StrikeForce News - Page 1

A pair of previously reported heavyweights bouts is now official for May 15 with today's official announcement of "Strikeforce St. Louis: Heavy Artillery." As expected Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem (32-11 MMA, 2-0 SF) meets Brett Rogers (10-1 MMA, 2-1 SF) in the night's headliner, and former UFC champ Andrei Arlovski (15-7 MMA, 0-1 SF) meets former EliteXC title-holder Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva (13-2 MMA, 0-1 SF) in the co-headliner. Today's release didn't state if Overeem vs. Rogers will be a title fight, and sources close to the competitors today told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that an official decision hasn't been made about the championship status of the bout. Strikeforce officials could not be reached for comment.

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Gegard Mousasi's nickname is "Dreamcatcher", and evidently he's decided Strikeforce is the place to be just that. The Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion is expected so sign a long-term extension with the promotion shortly, although he currently has a "champions clause" that extends his current deal by 1 year automatically should he win his last fight on the contract, a title defense against Muhammad Lawal on 4/17.

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Although it isn't yet official, Strikeforce is expected to add Bobby Lashley to the upcoming April 17 event in Nashville. No opponent named yet but that could be determined next week. Lashley likely will be in a prelim fight but with a 4th fight planned to air tape-delayed on CBS that night (the event has 3 title fights scheduled), it's likely that prelim will feature Lashley.

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Have the floodgates opened? Mere weeks after former Jose Canseco's potential foray into U.S. mixed martial arts appeared to be a dead issue, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker said he's not entirely opposed to the former baseball star entering the cage. That's not to say Coker is actively campaigning to sign Canseco, a former MLB All-Star. But as Coker said – half-jokingly – after the Ultimate Fighting Championship's recent signing of 41-year-old boxer James Toney, all bets are off. "I can tell you this: If Cesar Gracie says to me, 'Jose's training with me, I'm going to get him ready, and I'm going to do it in four or five months,' and Cesar's telling me this? That will have a lot of weight on what we decide," Coker recently told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com).

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Jake Shields' reign as Strikeforce Middleweight Champion could be short if he beats Dan Henderson in his first title defense in April. Turns out Shields' contract with SF is up after the fight, and he says he'll talk with both SF and UFC and see who he wants to work for.

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Fast-rising Strikeforce prospect Lyle Beerbohm appears set to meet the debuting (in SF) Vitor Ribeiro at SF's 5/15 event in St. Louis on Showtime. Verbal agreements reportedly are in place, paperwork should go out soon.

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In the early years of the new millennium, with the UFC struggling for U.S. acceptance and PRIDE in its Japanese heyday, the companies toyed around with the idea of co-promotion through fighter sharing.

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After further review, the date on the calendar stands. Despite suggestions Strikeforce could move it's April 17 date to perhaps April 24 to avoid UFC counterprogramming, only to essentially be counter-programming against the WEC PPV debut, SF CEO Scott Coker announced they will stick with 4/17. Coker said talks with CBS about the date move never went beyond initial talks and CBS will give the event a heavy promotional push during the upcoming NCAA Basketball Tournament.

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It appears that Roger Gracie's much-anticipated Strikeforce debut is finally set. Again. After a couple prior rumored debuts didn't quite work out, Gracie is now set to debut at the SF event on 5/15. Opponent TBA, but the leading possibility appears to be Kevin Randleman but that isn't confirmed, and if that doesn't happen a rumored Plan B is Sokoudjou.

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"I think June, July is realistic (for Emelianenko's return). It's not 100 percent. Don't take this as a fight announcement, but I think during the summer. After the CBS show, we thought that the (Strikeforce) terms needed a little bit tweaking -- nothing major, just a little bit of tweaking. So, we had a round of negotiations with Strikeforce. Everything went positively. We're pretty much at the end."

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"At some point Fedor's going to have to step up and be willing to fight top level guys again. I don't know what's going on with him or why he's not willing to do that and certainly (Fabricio) Werdum is one of those guys he's going to have to face to be considered a top fighter."

