Strikeforce Major Change Announced: MMA World Shaken
By Sean Farrell
The preliminary card of Strikeforce events from here on out are no more. According to sources, the UFC has informed Strikeforce that amateur fights will no longer be included in any upcoming events. This news should not be a surprise, as the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s parent company Zuffa, LLC purchased Strikeforce earlier this month and immediately went to work with changes.
Strikeforce was already told it was to adhere to the unified rules of the sport, which was the first major change then they told Strikeforce they were thinking about moving them to Pay-Per-View and now this, its only a matter of time before a full on merger which should happen after all the Showtime contracts are up.
This should come as no shock but as yet another example of the UFC’s influence on how Strikeforce will be run, even though, for the moment, it will be run independently. Strikeforce’s next event is April 9th, 2011 when Nick Diaz defends his title against Paul Daley and Gilbert Melendez defends his title against Tatsuya Kawajiri.