MMA Hangover: Talking Points for Strikeforce: Nashville

By Michael Ford

Strikeforce and CBS put together their second MMA telecast this past Saturday night, and it featured three title fights, and six of the sport’s top stars. While it lacked the buzz (and the ratings) of the Fedor-Rogers show, it offered no shortage of taking points.

1. “Mayhem” and the “Scrap Pack” live up to their names

Yes, clearly the post-fight brawl put a black eye on the sport on national television. But beyond that, it left an impression. And for the fans that are predisposed to spectacle, this melee was no worse than has been seen in the NBA, MLB, and other sports. Yes, guys should get fined, and possibly suspended, but if the NBA can market the Detroit Pistons as the “Bad Boys,” then the Diaz Brothers, Gilbert Melendez, and Jake Shields should milk this “Scrap Pack” cred for all its worth. At this point, there’s tons of footage out there to make sure we know that them Stockton boys keep it gangsta, and by those fans who love it, they’ll be lauded at cult heroes. For the fans who hate it, who want the sport to be all about mutual respect and class, the Scrap Pack are now worth rooting against, especially as we consider their run of dominance through Strikeforce. Now it may be that CBS wants no parts of the Scrap Pack on its future cards, but that doesn’t mean that they can’t still cast a long shadow over the promotion, as the renegade cred that comes from “Banned from TV” can get tremendous play on a premium cable channel like Showtime. Nick Diaz Uncensored? I’m there. Sit him in the room with a stationary camera, and cut one of his 20-minute diatribes into a promotional clip to hype the next Scrap Pack fights? Money in the bank.

As for Jason “Mayhem” Miller, he continued in his role as the sport’s court jester/shit stirrer, and as the catalyst for the most infamous event in televised MMA history, has now raised his profile that much more. That said, he shouldn’t be rewarded with a rematch, but his pursuit of a rematch with Shields should be brought to the forefront. And given that the animosity between Nick Diaz and Mayhem is real, a future catchweight fight against Diaz sits right there as a potential big fight worth making. Mayhem may or may not be kept off CBS in the future, but he is still one of the promotion’s most bankable stars, and Strikeforce should keep using his penchant for keeping himself in the mix to their advantage.

2. King Mo’s Coronation

Mo Lawal was a phenom, a can’t-miss prospect, and now he’s Strikeforce’s light heavyweight champion. While he’s inexperienced, and still has room to grow and develop as a fighter, the way he gutted out a decision over a legitimate Top 10 light heavyweight shows that the hype was justified. But now he needs to step it up a notch. Much has been made of the fact that Strikeforce doesn’t really have too many challengers on the horizon at 205, and that the weight class is shallow. But that actually works in Mo’s favor, because of his stated intentions to compete as a “Moneyweight.” Fights at heavyweight? He’s too fast for those slow guys. Fights at middleweight? He can cut to 185, and his takedowns and toughness would probably be unstoppable. All he has to do is maintain that flash and flamboyance, and fans will be intrigued by his next move. If he stays active, and continues to improve and impress, hopefully the rematch with a similarly-exposed Mousasi in a year’s time could be worth a CBS main event.

3. Decisions, decisions, decisions

We knew that three 25-minute decisions was a possibility, but we assumed that the favorites, Mousasi and Henderson, would dispatch their opponents soundly and explosively, and that whichever fighter won between Aoki and Melendez would finish the other. That was not to be, as each fight proved to be a one-sided affair, with less drama than any fan — least of all a casual fan — would like. However, I think that the announcers did an admirable job of keeping us engaged in the stories of the fights, and attempting to maintain a sense of the fights building over 25 minutes. Perhaps Gus Johnson’s experience as a boxing announcer helped him shepherd viewers through three fairly one-sided five-rounders. So while this was obviously not the outcome that Strikeforce would have wanted from a promotional/entertainment standpoint, from a sporting standpoint, the fights went smoothly, with limited fouls, no questionable decisions, and no shady standups that could be perceived to favor one fighter (or style of fighter) over the other. The closest thing to that was Mario Yamasaki’s aversion to the buttscoot, which likely cost Gilbert Melendez a knockout win. Even still, the announcers rightly criticized Yamasaki, and nothing was marred. Sometimes fights involving high-level mixed martial artists aren’t as fun to watch as those involving lower-level mixed martial artists, but in this situation, Strikeforce and CBS were unapologetic about the fact that this was the sport, take it or leave it.

4. An anticlimactic debut for Shinya Aoki

A few months back, I suggested that Strikeforce invest in highlight packages for people coming over from DREAM. Shinya Aoki is one such person, a guy who hardcore fans were stoked to see compete in a cage, and in the States, based on his spate of highlight reel wins in DREAM. Had Strikeforce taken the time to edit together a 30-second promotional piece that made Shinya Aoki look like a Big Fucking Deal, then Gilbert Melendez’s one-sided domination of him could have been presented by the announcers in the proper context. Instead, they had to not only compliment Melendez’s performance, but they also had to alternately sell and attempt to build credibility for Aoki, lest he be viewed as some anonymous Japanese “can” by casual fans. Gilbert’s thorough dismantling of Aoki isn’t going to viewed as the accomplishment that it should have been, because of the sense that Aoki was overrated. Strikeforce could have had a hand in mitigating this effect, but instead, by neglecting to promote the challenger, they ended up not properly promoting the champ.

