Oh man. You just reminded me of how much I hate their commentators. They're in Bill Wallace territory.

I believe the judges have rendered a unanimous decision.

knucklesmitch has an epic idea.... Let us buy Showtime in a 3 or 4 hour block for $4-$6.99. If they only charge $10 for a whole month then that should look great to them for a few hours... It would definitely get them more viewers for fights... making them more $$$.

I have had people over to watch Strikforce, and even if its their first MMA event they inevitably mock the Strikeforce commentators. I never thought I would hear anything dumber than John Madden's gem, "they are going to need to score more points than the other team to win this game," but somehow SOMEHOW those clowns manage to top it at every event. If I hear the Shamrock over-happy media laugh one more time something is going to die.

Reasons strikeforce is failing:

they are over paying fighters such as Hendo in an attempt to raise their stock but in reality is a bad business model. Sorry but my common sense says if the UFC does not think a fighter carries that much cash weight, i doubt strikeforce has the cash to pay it.

They promote 3rd rate fighters and insult your intelligence as they rape your mind trying sell them as contenders/champions/legitamate. Lashley is a great example here. What the UFC did with Maia is standard form for SF. Everytime I see them put up another can and sell him, i feel insulted. it's like Kongo getting a shot at the UFC HW belt.

They cross promote and do not bind fighters to contracts allowing 30 month layovers as a weight class champ hides (juices) in asia rather than defend/get stripped of his belt. On the otherside they allow M-1 to hold them hostage over the one fighter they have that is the only reason 90% of you pay attention to them in the first place. The only upside to this is they have exposed Dream as an even weaker promo than even I thought. Seriously though, when have you ever heard someone lament the good ole days of SF? they were a San Jose promo with Frank Shamrock on every card, which is like selling water in the desert. Now we are forced to listen to him.... thanks coker.

on that note; They have the worst commentators ever, in any sport. Goldberg is no gem but he is Cossell in comparrison. The commentators are as guilty as Coker in insulting my intelligence every time i bother to listen. prime example is Petruzzi knocking out Kimbo as the 'greatest upset in MMA history'... nevermind post fight brawls 'happen'. At least they did not give Tito a mic..... small favors.

In short (short?!?) if they embraced what they really are, quit trying to steal fighters fighting down a level, and actually dropped the lofty goal of putting on really bad cards just to keep making cards, they would be fine. in stead they have WAY over stepped their reach and hold just enough fighters we want to see, but keep putting them in fights we could care less about just to have a fight, SF would be much more viable.

Honestly...Strikeforce and Showtime should come up with a way to allow you to order a live boxing/MMA event by paying a one time fee of like $4-6.99.

Strikeforce Heavy Artillery was in St. Louis...and aired live on the East Coast at 10PM...did strikeforce delay airing on the westcoast until 10:00PST....and therefore screw themselves out of viewers because the results were already on the internet?

Showtime sucks...

/thread

Great article Mike R.

I have my dancing shoes on waiting for SF to lay down in their grave.

SF is trying to be an A level promo, that's why I hate them. They are just as shitty as EliteXC.

It's simple. Most people have basic cable or satellite service, which usually includes Spike TV and CBS. Not that many people buy Showtime. If you put your product on basic cable or network TV then it's going to get watched by more people than something on a premium cable channel, period. It's easier for me to see PPV events for free than it is for me to see Strikeforce on Showtime. Several bars in town show the UFC PPV's. NO ONE shows Showtime. If I don't feel like going out to see a UFC PPV for free, then two clicks on my remote and I can buy it and watch it at home. I can't do that with Showtime. And there's no way I'm subscribing to a pay channel just to see the occasional "free" fight. No way.

I doubt I'm in the minority here. Showtime is the problem.

why would anybody watch a repeat of ufc fights and miss out on watching a fighter like overeem on the card??? i dont get it


or maybe lots of people like i do sometimes in the uk cant stay up late enough 2 watch the show so illegally download it the next day and watch it... shame really we have to do that coz i really like strikeforce it has a lot of potential

apologies monseur Misanthropeee, I felt it made the point I was trying to make, also, give it a try you'll be surprised!!

