The Greatest MMA News Column 12.22.09: Year End Awards

Posted by Dan Plunkett on 12.22.2009

411's Dan Plunkett hands out his year end awards, takes a look at where Strikeforce is headed from here, how their April CBS show is shaping up, possible PPV opportunities, Nick Diaz vs. Marius Zaromskis, and more!

Strikeforce in 2010

In early 2006, an ex-kickboxing organization named Strikeforce threw its name into the ever expanding hat of MMA promotions. In two years, they managed to build into the top regional promotion in the United States. Their biggest fights to that point had been Frank Shamrock vs. Cesar Gracie, Shamrock vs. Phil Baroni, Shamrock vs. Cung Le, and Gilbert Melendez vs. Josh Thomson. Strikeforce wanted something more though. For two years Strikeforce had gradually built a respectable MMA organization, but they were only the fourth biggest MMA organization in the country.

There was the UFC, which was (and still is) perched high atop the MMA world. Then there was EliteXC and Affliction. EliteXC had run a very successful show on CBS followed by a not-so-successful event on the same network. Affliction had only run one event, but it was a great one that did well on PPV for what it was. It seemed that Strikeforce, a regional promotion, couldn't afford the top fighters in the world with UFC, EliteXC, and Affliction signing all available top talent. Unlike EliteXC and Affliction though, Strikeforce was financially stable. They weren't grossly overpaying their fighters and losing millions upon millions of dollars on each show they ran.

EliteXC's parent company ProElite was upwards of $50 million in debt by late-summer 2008. Their saving grace was Kimbo Slice, a below average yet popular fighter that would bring millions of viewers to their CBS special in October. Slice's opponent was set to be Ken Shamrock, one of the most popular fighters in the history of MMA, but he hadn't been competitive in years. In fact, Shamrock had lost five fights in a row, all in the first round by some form of knockout. To EliteXC though, that didn't matter, as Shamrock's bouts with Tito Ortiz had been some of the most watched fights in MMA history. A Kimbo vs. Shamrock bout would bring in more viewers than their first special.

On fight day, Ken Shamrock got a cut on his head while warming up. The cut was bad enough to pull him out of the fight. EliteXC needed Kimbo to fight on the card or it would be a ratings disaster, which would have effectively killed their company. Frank Shamrock offered to step in and fight Slice, but he was coming off a broken arm in his last fight, hadn't been training for a fight, was two weight classes below Kimbo, and EliteXC just didn't seem interested in putting that fight on. Just before the show went on the air, it was decided that preliminary fighter Seth Petruzelli would step in to fight Kimbo. Of course, Petruzelli ended up knocking Kimbo out in 14 seconds.

Contrary to popular belief, EliteXC could have recovered from that blow. Leading into the event, there had been negotiations for CBS to buy a stake in EliteXC. After the fight, Seth Petruzelli did a radio interview where he said something to the effect that it was worth his while to keep the fight standing, insinuating that he was paid to stand with Kimbo, who was known for his knockouts but had a bad ground game. The comments caused a firestorm of controversy, causing CBS to pull out of the negotiations. After that EliteXC cancelled their upcoming November event, and ceased promoting MMA.

Many expected the UFC to step in, pick up whatever was left, and take it home with them. However, Strikeforce, seeing an opportunity to expand its horizons, purchased around 42 fighter contracts and EliteXC's video library. This was the beginning of a new era for the once respectable yet still small promotion. Fighters acquired through the fall of EliteXC include Gina Carano, Robbie Lawler, Nick Diaz, Jake Shields, Scott Smith, Joey Villasenor, and many more. In the five major events held since the acquisition, at least one of the fighters included in the deal has headlined four of them.

Meanwhile, Affliction wasn't doing very well. It was well known that they had lost millions on their first two shows, and they'd scheduled their third event for August. The main event would be a fight that they had built up over their first two shows and one that had been talked about since both fought in PRIDE, Fedor Emelianenko vs. Josh Barnett. Fedor had been considered the best heavyweight in the world since 2003. Barnett was widely regarded as the second best heavyweight in the world and had won four consecutive fights.

Less than two weeks before the bout, Josh Barnett tested positive for steroids, which resulted in the California State Athletic Commission refusing to grant him a license to fight. Affliction scrambled to find a new opponent for Fedor, with possible replacements including Brett Rogers, Vitor Belfort, and pretty much every available heavyweight. Then Affliction announced they had canceled the event and would stop promoting MMA in order to return to the UFC as a sponsor. This move left many fighters, including Fedor Emelianenko and Gegard Mousasi, without a home.

