Fan Bias

Over the last couple of weeks, SI.com’s Josh Gross has revived a long-running discussion over cross-promotional fights. One of the main points of his columns is that with the emergence of Strikeforce as a solid #2 MMA promotion, the UFC no longer has the ability to put on the absolute best fights possible in most — if not all — the heaviest five weight classes. As a solution, Gross suggests a periodic World MMA Classic (patterned after baseball’s similar global event) in which the top fighters in the world in every weight class square off in a single-elimination tournament format. (Read both of Gross’ columns here and here.)

While I don’t necessarily agree with Gross’ solution (and quite frankly, that point is secondary), I do agree with him that MMA is at a crossroads and that Strikeforce has the legitimate potential to not only be a solid #2 but even become the new Pride to UFC’s juggernaut — in other words a possible equal to the UFC. After all, Strikeforce has continuously improved its roster in recent months and has big-time exposure in the form of Showtime and CBS.

If Strikeforce does realize its potential, then the reality is neither a UFC title nor a Strikeforce title will be meaningful because the MMA talent pool will be divided between the two promotions. If, as Gross believes, the goal of MMA is to determine who the best fighters are, the only way to resolve the dilemma posed by two strong promotions is with co-promoted fights.

Rather than using tournaments, which I believe would add a logistic hurdle that doesn’t make sense, what I propose is an annual Super Bowl of MMA (much like the one Dana White posited as an idea when Zuffa bought Pride.) This Super Bowl of MMA would take place the Saturday night before American football’s Super Bowl.

This proposal carries with it a number of advantages. For one, the co-promotional event would only take place on one night, which means that fighters would be fighting outside their respective promotions only once a year. This is certainly a palatable compromise in the spirit of determining the best of the best. Second, the night before the real Super Bowl has already been established by the UFC as a major night for MMA so re-orienting or educating fans would not be an issue. Third, only two promotions — the UFC and Strikeforce — would be involved in such an event meaning negotiations would be fairly straightforward (Gross’ idea was to involve fighters from all the major promotions throughout the world which I think is currently too ambitious.) Fourth, the event would serve to strengthen both promotions and would also give both promotions leverage as they attempt to negotiate favorable television deals. Strikeforce would bring to the table its relationships with CBS and Showtime, while the UFC would bring its own relationships with Spike TV, Versus, as well as strong pay-per-view numbers. The promotions would certainly be in the position of power at the negotiating table and maybe, just maybe, another network or even ESPN would step in to televise this yearly event.

As fans know, the major sticking point in getting such a proposal to become a reality is Zuffa. And, who can blame White and the Fertittas for their aversion to co-promotion? What’s the incentive for the acknowledged world’s top MMA promotion to share the spotlight with another promotion? Well, hopefully the following five fights we most likely won’t see this coming year — fights that I believe could help take the sport to the next level in a Super Bowl-type event — should give the powers-that-be the motivation to work together.

Heavyweight: Brock Lesnar (UFC) vs. Fedor Emelianenko (Strikeforce)

 This fight alone would be enough to attract fans in droves. There are no fighters in MMA more intriguing than Lesnar and Emelianenko. While Lesnar is reportedly on the mend from what sounds like a very serious illness and will apparently be defending his UFC belt in the not-too-distant future, Emelianenko continues to show fans in the US why he is widely considered the top fighter of the past decade. While all parties involved missed the boat on another potentially epic heavyweight bout a few years ago between Randy Couture and Emelianenko, it would be a shame if MMA fans weren’t treated to a match between the super-athletic and charismatic behemoth Lesnar against the cerebral, quick, and reclusive Emelianenko. 

Light Heavyweight: Lyoto Machida (UFC) vs. Gegard Mousasi (Strikeforce)

Sure, Machida struggled against Mauricio “Shogun” Rua in his last bout and many observers felt he lost that fight, but the reality is that Machida did something that’s been a rare feat in recent years — he actually successfully defended the UFC light heavyweight belt. I believe Machida has learned from his mistakes from that first fight and will extend his unbeaten record when he rematches Rua, who has regained his once-dominant Pride form, later this year.

