Strikeforce to Host Women's Bantamweight and Featherweight Tournaments Starting This April
by Anton Tabuena on Jan 20, 2010 10:00 AM EST
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It's been pushed back from their initial announcement, but Scott Coker says that the 8-woman 135 and 145 lb tourneys will finally kick off on their Challenger's card this April, with the quarterfinals, and semifinals 'sprinkled' over their next few events.
Much like what it does for the Japanese promotions, hosting these tournaments is a great way to market the fighters and build new stars, which is a necessity for women's MMA who's only has two popular Strikeforce fighters. Here's the bad news though, we won't be seeing Gina Carano fight her way through the competition to get another shot at Cris Cyborg, nor will we see their top 135 lb fighter, Sarah Kaufman. Scott Coker explains why:
"We’re looking for the next women to fight the Gina Caranos and the Cris Cyborgs of the world."
...
"I think we’re going to be promoting Sarah against (Takayo) Hashi for our (vacant) 135-pound title. I think that fight’s happening sooner than later -- February or March, for sure."
So on February or March, Sarah Kaufman (10-0) will fight Takayo Hashi (12-1) to crown their 135-pound champ, and presumably the winner of the 8-woman, bantamweight tourney will then face off against the winner.
But what about America's darling and the 'Face of Women's MMA', Gina Carano? Coker hasn't announced the plans for her yet, but I'd like to see Gina face the winner of the 145-lb tourney, for a shot at Cris Cyborg's belt.
HT: Sherdog
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Coker hasn’t announced the plans for her yet, but I’d like to see Gina face the winner of the 145-lb tourney, for a shot at Cris Cyborg’s belt.
I’d be kind of peeved if I won an eight person tournament, and then had to fight another fight to get a title shot. Unless of course the eight person field is a complete joke.
could you imagine how big would it be for her career if she won the 8-woman tourney AND beat Carano?
they’ll probably just make the winner the number 1 contender, but I’d prefer it if Gina faced off against the winner first. That way, the title fight gets even bigger.
(but it could hold Cyborg out for a few more months, so that’s the only down side I see there)
by Anton Tabuena on Jan 20, 2010 10:20 AM EST up reply actions
Yup
Fighting Gina is a bigger opportunity than Cyborg. She is one of the biggest names in the entire sport
Exactly. The belt won’t mean half what a fight with Gina could mean. And it’s also a blessing not to face Cyborg right away. If you can’t beat Gina, I highly doubt you can beat Cyborg.
I agree fighting Carano brings much greater exposure, but wouldn’t it be better to actually put her in the tournament to give the whole thing greater exposure? To me it sounds like Strikeforce once again trying to protect their marketable assets.
Protecting their assets? If they were protect their asset, then Gina wouldn’t have fought Cyborg coming off a year break. Also, Gina is busy filming a movie and won’t be ready to fight until late summer.
The Cyborg/Gina fight had to happen. There was no way around it. Plus I forgot that she was shooting a movie. But regardless I doubt Strikeforce would risk Gina needing to win 3 fights to get a title shot. Much safer to have her fight once to get her title shot.
Sigh
Poor girl gets no respect. Even after Gina has fought cyborg, people still believe that she is being protected. Who is Gina being protected from? The boogie woman?
hey Anton, the picture is not showing up for me, not sure if it’s only me though…
Pain is Temporary
Pride is Forever
really?
Works fine on my PC… can the others see it?
by Anton Tabuena on Jan 20, 2010 10:18 AM EST up reply actions
I’m on my iPhone and I can see it. Sigh…I Love me some Gina.
Be a man, not a child-Phil Anselmo
by ANance on Jan 20, 2010 10:20 AM EST via mobile up reply actions
On paper this is awesome
But Strikeforce’sShowtime’s recent planningmeddling has me doubting this will be done the way that it should.
Walking the line between intelligence and ignorance since 1985
@deowade
by Damon O. on Jan 20, 2010 10:32 AM EST reply actions 1 recs
Yeah, but that is in regards to Bobby Lashley
It is obvious that Bobby Lashley is a special case. There is obviously high expectations from him as far as getting crossover fans and becoming some sort of ratings draw. Especially with Gina not in this tournament, I can’t imagine Showtime really caring too much about a bunch of unknown female fighters in the same way that they care about Lashley.
by chrisbboy82 on Jan 20, 2010 11:55 AM EST up reply actions
Actually strikeforce champs don’t have to defend there belts so its actually pretty easy
Whatever happened to NickHavok?
by II SMASH II on Jan 20, 2010 10:46 AM EST via mobile up reply actions 6 recs
I guess it’s not as much the champions as it is just having 7 divisions. The UFC has two organizations that have 8 divisions. With what they are claiming is 20 cards a year, and with them not showing prelims, it is going to be nearly impossible to build up the divisions properly to have challengers who are known the public.
