Tara LaRosa and Strikeforce's Thin Roster
by Cannon Jacques on May 1, 2009 12:14 AM EDT
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Ariel Helwani makes the case for Tara LaRosa in Strikeforce:
Strikeforce is universally recognized as the unofficial home of female mixed martial arts. They've helped promote female fighters as much, if not more, than any organization out there. Yet for one reason or another, they have not signed LaRosa. Instead, the San Jose-based promotion has been forced to rebook fighters like Scott Smith and Nick Diaz two months after they last fought to fill up their upcoming June 6 card on Showtime.
Why not sign LaRosa, a free agent, to help build their female stable? Remember, female fighters are the one thing Strikeforce has that the UFC doesn't. If the best 205-pound fighters strive to fight in the UFC, the same can be said about female fighters looking to land a spot in Strikeforce. LaRosa is ready, willing and able. What else does she need to do to get noticed?
As Helwani points out, it's not like Strikeforce couldn't benefit from some added depth in their line-up. The female side of the sport is one area where Zuffa isn't even attempting to compete. If Coker believes that there's a profitable market for female fighting, why not load up the roster now? Should Strikeforce sign LaRosa, it would be a definite signal that the promotion is serious about providing a competitive, talent-rich environment for the women and their fans.
On a different but very much related front, there's an offer on the table from Sarah Kaufman to fight Miesha Tate as a replacement for Kim Couture. What Coker and company do in regard to this situation should also shed some light on where they're going with the women's division(s). One can only hope that Strikeforce will take Kaufman up on her offer, and make that match happen.
Below is a video from Fox Fight Game where both LaRosa and Helwani are panelists. A lot of ground is covered here, and LaRosa gives some real insight into a number of the issues facing women in MMA. Check it out:
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God damn it, I want another news outlet to give MMA this kind of exposure.
by Derek Suboticki on May 1, 2009 12:24 AM EDT reply actions
The dirty little secret on women’s MMA is….
Promoters don’t care about it unless they think it will make them money. And outside of Gina Carano (and she still has not proven to be able to sell tickets), no female is worth investing into the sport. Not to mention that they take away available television slots from the men.
That’s “the dirty little secret” of any successful business. If Strikeforce believes that women – not just one or two – are marketable as fighters, they need to build a somewhat deep pool of talent. If they don’t believe in the female sport as a whole, I suppose they’ll just stick with the status quo. Building other female fighters has to start somewhere.
by Cannon Jacques on May 1, 2009 12:43 AM EDT up reply actions
I don’t buy the idea that Smith vs. Diaz was booked out of desperation. They are just striking while the iron is hot re: Nick Diaz mean mugging his way into the hearts of Showtime viewers while Scott Smith gets beat up like Rocky and tries to look for a miracle comeback. That is just good TV. That fight didn’t even need to be on the already-solid June 6th card.
The fight makes sense – I just have no idea who Diaz fights after he wins.
by Derek Suboticki on May 1, 2009 12:55 AM EDT up reply actions
What is her asking price? She got $500,000 a fight from the AFL. This might have given her an inflated impression of her worth to a company like Strikeforce.
"I see him beating Anderson Silva. I see him picking him apart. Him at a 131 years old...(trails off)." - Tito on Belfort at Affliction:DOR
500k???
are you serious? wtf, is she chuck liddell?
by Anton Tabuena on May 1, 2009 1:03 AM EDT up reply actions
There’s a difference between signing for 500k and fighting for 500k.
The alleged salaries the AFL said they were going to pay people are irrelevant since none of the big names ever fought for them, and it’s looking doubtful that anyone ever will. If she’s going to sit around and wait for 500k to fight, she’s going to be looking for another job.
Was it 500k signing bonus? Now that you mention it, I can’t quite remember.
I wasn’t saying that she might expect 500k again. But getting a contract like that might have made her think that she deserves more money than what Strikeforce is willing to give her. It’s a plausible possibility. Essentially, it takes two to tango, and I’d need to know more about the situation before I said that Strikeforce is showing that they aren’t “serious about providing a competitive, talent-rich environment for the women and their fans” because they haven’t signed Tara LaRosa. Similar to the Fedor/UFC situation: her demands might not make sense for Strikeforce.
