Scott Coker on Strikeforce Grand Prix: “Greatest Heavyweight Tournament in the History of MMA”

The upcoming Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix may end up being the promotion’s biggest series of events to date. According to Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker, it is the greatest heavyweight collection in MMA history.

A few weeks back, former linear No. 1 heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko said he believes the upcoming Strikeforce tournament rivals or surpasses the Pride Fighting Championships tournament he took part in some years ago.

With fighters like Emelianenko, Fabricio Werdum, Josh Barnett and of course Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem all involved, it’s hard to argue that point.

“Pride had some amazing shows and they set the benchmark for tournaments. I know the UFC originally started back in ’93 with the tournament format, but that was a different era, a different time,” Coker said recently on MMAWeekly Radio.

“I’m not the type of guy to sit here and boasting about it, but when you look at it on paper, I think this is honestly the greatest heavyweight tournament in the history of mixed martial arts. I think there’s a good argument about that. That’s really my position on it.”

The tournament is stacked with several heavyweights in the Top 10, along with a few former Top 10 fighters as well.

One question many fans have asked about is how stacked one side of the tournament seems to be with Emelianenko, Overeem, and Werdum all sitting together. Coker believes that side of the tournament is set up for a couple of reasons.

First, the fans are guaranteed to see a fight they’ve been asking for with Overeem vs. Werdum in the first round, and second, the Strikeforce heavyweight champion flat out asked to face the Brazilian as soon as he possibly could.

“He came to me in Japan and said ‘I want fight Fabricio Werdum and I want to avenge that fight. I want to knock him out,” Coker said about Overeem.

Of course on the other side of the tournament discussion are comments from everyone including fans and media about the set up of the Grand Prix. From Overeem not defending his title to the right side of the bracket seemingly lighter on talent, Strikeforce has taken its fair share of criticism about the mega-tournament kicking off in February.

Does Strikeforce receive harsher criticism than the UFC, the biggest MMA organization in the world? Coker says he doesn’t want opinions on his promotion to be judged by anything other than the quality of the fights they’re putting on.

“This is what I say: Judge us by what’s inside the cage and we put on some amazing fights, put on some big fights, and I think the tournament’s going to be unbelievable,” said Coker. “Why be a critic? Why don’t you just sit back and enjoy it? Because it’s going to be unbelievable and you get to watch it on Showtime for free.”

Coker even talks to his good friends at the American Kickboxing Academy as they kick around the idea of who would win in a fight between Strikeforce champion Alistair Overeem and UFC champion Cain Velasquez.

“I was sitting here with Javier Mendes and Bob Cook going ‘you know, if Fedor would take Cain and Alistair would take it to Cain’ and we had this big debate about AKA vs. Strikeforce,” Coker commented.

Fans may not get to see those particular match-ups, but they will see a lot of other great fights at the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix kicks off Feb. 12 in New Jersey.

Source: mmaweekly.com

Strikeforce in Discussions to Bring One Leg of Heavyweight Grand Prix to Japan

Strikeforce could be taking its show international, including part of its upcoming Heavyweight Grand Prix that kicks off in February.

Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker tells MMAWeekly Radio that the company has been exploring expansion into Canada and likely taking at least one leg of the Grand Prix overseas to Japan.

“We’re having a couple conversations right now and we definitely want to travel to Canada at some point, which we’re working on,” Coker said. “We’d definitely like to take one leg of the tournament at some point, it doesn’t have to be the next one or it could be the semifinals or maybe even the fights, but we’d like to eventually this year take one of those legs to Japan.”

Strikeforce hasn’t ventured to Japan before, but they do have strong ties with FEG, the company that promotes Dream and K-1 events in the country. Coker has had a relationship working with K-1 for several years, and it would seemingly make for an easy transition for his company to make it to Japan.

Several fighters on the Strikeforce roster have come to prominence through fighting in Japan including heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem, who just won the K-1 Grand Prix title in Japan, as well as former Pride champion Fedor Emelianenko.

Coker believes it’s a smart move to expand into Japan, and why not for what he calls the greatest heavyweight tournament the sport has ever seen.

“I just feel like with all the stars that we have and the fan base there for these fighters over there, I mean these fighters have a ton of fans in Japan,” said Coker. “Why not go there and bring Strikeforce to Japan some time this year?”

No plans have been finalized as to which leg of the tournament could take place there, but the quarterfinal round of the Grand Prix featuring Overeem has not been scheduled yet, but is expected to take place in early April.

Beyond that date, Strikeforce hasn’t set anything in concrete as far as when shows will take place, but it’s expected that the semifinals will happen in early to mid-summer with the finals taking place in the fall.

Source: mmaweekly.com

Overeem vs. Werdum Will Determine The #1 MMA HW In The World

Strikeforce Heavyweight Tournament will kick-off next month, with some very exciting match-ups on the bracket. Of course, the first event will mark the return of Fedor Emelianenko to the Strikeforce cage, but in my opinion, the most important bout of the first round is the collision between Alistair Overeem and Fabricio Werdum.

In his fight against Antonio Silva (Izod Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey on February 12th), Fedor Emelianenko will look to make a statement that he's still the driving force in the World of Mixed Martial Arts. Fedor's possible victory over Bigfoot will surely put him back on track, but his real bread-and-butter will be in facing either Overeem or Werdum in the Semi-Finals.

Fedor needs two victories to win back what he lost in a fight against Fabricio Werdum. So whether it's the man who beat Werdum (Overeem) or the Brazilian himself, victory in the Semi-Final would be an official return of "The Last Emperor". 

Both Overeem and Werdum are carrying an impressive amount of achievements into their fight. Alistair Overeem is the Strikeforce and Dream (Interim) Heavyweight Champion, as well as K-1 WGP Champion, while Fabricio Werdum is the lineal Heavywieght Champion, also coming off a stunning victory over the mentioned above Fedor Emelianenko. 

In terms of achievements, Werdum and Overeem are currently two of the Top 3 Heavyweights in the World. And with so much at stake from both fighters, the encounter between the two will automatically determine the identity of the #1 Heavyweight on the planet.

Cain Velasquez is the other part of this Top 3. But the UFC Heavyweight Champion will not defend his title until the final quarter of 2011, as the June bout between Brock Lesnar and Junior dos Santos does very little to the Heavyweight landscape. However, if Cain Velasquez manages to defend his title in the same impressive fashion like he did at UFC 121, he will make a strong case in the argument for the #1 Heavyweight spot in the rankings against the eventual tournament winner.

In conclusion, we are clearly up for exciting times in the world of Mixed Martial Arts. I'm still convinced that Strikeforce Heavyweight Tournament is one of the best things to ever happen in this sport, even despite some questionable regulation decisions.


Source: mmashare.com