UFC Will Not Provide Live Counter Against April Strikeforce Event
by Brent Brookhouse on Mar 18, 2010 1:19 PM EDT in News
MMA Fighting is reporting that there will be no UFC counter to the April Strikeforce event:
Strikeforce has the spotlight to itself.
The long-rumored UFC event expected to counter the promotion's April 17 CBS offering will not take place, MMA Fighting has confirmed.
Earlier this month, the UFC explored the option, going so far as to inform likely broadcast partner Spike TV that the show was a go, but the company has apparently reversed course, and a Spike source said the network has been told by the UFC that the show is no longer happening.
The lack of a solid headlining fight was really an issue in putting this show together, but I also question just how much of this was a bluff by the UFC. The fact that it did seem to make Strikeforce and CBS hesitate to get moving on booking and promoting their event made the talk of a counter effective. I'm sure we will still see some form of counter by the UFC in a PPV replay.
Now we will get to see the first Strikeforce effort on TV without a major star to headline the show (although Fedor's starpower is debatable). Casual audiences are typically drawn to title fights, and while the hardcore base will insist that these titles mean nothing there is an allure to the casual audience of a three title event. Mid-range boxing shows do tend to do better with a title fight included even if everyone knows that "alphabet belts" are largely meaningless.
Without a live UFC counter Strikeforce loses the built in excuse for a sub-par number and more rides on the ability of this card to do at least passable ratings.
