Strikeforce aquires EliteXC

[Clark Kent]

02-05-2009 09:37 PM: In addition to signing a deal with Showtime, Strikeforce again madewaves with it’s acquisition of select fighter contracts, and library offootage from EliteXC.

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[Hand Sword]

Interesting.

 

[Kwan Jang]

Scott Coker, who runs Strikeforce, has been my friend, classmate and teammate since I was a kid. He is the perfect person to tke MMA as a sport to the next level. Dana and the UFC were great for giving the sport the mainstream exposure, but they treat the fighters like cattle and don't share enough of the pie with them. Also, Dana's language and attitude doesn't always portray the best image to the public. Scott is an exceptional martial artist in every sense of the word and can realate to the fighters far better becasue he is in their training and often trains with some of the best fighters out there (AKA got it's start as a side program in his school). He's also an articulate gentleman who will be a far better spokesman for the sport. Dana may have gotten out foot in the door, but with Scott we won't have to cringe everytime he opens his mouth.

 

[LuckyKBoxer]

I look at this and think, okay 1 year?...2 years?... sad but the problem is everyone seems to want to put together the same business model as the UFC, only without the funding and the talent and expect to compete. I would love to see another viable promotion out there, I doubt Strikeforce will be it though. Who knows, the main problem is there is not much talent in elitexc.

 

[AoCAdam]

I am really looking forward to this. It is always great to see competition to the UFC. More MMA is better for everyone

 

[Kwan Jang]

As far as Luckyboxer's comments are concerned, I don't know for sure if Scott will make it. But it should be noted that he was the head of K-1 USA and that if you ever saw any MA competitions on ESPN or ESPN 2, it was likely Scott that was the one putting it on. He's also been the first to get a regular gig for MMA on network TV (NBC) and now has EliteXC's stable and deal with Showtime. UFC didn't really take off in the mainstream until the TUF reality show, so I could easily see either Strikeforce or Affliction doing well in the market share.

 

[LuckyKBoxer]

As far as Luckyboxer's comments are concerned, I don't know for sure if Scott will make it. But it should be noted that he was the head of K-1 USA and that if you ever saw any MA competitions on ESPN or ESPN 2, it was likely Scott that was the one putting it on. He's also been the first to get a regular gig for MMA on network TV (NBC) and now has EliteXC's stable and deal with Showtime. UFC didn't really take off in the mainstream until the TUF reality show, so I could easily see either Strikeforce or Affliction doing well in the market share.

I believe that Affliction is almost done, at least with MMA. I would be surprised if they are able to do another show. They have lost so much money and its only a matter of time before they lose their investors.. If Fedor ends up signing a deal with the UFC, the Affliction dies immediately I would think.
Like I said I would love to see some more promotions running and more quality fighters being developed. I am just not sure there are enough quality fighters available now, and I do not see anyone with enough money out there putting an interest into investing the money it will take to build their own stable.
I do not think EliteXCs stable of fighters are that good. They were heavily dependant on Kimbo, now hes been proven the fraud he really is.
Affliction has a really good Heavyweight division and they are having major issues..
I wish Strikeforce luck, but I look at their stable of fighters and there are only a couple that are really good. The rest are UFC rejects, Old guys, and freakshows. Thats not a recipe for a successful venue. I love Babalu, I always enjoy watching Shamrock and Cung Le, but after that...meh.

 

[TheArtofDave]

Where EliteXC faultered was marketing Kimbo like he is Fedor. Which was working until Kimbo got beat on the spur of the moment. Didn't do anything for the other guy, other than net him the biggest pay day of his life.

Maybe Strike Force can turn around Elite XC's mismanagement. I'd like to see more competition for the UFC. Been getting more into WEC since I can watch it on VS.

This is great news. But now the fighters have to consider going to Strike Force instead of crowding the UFC.