UFC fighters you'd like to see in Strikeforce....

I know everyone likes to go the other way with this but, there are some middle of the pack guys in the UFC who could expand their horizon's in strikeforce. Here's a couple, in no particular order.

1)Nate Diaz, he's behind a whole bunch of top guy's, some of them pretty young, and many of them carrying the wrestling credentials that have given him trouble. There are a couple of quality opponents in strikeforce so if he were to become champ it would not be a hollow belt by any means. Of coarse his brother is already in strikeforce, and like Nick, is entertaining both and out of the ring.

2)Kongo, again behind so many guys, and again the wrestlers have given him trouble and there are plenty of top notch wrestlers in the UFC. And Kongo vs Grim? That's a dream matchup.

3)Spider. not a middle of the pack guy, but he has expressed interest in meeting Fedor, and has also expressed interest in events outside of the UFC. If only for a Fedor mega fight.

4)Thiago Alves, again not middle of the pack, but he's too young to be stuck behind an also young p4p great. And there are a bunch of interesting matchups at both 170, and 185 for him in strikeforce.

5)Hendo. Aight im obviously leaning away from the middle of the pack guys, but after Spider beats him again, what's the plan for him? I guess back to 205, but does he have a real shot at the title there? Gegard needs some opponents, strikeforce could use the name and prestige, Hendo finds himself actually favored to win a title.

Hendo finds himself actually favored to win a title.


You say that as if he hasn't won many UFC and Pride titles already?

Wolfgangsta wrote:

Hendo finds himself actually favored to win a title.


You say that as if he hasn't won many UFC and Pride titles already?

No I say that as if he would be a fairly big underdog vs either of the title holders in the UFC weight classes in which he currently fights.

why would any fighter want to step down in competition just to have a belt??? Take a look at tito he decided to come back to the ufc just to fight better fighters.

muayjitsu wrote:

why would any fighter want to step down in competition just to have a belt??? Take a look at tito he decided to come back to the ufc just to fight better fighters.

There are a host of reasons why fighters leave the UFC. It happens fairly often. and there are another host of reasons why FA fighters prefer to sign with org'other then the UFC as well. That happens fairly often too. Not saying a belt is the reason to come to strikeforce, but being stuck behind a young great champ may be reason to leave an org.

so a nfl player would leave the nfl for the cfl because he could not win the superbowl. Thats a shitty outlook. Most fighters leave the UFC because they were cut. Now i did say most not all.

Yeah, I don't think leaving MLB to win the PCL title as a Tacoma Rainier is the same as winning the World Series. You really think Babalu considers himself the best LHW in the world because of the SF strap?

I would LOVE to see Kongo vs Grim. That would have fireworks and someone would be getting KO'd.

These other sports and analogies to their titles and status in the sport suck for like a thousand reasons -


Those sports are team sports. MMA is not.

Those sports have long standing and established structures for moving up and making money that are mostly performance based. The UFC has nothing quite like that. Some guys win 5, 6, or more fights before gaining a title shot, some win 1.

Those sports have long since established a stable talent structure clearly separating different levels of talent and prestige. MMA has never had that stable dominant force. This UFC controls the MMA world thing is a very recent, TUF era/post Pride idea.

Heiron on why he went to strikeforce.


“The UFC, nothing bad to say about them, they offered me a great deal, but definitely, I can’t turn down a title shot right now,” said Hieron during a Strikeforce conference call Monday. “That’s what I’m looking forward to. That’s what I want to be, is a world champion.”


Not sure if some of the other recent strikeforece signings are thinking the same, but for some reason not everyone feels the need to go to the UFC.

well one off my list made the jump. Though Im not sure if he'll be favored vs Gegard. He'll most assuredly be favored vs Shields.

I think we will slowly see more and more UFC fighters make the jump. This will bring forth a huge competition between the UFC and Strikeforce which will be good for the sport. Some of the golden years of MMA happened when Pride competed against the UFC. It brought forth some epic fights.

Ninja\Rua/Fan wrote:

I think we will slowly see more and more UFC fighters make the jump. This will bring forth a huge competition between the UFC and Strikeforce which will be good for the sport. Some of the golden years of MMA happened when Pride competed against the UFC. It brought forth some epic fights.

No doubt. Dana's jerkoff attitude combined with his reluctance to sign a network deal has enabled Strikeforce to get a major foothold in the MMA market. Fedor and Gegard set the table, but Hendo, being the first big name to actually leave the ufc to sign with SF could open the flood gates.

captain organic wrote:

Heiron on why he went to strikeforce.


“The UFC, nothing bad to say about them, they offered me a great deal, but definitely, I can’t turn down a title shot right now,” said Hieron during a Strikeforce conference call Monday. “That’s what I’m looking forward to. That’s what I want to be, is a world champion.”


Not sure if some of the other recent strikeforece signings are thinking the same, but for some reason not everyone feels the need to go to the UFC.