@ SirFatBelly

Just as soon as I can get the terrible visual of the cheese grater out of my head, I'm going to worry about the potential aneurysm it caused. It was a rather effective analogy, however.

john t wins. thread over. so sayeth the thread judge.

please wifey don't brawl yourself, for Godsakes get a qualified opponent.
and if you are gonna fight we need to know your weight class.

oh and as a sidenote: I happen to agree with you I like watching cyborg destroy the next piece of fluffy babe.

@fatbellyfrank - agreed on all of those points.

Except, I find it difficult to revile SF completely, because they actually try to promote women's mma. I know most guys despise it - bring on the wnba comparisons - but I enjoy watching chicks brawl. Someday, when I no longer need my ovaries, I hope to brawl myself.

Women's lib, and all that jazz.

@incrediblechap "I know a lot of people dont like Strikeforce but I would like to know your specific reasons."
I am not authorised to speak for MRuss, Newdad or Gusbuster, however I feel I can help here. The specific reasons most of us dont like strikeforce is because its a pissant second rate organisation that pretty much fucks everything it touches:
Case in point two main heavyweight contenders fight. Loser gets first title shot WTF?
Whilst being broadcast on national free to air carrier, unseemly brawl breaks out. Strikeforce CEO Coker says he has not yet sat down to discuss ramifications of this with Broadcaster WTF?
Heavyweight champion relocates overseas, refuse to undergo drug testing, doesn't defend title for over two years, still retained as champ WTF?
Absolutely fucken horrible commentators, seriously, I'd rather masturbate with a cheese grater than listen to that shit.
And that's just to kick off with, hope this goes someway to satisfying your curiosity.
Oh and welcome to CP

@John T hahahahahahahahahahahaha, excellent point sir nice face palm LOLLING til the cows come home,

@mike

shows how much of a fan i am of strikeforce

LOL what kind of conclusive research could you have possibly done since Mike has only been the editor for less then a month? When Ben was in charge there was all kinds of positive headlines to write about, since Mike has been in charge there was a fucking riot on national television.

 @incrediblechap. I notice you registered yesterday, so welcome to CP. I have nothing against Strikeforce. I would like to see them making smarter business moves than some questionable ones they've made in the recent past.

^^^
Wat incrediblechap says...

Bob Reilly Says:
Tue, 05/18/2010 - 20:15

I don't even think they offer Showtime in Canada. I think Strikeforce just crapped out on which network they chose to deal with. Atleast up here I mean......in my igloo. With my rabbit ears.


We dont get it on Showtime, we do get it on the Superstations(usually on 2 of the 4/5) and alot of the cable packages that arent basic, come with it, it came/comes with by Bell sat. as a package for 6$ for 9channels about.
Im pretty sure they got a decent viewership % here in Canada too as I know a ton of peeps that watched it either for the 1st time as they just noticed they got it, or I told em it was on or they already knew. I thought it was a fairly strong card an figured would have done helluva lot better numbers. Sucks. Almost as bad as Bell :P

Also since when is it MMAJunkie, thought it was UFC Junkie or some such hehe :P

It's really very simple. Put on a good show that has meaningful match-ups, build up a meaningful structure of title contenders, and find a way to build interest in your prospects. Maybe they need to go find a cable channel that isn't fake premium to get them some more meaningful exposure. Do we all really care if they manage to put on 2 CBS cards a year? It's nice and all, but that isn't going to satisfy my MMA appetite. It's easy to find and watch UFC cards. They put on a fairly tight show with as little bullshit aside (OK, some of those Spike TV cards make me want to vomit from the amount of commercials) from fights as possible (see disclaimer included in sentence).

