Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix: Breaking News
By Sean Farrell
The remainder of the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix’s first round fights will be delayed in order to maximize the success of its first tournament event. Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker, ended weeks of speculation about the tournament quarterfinal event originally planned for April 9. Coker stated the April 9 event will instead have two title fights: welterweight champion Nick Diaz vs. Paul Daley, and lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri. “The overwhelming success in New Jersey set the bar high,” Coker said. “With a record pre-sale for Strikeforce tickets and a record viewership on Showtime, we’ve now given ourselves the proper amount of time to promote in one of the country’s biggest markets.”
That market you ask is Dallas, Texas where Strikeforce will to hold the second quarterfinal event June 18th at the American Airlines Center. The two tournament bouts will be Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem vs. Fabricio Werdum and Josh Barnett vs. Brett Rogers. Overeem’s Strikeforce heavyweight belt will not be on the line but the new Strikeforce Grand Prix belt will go to the tournament winner.
The April 9 event has not determined a location for the event, a Strikeforce officials have narrowed it down to 2 locations. The officials could not confirm where however, former champion Gegard Mousasi and Mike Kyle are expected to fight at the April 9 event.
The full press release for the April 9th event and tournament delay are expected to be released Thursday morning.
Strikeforce held its first tournament event, Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Silva in East Rutherford, N.J., and drew record TV ratings for Showtime. The Feb. 12th show averaged 741,000 viewers and peaked with 1.1 million viewers for a main event between Fedor Emelianenko and Antonio Silva.
With Strikeforce: Dallas expect all of those record numbers in New Jersey to be shattered as the promotions heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem will be fighting as well as the return of Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal.
MMA is already BIG in Texas which can be seen with the success of Texas MMA promotion Shark Fights, Strikeforce bringing this tournament to the Lone Star State can only mean the biggest event in Strikeforce history, as the saying goes “Everything is bigger in Texas!” and Strikeforce is going to capitalize on it.