It was soon announced that Gegard Mousasi would fight Renato Sobral for the light heavyweight title, a fight which was originally scheduled for the Affliction card, on their already scheduled event. The Fedor deal would be more difficult though, as Strikeforce would have to please both Fedor and M-1 Global, while beating the UFC's offer. After the UFC refused to co-promote with M-1 Global, Strikeforce became the leading candidate to land the world's best heavyweight. Not long after, they got the deal done. Strikeforce had signed the virtually undefeated Russian.



As you can see, 2009 was a big year for Strikeforce. They took advantage after two major promotions mismanaged themselves so badly they left the fight business. Strikeforce was ready to take the next big step into planting the seeds to one day challenge the UFC's stranglehold on MMA in North America, and they were at the right place at the right time to get so many good fighters. Going into 2010, they have more fighters than ever. As a result of this, they're going to need to run more events than ever.

Strikeforce's next major show will take place in January, but I'm going to focus more on the CBS and possible PPV events because that will be the biggest events they put on. Right now, Strikeforce isn't on PPV, but they will eventually make that step because that's where the most money in MMA is. At this point, they are planning their next CBS show which will happen in April. As they plan that show, they will be booking with a future PPV in mind.

In the main event of that April show, Fedor Emelianenko will most likely take on Fabricio Werdum. Fedor is clearly the guy Strikeforce is looking to build their first PPV around. The mystery surrounding the stoic Russian makes him an intriguing person to the casual fan after you factor in all the fighting stuff (pretty much undefeated, knockout power, widely considered best heavyweight and MMA fighter of all time). I would love to see CBS do something that promotes Fedor from what he is outside of forgettable 30-second commercials.

Werdum is possibly the best submission fighter in the heavyweight division, but he doesn't pose too much of a threat to Fedor. Many will point to Fedor's fights against Minotauro Nogueira as a possible example of how this fight could go. This is a fight that Fedor should win.

They aren't just building up Fedor to fight any old heavyweight on PPV though; there is a certain fighter Strikeforce has in mind: their heavyweight champion, Alistair Overeem. Ideally, Overeem will also compete on the April card and win impressively; setting up Fedor vs. Overeem for PPV in late-summer or the fall. There is a good chance that Overeem won't fight on the card though, given his reluctance to fight in the United States. I'll get to what happen in that situation in a little bit.

Earlier this month, Dan Henderson signed with Strikeforce. While Henderson isn't the biggest name in the world, he is promotable. In April, it's very likely that he'll fight Jake Shields for the middleweight title. If he wins that fight, he would have many options: A) stay at middleweight and defend the title against the likes of Robbie Lawler, Jacare Souza, Mayhem Miller, and Jake Shields. B) Move up to light heavyweight and take on champion Gegard Mousasi. C) Should Alistair Overeem not partake in the April card, Henderson could fight Fedor on PPV or CBS. In the case of option C, I give an idea on how to promote that fight in Fact or Fiction tomorrow, so don't miss out on that.



Arguably, the biggest drawing card Strikeforce has under contract is Gina Carano. Strikeforce will invite her to fight on the April card, but that's unlikely due to her movie schedule. A more likely return date would be late in the summer or fall. Right now, women's champion Cyborg Santos is scheduled to defend her title in January. Regardless of whether she retains the title or loses, I think we could see Cyborg vs. Carano II in Gina's first fight back. If Strikeforce had to put on a show on CBS that would gain the most viewers using fighters they currently had under contract, I'd wager that Cyborg vs. Carano II would get better ratings than any other fight. That rematch could be put on PPV or CBS, but I'd want to build up the fight on CBS before putting it on PPV if I was Scott Coker.

So what does 2010 hold for Strikeforce? CBS events that will build into a big PPV, many more events, Gina Carano getting a rematch with Cyborg, Fedor headlining every major event (PPV and CBS), and more. I didn't even mention that they'll have fantastic shows on Showtime every month or two, or KING MO, either.

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Quick Year in MMA Awards

Since I feel the closing of the decade is more important (next week I'll unleash an epic fighter of the decade column) and we here at 411 are doing our year end awards top 5 style in January, I'll just do some quick 2009 MMA awards with a little explanation for each one. Got it?

Fighter of the Year: Jose Aldo – 4-0 in 2009. All of them were TKO's. His performance against Mike Brown to capture the featherweight strap was nothing short of remarkable. Did I mention he's only 23?