This is a moronic post, because it showcases how he went to Strikeforce to win a lesser Title, he'd have literally no shot in the UFC

And some of Strikeforces best fighters will be in the UFC after maybe about a year, I fully expect Mousasi and Shields to make the jump when their contracts are up.

tolivendiewithLA wrote:

captain organic wrote:

Heiron on why he went to strikeforce.


“The UFC, nothing bad to say about them, they offered me a great deal, but definitely, I can’t turn down a title shot right now,” said Hieron during a Strikeforce conference call Monday. “That’s what I’m looking forward to. That’s what I want to be, is a world champion.”


Not sure if some of the other recent strikeforece signings are thinking the same, but for some reason not everyone feels the need to go to the UFC.

This is a moronic post, because it showcases how he went to Strikeforce to win a lesser Title, he'd have literally no shot in the UFC

And some of Strikeforces best fighters will be in the UFC after maybe about a year, I fully expect Mousasi and Shields to make the jump when their contracts are up.

Why is it moronic? My point was guys come to strikeforce as opposed to the UFC for multiple reasons, Heiron himself backed up my claim. Fedor and Gegard came for their own reasons. Aoki for his own reasons, Manhoef for his own reasons, and now Hendo for his own reasons.

The idea that top flight fighters have only one legitimate venue to showcase their talents is quickly becoming outdated.

I wouldn't fully expect any SF fighter to make the jump to the UFC. But I do expect Spider to at least make some noise about wanting to fight in SF, to get away from Dana and to fight Fedor.

What is eventually going to happen (I am gussing here) is Lorenzo and Dana will have a chat about fighters and fighter development. I mean for the most part, Dana has toned down the rhetoric quite a bit, which is part of it. But what will be nasty is when LF and DW decide to open up the chack book, knowing that any other opposition can't match what they offer. Right now they already pay better than the others but that margin is closing, while the UFC keeps raking in the bucks. I think with another top rated show by CBS, ABC/ESPN will quit fucking around and latch on to the UFC, which will be the beginning of the end for SF.

so within the last year sf has set up a tv deal with CBS/Showtime, signed the #1 p4p guy in the world, another top 10 p4p guy, nabbed a bunch of other good names, just stole a big time name from the UFC and your foreseeing the beginning of the end for SF?

Fedor and Mousasi's ties with M-1 are the reason they ended up with Strikeforce, without M-1 both are in the UFC. And you can't steal a guy when they let him walk.

It could be said that Fedor, Gegard and Hendo are all with SF because the UFC wants to bully everyone it comes in contact with. It refuses to play nicely in any of it's business relations, demanding subserviance, and that is why the UFC is on spike, while SF is on CBS and why SF is gobbling up top flight fighters, including the world's p4p #1 and a highly ranked UFC defector.

The UFC is in position to make all the demands they want, they are the big dog on the block, they have no reason to co-promote or give in to fighters demands, you do understand this right? The only reason Fedor landed with Strikeforce is due to M-1, the UFC had no reason to bow to their demands. The UFC built a nice home on Spike, I'm sure ur aware mulitple deals have een presented to them, but with the success they had on their own,why would they bend and give up things like production rights? The UFC steadily adds top fighters aswell, plus they have a much, much larger stable of top fighters then Strikeforce. And remember although Hendo is a great fighter, the UFC let him walk, it's not like all was even and he chose Strikeforce. And at least IMO, you'll see Shields or Mousasi or both leaving when their contracts are up to move to the UFC, as both have stated they wish to fight in the UFC some day.

tolivendiewithLA wrote:

The UFC is in position to make all the demands they want, they are the big dog on the block, they have no reason to co-promote or give in to fighters demands, you do understand this right? The only reason Fedor landed with Strikeforce is due to M-1, the UFC had no reason to bow to their demands. The UFC built a nice home on Spike, I'm sure ur aware mulitple deals have een presented to them, but with the success they had on their own,why would they bend and give up things like production rights? The UFC steadily adds top fighters aswell, plus they have a much, much larger stable of top fighters then Strikeforce. And remember although Hendo is a great fighter, the UFC let him walk, it's not like all was even and he chose Strikeforce. And at least IMO, you'll see Shields or Mousasi or both leaving when their contracts are up to move to the UFC, as both have stated they wish to fight in the UFC some day.

Wouldn't landing the #1 p4p guy in the world be reason to come down off their high perch for a second? By not swinging the M-1 deals, the TV deals, and now the Hendo deal, they are allowing what was once a very small org become a major player on the scene. Would it not have been a very good reason to make those deals happen in an effort to keep their competition from growing?

Say what you want about Spike, it is not CBS. And that is born out in the fact that despite being by far the biggest fight org in the history of the sport the UFC does not have the most viewed events in the history of the sport. (though in an effort to make amends they go and grab Kimbo instead of making a TV deal, great idea!!)

We all know that the UFC has been great for the sport. But the UFC feels that because of their past they deserve to do things exactly the way they want to do it in the present. That they should not compromise in the least. It's starting to come back and bite them.

And do we not think that the NFL, the most successful sport here in the US, a boulder to MMA's pebble, bends at times to the wishes of the TV networks? Of coarse they do. Yet the UFC cannot?