(Now there’s a couple of guys you wouldn’t want to run into in a dark boardroom.)
What, you thought that Strikeforce could put together a stacked card on CBS featuring three title fights, one involving former UFC star Dan Henderson, and Dana White would just stand there and take it like a bitch? C’mon, son. As first reported by Dave Meltzer of f4wonline.com, the UFC is planning to set up a counter-programming show on April 17th — the scheduled date of Strikeforce: Nashville — which will likely air on Spike TV. No matchups are official yet, but a welterweight bout between Matt Serra and Mike Swick is in the works. While the Spike event would likely get blown out by Strikeforce’s CBS show in overall ratings, Meltzer explains the reasoning like this:
Good plan, right? There’s just one problem: Scott Coker might not play along.
As the Strikeforce CEO told MMA Junkie: "CBS had an opportunity to do the fight on the 24th and go after the WEC pay-per-view date, and they said, ‘No, let’s just do it on the 17th and be nice guys.’ Now that the counter-programming is coming their way, I think there is some fluidity in what could happen."
If you ask us, Coker and CBS should have seen this coming, and counter-programming WEC 48 should have been their plan from the get-go. Instead of waiting for the UFC to cut into their audience then gloat about how they beat Strikeforce in key ratings demographics, Strikeforce could enjoy an unqualified blowout over an overpriced WEC pay-per-view that will be lucky to break 100,000 buys. It’s still possible that Strikeforce will stick to their 4/17 date in an attempt to avoid a larger conflict with the UFC — which would be unfortunate, because this is the perfect opportunity for Strikeforce to go from being the nail to being the hammer.
Related: Scott Coker says that despite some "cultural differences," the relationship between Strikeforce and M-1 is still solid, and he expects Fedor Emelianenko to compete again in Strikeforce "sometime in the later part of the second quarter or beginning part of the third quarter."
mostly out of respect for the fighters. i do think theyd make more money if they didnt just have it broadcast on cable and actually put a fee on it. not as much as they have it because that is too much for something that people haven’t really seen yet. the world of course would love to see the fights for free (including me), but these guys are great in their divisions and they bust their asses as much as the ufc guys and alot of them show it in each of their fights. the ufc guys started off as a paper view and no one complained, granted it probably wasnt as much as the wec is charging now but these guys are also far beyond the level of those guys in the original ufc as well. true fans should understand this.