I’d rather see them concentrate on fewer divisions.
I’d like to see Gina face the winner of the 145-lb tourney, for a shot atCris Cyborg’sMarloes Coenen’s belt.
That looks better.
Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam.
NICE!
Honestly though, I can’t see Marloes winning this fight, especially in the standup department. If it hits the ground, then Marloes has a shot, but Cyborg could muscle her way back standing.
by chrisbboy82 on Jan 20, 2010 11:41 AM EST up reply actions
You’re underestimating cyborg’s groundgame. Dont forget she finished 3rd in ADCC in Barcelona, no need to “muscle the way back standing”
Right.
Her performance shocked me. After the way Carano got mount on her, I thought Cyborg was just a name to put in the tournament to make somebody else sound impressive. I’m excited to have been so wrong.
"Someone is WRONG on the internet. What do you want me to do? LEAVE? Then they'll keep being wrong!"
-Randall Munroe
I think Gina’s lack of participation amounts to Strikeforce not wanting Gina to lose to someone that isn’t as well-known within the frame of the tournament, especially if that person didn’t end up winning the tournament. Something like that happening would do quite a bit of damage to Gina’s overall drawing power.
Without pain, without sacrifice, we would have nothing.
by lowellthehammer on Jan 20, 2010 10:55 AM EST reply actions
Agreed.
Not only that, the tournament is to build NEW stars. Carano is already a star. If she wins, the marketing value of the tournament goes kaput.
"Someone is WRONG on the internet. What do you want me to do? LEAVE? Then they'll keep being wrong!"
-Randall Munroe
The idea of a tournament is sort of short sighted. Not a shock coming from Strikeforce.
The female talent pool is already shallow enough. With a tournament winner, they get a guaranteed #1 contender. What happens after that? It’s nearly impossible to give one of the other people in the tournament a title shot after that, so they just wrecked their next 7 contenders.
Strikeforce continues to be a “what can get me through the next few months and then I will worry about the future when it happens” sort of company. These tournaments are no different.
They haven’t wrecked the contenders; you match them up against the other tournament losers, and as they improve, they move up to contention or serve as gatekeepers to draw in other fighters. The point is to create a hierarchy so that the female division is more than Carano, Cyborg, and the Karate Hottie.
Sometimes people have this weird idea that fighters are just done after they lose one fight. It’s more about putting up good fights, and engaging the fans than anything else. Melvin Manhoef gets his ass kicked on a fairly regular basis and never wins his way into the World GP, yet he’s immensely popular. Randy Couture is 5-5 in the past 5 years. The only time competitiveness is the primary concern for fans is when the fighter has zero personality. Especially for a nascent female division, it’s certainly better to be good looking than have great jits. People won’t judge female fighters as hard as male fighters.
"an excellent example of why most MMA "journalism" is a joke. Pseudonyms like "toxic" and shitty writing like that dopey article"--- Joe Rogan.
Sounds like they should be consulting you for the development of the promotion. I assume you have all the right answers.
by scrambledeggs on Jan 20, 2010 11:28 AM EST up reply actions
i disagree. A big tournament wouldn’t work for the UFC because the fighters are too well known and it will make it harder for the losers to climb back up the UFC ladder after a loss.
For SF, especially with the women, it makes perfect sense. The majority of SF fans have no clue who these women are, a tournament is a very easy way to build hype and create some contenders. The winner gets a huge bump, the top 4 will get a win that people will see and can then fight each other for the next shot, and the people that lose in the first round can either get lost or have a little bit of exposure and try to move on up the ranks after/during the tournament.
You do realize that Bellator utilizes a tournament format, right? MMA tournaments especially for two unknown divisions, will only help those two divisions. It will get a number one contender, but also sort out who are the quality female fighters through performance and how far these women get in the tournament. It’s also much needed exposure for these women, and even a good amount of hardcore MMA fans can only name no more then ten female fighters.
by chrisbboy82 on Jan 20, 2010 11:48 AM EST up reply actions
It might not be Cyborg’s belt by then.
by ufc4 on Jan 20, 2010 11:00 AM EST via mobile reply actions
i love tournaments. god, i wish the male bantams and feathers would be in a tourney, as a way of introducing them once the UFC absorbs the WEC…
We're just a million little gods causin' rain storms, turning every good thing to rust.
I am on board for that
And than the WEC could become a feeder league and maybe start imitating Bellator and give us a 16-man tournament per weight-class every year.
If they want Carano to have a shot at the title, they better not put her into the tournament.
by Monday Morning Martial Artist on Jan 20, 2010 2:56 PM EST reply actions
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