Clark Kent
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12-24-2009 10:40 AM:
It looks like 2010 could be a big year for Strikeforce. Fighters like Fedor Emelianenko, Dan Henderson and Bobby Lashley all rave about how nice it is to work for Scott Coker and Strikeforce. But not everyone under the Showtime/Strikeforce banner is a happy camper.
Robbie Lawler was the victim of awful luck before last week's Strikeforce: Evolution card. Benji Radach backed out of the original matchup against Lawler, then Trevor Prangley did so the week of the fight. Lawler, still under a three-fight deal that carried over from EliteXC, is due $225,000 per fight. He's had just one fight in 17 months. And even that fight annoyed Lawler and his manager Monte Cox, when they had to agree to a 182-pound catch weight to face Jake Shields in June.
Word last weekend coming from the camp was that they were unhappy with Showtime for blocking a replacement. In a way, can you blame Showtime/Strikeforce? Should they really have to pay Lawler 225k to take out a late replacement tomato can? But you can also see where Lawler has a case. It stinks when you get one fight the entire when you were expecting somewhere between $450,000-$900,000. But the reality is that he's not in the UFC where they have a roster of 200-plus fighters to pull from.
Coker explained to Cagewriter there was no grand conspiracy to screw over Lawler. The promotion tried for a late replacement they just whiffed.
Lawler trains out of Granite City, Illlinois with Matt Hughes' H.I.T. Squad. On his blog, Hughes has already decided Strikeforce is in big trouble:
Coker would like to match Lawler against Melvin Mahhoef on Jan. 30 but it doesn't look realistic with the American's wife due with child in early February.
More...
Yahoo! Sports.
Cagewriter is an MMA blog edited by Steve Cofield.
It looks like 2010 could be a big year for Strikeforce. Fighters like Fedor Emelianenko, Dan Henderson and Bobby Lashley all rave about how nice it is to work for Scott Coker and Strikeforce. But not everyone under the Showtime/Strikeforce banner is a happy camper.
Robbie Lawler was the victim of awful luck before last week's Strikeforce: Evolution card. Benji Radach backed out of the original matchup against Lawler, then Trevor Prangley did so the week of the fight. Lawler, still under a three-fight deal that carried over from EliteXC, is due $225,000 per fight. He's had just one fight in 17 months. And even that fight annoyed Lawler and his manager Monte Cox, when they had to agree to a 182-pound catch weight to face Jake Shields in June.
Word last weekend coming from the camp was that they were unhappy with Showtime for blocking a replacement. In a way, can you blame Showtime/Strikeforce? Should they really have to pay Lawler 225k to take out a late replacement tomato can? But you can also see where Lawler has a case. It stinks when you get one fight the entire when you were expecting somewhere between $450,000-$900,000. But the reality is that he's not in the UFC where they have a roster of 200-plus fighters to pull from.
Coker explained to Cagewriter there was no grand conspiracy to screw over Lawler. The promotion tried for a late replacement they just whiffed.
Lawler trains out of Granite City, Illlinois with Matt Hughes' H.I.T. Squad. On his blog, Hughes has already decided Strikeforce is in big trouble:
Last week I was in California with Robbie, [Matt] Pena, and [Brian] Foster, hoping they would find a replacement so Robbie could fight. It didn’t happen and I guess I’m just spoiled being with the UFC. From what I understand, Showtime really likes to stick their nose in Strikeforce’s business and because of that I don’t think that Strikeforce will be around for much longer.
Hughes may be jumping the gun a bit. This is one of the downsides of signing with a smaller organization. Fighters are not guaranteed to get three or four paydays each year.
Coker would like to match Lawler against Melvin Mahhoef on Jan. 30 but it doesn't look realistic with the American's wife due with child in early February.
More...
Yahoo! Sports.
Cagewriter is an MMA blog edited by Steve Cofield.
