Why Compare the UFC and Strikeforce? And Who Wins When it Happens?

Just like the UFC has widened the gap between itself and Strikeforce. The two organizations operate on a completely different scale, but as long as there is a viable number 2 promotion, people will compare it to the UFC. The fact that SF has legitimate top-ten or at least top-20 talents in virtually all of its divisions makes it that much more interesting. And the fact that SF is very much in the face of American viewers may skew that discussion even more.

i know they are in the rankings, of course, but i’m nto sure i agree with them.

until strikeforce’s good heavyweight prospects climb the ladder, they are a limited talent pool in which fighters make their reps beating each other up. They have four fighters in the top 20 now who’s reputations are built, to some degree at least, on beating arlovski. then other guys get reputation from beating those guys. it’s kind of silly.

yes, i know aa has beaten nelson and rothwell who are in the UFC. i would not pick him to win either fight now.

the big question is werdum and a. silva. realistically, these guys built their current reps off of beating fedor. if fedor has slid a little further than we realized (including myself, who still had him ranked #1 going into the a. silva fight and is now wondering whether he was even #1 back when he fought rogers) then the top ten ranking of those guys is not on a solid foundation.

i’’m not trying to hate, i like strikeforce and i like watching their fights, it’s just interesting to me.

the truth is we’ll never know for sure because unfortunately we won’t get to see the fights we’d like to (fedor v. brock. overeem v. cain, etc.).

id rather listen to brace face shamrock all day

Reliably putting out a product that nobody gives a damn about means very little.

Its wrong.

More reliable? In what sense? Most Bellator events you can’t even watch on TV previously because Fox SportsNet would interrupt or not even show them. We still don’t know how the MTV deals going to work. Don’t lie? Bellator has been involved in some shady disputes involving fighter contracts, not to mention that whole “getting sued by the UFC for theft” thing. No freakshow fights is true I suppose, as most of their matchmaking is done via tournament. But don’t act like freak show fights are the sole property of Strikeforce – or was that not James Toney and Kimbo Slice who were headlining UFC events last year?

I agree that Bellator is quickly gaining momentum and within a couple of years could be going head to head with StrikeForce as a number 2 promotion. They are making some key acquisitions each season and their fights deliver on a consistent basis. StrikeForce’s model is a pretty good one, where they have the normal events and then a Challenger’s series. I dig it. But their regular events kinda remind me of PRIDE, where they mix in fights that don’t have a lot of credibility (Walker/Lashely) with highly entertaining fights where it pits a decent “A level” fighter against a “B level” fighter. Although the bouts are highly entertaining and I always walk away from an even generally pleased, the fights usually have no effect on rankings (sans the HW tourney).

And are super restrictive.
I don’t see that happening.

Bellator is doing some good things, they are building a roster of future top fighters, they have far more prospects then SF but they lack the top names.

The question is will they be around in 3 years to see the top prospects they signed grown into top fighters?

They dont have the brand name Sf has, they dont have the mega fights, they dont have stars and big names in any div. Lombard, Alvarez and Warren are their only big name fighters.

Bellator is a prospect org, and I dont think they will ever be more then that. The problem is they dont know they are a prospect org. They want to be a top org.

Bellator would be great if they allowed talent to leave for UFC and SF after tournaments.

Prospects and guys like Jardine or Cote who get cut could go to Bellator and win a tournament, make 100k, get a few fights in three months, get tv exposure on MTV 2 etc. They win and then they can get back into the big shows. Prospects can get a few fights, exposure being on MTV, get a nice payday and then go to UFC or SF.

Thats what Bellator should be.

I like Bellator I just dont like top prospects and talent now being split into three orgs. Now its whose the best LW, Edgar, Gilbert or Eddie/ Questions like can Lombard beat Jacare? Could he crack Silva with a big shot and shock the world? Can Warren keep Aldo on his back? Soon it will be Askren has hte wrestling to beat GSP, and DIaz. And Konrad is a beast wrestler whose beaten Cain in college.

Prospects like Pitbull, Hawn, Lozano, Held, Larkin, Chandler etc coming up and in time could be future top fighters. And we wont get to see how good they really are against the best in the world.

Having a third org if they do well on MTV 2 and make more money they could lure talent from SF and UFC and keep talent from going to SF and the UFC. And honestly I’m not sure I like that. Its one thing to have SF and UFC but you add another org and none of them co promote with each other thats bad for the sport and the fans.

The loss of Japanese MMA and the canceling of at least 2 or 3 cards (another CBS card in September/October and their fall PPV) because of the Nashville/Fedor fiasco really hurt them last year. Without those extra cards and Japan to shunt fighters off to they’ve lost 30-40 slots. They plan on adding 4 extra cards on Showtime this year, lets see if they can pick up the slack.

Ehh, Showtime I believe pays the salaries which means they can afford to pay the guys in there top ten better than the UFC would pay them. Add that to a bunch of them not liking the UFC’s restrictive contracts and its not that surprising. Most of their top ten fighters weren’t homegrown through Strikeforce, rather free agent signings.

What gets me is when some people compare the two promotions when it is favorable to do so (eg: heavyweights) and then the next day say you can’t compare them cause SF is not trying to be the UFC

The fighters, in specific cases, are. The situations are not mutually exclusive.

Yep, it’s just how the system works, they are both in the same industry thus they will be compared. Every company that makes cars gets compared to every other company that makes cars even if some companies are monsterous and some are small. Every fast food resturant gets compared to McDonalds regardless of their size of the resturant and every soda gets compared to Coke and Pepsi even if they are just a regional brand. People shouldn’t get too worked up over it, they are both presenting MMA on a national stage, they are competitiors in a similar market, thus the companies and the product are going to be compared. It’s not really a big deal.

It is important to note that Strikeforce and the UFC’s products aren’t in an either or competition so this comparison works in Strikeforce’s favor even if they are shown to be lacking. As long as Strikeforce stears clear of direct competition situations then the comparisons just gives them more name recognition and attention without costing them much.

Thankfully.

Without UFC there would be no Strikeforce and UFC needs atleast some competition to keep pushing. Monopoly in anything is bad and it’s only good for the fighters and viewers both there are options. I think Coker knows it’s not smart to even try to beat UFC and there is room for two promotions. Have you noticed Strikeforce commentators don’t mind mentioning UFC or talking about their fighters but I can’t remember UFC commentators ever mentioning any other promotion out there.

Give me the product I want to see and I will be watching, don’t and I won’t. For Strikeforce everything is good until fans start tuning out, then they will have a problem.

Fucking Texas.

June 18th in Texas for the next GP fights?