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“I’m hoping to get a rematch with Scott Smith as soon as possible,” he said in a video interview released by Strikeforce on Monday, although he still hasn’t been given word if that is his next fight or not.

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When it became apparent that Strikeforce's second show on network television would be held without the presence of heavyweight superstar Fedor Emelianenko, numerous theories were put together by a variety of MMA observers. All of them seemed to spell certain doom for the partnership between Strikeforce and M-1 Global, the company that represents Emelianenko and of which he is a partial owner. But Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker today told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that the relationship with M-1 Global is still in fine shape, and he said he's in the final stages of negotiations for Emelianenko's next Strikeforce co-promoted fight. "I can tell you this: we've been having really good dialogue with M-1 Global and (M-1 Global president) Vadim Finkelchtein, and I think we're in the final stages of buttoning everything up to make that happen again," Coker said. "I think we'll have an announcement soon on that, but I feel very confident we'll be promoting Fedor here in the near future." Rumors have run rampant that the business ties between the Strikeforce and M-1 Global have soured since the two companies co-promoted this past November's "Fedor vs. Rogers" event. Coker admitted there were a few items that needed to be addressed, but he felt the situation was anything but critical. "When I dealt with companies in Japan (during my time with K-1), it's the same thing," Coker said. "You have cultural differences, and you have expectations. When expectations and the cultural differences meet with the cultural differences here and the expectations of an American company, sometimes there's some differences, and there's some things that we needed to button up. "We're at the 11th hour of getting this done, and I think in a couple of days we'll have something to announce." While it's certainly too late to work out a potential late addition to April 17's "Strikeforce: Nashville" show, Coker said he doesn't expect Emelianenko to stay out of commission for too long. "It depends how long it takes to button everything up, but I would say sometime in the later part of the second quarter or beginning part of the third quarter, you'll see Fedor back in the cage fighting on a co-promotion between Strikeforce and M-1 Global," Coker said. "Depending on how long it takes to button things up – I mean, he's going to need what, 60 or 70 days to get ready – that will determine when he fights." And when Emelianenko does return, Coker said it won't necessarily be on CBS. "The rumors that I hear about 'he has to fight on CBS' are absolutely untrue," Coker said. "We have a good relationship with Showtime. Eventually, Fedor will be in the pay-per-view business with M-1 and Strikeforce and CBS and Showtime collectively contributing. There's not a certain media partner that he has to fight on. That's never been part of his contract, so that's all just speculation and rumors." So it appears Strikeforce may be involved in another Emelianenko fight sooner rather than later. And perhaps most importantly for those vested in the future of the California-based promotion, Coker said the financial success of Strikeforce does not rest on the shoulders of "The Last Emperor." "Our company is not built off of one athlete," Coker said. "Our company, we have some amazing athletes on our roster now, and we've got some of the best fighters in the world. I think they can compete against anybody. Fedor is an amazing athlete. I've followed his career for many years. Fedor is Fedor, and he's an amazing asset, but our company is not built financially off of just one guy. "Believe me, my guys are very smart about building a model that works for us and works for M-1 Global. I think that we're at that point where that had to be looked at. We looked at it. We're not going to put all of our eggs into one basket and roll the dice with one guy. We're built for longevity. This is not a sprint; this is going to be a long-distance race."

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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.

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While the California-based Strikeforce organization has spent the past year building its roster of athletes, one of the most burning questions on MMA fans' minds regarding the promotion has been, "When will heavyweight champ Alistair Overeem return?" Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker confirmed on Thursday's edition of ESPN.com's "MMA Live" that Overeem's (32-11 MMA, 2-0 SF) return will indeed be on the promotion's as-yet-unannounced May event (believed to take place in St. Louis) in a fight with power-puncher Brett Rogers (10-1 MMA, 2-1 SF) as had been previously reported, but one simple question remains: Will the "Demolition Man's" title be on the line? Coker refused to answer that question when he recently spoke with MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com), but he did say that fans could expect some surprises in forthcoming news. "We're going to make an announcement next week, so I don't want to say anything about [the title implications of the fight], but it might be something that people are not expecting," Coker said.

