Strikeforce far from 'business as usual'

SAN DIEGO – When Dana White showed up Saturday night at the Valley View Casino Center, he joked with the same words he used four weeks ago when his company purchased its leading rival promotion: "Business as usual."

It was almost a surreal moment, as the UFC president wore a Strikeforce T-shirt and sat ringside during a Showtime production. White had often called the group "Strikefarce" and was frequently critical of how Showtime presented not just mixed martial arts, but also boxing.

He had been even more critical of M-1 Global, the promotional and management company of Strikeforce star Fedor Emelianenko.

Now they are all strange bedfellows.

To a television viewer or even a fan attending the event live, the changes were for the most part subtle. There was an interview with Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker at the start of the show talking about the sale and constant talk on the broadcast about potential Strikeforce-vs.-UFC matchups that six weeks ago appeared to be contractually impossible.

But aside from commercials played in the arena for upcoming UFC events and "The Ultimate Fighter" reality show, the show itself didn't feel any different than a typical Strikeforce event.

There were Strikeforce-style ring introductions, in which fighters are introduced as they come to the cage, the stage-and-ramp setup leading to cageside and the six-sided cage.

The key faces you saw on TV, from ring announcer Jimmy Lennon Jr. to the announcing crew, were the same personnel that had been with Strikeforce. The music wasn't turned up as loud as at a UFC event. While there were video screens, there were not as many as at UFC events, nor were they strategically located to give the fans the best views, as they are at UFC events.

The crowd, perhaps because the show was in Southern California where MMA gyms are plentiful, seemed more knowledgeable than most. They were heavily into a series of action-packed prelim fights with unknown fighters, most notably Rolando Perez vs. Edgar Cardenas and Herman Terrado vs. A.J. Matthews, which were better than most of the main card fights, making it overall one of the best MMA shows from top-to-bottom of the last year.

They reacted to Japanese fighters Hiroyuki Takaya, Shinya Aoki and Tatsuya Kawajiri as big stars, even though Kawajiri had never fought in North America before and Takaya and Aoki hadn't had any success in their few domestic fights.

It appeared to be far more male-oriented and less upscale crowd than at most UFC events. While UFC shows comes off like fans are going to see the big, hip event in town, this show felt like people who just came to see fights.

But if it didn't feel like a UFC event on television, behind the scenes, things were much different.

Friday's weigh-ins, from an organizational perspective, felt like a World Extreme Cagefighting front-office reunion party (Zuffa merged WEC into the UFC after a final show in mid-December). Among those front and center were former WEC vice-president Peter Dropick, general manager Reed Harris, matchmaker Sean Shelby and P.R. head Dave Sholler.

It is no secret that Dropick is being groomed to help run the Strikeforce business going forward. It was expected that Shelby, who is currently the assistant matchmaker for UFC and in charge of the lighter weight divisions he ran at WEC, would oversee the Strikeforce matchmaking in some capacity.

Security was handled by the UFC. Media credentials were handled by the UFC, including a story that came out days earlier where several reporters, most notably Josh Gross of ESPN.com, Loretta Hunt, who was going to freelance the event for CBSSports.com, and anyone associated with Sherdog.com, one of the largest MMA web sites, were denied credentials. All had been banned by White from UFC events but were fixtures at Strikeforce shows.

The promotion is taking two months off from running a show, partially because Showtime is busy with boxing in May. But the schedule takes off from there. Scott Coker said plans include approximately 17 live events on Showtime between June 18, when they return for a major event in Dallas, and March 2012.

The Dallas show features two more first-round matches in the yearlong heavyweight Grand Prix tournament, with Fabricio Werdum (14-4-1) vs. Alistair Overeem (34-11, 1 no contest) and Josh Barnett (29-5) vs. Brett Rogers (11-2). Two heavyweight alternate matches feature former U.S. Olympic wrestling team captain Daniel Cormier (7-0) vs. Shane del Rosario (11-0) and Chad Griggs (10-1) vs. Valentijn Overeem (29-25), as well as the return after nearly two years of Gina Carano (7-1), who put women's MMA on the map, against a TBD fighter.

The fight slated for the July main event is between the organization's two most popular fighters and genuine legends of the sport, Emelianenko (31-3, 1 no contest) vs. light heavyweight champion Dan Henderson (27-8).

Coker confirmed negotiations regarding the fight but said a number of details have yet to be worked out. One source close to M-1 Global said a late July date is possible for a show that would be co-promoted by Strikeforce and M-1 Global. Also, it would be billed as a heavyweight "attraction," so Henderson's title would not be at stake.

While billed as a heavyweight bout, both parties would agree by contract to fight at 220 pounds or less, which would mean Emelianenko would drop from his usual 230 or so. Henderson, who doesn't even cut to make 205, would be giving up significant size in the proposed bout.

After Saturday's show, it appeared those at Strikeforce and UFC were pleased with the results of their first major joint effort. And they should be. With an action-laden show that established Gilbert Melendez as someone who could be argued was the top lightweight in the world, and a Nick Diaz vs. Paul Daley fight that is being talked about as being among the best one-round fights in MMA history, it seems this merger is off to a solid start.