Strikeforce HW Grand Prix: news, info, bracket, etc...

[JeremyHight]

So... Overeem is going to fight the #1 contender without the belt being on the line... great job, SF!

 

[Liquidrob]

I am not a fan of this set up, but it is the k1 structure, kyo and semmy are the champs, the GP belt is different, they both compete in the GP and there titles are not on the line

 

[EmpireWF]

I am not a fan of this set up, but it is the k1 structure, kyo and semmy are the champs, the GP belt is different, they both compete in the GP and there titles are not on the line

Yeah, that brings logic to it. Hopefully they can get that across to the masses.

Srsly, they need to do a great job of hyping the hell out of the tourny and the GP championship on 1/29. I have little confidence they will, but that's their time to hype the fuck out of Fedor/Silva, Arlovski/Kharitonov, explain everything and get people amped.

 

[EmpireWF]

What they should do to hype up the tournament on January 29th, pretape a segment for the show (whether there's time for it, who knows). Have it in a studio or simply at a roundtable with Mauro, Shamrock, Miletich, even Quadros possibly. Have them run down the basic jist of the tournament (reserve fights, all 3-round fights, with the finals being a 5-rounder for the Grand Prix Championship and a shot at the Strikeforce heavyweight championship). Perhaps have some comments from the 2/12 guys, Fedor/Silva, Arlovski/Kharitonov to hype up their fights. Have Shamrock/Miletich/Quadros make their predictions for the winner.

They need to do something more than just have the guys to a 90-second voice over hyping the next card.


BTW, the 4th judge issue...New Jersey won't acknowledge it. So in the rare event that one of the fights is ruled a draw, Strikeforce can have an independent official rule a winner for tournament purposes. However, the official record will still show a draw, not a win.

 

[calgaryballer]

From what I understand is that the NSAC is the only ones who currently allow it, don't know why all this commissions are all cool about it now

I don't think anyone has ever asked them about it...including Coker.

 

[Liquidrob]

I don't think anyone has ever asked them about it...including Coker.

So you just think Coker just said we are trying to get 5 so he could come back later and said they will be 3 without ever asking a comission? There is no upside to that, only downside

 

[calgaryballer]

So you just think Coker just said we are trying to get 5 so he could come back later and said they will be 3 without ever asking a comission? There is no upside to that, only downside

What are the commissions gaining about lying about it?

 

[Liquidrob]

What are the commissions gaining about lying about it?

The perception they didnt try and stop it

 

[calgaryballer]

The perception they didnt try and stop it

You love proof, I'd like some

 

[SHOGUN]

Maybe Coker lied so he wouldn't throw Showtime under the bus? Showtime might not have been down with every match being 5 rounds.

 

[Liquidrob]

You love proof, I'd like some

and I would like yours which you have none of

 

[Liquidrob]

awesome promo is awesome, watch it before it gets yanked

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d51hOqeM2YI&feature=player_embedded[/ame]

 

[JeremyHight]

I just don't get why SF doesn't do the tournament, but the belt is on the line in every fight for the winner of the Reem/Werdum match. It would have all the same allure of a tournament even though it is exactly what every MMA organization does in terms of contenders fighting contenders to face against the champion.

Lets face it, the general public isn't always the quickest to catch on. If you do a 5 round bout for every fight involving the champion, they will think of it as a tournament (which is still a good idea to draw in a crowd), even though it is a glorified set of fights that result in the same end result without an actual bracket. However, when you say the #1 contender can beat the champion in a fight and still not get the belt, that immediately makes anyone wonder what the point of the tournament really is.

 

[CrimsonGhost56]

i dont know who you guys are rooting for in this tournament but i know who im gonna be cheering on

the greatest MMA fighter ever

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

i dont know who you guys are rooting for in this tournament but i know who im gonna be cheering on

the greatest MMA fighter ever

They are all too busy complaining about minor details, nobody wants to just bleed anymore around here. What a bunch of women. I'm going to love watching this tournament, best thing to happen in MMA since SUPER HULK.

 

[CrimsonGhost56]

They are all too busy complaining about minor details, nobody wants to just bleed anymore around here. What a bunch of women. I'm going to love watching this tournament, best thing to happen in MMA since SUPER HULK.

agreed. should be an excellent tournament. cant wait to be there when it starts next month.

