Nov 8, 2009 10:10 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Well I doubt Fedor or Rogers had very elaborate ring entrances that ate up a lot of time, still that was two or three minutes that they should of shown instead of the couple of commercials there. The rest of the time they are obviously going to fill with commercials because that is how they pay their bills.

by who me on Nov 8, 2009 10:18 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Not showing the entrances...

is almost unforgivable. Fedor’s entrance was pretty amazing. The crowd was going nuts, you couldn’t even hear his music, the pyro and firework things were going off. It was pretty great and I bet it would have translated to video very well.

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by Brent Brookhouse on Nov 8, 2009 10:26 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

about the entrances, everythign would have been better if they showed none.

I know Mayhem loves to do crazy entrances, but if there’s going to be 4 fights, and you’re only going to show 1 set of entrances, let it be the main event. That’s especially true if Shields is not goin gto do anything more than just walk out.

Yes, Mayhem loves to do these elaborate entrances, but it probably looked odd to most casual fans, and if hardcore fans really wanted to see it, they could have released the entrance online or used it for some sort of viral marketing in the future.

I can’t really comment on the pacing since it was much better paced than the other thing i was paying attention to last night, so I really wasn’t paying attention, but from reading the comments, moving those commercials up might have made everything go better.

by Phildo on Nov 8, 2009 10:22 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

They always have run over their timeslot, I think they plan it that way for some reason. I wasn’t planning on seeing the main event before the over-run so that didn’t surprise me at all. The only real drag was between the Shields fight and the Fedor fight but then there always seems to be a drag before main events that is pretty common for events too. Having the title fight is why they could only have 4 fights on the broadcast, we knew that going in. Now cancelling this fight is unacceptable as far as time management goes but then it wasn’t part of the broadcast so I didn’t notice it last night.

by who me on Nov 8, 2009 10:04 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

They always have run over their timeslot, I think they plan it that way for some reason

LOL

No they don’t.

Running over timeslot creates massive headaches for affiliate stations, who then share those headaches with CBS corporate. EliteXC got taken to task big time for not keeping their broadcasts within their slot, and I suspect Strikeforce will also face the wrath of the CBS front office suits.

by Steve4192 on Nov 8, 2009 10:07 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

All three EliteXC shows ran over, heck those over-runs were the best ratings for every show and the part that CBS always got excited about. Kimbo never fought on CBS where it wasn’t already past the time slot and in to the over-run and one of his fights on CBS didn’t even last 2 minutes. The affiliates were grouchy about the events before they even happened because they knew they were going to run over their timeslots, it was expected beforehand.

by who me on Nov 8, 2009 10:14 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I think the bigger issue here is HOW MUCH CONTROL DOES Coker HAVE?

This is why Dana isn’t on broadcast TV.

We all know Coker is a stand up guy, he wouldn’t do this kind of thing. I think Dana might be right, Showtime and CBS are running Strikeforce when they are on their networks.

by Dexerion on Nov 9, 2009 4:38 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

good point

by bdw on Nov 9, 2009 4:58 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Do they still get paid?

by zanelewis on Nov 8, 2009 9:26 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

At the very least, they got their show purses.

by Steve4192 on Nov 8, 2009 9:30 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

If Illinois is like every other athletic commission then the show purse is guaranteed regardless of what happens. Obviously someone missed out on a win bonus there though, not to mention the fact that they didn’t get to showcase their talents on the card.

by who me on Nov 8, 2009 9:54 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Hopefully Coker did what the UFC has done in the past when stuff like this happens … paid both guys their win bonus.

by Steve4192 on Nov 8, 2009 9:58 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

They should take it out of Frank Shamrock’s salary because he sure didn’t do anything worth getting paid for during the event.

by who me on Nov 8, 2009 10:06 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Speaking of the broadcast team, was it just me or was Mauro remarkably subdued last night (by his standards)? No horrific puns, no penis jokes, very little over the top cheerleading.

