Strikeforce wins in promotion war with UFC

Things just got messy in the battle between the UFC and Strikeforce and for once, it’s the UFC that looks bad.

UFC president Dana White has confirmed that the promotion will hold Fight Night 22 on Spike TV on April 17 – the same night that the biggest card in Strikeforce history airs on CBS.

Strikeforce has the option of moving the event to April 24, a date it had previously avoided because it would put it head-to-head with the WEC’s first pay-per-view card.

Zuffa, which owns the UFC and WEC, has thrown down the gauntlet with this latest bit of counter-programming and the whole thing could backfire. And I’m not just talking about Strikeforce conceding the date and going up against the WEC PPV, a battle – in terms of eyeballs – that Strikeforce easily wins.

I understand the desire to crush your enemies, to eliminate the competition no matter how weak a challenger you consider them to be. No mercy, sweep the leg, winner takes all, and all that.

But what does the UFC gain by stealing a little of Strikeforce’s thunder? Not only does this move by the UFC smack of egoism and pettiness, it could bite them in the ass. Set aside the entirely valid “competition is good in a free market society” argument. Never mind the fact that any MMA event getting mainstream exposure on an American TV network is good for the sport in general and thus good for all promotions. Forget about the bad PR that might waft up from the smell of such a dirty move.

Think about this: would you rather watch a free UFC card featuring Kimbo Slice and Matt Mitrione (the rumoured headliner or co-headliner) or a free Strikeforce card featuring title bouts between Gegard Mousasi and “King Mo” Lawal, Jake Shields and Dan Henderson, and Gilbert Melendez and the long-awaited North American debut of DREAM champ Shinya Aoki?

From a fan’s perspective the answer is a no-brainer. If you even have to think for a second about which card you’re watching then you’ve less sense than Junie Browning.

Sure, the UFC will shore-up the card with some other notable bouts. They tried – and failed – to lock in Matt Serra vs. Mike Swick, who pulled out with an arm injury. And I haven’t forgotten that the UFC just signed boxing champ James Toney and there’s speculation he’ll face Kimbo Slice out of the gate. Except Toney says he plans to box at least once more before making his UFC debut sometime in June or July. Still, the UFC has a big stable to draw from.

Does. Not. Matter. Free or not, I’m watching Strikeforce. Does not matter that Fedor Emelianenko isn’t on the card, that Alistair Overeem isn’t defending the longest undefended border, er, belt in all of combat sports, that Cris “Cyborg” Santos and Gina Carano aren’t on the card.

The three title fights the Strikeforce card is offering is enough to trump even the best UFC Fight Night. On that count, I’m all in.