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New fans of MMA are tasked with learning a daunting list of jargon when first approaching the sport, but in recent years, a new term has made its way to the fighting lexicon: counter-programming. With UFC now reportedly set to go head-to-head with "Strikeforce: Nashville" on April 17 according to report from The Wrestling Observer, Strikeforce executives may be looking at a little retaliation of their own. The recently announced "Strikeforce: Nashville" show may end up going head-to-head with the UFC's sister promotion, the WEC, on that company's first-ever pay-per-view event, "WEC 48: Aldo vs. Faber," on April 24. SI.com's Josh Gross recently posted a report on his Twitter account that Strikeforce "had the option" of changing dates, and Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker confirmed an adjustment was a possibility. UFC hasn't officially announced that it would be adding an April 17 card to its already loaded Spring schedule, but Coker said Strikeforce and its broadcast partner, CBS, are currently considering a date change. "It hasn't been decided yet," Coker said. "I think we're meeting probably Monday. But for now, everything is going to be locked and loaded for the 17th."

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If you can sit there and pretend like the name 'Vadim Finkelstein' doesn't sound like some end boss on Castlevania, then you need to reevaluate your childhood. A few weeks ago, Gegard Mousasi left M-1 Global due to reasons that are still unknown (or entirely too complicated to comprehend). Fedor's recent contract negations has led conspiracy theorists to develop complex scenarios in which M-1 Global would take over the Strikeforce brand in international markets. In a recent interview, Vadim Finkelstein of M-1 Global clears the air on what exactly is going on with Fedor, Mousasi and M-1 Global. "The problem isn't there. The fight will take place. We're planning on showing the bout in over 100 countries. For all of that to go smoothly we had to postpone the event. Unfortunately I do not know the date yet. It's most likely going to be in early May. The bout is also postponed because of some other contract issues. Obviously there are always disagreements and technical questions, but everybody deals with those." Fedor's a professional; he needs to know the specific date in order to come out in perfect condition. When he finds out that exact date he will start gathering the camp so that he may come out at his peak. He never stops training though, he always stays in shape. Mousasi has never had a contract with M-1. If that was the case, he would not have been able to simply leave the organization. Where did he go? He still has his contracts with Strikeforce and Dream. M-1 was helping him grow. Mousasi has always been friends with us and Fedor and in return we were helping him go forward. His action was a surprise to me. I plan on meeting with him next week and finding out what's wrong. We used to say that Mousasi is an M-1 fighter, because he was starting in our organization. I'm sure that on our M-1 Challenge and M-1 Selection tournament he will not be the only fighter of that level.

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In recent comments posted by DREAM, DREAM LW Champion Shinya Aoki discussed his fight with SF LW Champion Gilbert Melendez, plans to bring the belt back to Japan, and even fighting without his famed "stretchy pants". "Yes, I will have to take off my tights. I think the prospect of being able to see my bare legs is attractive, so I want the fans to come all the way to the US for it." As for the pending defense of DREAM Lightweight title against Tatsuya Kawajiri, he expressed his eagerness and assured the fans that he will not defect from DREAM to fight overseas.

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Synergy was the word of the day when Strikeforce lightweight champion Gil Melendez, former titleholders Josh Thomson and Cung Le, and others joined the cast of CBS’s “NCIS: Los Angeles,” shooting this week in Hollywood, Calif. “NCIS: Los Angeles” stars Chris O’Donnell and L.L. Cool J as agents with the Navy’s crime investigative service. In this episode, Cool J goes undercover as an MMA fighter to investigate the death of a Marine tied to the sport. Strikeforce fighters Dan Henderson, Frank Shamrock and K.J. Noons also guest-starred as themselves, assisting Cool J for his cage debut against Eric Christian Olsen (“Fired Up!” “Dumb and Dumberer.”) Referee “Big” John McCarthy “officiated” the former rap star’s emphatic turn in the cage. The episode airs on Tuesday, April 6 at 9:00 p.m. EST/PST on CBS, while Strikeforce returns to CBS’s “Saturday Night Fights” on April 17.