If you want people to give a shit about your shows, the first step is for them to see it. The next step is to make sure you have good fights. After that, you should try to ensure that the production is as tight as possible and focuses on the fights. Film the undercard. Fill every spare second of dead air-time with people punching each other in the face. Don't use half your show to let the gibbering baboons you call announcers reminisce about the good old days when they used to be somebody, use the time to give your prospects some exposure so people will care who they are. Make meaningful match ups. Cris Cyborg vs. who? Fuck off, we're not idiots. They keep putting gimmicky fights on every card. I was all for Strikeforce when they tried to step up to the plate two years ago, but since then they have done nothing but disgust me with the ineptitude they display on each new foray into the wonderful world of MMA promotion.

And thus ends another installment of my new series "Warrant Pisces", available at a Burns and Rubbles near you. I'm debating a book signing tour but I'm afraid one of ya'll is going to show up to throw a bucket full of three month old feces and broken light bulbs in my face.

I've noticed since Ben F left the stikeforce coverage has been way more negative. I wanted to make sure i wasnt crazy so i used the search function and you can definitely see a trend of bias against strikeforce. I got my own bias as well, as I like Strikeforce and I would like to see two healthy and competitive promotions for MMA in America. I think competition is great and its good for fighters to be able to have more than one oppurtunity. Its probably too much to ask for a NFL/AFL type system with a superbowl card at the end of the year (but hot damn would that be awesome- end of the year champion v champion event)

so straight up Mike Russell I gotta ask- Do you dislike strikeforce? I know a lot of people dont like Strikeforce but I would like to know your specific reasons.

 @anderson wander...SF:Miami wasn't on CBS. SF:Nashville was.

There is only a handful of SF fighters I give a shit about and most of them have fought each other already. Time to pack it up and move on over to the UFC so we can see Overeem and Fedor hang with the big boys. Diaz, Shields, Lawler, Mousasi, and King Mo can come too.

Not so interested in the rest.

i added showtime for 15 bucks. i get the bullshit we were just offered, and i get challengers this Friday, then i cancel. $7.50 per ain't bad. At least i didn't order the Shine fight.

strikeforce miami was free on cbs, strikeforce artilery was on upgraded super expensive cable...........wheres the no shit bucket at. ken shamrock drinks leprechaun piss

I don't even think they offer Showtime in Canada. I think Strikeforce just crapped out on which network they chose to deal with. Atleast up here I mean......in my igloo. With my rabbit ears.

Michael Rome says: This is close to their average number for non-Gina/Herschel shows. Considering the main event and what went into this card, the numbers are more than acceptable.

Showtime is available in approximately 12 million homes. Spike TV is available in 98.6 million homes.

That sucks. I hope they can gut it out. The UFC just can't employ enough of the fighters I want to see. Maybe Strikeforce just needs a little more cowbell.

advantage dana

El Guapo>> i am intensely interested in seeing Cyborg vs Aoki. I'd say i got 50 on the chick, but then everyone would want to know "which one"?

To be fair SpikeTV is in MANY more homes than Showtime (98.6 million vs. 12 million according to MMA Junkie)...but yeah very few people even knew this event was going on. Fewer cared.

Hopefully Kevin "Fakey" Casey vs. Matt "Cuddles" Lindland will fare better.

All the UFC PPV's start at 7 here, if they started at 10 here there is no way in hell I'd be sober enough at that point to remember the fights.

Looks suspicously like unless the name Fedor appears on SF card not to many people give a shit

@Portland The UFC show didn't start until 10 and every major card on PPV starts at 10 as well. It's so it's in primetime on the west coast and they figure people in the east will stay up anyway.

I don't know if its just Comcast or what, but they don't start the Strikeforce cards on showtime here until 10 PM, by the time the main event fight was on it was like midnight, as compared to the UFC show which I think started at like 7.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

I dunnoooo.. Fedor vs Overeem with a Diaz-Lawlor rematch or a Cyborg vs Aoki on that mug and I'm pretty sure they'd get plenty of buys. It would most likely be their last hurrah, but still. Go out with a BANG!