http://www.sherdog.com/news/news/Sherdogs-Story-of-the-Year-22071
For
the last few years, it has been debatable if any U.S. fight promotion
truly had the merit to call itself the No. 2 organization behind the
UFC other than by default.
That changed in 2009, as a regional
outfit named Strikeforce matured from a four-show-a-year operation to a
double-digit, major network-broadcasted promotion.
For its
staggering growth, which included cable and network TV deals, as well
as the signing of the world’s most coveted fighter, the rise of
Strikeforce has been voted Sherdog.com’s 2009 Story of the Year.
It
began on Feb. 5, when Strikeforce and the Showtime Network jointly
announced that they’d reached a three-year broadcast deal for up to 30
events, with an option for Showtime’s parent company, CBS, to pick up
four primetime shows at its discretion.
CBS had been shopping
for another MMA partnership since Pro Elite, which promoted 20 EliteXC
and ShoXC events, had closed its doors the previous October buried in
$55 million dollars of debt. Three EliteXC events had generated enough
heat for CBS in 2008 to whet its appetite for similar content. Talks
between CBS and Strikeforce began quietly that December, and the
promotion is said to have been selected over other established outlets
like King of the Cage and the UFC, which had met multiple times with
the broadcast network as well.
Owned by Silicon Sports and
Entertainment and 20-year-plus kickboxing promoter Scott Coker,
Strikeforce had held California’s first regulated MMA event in March
2006 to a record 18,000-plus attendance. By keeping overhead costs low
and catering to its sports-hungry San Jose, Calif., market, Strikeforce
had a reputation for turning profit, something not easily obtained in
the industry.
Terms of the deal included Strikeforce’s $3
million dollar purchase of select assets of Pro Elite Inc. -- of which
Showtime owned 20 percent -- including the company’s fight library and
inventories, as well as promotional and marketing materials. Most
importantly, Strikeforce was given access to nearly 150 EliteXC fighter
contracts.
Strikeforce CEO Coker said he and his staff reviewed
the contracts carefully, noting which fighters might complement their
existing roster.
“Out of those 140 to 150 contracts on file, I
would say 75 to maybe 90 of those guys were from the smaller (ShoXC)
league,” said Coker. “We thought it wouldn’t be hard to re-create some
of those fights for Showtime and build guys that we wanted to build, so
two-thirds of those contracts went away because of that.”
EliteXC
champions Jake Shields, Robbie Lawler, standout Nick Diaz and others
had their existing deals optioned immediately. Coker scrutinized the
remaining contracts.
“[We Asked] Is this somebody that can
become a star, a journeyman, a superstar in sport, and how do they
currently match up against the fighters that we currently have?” said
Coker.
Showtime aired its first Strikeforce event that April
anchored by a middleweight tussle between Strikeforce attraction Frank
Shamrock and Diaz.
Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com
Strikeforce is no stranger to
women’s mixed martial arts.
While
some questioned if the contracts were legally transferable, Gina
Carano, a star on NBC’s “American Gladiators” and a massive draw who’d
made no more than $25,000 a fight during her EliteXC tenure, took a
seat at the re-negotiation table with Coker. Coker pursued “the Face of
Women’s MMA,” who’d also met with the UFC -- which doesn’t have a
women’s division -- just one day before Strikeforce’s Pro Elite asset
purchase. Coker signed Carano to a six-figure contract a few months
later.
“In 2006, we did the first regulated women’s bout in the
state of California between Gina Carano and Elaina Maxwell,” said
Coker. “It was an amazing fight, a standing ovation. I’ve always
believed in female MMA fights, and it was personal goal for me to get
Gina back in the cage with Strikeforce. She’s a star.”
Coker
promoted the first female-headlined major U.S. event ever on Aug. 15 in
San Jose, Calif., where Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos iced Carano in the
first round to take the promotion’s 145-pound title. Coker continues to
bolster the promotion’s female ranks and has 135- and 145-pound
eight-women tournaments planned for mid 2010. Promoting women’s MMA
distinguishes Strikeforce from other top promotions worldwide, though
Coker said that’s not the reason he does it.
“I always believed
in female martial arts fighting,” said Coker. “To me, there hasn’t been
a concentrated effort to say, ‘Well, we should do this because these
other companies don’t do it.’”
Of all the A-list candidates at
Coker’s disposal in the EliteXC purchase, Internet backyard brawling
sensation-turned-fighter Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson was the lone
high-profile fighter whose contract wasn’t optioned. Slice had done
CBS’s best numbers, but was an MMA novice.
“We had the
opportunity to pick him up, and at that point, we looked at our roster
of heavyweights who could fight him,” said Coker. “We just didn’t think
there was anybody that would match up well with him… Alistair Overeem
vs. Kimbo? At the time Paul (Buentello) vs. Kimbo? Antonio Silva vs.
Kimbo? Fabricio (Werdum) vs. Kimbo? I just thought all of those fights
wouldn’t be competitive and that was the real issue behind it.”
Coker also questioned if Slice’s hefty EliteXC price tag would be worth it.
“Is
he a 21-year-old potential who has a tremendous amount of an upside or
is he a short-term solution when we’re really in this for the long
distance race?” asked Coker. “I saw EliteXC walk on eggshells trying to
match Kimbo… did we really want to be in that situation where we were
walking on eggshells to match someone? We just didn’t want to do it.”
Slice
parted ways with Strikeforce in August and was signed days later to
appear on Spike TV’s “The Ultimate Fighter 10.” Slice’s inclusion in a
house of UFC hopefuls brought in record-breaking ratings for the cable
network, while the 35-year-old fighter’s December victory against
Houston Alexander live on Spike banked over 5 million viewers as well.