Fight of the Year: Carlos Condit vs. Martin Kampmann, UFC Fight Night 18, April 1 – I love this fight. Back and forth, displays all aspects of the sport beautifully, and when it ended it left me wondering who had won. I considered Thomson vs. Melendez II for this spot, but I want to see how it holds up before I give it such a prestigious honor.

Breakthrough Fighter of the Year: Jose Aldo – He had a good 2008, but 2009 is where he truly broke out. I wonder if I was giving out trophies for this if he would carry them around everywhere he went ala Owen Hart after he won two Slammy Awards. I certainly hope so.

Comeback Fighter of the Year: Shogun Rua – Started off with a horrible performance against Mark Coleman, then noticeably improved against Chuck Liddell. Going into his title fight against Lyoto Machida, most everybody thought he would get destroyed. Turns out, he beat Machida to win the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship put on arguably the best performance of his career and in many people's eyes was robbed by the judges.

Upset of the Year: Joe Warren over Kid Yamamoto – Going into this fight, Yamamoto was considered one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world. It was his first fight back from a knee injury, so DREAM matched him up with world class wrestler Joe Warren. It was a very close fight, but Warren ultimately won the decision. The lesson: don't be so certain when you pick a fighter to win when they're coming off of a knee injury.

The ‘You're Too Good at Your Weight Class so You Need to Move Up to the Next Highest Weight Class' Award: Georges St. Pierre – He's beaten every interesting contender in his weight class.

Dominating Performance of the Year: BJ Penn over Diego Sanchez – Diego landed eight strikes the entire fight. Eight. I can't get over that. Sanchez just couldn't do anything to BJ.

Worst Decision a Promotion Made Regarding Fighter Entrances: Strikeforce not showing King Mo's entrance at Strikeforce: Evolution – I can't tell you how mad I am about this.



Man of the Year: Brock Lesnar – This was a toss-up between Lesnar and Dana White for me. Lesnar only fought once in 2009, but his performance and post fight antics resulted in the most mainstream coverage MMA has had to date in North America.

The ‘At First I Found You Annoying But You Grew on Me' Award: Michael Schiavello - I have to say, "The Voice" grew on me. I can't get enough of him now.

The Schiavello-ism of the Year: "Jason High's been mounted more times than Jenna Haze!" - This is what really turned the corner in my relationship with the man that commentates on a channel I don't even get.

Show of the Year: WEC 41 – Big fight that delivered with great action? Check. Breathtaking knockout? Check. Slick submission? Check.

Story of the Year: Barnett Fails Drug Test; Affliction: Trilogy Canceled; Affliction Stops Promoting MMA – Everyone knew Affliction was going under, we just figured they'd at least put on an event they were only a week out from doing. I still think it was a stupid move to cancel the event, but I guess it doesn't matter now.

Promotion of the Year: UFC – Had UFC 100 not been as big as it was, I would have strongly considered Strikeforce for this spot due to their growth throughout the year.

The ‘I Feel Like You Deserve an Award But You Didn't Win Any Other Categories So Here's Your Award' Award: Lyle "Fancy Pants" Beerbohm - I would have made the Nickname of the Year Award but Rodney "Sho Nuff The Master" Wallace would have edged him out.



Those are arguably the fanciest pants I have ever seen. You now know why he deserves to be recognized.

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Nick Diaz to Fight Marius Zaromskis at Strikeforce: Miami (In Sunrise, Florida)

I think I did a fist pump when I read this. Diaz and Zaromskis lit the MMA world on fire in 2009 (Diaz with his bajillion punches against Frank Shamrock and Scott Smith; Zaromskis with his three head kick KO's in a row) and I think we could have an early fight of the year contender. Not only will this fight be taking place, but it's for the Strikeforce Welterweight Championship, which means FIVE ROUNDS!



I can't help but feel bad for Jay Hieron though. Hieron was promised a title shot when he signed with Strikeforce. Diaz vs. Hieron was set for the welterweight title in August, but Diaz missed a pre-fight drug test so the CSAC wouldn't license him. Jesse Taylor then filled in for Diaz, but the fight was changed to a non-title bout. Jay did his job and beat Taylor, but now he's getting ripped off. Even though I would much rather see Diaz-Zaromskis than Hieron-Diaz/Zaromskis, I think Hieron is getting screwed over here because Diaz screwed up.

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Thanks for reading. Next week I will name the fighter of the decade, so don't miss out on that. You can leave feedback in the comment box or at the e-mail address below. If you so please, you can also follow me on Twitter.