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Awesome if happens, but I'm not buying it yet, if Coker pulls it off he is the GOAT promoter in MMA history
Strikeforce Big Plans for 2011: 8 Man Heavyweight GP, Weekly TV Show Possible
December 19, 2010
Brazilian magazine TATAME is reporting that Strikeforce has plans to host an 8-man Heavyweight GP in 2011.
The report states that Fedor Emelianenko will face Antonio Silva in a yet-to-be-announced Strikeforce February event as part of the semi-quarters, along with Fabricio Werdum, coming off his historic victory over Fedor, versus Sergei Kharitonov in a March event. The other two possible fights for the tournament could involve current Strikeforce HW Champion Alistair Overeem against former UFC champion Andrei Arlovski, and recent Strikeforce acquisition Josh Barnett could face Strikeforce HW prospect Brett Rogers to round out the tournament.
The tournament could be broken into three events, where the semis and/or finals are potential candidates to spearhead the first Strikeforce pay-per-view event since signing a deal with Showtime/CBS after purchasing the Pro Elite assets back in 2009. MMAPayout has also learned although all the details are not confirmed as of this time, it is Strikeforce’s intent to run the HW GP and have contacted several HW’s in their roster to prepare in case injuries or other rumored participants cannot compete.
Payout Perspective:
Though there are quite a few that have scoffed at the idea of Strikeforce hosting a HW GP next year, quickly pointing out how the planned Middleweight GP never materialized, it is important to note that there were many reasons that the MW GP did not occur, most importantly was the idea of making it a one-night event, which the commissions would not allow.
Strikeforce appears to have moved on from that notion, and in fact has matched-up their MW division this past few months based on what they were originally planning for the MW GP. Current Strikeforce MW Champion “Jacare” Souza defeated Tim Kennedy, who quickly dispatched MMA veteran Trevor Prangly in the Los Angeles event, to become the MW Champion back in August. Previous to the Kennedy title bout, Jacare impressively defeated MMA veteran Joey Villasenor earlier in the year, after submitting Matt Lindland the previous year. Robbie Lawler, who is coming off of impressive victories against Melvin Manhoef and Matt Lindland, is now scheduled to face Jacare for the Strikeforce MW title in the upcoming January 29, 2011 event, set to take place in San Jose.
It is also expected that the budding company has plans to air a 30 minute weekly syndicate Strikeforce show sometime next year, which would provide much needed brand and fighter exposure outside of the Showtime network. The show would be utilized to promote upcoming fights and also show fights from recent shows. Although a reality TV show was mentioned by Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker earlier this year, MMAPayout has learned that talks are still in the early stages between the parties involved, and it is not yet known when a potential deal could materialize.
Other big rumors involve Strikeforce taking their promotion outside of the USA for the first time as an MMA promotion. Scott Coker expressed his intent, in a recent interview on “The MMA Show!”, to bring Strikeforce into Canada next year. There are also rumors of Strikeforce possibly holding an event in the United Kingdom, which would be centered around a possible Paul Daley Welterweight title fight late next year.
Strikeforce Big Plans for 2011: 8 Man Heavyweight GP, Weekly TV Show Possible
December 19, 2010
Brazilian magazine TATAME is reporting that Strikeforce has plans to host an 8-man Heavyweight GP in 2011.
The report states that Fedor Emelianenko will face Antonio Silva in a yet-to-be-announced Strikeforce February event as part of the semi-quarters, along with Fabricio Werdum, coming off his historic victory over Fedor, versus Sergei Kharitonov in a March event. The other two possible fights for the tournament could involve current Strikeforce HW Champion Alistair Overeem against former UFC champion Andrei Arlovski, and recent Strikeforce acquisition Josh Barnett could face Strikeforce HW prospect Brett Rogers to round out the tournament.
The tournament could be broken into three events, where the semis and/or finals are potential candidates to spearhead the first Strikeforce pay-per-view event since signing a deal with Showtime/CBS after purchasing the Pro Elite assets back in 2009. MMAPayout has also learned although all the details are not confirmed as of this time, it is Strikeforce’s intent to run the HW GP and have contacted several HW’s in their roster to prepare in case injuries or other rumored participants cannot compete.
Payout Perspective:
Though there are quite a few that have scoffed at the idea of Strikeforce hosting a HW GP next year, quickly pointing out how the planned Middleweight GP never materialized, it is important to note that there were many reasons that the MW GP did not occur, most importantly was the idea of making it a one-night event, which the commissions would not allow.
Strikeforce appears to have moved on from that notion, and in fact has matched-up their MW division this past few months based on what they were originally planning for the MW GP. Current Strikeforce MW Champion “Jacare” Souza defeated Tim Kennedy, who quickly dispatched MMA veteran Trevor Prangly in the Los Angeles event, to become the MW Champion back in August. Previous to the Kennedy title bout, Jacare impressively defeated MMA veteran Joey Villasenor earlier in the year, after submitting Matt Lindland the previous year. Robbie Lawler, who is coming off of impressive victories against Melvin Manhoef and Matt Lindland, is now scheduled to face Jacare for the Strikeforce MW title in the upcoming January 29, 2011 event, set to take place in San Jose.
It is also expected that the budding company has plans to air a 30 minute weekly syndicate Strikeforce show sometime next year, which would provide much needed brand and fighter exposure outside of the Showtime network. The show would be utilized to promote upcoming fights and also show fights from recent shows. Although a reality TV show was mentioned by Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker earlier this year, MMAPayout has learned that talks are still in the early stages between the parties involved, and it is not yet known when a potential deal could materialize.
Other big rumors involve Strikeforce taking their promotion outside of the USA for the first time as an MMA promotion. Scott Coker expressed his intent, in a recent interview on “The MMA Show!”, to bring Strikeforce into Canada next year. There are also rumors of Strikeforce possibly holding an event in the United Kingdom, which would be centered around a possible Paul Daley Welterweight title fight late next year.
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