The Future of SF.

will it fold and absorb into the UFC like the WEC did?

Or can they keep it as legit b-league org?

Some thoughts I have on it are.

Sure I think it can work, but it obviously has to be run with a different goal then the WEC was.

steal the Challengers name, and lose SF. UFC Challengers.

Lose the belts. The belt of a sister org is lame.

But keep the tourney's. Not necessarily for a gauranteed call up either. just year to year(or bi-annual) tourney's would be sweet.


Keep some names on there. The top guys will move up no doubt, but there needs to be headliners. And I think starting off by moving some big names down, B4 they steal the top guys, helps give SF a more secure place under the Zuffa umbrella. And Hardy(as noted in other thread) makes perfect sense.


Emphasize young talent. Don't rush guys up. Let them create some buzz for themselves and the b-league. And don't be afraid to move a young guy back down, even off a win. ala the recent woodley situation.

I wonder about the TV situation. I have to believe the UFC wants to keep CBS/Showtime in the fold, if only to keep that share of the market. If Zuffa walks on that deal it allows another org to step right in, as M-1 is already doing(though this is really a different subject). However unless it is a legit UFC card, no way CBS wants it. So I wonder here.

I've been working on an detailed operations manual. It's in the preliminary draft stage right now, but once it gets board approval, it will be released to the public.

I think they will do with it the same thing they did with Pride. When they first purchased Pride, they told everyone that Pride would continue as is. However, once the contracts expired, the UFC took who they wanted and who they could negotiate with and let the others go to smaller shows. I can definitely see that with Strikeforce. I think sometime in 2012, you will see most of the big stars of Strikeforce in the UFC, mainly their heavyweights and the top guys at the other weights.

jimbojones1950 wrote:

I think they will do with it the same thing they did with Pride. When they first purchased Pride, they told everyone that Pride would continue as is. However, once the contracts expired, the UFC took who they wanted and who they could negotiate with and let the others go to smaller shows. I can definitely see that with Strikeforce. I think sometime in 2012, you will see most of the big stars of Strikeforce in the UFC, mainly their heavyweights and the top guys at the other weights.

so u don't envision SF being kept as a B-league?

and what do u think of the CBS Showtime situation? does the UFC hang on to that?

I think it would be smart for Zuffa to run SF as a B league to bring up young talent. They could have guys like Diaz as title holders and have some gatekeepers who fought in UFC to show that the upcoming talent is worth the watch. Zuffa should use SF as a promotion to be on par with the Bellator's of the world. Keeping a smaller org will ensure the other smaller orgs won't be able to grow like SF and Bellator had done the last 3-4 years. If they get rid of SF, another promotion will pop up within a few years and become the next Bellator, while Bellator becomes the next SF. I would imagine Zuffa doesn't want to keep buying other promotions that are growing like SF did.

Doing the same thing they did to Pride again with SF would be bad business for the future imo.

captain organic wrote:

jimbojones1950 wrote:

I think they will do with it the same thing they did with Pride. When they first purchased Pride, they told everyone that Pride would continue as is. However, once the contracts expired, the UFC took who they wanted and who they could negotiate with and let the others go to smaller shows. I can definitely see that with Strikeforce. I think sometime in 2012, you will see most of the big stars of Strikeforce in the UFC, mainly their heavyweights and the top guys at the other weights.

so u don't envision SF being kept as a B-league?

and what do u think of the CBS Showtime situation? does the UFC hang on to that?

I think they should keep Strikeforce, but I just don't see it with all the good potential matchups they have between Strikeforce and UFC fighters. My guess is that the UFC tries to renew the deal with CBS under the UFC, not Strikeforce...but these are obviously just guesses.

Sounds like you don't think Diaz is UFC worthy. Who are "guys like Diaz", give me an example.