 

[calgaryballer]

Got this shirt for x-mas. CG, you can wear your Whitehead shirt and I'll rock this one from Calgary

 

[calgaryballer]

More info:

DAVE MELTZER: "You know the whole thing's that happened from start-to-finish makes you question everything because it's like every time, you know it's been a year-plus, I mean there has been hearing after hearing where something didn't happen, right, where once he doesn't show up, you know last time he doesn't bring his lawyer and now he's just not going to be there at all when... You know, at this point, if he doesn't come I think it's pretty clear they're not going to give him a license."

BRYAN ALVAREZ: "No."

DAVE MELTZER: "And if California doesn't give him a license, yeah, sure, you can go commission shop, but that makes Coker and Strikeforce look bad for putting a guy in a tournament that, um, no-showed a hearing, you know, to get reinstated after a steroid test violation and also there's going to be states like, you know, Nevada and New Jersey, you know powerful states where he's not going to be able to fight. So, I almost you know, honest to God if he doesn't go, if I was the promoter, no question, if I was the promoter in this situation, if I'm Coker, I'm telling him, dude, you change your mind and you get to that commission and you ask, I'm sorry I applied late, get me on the docket. Because if you're not on that docket and they don't approve you, I got to kick you out of the tournament. You got to. Because you can't go in there and go, well, you know, what if Josh wins? We can't have the final in San Jose. We can't have the finals in Jersey, we can't have the finals in Vegas."

Uncharacteristically, Cage Side Seats' Derek Suboticki expressed similar, more scathing comments on the topic of the steroid-riddled Barnett on Monday. Barnett's inclusion in the tournament and apparent unwillingness to confront the CSAC in regards to applying for a license force Coker to seek out for friendly commissions who will supply Barnett a license. As Meltzer noted later in the segment, this sort of transparent commission-shopping is reminiscent of the tactics used by Bob Arum in finding a state in which to promote Manny Pacquiao's fight with Antonio Margarito. Pacquiao and Margarito, however, sold a million pay-per-views. It would be very optimistic to think that Barnett adds even one percent of that in viewership to a Showtime event, let alone a full-blown pay-per-view. Removing Barnett at this point seems highly unlikely and would create an even more massive disparity between the two sides of the brackets, but both Suboticki and Meltzer express salient points on the matter.

Prior to being asked about it by ESPN.com on Thursday, Lembo was also unaware of Strikeforce's intention to use a fourth judge, independent of the three assigned by whichever regulatory body oversees that event, to determine an advancing fighter in case of a draw.

"Strikeforce could utilize a fourth judge for their own tournament advancement purposes, but the fourth judge would not be an NJSACB judge, and such would not effect the official recorded result," Lembo said.

While a fighter would continue onto the next round of the tournament, his official record would reflect the result as a draw, Strikeforce rules director Cory Schafer confirmed. The fourth judge would score the fight as a whole, similar to Pride Fighting Championships' old scoring method.

The Barnett thing kind of bugs me. It's a flagrant flaunting of the rules, and in a sport where the commissions don't have a national oversight, it seems pretty out there to say 'well NJ, NV, CA won't licence me, so I guess I just go fight in Missouri or something'. I want to see Barnett fight, but I'd like him to do so with the same rules everyone else follows.

And the fourth judge thing was interesting. Likely won't matter, but we could have a situation where, example, Fedor and Silva draw, the SF named fourth judge advances Fedor, and he goes on to win. Both Silva and Fedor have draw's on their record afterwards, meaning Fedor wins 2 fights for the whole thing. That judge also uses different criteria. What if he scores the whole fight as a draw?

And we thought robbing Pettis of a shot was big news. Imagine any of these fighters not getting a chance because an 'independent' judge decided who goes through even though it was officially a draw. I know I'll be trolling with conspiracy theories afterwards...

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

Bryan Alvarez, bringing nothing to the conversation as usual.

I don't mind the fourth judge thing. It's better than having draws and seeing someone get a bye. But the fact the fourth judge will be using Japanese criteria, and not the 10 point must, is just a little bit sketchy.

As for Barnett, unless they plan on running the semis and finals on reservations in front of 18 drunken indians, Coker either needs to grow a set and force him to face the CSAC, or replace him in the bracket right now with Cormier or Gonzaga or Duffee or Lashley or Sylvia or somebody.

 

[EmpireWF]

Bryan Alvarez, bringing nothing to the conversation as usual.

lol

When he does the shows with Meltzer, it's the Meltzer show. :captain: