Strikeforce Needs To Rebuild Itself or Go Down Fighting

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It’s very telling that the mixed martial arts world can’t work up the need to get angry about Showtime canceling the Gilbert Melendez vs. Pat Healy card.

Although 19 fighters are out of work this Saturday and several Sacramento locals won’t be getting comped tickets for the regional show, the looming defeatist air around Strikeforce events basically amounted to a resigned shrug from fight fans.

However, this mild shock may actually be a good thing for the promotion in the long run.

Just like UFC 151 was a wake-up call for Dana White and matchmaker Joe Silva to avoid making more “one-fight” cards, this weekend’s non-existent Strikeforce card may be a much-needed wake-up call for the San Jose-based promotion.

Strikeforce has had one foot in the grave since early 2011, and this week’s news has many MMA writers calling for them to close up the company. Hopefully, this gives CEO Scott Coker and matchmaker Sean Shelby a shot in the arm to do something, anything, to get the Strikeforce name back to a halfway decent standing point in the MMA world.

There’s a lot of ways to go about this—if the company can be bothered to act like it’s still the number two (or three) MMA promotion in the world.

Above all else, Strikeforce needs to build up their broken championship roster, and do it as soon as possible with a few bold moves.

• Prep an opponent to fight Gegard Mousasi for the light heavyweight title when he returns from his ACL injury.
• Announce a contender for Nate Marquardt’s welterweight title.
• Declare an interim lightweight championship bout between Pat Healy and Josh Thompson.
• Hold a four-woman tournament to crown the next featherweight women’s champion, and make an early, decisive point of barring Cristiane Cyborg from entry.
• Hell, why not declare Sara McMann vs. Liz Carmouche as a title eliminator bout?

Strikeforce may be crippled, but against all odds, it isn’t dead yet—and the promotion should be willing to go down fighting for the sake of its talent. Relying on the occasional Ronda Rousey fight won’t help, and neither will letting championship positions stay vacant.

Tags: Cristiane Cyborg, Gegard Mousasi, Gilbert Melendez, Joe Silva, Liz Carmouche, mma, Nate Marquardt, Pat Healy, Ronda Rousey, San Jose, Scott Coker, Sean Shelby, Strikeforce, Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Healy, UFC, UFC 151