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Kemal
06-12-2011, 21:36
Scott Coker: No Announcement on Showtime-Strikeforce Extension, But 'Optimistic'

With 2011 rapidly coming to a close, word of an agreement to extend the soon-to-be-expiring deal between Strikeforce (http://www.mmafighting.com/strikeforce/) and premium cable TV partner Showtime has yet to come.

In the wake of the Strikeforce buyout by UFC (http://www.mmafighting.com/ufc) parent company Zuffa, negotiations between Strikeforce and Showtime got off to a rocky start, but a management shakeup at Showtime seemed to open the door for renewed hope. Still, they've yielded no firm results just yet, according to Strikeforce's Scott Coker.

"There's nothing to announce, but I'm optimistic at this point," he said on Tuesday.

Asked for a possible timeframe on a decision, Coker declined to offer any specifics.

"That's something that we'll have to just wait and see," he said. "I think things are going well and I think we'll have something to announce shortly, but right now, I have nothing official to announce."

The uncertainty puts the Strikeforce team in something of a strange position. On a Tuesday teleconference designed to promote the upcoming December 17 event that will match lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez (http://www.mmafighting.com/fighter/gilbert/melendez/778/) against Jorge Masvidal (http://www.mmafighting.com/fighter/jorge/masvidal/1272/) in the main event, both fighters were repeatedly asked about the possibility of soon moving to the UFC.

The promotion has also had to continue planning for future possibilities during a time of flux. For example, Coker mentioned that he is hoping to host the finals of the heayvweight World Grand Prix in March. Meanwhile, fighter contracts constantly need to be addressed, and future venues and dates have to be determined.

Essentially, Coker and the rest of his team must continue as though Strikeforce's future existence is a guarantee. For his part, Coker is plowing ahead with the belief that he'll be promoting events far into 2012 and beyond.

"In the history of Strikeforce since the relationship with Showtime was developed, we put on, I think some of the best fights in the history of MMA (http://www.mmafighting.com/)," he said. "We've done our part to grow the sport, and that's going to continue. There's still a lot of great fighters on the roster. And we're going to keep building these fighters. We're going to continue putting on great fights. To me, that's not going to change. So everybody can tune into Showtime and watch in 2012, and we're going to put on some amazing, amazing fights."

blackadder
06-12-2011, 21:39
Who cares?

Kemal
15-12-2011, 23:16
Strikeforce, Showtime Announce Extension to TV Deal

Executives from Strikeforce (http://www.mmafighting.com/strikeforce/) and Showtime have announced a new contract that will keep the two sides partnered up in the television broadcasting business for at least the next year. Their original deal had been set to expire in early 2012. The new pact will see Showtime broadcast up to eight Strikeforce shows per year. Undercard fights will also air live on Showtime Extreme.

The announcement ends lengthy speculation about the future of the relationship, which seemed unsalvageable as recently as October.

In a joint teleconference including the two sides, UFC (http://www.mmafighting.com/ufc) president Dana White, who has had an active role in negotiations since mid-October, said the tide turned after a regime change at Showtime.

Asked if a deal could have been struck without the regime change, White said probably not.

"I dont know," he said. "Obviously, it didn't go well [previously]. It probably wouldn't have. Listen, lets cut the b-------. Me and [former Showtime sports boss] Ken Herschman aren't fans of each other. He's not a fan of mine, I'm not a fan of his. He's not there anymore. I flew out there, I liked these guys, and we did a deal, period, end of story."

Stephen Espinoza, who now runs the division as executive vice president & general manager of Showtime sports, would not divulge the length of the agreement between the sides, but promised to continue the long relationship between the brands in presenting Strikeforce as a first-tier product.

White echoed that, saying that Strikeforce would look to sign top available talent, and that fans shouldn't look at it like a "B-league" or feeder system for the UFC.

"Let's be real clear: Strikeforce is not a secondary brand," Espinoza said. "Luke Rockhold (http://www.mmafighting.com/fighter/luke/rockhold/1294/) is not a secondary fighter, Cris Cyborg is not a secondary fighter, GIna [Carano] is not a secondary fighter, Gilbert [Melendez (http://www.mmafighting.com/fighter/gilbert/melendez/778/)] is not a secondary fighter. This is a top-tier organization. It was a top-tier organization as a brand when Scott [Coker] was running it independently of Zuffa, and it will continues to be now that they're in partnership with Zuffa."

Among the few changes announced is the eventual abandoning of the heavyweight division. World Grand Prix finalists Daniel Cormier (http://www.mmafighting.com/fighter/daniel/cormier/1409/) and Josh Barnett (http://www.mmafighting.com/fighter/josh/barnett/328/) will meet in the final -- which is likely to take place before the end of the first quarter of 2012, according to Scott Coker -- then the winner will fight one more time in Strikeforce before the weight class is discontinued.

The reason? Lack of depth, according to White, who said the promotion will focus on all of its other existing divisions. He also reaffirmed that Strikeforce will continue to promote both the women's 135- and 145-pound classes.

For the first time, Showtime will also have a stake in the event preliminaries, as undercard fights will be aired live on Showtime Extreme.

The first of 2012's Showtime-Strikeforce calendar airs on January 7, with an event from The Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, and featuring Rockhold defending his newly won middleweight title against Keith Jardine (http://www.mmafighting.com/fighter/keith/jardine/248/). The event presentation will look similar to past offerings, with White promising a few tweaks. The announcing team is likely to stay intact, Espinoza added.

The extra events will bring Zuffa's 2012 total to over 40 live shows, making White's schedule a nightmare. "People don't even think it's going to be humanly possible, but I disagree," he said of the travel that will be required of him. But that doesn't mean he's not excited for the potential of Strikeforce, and he plans to offer the UFC's sister promotion as much of him as is possible in the coming months.