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Strikeforce's second trip to network television is finally a done deal. CBS on Tuesday officially announced its broadcast of "Strikeforce: Nashville," which takes place April 17 at Bridgestone Arena (formerly known as the Sommet Center) in Nashville, Tenn., airs live at 9 p.m. ET (tape delayed on the West Coast). Strikeforce and CBS officials told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) the broadcast will run approximately two hours with apparent room to run over the allotted time if needed. The San Jose, Calif.-based promotion is aiming high for the event's main card with no less than three title fights scheduled for the televised portion of the evening. In the main draw, middleweight champion Jake Shields (24-4-1 MMA, 2-0 SF) makes his second title defense when he meets top-tier import Dan Henderson (25-7 MMA, 0-0 SF). After serving most of his career at welterweight, Shields bulked up to defeat Robbie Lawler this past June for the promotion's first-ever middleweight belt; he then successfully defended the belt against Jason "Mayhem" Miller on CBS' initial Strikeforce broadcast in November 2009. Henderson, a former UFC light heavyweight contender, has fought in the middleweight and light heavyweight classes. The former two-title PRIDE champion made a highly publicized split from the UFC this past December. "It's been a long time trying to put this fight together, and I'm super excited to have a main event on CBS against such a great fighter," Shields said. "I've fought a lot of tough fighters, but he's probably the toughest fight of my life. I'm up for the challenge." Light heavyweight champ Gegard Mousasi (28-2-1 MMA, 2-0 SF) makes his first title defense when he takes on budding rival Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal (6-0 MMA, 1-0 SF). Mousasi, a former DREAM middleweight champion, signed with Strikeforce this past July and immediately made good on his hype when he defeated Renato "Babalu" Sobral's in 60 seconds to take the promotion's 205-pound belt. Lawal, a former collegiate wrestling standout, earned his stripes in Japan's Sengoku event series before he migrated to Strikeforce this past October. Two months later, he knocked out UFC veteran Mike Whitehead in a litle more than three minutes at "Strikeforce: Evolution." Additionally, the recently re-crowned lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez (17-2 MMA, 7-1 SF) faces DREAM lightweight title-holder Shinya Aoki (23-4 MMA, 0-0 SF) in a long rumored match-up. Melendez, a longtime Strikeforce fighter, won the promotion's first-ever 155-pound title against UFC standout Clay Guida in June 2006. He went on to defend the title once before a hard-fought decision loss to Josh Thomson two years later at "Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Thomson." This past April, he took the interim 155-pound belt with Thomson sidelined due to persistent injuries and unified the title eight months later in a pitch-perfect rematch with Thomson. Aoki, long considered one of the world's best lightweights and MMA grapplers, will make his U.S. debut on the heels of a three-fight win streak. The Japanese star drew controversy in his most recent performance when he broke Sengoku lightweight champion Mizuto Hirota's arm and taunted him afterward at K-1 "Dynamite!! 2009" this past New Year's Eve. The broadcast team for "Strikeforce: Nashville" includes veteran play-by-play commentator Gus Johnson, former UFC champion Frank Shamrock, and color analyst Mauro Renallo. "When you have one event with three championship fights and this many top-ranked athletes, it's more than just a great card; it's a big night for MMA," Kelly Kahl, Senior Executive Vice President, Primetime, CBS Television stated. "Audiences are going to see a great range of mixed-martial-arts skills, styles and talent on one broadcast." "We are excited about returning to CBS Primetime with a card featuring some of the top mixed-martial-arts fighters in the world, including three title fights and the Strikeforce debut of MMA legend Dan Henderson," Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker added in a prepared statement. "CBS has shown a tremendous commitment to furthering the sport of MMA on network television, and we appreciate the home they have given Strikeforce to deliver world-class cards for MMA fans everywhere."

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