Still, Coker doesn’t regret his decision.
“For
his last fight, I think he’s fighting a guy that’s a weight class
underneath him and they’ll always be looking for the right match to
make sure he has the best advantage that he can have,” said Coker. “I’m
sure we could have done the same thing, but we didn’t want to.”
Sans
Slice, Coker made strong in-roads with the Japanese market to secure
additional high-wattage talent. In early August, Coker announced a
strategic talent-exchange alliance with Dream, one offshoot of the once
great Pride Fighting Championships. Dream fighter Mitsuhiro Ishida
graced the Strikeforce cage in mid August, and Coker’s flexibility with
non-exclusive contracts has allowed the promotion to tap into talent
like Jason “Mayhem” Miller and Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal, who both
compete regularly on the Japanese circuit. Coker has grander plans for
the partnership as well.
“The goal is to do a fight in Japan
with Dream and have the best Strikeforce fighters fight the best Dream
fighters and then maybe do another fight in America where they’re best
would come fight our best,” said Coker. “It would be similar to the WBC
guys fighting the WBA guys. We have a tremendous roster that’s
improving every day and Dream has an amazing roster. To me, these guys
need to fight each other. These fights should happen. In boxing, these
fights happen all the time, so why can’t they happen in MMA?”
Daniel Herbertson/Sherdog.com
Strikeforce landed F. Emelianenko.
In
August, another door opened when struggling promotion Affliction
Entertainment cancelled its Aug. 1 event two weeks out, leaving a cast
of 20 fighters jobless. The world’s No. 1 heavyweight, Fedor
Emelianenko, was among the castaways and he was suddenly a free agent.
As closed-door negotiations with the UFC soured, stalled primarily on
the UFC’s unwillingness to co-promote with Emelianenko’s M-1 Global
management, Coker flew to Los Angeles to meet with the Russian company
as well to try and strike a deal.
Coker called the three-day
negotiations, held in a hotel lobby and conference room in Irvine,
Calif., last August “organic.” Not in the U.S. at the time, Emelianenko
was represented at the meetings by M-1 Global’s Vadim Finkelchtein,
Joost Raimond, Apy Etcheld and Jerry Millen.
A co-promotional agreement was reached for four Emelianenko-headlined events, with an option for additional shows beyond that.
Six
weeks later and not by coincidence, CBS exercised its option to
broadcast its first Strikeforce event on Nov. 7 from the Sears Centre
in Hoffman Estates, Ill.
“At that time, I had no idea how much
(signing Emelianenko) would change the landscape of our company,” said
Coker. “I’m so happy that we did it because it’s just such a great
relationship. I’m so glad we pulled the trigger on that.”
Emelianenko’s
tense two-rounder against Rogers netted strong ratings for the network.
The bout was seen by nearly 5.5 million viewers, and became the ninth
most-watched live bout in U.S. MMA history. CBS will air its second
Strikeforce event in April, with Emelianenko likely at the helm again.
In
December, Strikeforce scored another coup in the signing of the year’s
second high-profile free agent, former UFC contender Dan Henderson, to
a four-fight, 16-month deal. At first, Coker didn’t believe he had a
shot at the two-time Olympic wrestler and dual-division Pride
titleholder.
“I thought Dan was shopping around, but that he was
really going to go back and sign with the UFC,” admits Coker. “We had
lunch and some informal meetings, but it really wasn’t until I got a
call from his manager saying, ‘Yeah, we want to be with Strikeforce. We
don’t want to go back to the UFC. We’re ready to make a deal.’”
Henderson,
who makes his debut for Strikeforce on CBS in April, is the first top
5-ranked fighter to jump from the UFC to Strikeforce. Coker doesn’t
believe Henderson will be the last either.
“It’s a message to the fighters that there’s another alternative out there,” said Coker.
Possibly
the promotion’s only black eye in 2009 was its inability to corral its
heavyweight champion, Dutch striker Alistair Overeem, into a title
defense since winning it in November 2007. Overeem, 29, was twice
scheduled to put his crown on the line against Rogers and then Werdum,
but withdrew both times with a hand injury. Instead, the former light
heavyweight enjoyed a healthy run in Japan, competing in K-1’s year-end
tournament and for the Dream promotion. Coker’s patience may come to an
end in the new year.
“We always knew the fall was going to be
busy with his K-1 schedule because that’s the way his contract was put
together, but I want to make it clear that with Alistair we have a
direct contract and his team have told me that he’ll be ready to fight
in the second quarter (of 2010),” said Coker. “We’re going to hold him
to it.”
“
In boxing, these fights
happen all the time, so why
can’t they happen in MMA?
”
-- Strikeforce Promoter Scott Coker
Overeem’s
return will be much welcome, as a heavyweight contender’s bout looms
between Emelianenko and Werdum, possibly in April on CBS.
In
addition, a distribution deal with Shine International, which
represents “The Biggest Loser” and other hit programming in over 150
countries, has already yielded soon-to-be-announced deals on Bravo TV
in the UK, Latin America and Australia, which will provide a widened
revenue stream.
Strikeforce also struck a licensing agreement
with video game juggernaut EA Sports in the latter part of 2009 and
will be the “premier” fight organization featured in its EA Sports MMA
game due out later this year.
With 16 Showtime and four CBS-broadcasted events slated for 2010, on all fronts, Strikeforce’s future looks bright.