"This is what I love to do," White said. "This is the s--- that gets me out of bed in the morning. The Showtime guys and Scott Coker, everyone will laugh but it's business as usual for these guys. They've had this relationship for a long time. Im getting involved in this thing and I'm excited about it. I'm going to get behind it 100 percent. Like I said, we're going to get in, we're going to do some fun stuff, make some tweaks and see how big we can make this thing."

Kemal
16-12-2011, 07:45
Winners and Losers in the New Strikeforce-Showtime Deal

Showtime and Strikeforce (http://www.mmafighting.com/strikeforce/) have agreed to a new deal for more fights on the premium cable network, an announcement that comes as something of a surprise following months of speculation that the UFC (http://www.mmafighting.com/ufc) would completely absorb the promotion it purchased early this year.

That news will have a wide-ranging impact on the mixed martial arts world, including the fighters, the promoters, the networks and the fans. We examine who the winners and losers are in the new Strikeforce-Showtime deal below.

Winner: Strikeforce women's champions Cris Cyborg and Miesha Tate (http://www.mmafighting.com/fighter/miesha/tate/1317/)
It was a little jarring to hear UFC President Dana White, who's far from the biggest supporter of women's MMA (http://www.mmafighting.com/), talk on the conference call announcing the new Strikeforce-Showtime deal about how great this will be for female fighters. But he's right: Showtime made a specific point in this announcement of singling out Cyborg and Tate as champions who would be involved in big events going forward. The UFC isn't ready to feature women's MMA, but Strikeforce and Showtime are.

Loser: Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez
White insisted that Melendez is excited about the opportunities he has ahead of him to continue defending his Strikeforce belt, starting on Saturday night against Jorge Masvidal (http://www.mmafighting.com/fighter/jorge/masvidal/1272/). That may be true, but it's also true that Melendez is a great competitor who craves top-level competition, and he's just not going to get that outside the Octagon. If Melendez beats Masvidal, he'd be very worthy of the next UFC lightweight title shot, against the winner of the upcoming Frankie Edgar-Ben Henderson (http://www.mmafighting.com/fighter/ben/henderson/1066/) fight. Instead, Melendez will remain in Strikeforce, no doubt putting on solid performances -- but not getting the opportunity to do what he really wants to do, which is prove that he's the best lightweight in the world.

Winner: Showtime
Even though the new Strikeforce won't be quite as good as the old Strikeforce (the UFC has, after all, already taken away some of the biggest stars, like Alistair Overeem (http://www.mmafighting.com/fighter/alistair/overeem/808/), Dan Henderson (http://www.mmafighting.com/fighter/dan/henderson/129/), Cung Le (http://www.mmafighting.com/fighter/cung/le/1001/), Jake Shields (http://www.mmafighting.com/fighter/jake/shields/1202/) and Nick Diaz), this deal still means that Showtime will be the home of the biggest names in MMA outside the UFC. As a subscriber-based business, Showtime is less interested in attracting broad audiences than in attracting the kinds of loyal viewers who are willing to pay for content. That perfectly describes hard-core MMA fans: The people who love the sport really love the sport and are willing to show that love on their cable bills. Keeping Strikeforce means keeping tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of MMA fans who only subscribe to Showtime to watch Strikeforce.

Loser: MTV2, Spike, HDNet and any other network airing MMA
It's already tough to get attention in the MMA media world if you're not with the UFC, and for MTV2 (current home of Bellator), Spike (future home of Bellator), HDNet (home of several smaller and international promotions) and any other channel that's thinking about getting into the MMA business, keeping Strikeforce alive on Showtime makes it tougher.

Winner: Strikeforce heavyweights
Strikeforce will conclude its heavyweight tournament with Daniel Cormier vs. Josh Barnett, then give one more fight to the winner of that, and then move all the heavyweights remaining on the roster over to the UFC. That's big news for the biggest guys getting to fight in the biggest show, and it's the logical conclusion of a movement that is already underway: Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem is already in the UFC, set to fight Brock Lesnar, and the last man Overeem beat, Fabricio Werdum, is headed for the UFC now. Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva is surely set to fight in the Octagon soon, and promising heavyweights like Shane Del Rosario, Chad Griggs, Lavar Johnson and Shawn Jordan will have great opportunities to prove themselves on a big stage.

Loser: Strikeforce light heavyweights
Although Strikeforce light heavyweight champion Dan Henderson has already vacated his belt and returned to the UFC, it appears that the other Strikeforce light heavyweights will stay where they are. That means good Strikeforce 205-pounders like King Mo Lawal, Rafael Cavalcante, Gegard Mousasi, Ovince St Preux and Lorenz Larkin -- all of whom could have a place in the UFC light heavyweight division -- will be denied that opportunity.

Winner: MMA fans
With Zuffa planning 40 live events (32 UFC, eight Strikeforce) plus the new live Ultimate Fighter on Friday nights, Bellator looking at a couple dozen events spread over two seasons, HDNet airing a couple shows a month and your random one-off events from other promotions, it's going to be a rare weekend night when MMA isn't on TV. If you're an MMA fan, you've already got plans for almost every weekend.

Loser: Spouses/significant others of MMA fans
With Zuffa planning 40 live events (32 UFC, eight Strikeforce) plus the new live Ultimate Fighter on Friday nights, Bellator looking at a couple dozen events spread over two seasons, HDNet airing a couple shows a month and your random one-off events from other promotions, it's going to be a rare weekend night when MMA isn't on TV. If you're married to an MMA fan, you're not going to be able to make plans for many weekends.