5. EA Sports MMA > Meat Puppets

Strikeforce took a major step forward with their production, by actually integrating footage from the EA Sports MMA game to simulate their “Keys to the Cage” breakdowns of fighters’ paths to victory. They’ve come a long way from using those skinless humanoids that the hardcore fans affectionately referred to as “The Meat Puppets.” Here’s hoping that we see more of those video-game generated simulations in the future. (Also, EA should be figuring out a way to add a post-fight melee cut scene, if they really want to stick with their “if it’s in the game, it’s in the game” mantra.)

6. What next for Hendo/Mousasi?

All is not lost for Dan Henderson. Yes, he looked bad against Shields, but as long as Shields doesn’t get blown out in his next fight, Hendo can take solace in losing to a pound-for-pound great. Remember, a similarly-ranked Nate Marquardt lost in similar one-sided fashion to the similarly-viewed Chael Sonnen, and his career still soldiers on. That said, given the amount of money they’re paying him Strikeforce needs to make sure that they keep Hendo relevant as a draw. That will prove more tricky. The storyline of Hendo attempting to win three belts would have been a neat little hook, but losing the first leg of the trifecta derails that. The next step should still be a fight at 205, and I think it should be against a big-time banger, someone who will stand with him and offer a slugfest. I like Renato “Babalu” Sobral. Another fine choice would be former Lightweight Champion Gegard Mousasi, who would likely return to his kickboxing roots after a run in the DREAM Light Heavyweight tournament. However, if Henderson wants to return to action before the next CBS card, I’d give him a fight against Melvin Manhoef, and they can let the leather fly.

7. Frank Shamrock as Jaws

Dude, invest in Invisalign. Your smile is scary. Are you trying to get Hollywood work as a James Bond henchman?

8. Jake Shields is a pound for pound great

He’s a Top 5 fighter at Welterweight, and a Top 5 fighter at Middleweight, with wins over Paul Daley, Yushin Okami, Carlos Condit, Robbie Lawler, and now Dan Henderson. Say what you want about his fighting style, but his ground acumen makes him more than your standard “lay and pray” specialist, even if his finishes tend to be more methodical than spectacular. While many would pick George St. Pierre over him, it is a fight that many would be intrigued to see. But Strikeforce needs to do everything in its power to keep him now. He may not be a ratings draw, but he brings credibility and relevance to the promotion. By knocking off Strikeforce’s prized free agent acquisition, he has intertwined his success with that of the promotion, who is now staked in whether Shields is perceived as merely a big fish in a small pond, feasting on inferior opposition, or a legitimate top guy in the sport, and one of the standard-bearers for the promotion, alongside Top 5 lightweight Gilbert Melendez, and #1 heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko. While it would be great if he was lording over his natural welterweight division, the fact that he is competing a weight class up helps to increase his appeal. He’s doing something that GSP refuses to do, and is seeing success. Shields is essentially a free agent, and while it’s understandable if he wants to seek greater challenges in the UFC, Strikeforce needs to let him know that it intends to “put the building behind him” as one of the guys in the forefront of the organization, and will make finding big fights for him a top priority.

9. The Co-Promotional contests are being DOMINATED by Strikeforce

I wish that Strikeforce and DREAM made a bigger deal of this. During the PRIDE era, hardcore fans loved the idea of UFC fighters going over to Japan to fight in PRIDE, and vice versa. This is because they thought of MMA as one unified sport even as they recognized the existence of promotional banners. Guys competed WITHIN those organizations, but also competed BETWEEN organizations as those promotions competed with each other. Now that UFC has eradicated PRIDE, the spirit of that promotion resides in DREAM. Strikeforce, by co-promoting with DREAM, can offer those kinds of “dream matches,” albeit on a lower scale. As quite a few fighters have fought in both organizations, it wouldn’t be much for them to be marketed as representatives of one organization or another. Past and future Strikeforce headliner Robbie Lawler knocked off Melvin Manhoef, a multiple time K-1 Grand Prix participant who has fought in DREAM. Gegard Mousasi made his name in DREAM, and although Mo Lawal has competed in Sengoku, I’d imagine that he would be counted as a Strikeforce guy. Scrap Packer Gilbert Melendez defeated Shinya Aoki over here, while Nick Diaz is going over to DREAM to face Hayato Sakurai. Why not tout this as some kind of international fight series? Why not use the fact that Alistair Overeem prefers to fight in DREAM and K-1 as part of the narrative, so that his fight against Rogers fits within the DREAM-Strikeforce framework? MMA fans claim not to like the politics, but in reality, the behind-the-scenes stuff DOES help to sell the fights, because fans like knowing what the stakes are, and the more is at stake, the more they care about the fights. MMA is still one sport, whether it happens in Nashville, Abu Dhabi, or Tokyo. And while there’s no denying that the UFC is the consensus #1 MMA promotion in the world, there are still relevant pomotions doing battle over their respective slices of the pie. How fitting is it then that on a show where we got a gang-style beatdown, Strikeforce repped its colors harder than DREAM did?

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