Of all the Super Bowl bouts I’m suggesting, one could argue that this is the least appealing. Not because Mousasi isn’t one of the top 205 lb-ers in the sport but because the UFC essentially has most of the top fighters in this weight class locked up. In other words, the belt that Mousasi holds doesn’t have quite the meaning as the one Machida holds. Regardless, Mousasi has shown fans enough in his two very convincing Strikeforce victories to make this a worthy contest. And, don’t underestimate the man who counts Fedor as a training partner.

Middleweight: Anderson Silva (UFC) vs. Dan Henderson (Strikeforce)

If Strikeforce has one division that rivals or surpasses that of the UFC, it’s the San Jose-based promotion’s middleweight division. The promotion’s current champ at 185 pounds is Jake Shields, which may make my pick a bit confusing. While Shields has proven to be a very worthy 185 pound champ, I believe his true prowess is at welterweight. With that said, I also believe that the newly-signed Henderson will eventually become the promotion’s middleweight champ.

A bout against Silva would be the realization of a goal Henderson has had to rematch the man he lost to just about two years ago. Most MMA fans probably thought Henderson would get that opportunity after his knockout of Michael Bisping at UFC 100. Alas, that was not to be as his UFC contract expired and the fighter and the promotion both decided to move on.

Anderson, on the other hand, hasn’t faced much of a challenge in recent bouts as he’s bounced from middleweight to light heavyweight, but he is next scheduled to fight Vitor Belfort while fighters such as Nate Marquardt and Wanderlei Silva wait for their opportunities (for Marquardt, the fight would be a rematch.) Still, no fighter has put Silva quite on the brink of defeat like Henderson and with very few challenges for the Brazilian at middleweight, who wouldn’t welcome a reprise of their UFC 82 bout?

Welterweight: Georges St. Pierre (UFC) vs. Jake Shields (Strikeforce)

Georges St. Pierre faces a similar dilemma as Anderson Silva — he’s convincingly dispatched of the rest of the division and now has to wonder where his next true challenge will be. Some have openly discussed a move up to 185 pounds, with hopes that such a move, even if temporary, would result in a super-fight against A. Silva. For now, however, GSP faces Dan Hardy at 170 pounds, and while Hardy is certainly no slouch, it’s difficult to see the Brit doing anymore than previously vanquished UFC welterweight title contenders.

Enter Jake Shields. Shields first became welterweight champ in the now-defunct EliteXC. When he moved over to Strikeforce, he decided to fight at 185 pounds. And while he’s certainly big enough and skilled enough to be one of the best at either weight, his wrestling and BJJ skills along with his size make him a formidable matchup at 170 pounds. If Shields has one weakness, it’s his stand-up game and I have a feeling that at middleweight, this relative weakness would be exposed by the likes of all-around studs like Henderson or Marquardt, let alone Anderson Silva.

Of course, what complicates this scenario is that Shields’ stablemate Nick Diaz is fighting for the now-vacant Strikeforce welterweight title against Marius Zaromskis later this month. If Diaz were to win the belt, I’d have to imagine Shields would be hesitant to fight his fellow Cesar Gracie fighter for the belt. Regardless, in my ideal scenario, Shields would be Strikeforce’s 170 pound representative in the Super Bowl.

Lightweight: BJ Penn (UFC) vs. Shinya Aoki (Strikeforce)

Much like GSP and A. Silva, Penn has also cleared out his weight class. While his next opponent, Frankie Edgar, has certainly proven he’s one of the best in the world, the bottom line is that Penn is simply a step above every other lightweight in the UFC. Certainly a future match-up against former Pride stud and newly-signed UFC fighter Takonori Gomi holds promise but the reality is that MMA fans are clamoring for a Penn fight that the UFC can’t currently make — one against Gomi’s fellow countryman, Aoki.

Aoki was only recently announced as a Strikeforce signee and while he’s not Strikeforce’s current champ, he holds a ton of MMA cred given his performances in Dream. And, this is not to diminish the abilities of current Strikeforce champ Gilbert Melendez and past champ Josh Thomson. In fact, I think Melendez has a very legit shot of winning against Aoki, but given Aoki’s otherworldly ground skills, it would take an A+ effort from Melendez to do so. So, while I’m dreaming, I’ll predict that Aoki figures out a way to finish Melendez (which has never been done, by the way) and sets up the dream match against the lightweight demi-god Penn.