Welcome back! Well if your reading these words, maybe you read yesterday's words. If not, well to hell with you and WELCOME to my latest writing. As promised I was going to give you my opinion on a couple or five things Strikeforce should work on to better their product. Let's countdown to make it more dramatic.
And now...
5 Things Scott Coker Needs To Do Make Strikeforce More Successful
Here We GO!
5)Make Some Tweaks To The Production
If anyone was watching the card on 1/29 you could notice the same holes in their production game. Before I get to those lets point out something positive. I did take note that they actually were using songs that were copyrighted which wasn't something SF usually does. That's fairly significant upgrade to that generic shitty techno being used for entrances. Gripes I see quiet frequently on the forums is SF's usage of commentary work. While I don't think its absolutely horrible like some do, I'd agree there could be a few changes to have it more balanced. Don't get me wrong, it is the job of the commentators to promote each fighter, but quit telling me the same useless garbage over and over! Maybe have Militech do more of the talking and have Shamrock chime in when the fight goes to the ground. Mauro Ranallo is good in smaller doses. His stronger moments are in the more dramatic stages of the fight. Oh yes and finally, for God's sake, let Jimmy Lennon Jr. finish his introduction before you start fighting, Herschel.
4)Deliver The Fights We Want
For every SF event you watch they seem to hold some sort of texting polls as to which opponents should fight next. How often do they actually follow through with these? I'd say no more than 30% of the time. I see plenty of complaints and some may argue this could be the biggest problem with SF. For instance, when Fedor made his memorable debut in the company by delivering a devastating KO to undefeated Brett Rogers, as like many of you, I was expecting Fedor to receive his title shot against Allistair Overeem hopefully that following spring. Wrong. We saw yet another nontitle fight with Fedor being submitted in 69 seconds last June.In a perfect world, this shouldn't have happened. Fedor should’ve received the shot that we all wanted to see and it would've been a complete war. Instead, with the Fedor loss, it left plenty of skeptics a reason to point their finger at SF and criticize. This has nothing to do with Werdum being a worthy contender by the way. He just should've received his shot after Fedor/Overeem. SF blew a huge opportunity to air a much more attractive fight, regardless of the outcome. Another example would be the Kimbo/Ken Shamrock card for EliteXC. Some say this event was doomed from the beginning anyway, as they were right. Then we have the whole Mayhem/Diaz fiasco which raises another question. Many of the fans want it, but many feel that Mayhem doesn't deserve it. Again, a separate issue, but it would make a fun fight.... Right? Should Scott Coker make the fight anyway? That's always up for discussion, but If I were him I would make the fight .Why, may you ask? Well, you will see why in Wednesday's blog:p. In the end, just learn from past mistakes SF.
3)Sign A New TV Deal
UFC practically rapes SpikeTV, especially the weekend of a UFC event. The whole CBS night that SF held made the event seem more important for some reason. It had a Superbowl feel to it and I had the feeling that more people were watching. Although the last event with Mayhem/Shields didn’t pan out as well in the ratings as the Fedor/Rogers card. The potential is still there for the larger cards. Get this promotion a lucrative TV deal that keeps us up to date with the fighters so we don't have to search online to find out what Tim Kennedy's MMA record is. Also, how many bars do you know that show SF events? I sure as hell don't know any. They have enough fights in the library to run a 30 minute show. Before their larger events they should be airing one of those 24/7 programs that hype each televised bout.SF could heavily benefit from this if it's done properly. If Bully Beatdown can keep getting recycled on MTV. Why not some entertaining fights from the SF/Elite XC vault. Gotta start somewhere. Yes, I am aware that Showtime does show past events. A major advantage Strikeforce has over UFC right now is that all of their events are free. They need to capitalize on this as much as possible while new fans are flocking to the sport and automatically assuming UFC is the cream of the crop because of the exposure it receives. Step up SF.
2)Buckle Down Fedor
I believe, as well a many others that Fedor could carry a majority of SF's weight on his shoulders if they could break whatever barriers with M1-Global. He should be the face of Strikeforce at the moment. This may sound easier said than done as even Dana White hasn't landed him yet. Fighting once a year, especially after a quick loss to Werdum isn't going to cut it. We all know this and I hope Fedor does. We all would like to believe and assume that "The Last Emperor" has plenty of gas left in his tank to represent the company who pays him the big bucks to compete.
1)Promote Promote Promote!
This is where Strikeforce falters the most if you ask me. Take UFC,for instance. Dana has taken a basically once near-defunct company and turned it around by promoting his guys to be the top fighters and monsters in the world. Whether they are the best or not is a different topic(That's what the forums and comments section is for:p)I'm not sure how it works on the west coast, but for every major Strikeforce event I have seen minimal to zilch promotion for these events on this side of the states. It's going to take more than a few bus billboards, interviews, and Showtime promos to accomplish this. Start by advertising some of your most marketable fighters(Diaz, Jacare, Fedor,Mayhem, ect.) and ram them down our throats the same way Dana does with Lesnar and his guys. Now, sometimes I'll watch events and have no idea who the fighter is. I'm just an MMA fan, it’s not my life or my duty to research every upcoming fighter who competes. Would you like to know one thing that the casual and diehard MMA fans have in common? Both parties enjoy the fight ten times more when they are at least familiar with whoever is exchanging blows. That’s a valid reason that Brock Lesnar was/is huge. I remember going to the bar the night Mir/Lesnar l. It was a packed out house and there wasn't one person in that place who wasn't cheering for the outcome. The fact that Lesnar was well-known by wrestling fans is beside the point. There isn't any reason we shouldn't be familiar with who's fighting on heavily hyped card, and yes that includes the casual fans. Boxing is suffering from this EXTREMELY bad at the moment. Anyways, you get my point right? PROMOTE the shit out of it!
How about some honorable mentions for shits and gigs?
Honorable Mentions
Have A Deep Supply Of Worthy Contenders For Each Division
This probably should've made the list, but in a way it falls under #4.
Make Sure Your World Champion Defends His Title At Least Twice A Year
Again another fairly important point as most of us forgotten who the Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion was for a while. Lock this down stipulation down for all champions!
Well I was fortunate enough to make it to the 2nd edition of MMAManiac It's a loose list but I think these five points will greatly improve Strikeforce. If there is something that isn't factually correct in this article. I kind of apologize, I guess. Hell, I don't know everything like most of you do:) Feel free to discuss any of this in the "comments" section. Tell me if you liked it or hated it, but remember negative feedback is accepted but frowned upon.Kidding.
Oh yes, and thanks to Matt Boone for posting my previous blog on the main page. Until tomorrow. Happy Surfing!
Tommorow's Agenda
UFC 126 Predictions
Wednesday's Agenda
Mayhem/Diaz:Why It Should Happen