I actually found that he kind of blended into the background, which was a welcome change from the norm.

by Steve4192 on Nov 8, 2009 10:10 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I only wanted to strangle Mauro a couple of times, he really didn’t seem to add much of anything to the show and Frank didn’t even seem to want to comment at all. Gus was doing a ok job up until the Fedor interviews and they were so bad I walked out of the room.

by who me on Nov 8, 2009 10:24 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

ya, I don’t get why they use him to do the post-fight interviews, makes no sense and he isn’t good at it, at all…

by Reaser16 on Nov 8, 2009 10:31 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Thanks for updating this Brent, was searching all last night trying to find out what happened to this fight, was VERY interested to see the results, followed your pbp for the undercard and this (and Coenen) is the fight I was waitiing for the entire time doing that…

This shows what Strikeforce and/or CBS is really all about, joke status, unprofessional and bush league…bad enough they lost a lot of west coast viewers would couldn’t stand to not watch it live so “we” all watched it online and from what I saw most people were saying they weren’t watching it again on TV when it finally was played on 3 hour delay…

at least the show went smooth, wasn’t like there was 20 minutes of commercials and an all-time record of 10 plus consecutive commercials before the main event or anything…

by Reaser16 on Nov 8, 2009 9:34 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

I would be interested to see how their west coast ratings compare to their east coast ratings.

I doubt the disparity is as big as you think. Only a tiny fraction of viewers are fanatical enough about the sport to watch a stream of an event that is taped delayed by just a couple of hours. I’d guess that 80% of the casual fans didn’t even realize itwasn’t live and the other 20% didn’t care.

by Steve4192 on Nov 8, 2009 9:53 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

guess I shouldn’t have a used “a lot” in that sentence…

but people did skip the showing on CBS because they watched it online, or like many of my friends who I kept telling to watch, they had already saw the results on ESPNs bottom line (ticker) and they aren’t really mma fans so they didn’t watch, college football more important to them…

…as well as my friend who I had got all hyped to see Fedor, he called and said "Fedor won tonight? and I was like where you see that trying to play it off that I just watched it online, and he’s like "I"m on ESPN.com right now and it says he won, thought the event didn’t start for another 2 hours?" and I said west coast gets it on tape delay…he ended up watching video of the knockout on sportsbybrooks.com, as opposed to actually watching the fights and watching the other fights on the card…that’s what happened to some casual mma fans and HUGE sports fans i personally know…

by Reaser16 on Nov 8, 2009 10:01 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

That’s pretty shocking. That kinda thing shouldn’t happen again.

by klown on Nov 8, 2009 11:33 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Affliction did this once or twice as well didn’t they? first said the fight would happen after the Fedor main event, then just cancelled the fight(s)…

by Reaser16 on Nov 8, 2009 11:40 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

I think this deserves a loud and proud "Fuck You" to the organizers.

Sure, they got paid without putting their bodies on the line, but they also failed to get the chance impress. Maybe they would have had a war, or highlight-reel finish – that’s bonus money. That’s a raise in salary. That’s the bigger leagues calling them when the SF contract is up. All gone.

Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better. -Samuel Beckett

by themachiavellian on Nov 8, 2009 1:33 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Bad news from the UG

http://www.mixedmartialarts.com/?go=forum_framed.posts&forum=1&thread=1549327&page=1&pc=6

From: The Mouth Send Private Message Add Comment To Profile
Posted: 52 minutes ago
PrimetimeFC / Legends of Fighting, Owner
Member Since: 12/8/03
Posts: 18204

They got only their show money.

One of them lost all of his sponsorship money cause the fight didnt happen.

SF kept the win purse for both guys.

by Steve4192 on Nov 8, 2009 3:18 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

That's all sorts of shitty.

I’d like to know what sponsors refused to pay. There are certain companies that just don’t give a shit about fighters and see them as nothing but billboards, and others who will go above and beyond to make sure the athletes are treated as family. It would be nice to start building a record of which sponsors do this so we can temper our spending accordingly.

by pdl on Nov 8, 2009 3:39 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

While I agree this sucks for the fighters you have to look at this from the sponsors point of view as well- they aren’t running charities, they gave that fighter a certain amount of money expecting to get something back in return, that didn’t happen and it’s nobodies fault other than Strikeforce.

by ufc4 on Nov 8, 2009 9:43 PM EST via mobile up reply actions 0 recs

Right...

the fighters ARE billboards for these companies.

