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[killakem1]

Coker Calls CBS Relationship

As Strikeforce prepares for its Showtime-televised “Diaz vs. Noons 2” lineup Saturday in San Jose, Calif., the question remains whether the promotion will return to CBS.

Strikeforce’s second and most recent event on CBS, an April 17 card in Nashville, Tenn., ended with a postfight melee that ensued when Jason “Mayhem” Miller entered the cage to challenge main event winner Jake Shields. The Tennessee Athletic Commission issued five suspensions and fine recommendations in connection with the brawl, which was broadcast to more than two million viewers.

Last week Dan Henderson suggested that his return to Strikeforce had been delayed by CBS’s reluctance to air more MMA due to the postfight altercation. Henderson had lost to Shields in the Nashville headliner, though he had no part in the melee.

“I was wanting to get back in there pretty quickly, but I think part of the problem was CBS kind of a little bit faltering on their commitment to mixed martial arts, especially after the little escapade in the cage after my last fight on CBS,” Henderson told The MMA Hour.

Henderson went on to say he believes CBS still wants to be involved with MMA but will be patient with the sport. Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker echoed that optimism Wednesday during an interview on the Sherdog Radio Network’s “Beatdown” program.

“I think the relationship is good,” Coker said. “You guys know what happened in Nashville. We’re going to revisit [the CBS relationship] in the beginning of the year. I think there are some other opportunities with CBS that we’re working on -- let’s say we’re working on it together to do some other things. I think that probably, I don’t know maybe in the beginning of the year, we’ll have some things to announce. By no means is the relationship a bad relationship. It’s just we’re going to revisit it in the beginning of the year and take it from there.”

Coker declined to say whether the relationship had to be repaired after the postfight scuffle.

“I can tell you this. One of the things that we want to make sure never happens again is the situation that happened in Nashville,” he said. “I mean, that was terrible. It’s not just bad for Strikeforce or for the sport in general because it affects everybody. It affects everybody in the industry. … It was definitely something that needed to be fixed. We fixed it and we’re moving forward.”

Check out the full interview (beginning at 55:55) with Scott Coker, who also discusses his heavyweight division and the lineup for Saturday.

honestly if i was coker i would put werdum/overeem, fedor/barnett on this supposed cbs card. and promote the ish outta it. it will put a stamp on the cbs deal imo and make strikforce the counter to zuffa it needs to be. imo it already is but will make it even that much more

[sonofsteven]

Originally Posted by killakem1

Coker Calls CBS Relationship

honestly if i was coker i would put werdum/overeem, fedor/barnett on this supposed cbs card. and promote the ish outta it. it will put a stamp on the cbs deal imo and make strikforce the counter to zuffa it needs to be. imo it already is but will make it even that much more

Love your suggested fights especially for CBS and all, but I have to ask if you really, actually consider strikeforce a match to Zuffa. I have thoroughly enjoyed some of the fights SF has put on , don't get me wrong. But in no way shape or form do I see that SF can come remotely close to matching the divisions covered by Zuffa. You could make a case for their HW div. sure , but that would be about it. I personally enjoy just WEC events more frequently and consistently than SF. Not trying to be an asshole but that's a huge statement and I just can't see it. Maybe I'm missing somethin?

[killakem1]

Originally Posted by sonofsteven

Love your suggested fights especially for CBS and all, but I have to ask if you really, actually consider strikeforce a match to Zuffa. I have thoroughly enjoyed some of the fights SF has put on , don't get me wrong. But in no way shape or form do I see that SF can come remotely close to matching the divisions covered by Zuffa. You could make a case for their HW div. sure , but that would be about it. I personally enjoy just WEC events more frequently and consistently than SF. Not trying to be an asshole but that's a huge statement and I just can't see it. Maybe I'm missing somethin?

its about solidifying that cbs deal. if they do that on a major network then they will bring more fans. its not really in comparison div to div but ratings. i believe they havent done much with working with cbs hence the promote the ish outta the card portion of my post. look at it this way: look what tuf and spike did for the ufc. with cbs and actual promotion strikeforce can gain a huge amount of fans and bring more fans to mma

[YukonJordan]

Strikeforce could be considerably better than Zuffa in ten years if they run this right. If I was Coker I would try my damndest to nail CBS down to committing to 3-4 fight nights a year. Treat those like a super ppv and load it up with talent and sellable matchups and use the showtime cards the way the UFC uses their bad ppv's.

[the_dark_angel_4ever]

Originally Posted by YukonJordan

Strikeforce could be considerably better than Zuffa in ten years if they run this right. If I was Coker I would try my damndest to nail CBS down to committing to 3-4 fight nights a year. Treat those like a super ppv and load it up with talent and sellable matchups and use the showtime cards the way the UFC uses their bad ppv's.

How so? In ten years all their current stars will be pretty much retired and they don't seem to good at building up new fighters.

[GangGreenWarrior]

Well, in 10 years we'll have our next SF HW title defense.

[Kimbo> Rampage]

fedor's next fight should be on cbs. It would be great to see him fight AO, barnett, or avenge his loss an KO werdum. Please no bigfoot.