Big rumors that Zuffa is sandbagging Strikeforce to force Showtime's hand

[Warner2BruceTD]

Act surprised.

Helwani & others looking for a UFC response were met with nothing but "no comments".

Nov.3 show will likely be cancelled due to Luke Rockhold pulling out.

[Warner2BruceTD]

Inside MMA @InsideMMAaxstv
DEVELOPING @Strikeforce tenure on @sho_network potentially ending. Nov. 3rd event in jeopardy.

FrontRowBrian @FrontRowBrian
Hearing @Strikeforce is being disbanded immediately. It is no more. Another promotion goes by the wayside.

FrontRowBrian @FrontRowBrian
There was also a Facebook post from the wife of a Zuffa exec saying SF was shutting down. The post was then deleted. This was earlier today

FrontRowBrian @FrontRowBrian
.@arielhelwani why do u think there was no comment from Zuffa regarding SF rumors? Very odd for them to give u the no comment treatment, no?

FrontRowBrian @FrontRowBrian
Will be interesting how SF fighters transition to UFC. Does Zuffa have to pay? Does SHO feel Zuffa sabotaged them and sue for damages?

[EmpireWF]

Rousey on Fox.

[EmpireWF]

A Showtime source says bullshit.

[Warner2BruceTD]

Totally speculating here, but Showtime might be denying this for legal purposes.

If Zuffa pulls the plug, they are breaching the contract. Maybe Showtime knows Zuffa is intentionally delivering these shitty lineups, and are calling the bluff. If Showtime keeps passing on airing the shows, Zuffa will keep cancelling them because they will lose money if they run shows with no rights fees. This will make Zuffa look bad, not Showtime.

What a mess.

[Warner2BruceTD]

FrontRowBrian @FrontRowBrian
Zuffa's silence is deafening. Showtime's statement brings back memories of Baghdad Bob.

[Liquidrob]

Zuffa is good for the sport

[SHOGUN]

Sara McCann pulled out as well. This will not end well and I feel bad for the fighters and Coker.

To see an upcoming and promising organization on its deathbed in a little over a year is sickening. Damn you, ZUFFA.

[Warner2BruceTD]

To be fair, they were bleeding money and probably would have been shut down had Zuffa not purchased them, but we knew this wouldn't end well and was just delaying the inevitable. And the inevitable is upon us, even if Strikeforce limps to the end of this current contract.

It's too bad a different buyer didn't come through. In hindsight, it's a shame Paul Heyman was unable to gather up enough investors. If nothing else, he understands how to get guys over and gets effective matchmaking. And who knows what would have happened with Brock.

The key now, is if Showtime wants to stay in the MMA business, and if there is a suitable promoter somewhere who they would take a chance on. If the answer is yes, there will be a high profile TV slot open.

[EmpireWF]

Bellator is locked in with Viacom & Spike
WSOF is apparently with NBC Sports although who knows what their deal is
Invicta is not getting a deal like Showtime
There's no other U.S. based promotion I know of that isn't essentially an indy

[Steel Mamba]

Is this implying that Zuffa has told all of these fighters to fake injuries and pull out, in order to ruin cards that were booked?

[Warner2BruceTD]

Is this implying that Zuffa has told all of these fighters to fake injuries and pull out, in order to ruin cards that were booked?

No, it's implying that the cards are weak to begin with, and Zuffa isn't doing Showtime any favors by not replacing the injured fighters.

And if fighters do pull out and Showtime decides not to air, well, even better, because they are hoping Showtime gets frustrated and lets them out of the deal.

Showtime is playing it cool though, they are in the driver's seat, because Zuffa can't pluck fighters anymore at their discretion, and if a card sucks, they can just refuse to pay the fee and choose not to air it.

There is also some feeling that Zuffa knows whatever fans care about SF at this point will finally just throw their hands, which most have.

The bottom line, is I think Zuffa regrets signing a new deal, but I think at the time they were blocking Bellator or the Pro Elite start up from jumping to Showtime. Now they just want SF to go away, because they want to put Rousey on FOX or PPV without paying gigantic money to Showtime to free her from her deal.

[Steel Mamba]

Sf cards havent been stacked in a long time, even before the purchase. Plus the guys the UFC grabbed would have left from SF first opportunity they had, so it's a moot point.

I think they had every intent to keep SF viable, that's evident by Dana going to showtime and trying to help. For whatever reason they werent receptive, Dana got pissed, and we know how he is. Not going to play by his rules, he's going to take his ball and go home. It is what it is. The Pride deal wasn't bad for mma, this won't be either.

[EmpireWF]

It's bad for MMA because what was once a fun promotion ain't so fun anymore.

[Warner2BruceTD]

PRIDE was already dead. Different circumstances.

I dont see how you can say its not bad for MMA. Pre purchase, and even before they purged the roster,, Strikeforce has a solid roster, a great heavyweight division and tournament, eight or so solid cards per year, plus Challengers shows. How is :t good for fans that we dont have any of that anymore?

The only good that could have come out of this was superfights, which besides being an overrated concept to begin with, never really happened anyway. The only one we ended up getting was a washed up Lesnar getting crushed by. Overeeem. No Diaz/GSP, no Gil vs anybody, nothing else.

The purchase has already been a disaster for fight fans. The fight game was better when Strikeforce was thriving.