The time was there for the fight to happen before the CBS broadcast. Or it could have happened after the main event.

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by Brent Brookhouse on Nov 8, 2009 9:45 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I'm aware of this.

The sponsors had no legal or contractual obligation to pay either of them. That said, there are certain sponsors who continue to pay athletes even when not contractually obligated to in order to create good will, out of loyalty, for sympathy, or for representing the brand well outside of the cage. Maybe whichever guy didn’t get paid was a douche and their sponsors want to drop him anyways, I don’t know all the details. What I do know is that MMA is a tough way to make a living, and I hate to see sponsors not treating their athletes as well as they can.

by pdl on Nov 8, 2009 10:21 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

this is absolutely discusting…

SF should be paying the win bonus at the very least…

by milson on Nov 8, 2009 9:22 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

that’s horrible.. Can the fighter sue strikeforce or CBS for the sponsership money?

by asmiley420 on Nov 8, 2009 6:00 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Aren't they...

…supposed to treat their fighters “better” than the UFC?

by MickDawg on Nov 8, 2009 6:02 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

that was afflictions slogan…lol

by Joselana on Nov 8, 2009 10:11 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Please see update to main post

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by Brent Brookhouse on Nov 8, 2009 9:19 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Where's Fenix and Supremacy?

I’m sure they have a good excuse why this is ok and a reason that it’s somehow all Dana White’s fault.

by ufc4 on Nov 8, 2009 9:41 PM EST via mobile reply actions 0 recs

I don't really think that matters...

I only care about what Strikeforce has to say.

I deeply enjoy Strikeforce’s product and thought last night was a great card…but that doesn’t really excuse this particular aspect.

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by Brent Brookhouse on Nov 8, 2009 9:47 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

People are always bashing the UFC’s treatment of fighter’s, but something like this would never happen in the UFC. Heck when Nover had a seizure they paid him and Stout show and win bonuses and that situation wasn’t even the UFC’s fault like Strikeforce canceling a fight right before the fighters are to walk out.

by Sliup on Nov 8, 2009 9:48 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

agreed! they handled Nover and Stout great. Coker should be taking notes.

by Joselana on Nov 8, 2009 10:20 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

The exact (well, almost) same situation happened at UFC 100 with Fitch vs. Paulo Thiago. They didn’t want to run over the timeslot, so they had that fight after the main event.

They obviously couldn’t show Miller vs. Davis on CBS since they were already over their timeslot, but they could have just put them in the cage anyway. A lot of people might have left, but having the fight without a crowd is better than no fight at all.

by Swordslasher on Nov 9, 2009 1:39 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

People mistake UFC’s hard nosed buisness tactics to “treating fighters poorly”. When in reality they are driving a hard bargain with fighters and salaries. This is the type of shit that can be called treating fighters poorly.

by JaTinkles on Nov 9, 2009 4:43 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs

I know there's little room for humor in a shitty situation like this...

But doesn’t it look like in that photo at the top they were both just told the fight was cancelled and then both look at Scott Coker like “Say whaaaa?”

We're just a million little gods causin' rain storms, turning every good thing to rust.

by Robert Downey Sr. on Nov 8, 2009 10:04 PM EST reply actions 1 recs

Haha it really does. Kinda like a “what the fuck d’u jus say?”

Sorry, he Jason Bourned me.

by MMAussie on Nov 8, 2009 10:59 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Simple solution for Strikeforce to make up for this fiasco; let them keep their money and now put them on either the Nov 20 or Dec 19 shows.

by nottheface on Nov 8, 2009 10:09 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I just wonder...

if they can make the same sponsorship money. Both guys were local so I’m sure some of their sponsorships depended on them fighting on this card.