I’d like to see LaRosa there. For one thing, it would give somebody for Akano to fight that is actually in her weightclass (and I suspect that fight would rock). That said, I think that without knowing what LaRosa is looking for and/or what Strikeforce is offering her (or whether they are even in negotiations), it is a little premature to say too much.
"I see him beating Anderson Silva. I see him picking him apart. Him at a 131 years old...(trails off)." - Tito on Belfort at Affliction:DOR
In the video she says that she would have to fight like once a month in order to make a living as a full-time fighter, and I believe she’s fighting on a regional card soon. So, I don’t think she expects 500K a fight.
by Cannon Jacques on May 1, 2009 7:10 AM EDT up reply actions
The bigger problem is that Larosa and Carano fight in different weight classes.
In reality the talent is much deeper in Larosa’s division because Carano is huge, and there are really very few good 145lb womens’ fighters. If they are serious about getting a weight class going it should be at 130 or 135. However, that leaves out using Carano to popularize it.
This honestly is not the biggest problem in the world. In fact, it’s a good thing. You can promote more than one star, focusing so much on one division is a recipe for problems. You can promote both LaRosa and Carano as champions. Let the divisions grow around them. Most girls will bulk to 140-145 just for the chance to fight Gina. I’m sure Larosa would do it, but I think the better idea is to have multiple weight classes and champions.
The classic fallacy here is acting like Gina Carano is the only star ever and nobody else can be a star. She is a good looking girl with an exciting fighting style. She didn’t come to us from American Idol or WWE, she became a star through an exciting fight and buzz.
I guarantee you start building up LaRosa as the best fighter in the world, air her trash talk on Gina, and get her a few easy wins on Showtime, and people start getting interested in that fight. It is not that complicated. It’s actually way easier to do than all the idiotic MMA competition models from people like Affliction.
yep. i agree 100%..
build two stars and you dont put all your eggs on one basket and wont get jeopardized in case one loses.. (think miguel torres and faber) ..plus you build a potential superfight between the two down the road..
by Anton Tabuena on May 1, 2009 1:33 AM EDT up reply actions
and why is that?
lots of staff people here do opinion based posts and what’s wrong with this one?
by Anton Tabuena on May 1, 2009 1:36 AM EDT up reply actions
Ha ha ha.
I’m laughing, because I’m assuming there’s a joke there that I missed.
by Cannon Jacques on May 1, 2009 7:17 AM EDT up reply actions
And yes, Strikeforce’s roster is very thin. If they want to really run the 12-16 shows they say they want to, they are going to need their guys fighting 4 times a year. Maybe that’s a good thing.
Still, one thing they really should do is promote two different women’s divisions. A 135 division with Tate, Kaufman, Larosa, Baszler, Akano, Young, Reid, and Evinger. Then a 145 division with Carano, Cyborg, Erin Toughill, Karen Williams, Coenen (maybe), Takahashi, Kelly Kobold….there are also up and comers like Mazany, Dandois, and Bednark at 145.
Add in a division for Fujii and another for Miku, and I would be emotionally bound to do whatever I could to financially support that company, even to my back account’s detriment.
"I see him beating Anderson Silva. I see him picking him apart. Him at a 131 years old...(trails off)." - Tito on Belfort at Affliction:DOR
Nope. Way higher interest. ;-)
incomprehensible grumbling…fucking…-incomprehensible grumbling-…edit tool…-incomprehensible grumbling-
"I see him beating Anderson Silva. I see him picking him apart. Him at a 131 years old...(trails off)." - Tito on Belfort at Affliction:DOR
And again!
Word to the wise: enclosing your phrase in hyphens will cause a strike through at the beginning of a sentence. You may now proceed with the rest of your day as planned.
"I see him beating Anderson Silva. I see him picking him apart. Him at a 131 years old...(trails off)." - Tito on Belfort at Affliction:DOR
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