Here I am again, waiting at the train platform with some extra time on my hands. One of these days the conductor is going to say something about me flipping him the double birds as he’s pulling out of the station, but after he saw me running all that way, what can I say, I’m a little pissed.
So catching up on those podcasts, you guys haven’t let me down. Let me reflect on why I think you’re an idiot after Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Jardine.
The contenders: Strikeforce ain’t one of them
The most common topic coming out of this event is the futility of Strikeforce. My question is: what did you expect?
Since Zuffa purchased Strikeforce my prediction all along was that what we were going to see was UFC on Showtime. While I was wrong, that prediction stemmed from the nature of the MMA landscape before the UFC’s deal with Fox. The one thing that has always been clear is that Zuffa’s goal all along was to lock up Showtime to prevent another Bellator on Spike scenario.
My understanding is that based on the terms of the Fox deal, Zuffa is limited as to the stations they can broadcast UFC events.
Zuffa was never interested in preserving the value of Strikeforce. That was obvious from the way they were stripping Strikeforce of all its top fighters as needed and as contracts permitted.
Showtime isn’t blind, and they must have structured their agreement with Zuffa in such a way as to prevent their current champions from being pillaged any further.
In any event, its a little late to start complaining about it now. If you are, let me offer some advice: make sure you use birth control now.
Champions calling out UFC fighters
Everyone seems to be complaining that Strikeforce’s champions calling out UFC fighters is going to hurt the Strikeforce brand. Well let me explain this to you (again): Zuffa doesn’t care about the Strikeforce brand – and unfortunately Showtime didn’t have the foresight to prevent this in its contract. I would go so far as to say UFC brass probably gave the green light (either overtly or covertly) on this behavior. After all, now you have all the Strikeforce champions publicly promoting UFC fighters right on Showtime!
Who is that quiet bald guy?
Another common observation is how unusual it is to see the UFC President speaking so calmly during his interview with Mauro Ranallo during the broadcast. This, like everything else, should not come as any surprise. First of all, why would Dana be screaming and acting all excited? This is not his baby. This is a contract formality. In addition, what Mr. White is indicating while he tells you that you can expect all the excitement you have come to expect from the UFC, is that in the UFC he has to yell and scream over the roar of the crowds, but this ain’t the UFC.
Click here to rate all the fights from Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Jardine.