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by Brent Brookhouse on Nov 8, 2009 10:55 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Plus it doesn’t hurt to be on the same show as Fedor…the Nov 20 and Dec 19 won’t have the same hype.

by Swordslasher on Nov 9, 2009 1:35 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Then guarantee them a spot on the Nov 20 tv broadcast.

by nottheface on Nov 9, 2009 2:57 AM EST via mobile up reply actions 0 recs

What bothers me is o.k. fine they got their show money but it was probably only 2 or 3 k tops. Losing the sponser money is whats driving me crazy. Dana right now is laughing at SF cuz he has been saying this all along that its a small regional promotion trying to play in the big leagues. Coker should be doing more and if something like this happened in the UFC everyone would be asking for Dana’s head. I hope everyone doesn’t just let this slide becuz they have a soft spot in their hearts for SF and just get a little upset over this like I’ve been seeing. Your doing a great job Brent, I hope you keep the pressure on them about this.

by Joselana on Nov 8, 2009 10:18 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Brent seems like the only (and best) person to keep the pressure on them. Seems whenever I want someone to go deeper into an issue and/or ask some tough questions, no one else is willing to do it, but you can count on him, just like all the WAMMA stuff…nice to see someone doing more than just sharing their opinions on topics, its appreciated greatly…

by Reaser16 on Nov 8, 2009 10:55 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

agreed thank you brent.

by JaTinkles on Nov 9, 2009 4:44 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

This is gonna make guys happy to be on a SF undercard. The least they can do is pay them their bonuses and slot them in the dec show

by bigc4277 on Nov 8, 2009 11:05 PM EST via mobile reply actions 0 recs

If they hadn’t lost their sponsorship money I’d say that paying them each 50% of the contracted win bonus would be fair since they didn’t actually “win” but also weren’t provided with the opportunity to. I mean, ideally you give them both the full bonus but…at least 50% is something.

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by Brent Brookhouse on Nov 8, 2009 11:10 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

These are undercard fighters

Their win bonus couldn’t have been THAT much…maybe $30k? Strikeforce doesn’t have $30k to give to these guys after wasting months of their time having them train for nothing? That’s pathetic.

by MikeD32 on Nov 8, 2009 11:13 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

30k is way too generous for SF undercard fighters, I’d be shocked if it added up to 10k combined.

by Phildo on Nov 8, 2009 11:16 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Probably close to $3K … combined.

Strikeforce undercards are usually littered with guys making $1500/$1500. Sometimes even less.

by Steve4192 on Nov 9, 2009 6:32 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

That’s even worse, these fighters barely get by as it is. 10k would be alot for them, and practically nothing for Strikeforce.

by MikeD32 on Nov 8, 2009 11:17 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

A quick fix would have been what the UFC did for Yoshida when Karo had to pull out last second. Hold the camera on the fighters for 30 seconds in between fights or something while they’re wearing their walkout shirts.

I have no idea what a contract between a sponsor and a fighter looks like, so it might not make a difference since there was no fight, but 30 seconds of the walkout shirt getting on CBS should be worth the same as a fight on the untelevised portion of the card.

by Phildo on Nov 8, 2009 11:20 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I would be shocked if that 30 seconds of footage would have fulfilled their contractual obligation to a sponsor. The contracts that I’ve seen use the words “compete” or “fight.” And even though any sponsor would be ecstatic to have that 30 second spot on network TV, they still would not be forced to pay their fighter. Again, this is why I would like to know who did not get paid and by which sponsors. If it includes Tapout or Affliction, that’s effing shameful.

by pdl on Nov 8, 2009 11:34 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Thank You Brent

for being a real reporter and contacting them for a statement. so much better than a simple 500-word complaint buried under piles of fanposts.

by judonerd on Nov 9, 2009 3:14 AM EST reply actions 1 recs

Mr. Brookhouse, sir, thank you for both an excellent article and making noise about a gigantic screwup.

This was, in the very literal sense of the word, a robbery – much more so than Rua-Machida or any other fight we’ve screamed our heads off about. Two fighters not only lost the chance to fight (which is what they’re in there for), they probably lost numerous chances to sign up to fight elsewhere – and one of them ended up losing their sponsorship money, which would’ve probably been quite a tidy sum, compared to what their show purses probably are.

Unless the community raises its collective voice about this, it might end up being a precedent. If Strikeforce gets away with this once, they might try to do it again – for whatever reason. This is below bush league, not something a promotion that’s aiming for respectability has any right to be doing. At the very least, Miller and Davis deserve their win bonuses – and a guaranteed TV slot.

by lhasafi on Nov 9, 2009 5:40 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

I wonder if this was a CBS decision as opposed to a Strikeforce decision? Coker has a good reputation in the sport and there was plenty of time for the bout to happen which makes me wonder if this was purely a tv production decision. CBS treating MMA as a entertainment event as opposed to a sporting event as far as production goes seems to generate a lot of issues with these shows, you have to wonder if that might be the case here too.

Way to keep on them Brent, maybe they will issue a response.

by who me on Nov 9, 2009 10:15 AM EST via mobile reply actions 0 recs

Even if that were the case

I would still hope that Coker will pay these men their appearance fee, win bonus and the sponsorship money for the fighter who lost out on that. Not that he has an obligation to do so or anything, but it would be the right thing to do.

by dv8shun on Nov 9, 2009 10:31 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I agree completely but if it was a CBS decision then it should be CBS held to task. Either way it would be interesting to know just who made the decision to pull the plug on the match.

by who me on Nov 9, 2009 10:42 AM EST via mobile up reply actions 0 recs

CBS probably played a role in choosing not to have the fight before the main card, but I seriously doubt they would have cared if the fight went off after the main event.

The UFC had the same problem with the Fitch-Thiago fight at UFC 100 and solved the problem by letting them fight after the main event. There is no reason Strikeforce could not have done the same. I suspect the reason Strikeforce chose not to hold it after the main event is because they didn’t want to risk losing coverage at the post-fight press conference. They were worried that the journalists wouldn’t stick around. That is an incredibly lame reason for screwing two fighters.

by Steve4192 on Nov 9, 2009 11:05 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I am glad to see this issue not being lost within all the Fedor talk.

It’s good to see someone taking Strikeforce to task on this.

by joseph. on Nov 9, 2009 10:17 AM EST reply actions 1 recs

by ironic sumo on Nov 9, 2009 3:28 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

agreed joseph. this is not acceptable, especially not by an org claiming to be #2

by detroit_fan on Nov 9, 2009 4:03 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

From the UG: (unconfirmed)

Just a tidbit: Both fighters were compensated and are promised the next availaible Strikforce match in which they will be paid again.

by Nick Thomas on Nov 9, 2009 4:14 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

This bout was cancelled because it was forgotten. They forgot to make an announcement in the house, the TV people forgot and started tearing down, and with the crowd leaving and the work starting, they were kind of stuck.

Unfortunate to say the least.

by JonathanSnowden on Nov 9, 2009 4:14 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I asked around at the show and got nothing but shrugs and somewhat annoyed looks. It’s…something to find out that they just forgot.

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by Brent Brookhouse on Nov 9, 2009 4:15 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

LOL at ‘we forgot’

Whats next?

The show started late? … ‘we overslept’
Our paperwork is not in yet? … ‘the dog ate it’.
You couldn’t contact us? …. ‘our voicemail is broken’.

Awesome

by Steve4192 on Nov 9, 2009 6:08 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

how can they justify corner man fees if they didnt even fight? Thats a very dirty move. Please Brent rip them on this.

by Joselana on Nov 9, 2009 4:23 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I want to get more details and find out Strikeforce’s side of things before I “rip” them. I think there may be more than we know right now and I want to know more details before I go to far with anything.

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by Brent Brookhouse on Nov 9, 2009 4:26 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

im gonna +1 on the “rip them a new one”… but i appreciate your willingness to let them share thier version of things

by ironic sumo on Nov 9, 2009 4:36 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

And just to be clear...

I just don’t want to go nuts and have it come out that an agreement was made between fighters/promotion to take the show bonus with the agreement that they get a spot on the next card and an increased contract…etc. I’m not saying that is what happened (and in fact it sounds from Miller’s mgmt that it is not the case) however…there is a flow to these stories and I want to make sure that we’re staying within reason in how we treat it.

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MMA Editor - SBNation.com

by Brent Brookhouse on Nov 9, 2009 4:49 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

yeah this is definitely needed as I too am awaiting a response from them. I had mentioned several times that Deray Davis’s lone amateur loss came at the hands of Rudy Bears and depending on the outcome of both of these fights, that could make for a good story on a challenger series card.

For the sake of Strikeforce, they need to at least offer these guys another chance to fight.

http://www.mmarecap.com

by thebwit on Nov 9, 2009 4:54 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs