Strikeforce in December: 10 Reasons This Could Be Strikeforce's Last Event

When Strikeforce was purchased by the UFC, many fans and journalists thought that it was only a matter of time before the company was broken apart piece by piece and finally wiped out altogether.

Now, about half a year later it seems that just may happen.  Strikeforce has seemingly been dissected slowly by its new owner and there have been more than enough signs to indicate its coming demise. Starting with...

Dana White and His Relationship With Showtime

It's no secret that Dana White is not a fan of Showtime.  

He has been vicious in his views on them in the past.  He may never have hated Strikeforce, but he has loathed Showtime.

Even though White says he isn't involved in Strikeforce's business it would be surprising to see the company stick around on Showtime for another year.

White can say that it's just business, and that he doesn't care what they do, but actions speak louder than words.

Strikeforce Doesn't Have Any Cards Planned After December

This was the easiest slide to make.  While the UFC has fights planned months in advance, Strikeforce doesn't have anything planned for 2012.

No rumors.  No thoughts or whispers.  

Nothing.

Even though Strikeforce isn't as large as the UFC, it seems interesting that they don't have anything planned.

When the UFC owned the WEC they would at least let fans no where a card was going to take place in advance.

The fact that Strikeforce isn't even letting fans know where a card might be taking place in 2012 seems to suggest that there might not be a card at all.

Strikeforce Has Been Leaving California and Staging Events in Vegas

Strikeforce started in San Jose, CA and though it branched out it could always be considered its base of operations.

Even when Strikeforce put on events in other parts of the Golden State, it still felt like a backyard promotion for the company.

Now most of Strikeforce's events are based out of Vegas where their attendance has been dismal, with larger events having been placed in Washington, Ohio, and Illinois.

The larger shows in Illinois and Washington were also in Kent and Hoffman Estates and not in Chicago or Seattle.  It would make sense to have them in larger cities, but the UFC chose not to.

Taking Strikeforce away from its hometown crowd and the big cities won't help prolong the company's lifespan.

Strikeforce's Heavyweight Grand Prix Was Pulled Apart

Strikeforce's Heavyweight Grand Prix was the best thing that the company had going for it before and after the UFC purchased them.

Halfway through the event Alistair Overeem was released from his contract because he was a Golden Glory fighter and Dana White had a problem with the management team wanting to be paid instead of the fighters, even though Golden Glory stated that they didn't have any problem with having the UFC pay their fighters directly.  

When the kinks were finally worked out White allowed Overeem to be signed to a new contract.

It wasn't soon enough though and Overeem was removed from the Strikeforce tournament which essentially removed their top player and their champion.

The other problem was that when Overeem was re-signed...

Dana White Signs Alistair Overeem to a UFC Contract

When the UFC re-signed Alistair Overeem it was to their company.  When they did that they stripped Strikeforce of its heavyweight champion and a key player in Strikeforce's Heavyweight Grand Prix.

Not only did the UFC sign Overeem, but they immediately put him in a match with Lesnar.  Instead of risking a high level heavyweight in the B company the UFC did what they had to do to make a marquee heavyweight fight.

Still, this move illustrated what the UFC thought Strikeforce could do with Overeem, and what the UFC could push him for.

It wasn't the first time the UFC has snatched up a champion, but it was certainly the trickiest.

The UFC Signs Nick Diaz to Fight Georges St-Pierre at UFC 137

As stated on the last slide, Overeem was not the first champion Dana White was able to rip out of Strikeforce.

Nick Diaz was considering a boxing match with Jeff Lacey as he felt he was underpaid.

Dana White has famously stated that no MMA fighter under UFC contract would participate in a boxing match.  Seeing a top fighter like Diaz getting ready to bolt for boxing, White realized that he could draft a contract that would allow him to sign Diaz to a UFC contract.

The first fight was supposed to be against UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre.

The fight is obviously not going to happen now as Nick Diaz didn't show up for the press conferences and was removed from the fight.  Instead of going back to Strikeforce, Diaz has been given a fight with B.J. Penn and seems like he will be staying in the UFC.

It was the first act that showed that the UFC was willing to take Strikeforce's champions and use them however they saw fit and was one of the first indicators that Strikeforce might not be around much longer.

Strikeforce Championships Are Being Devalued

The UFC had already signed Jake Shields before they bought Strikeforce, effectively making the Strikeforce middleweight championship worthless.

After the UFC bought their rival, they continued to work on eliminating the rest of them.

The UFC has already brought over Nick Diaz, Dan Henderson, and Alistair Overeem to contracts and they are looking to do the same with Gilbert Melendez, though apparently Melendez will defend his title against Jorge Masvidal.

With almost every single titleholder being pulled over to the UFC, it's only a matter of time before Strikeforce closes its doors.

Fighters' Comments About the Company Part 1: Gilbert Melendez

Gilbert Melendez has obviously seen the writing on the wall and has admitted that he wants to fight in the UFC.  He even went so far as to say that "the UFC title is the best belt."

When a champion like Melendez is willing to push his own company and his title away in an attempt to get a UFC title shot, it might be getting close to the end.

Fighters like Melendez who have been loyal to Strikeforce and are willing to say such things might know something the average fan doesn't.  It's a good bet that when champions like Melendez are done with the company, the company might be done itself.  

Fighters' Comments About the Company Part 2: King Mo Lawal

Gilbert Melendez wasn't the only fighter to speak negatively about his promoter.  Former Strikeforce light heavyweight champion King Mo Lawal likened Strikeforce to a dying cancer patient.

He also made a mention that he only wanted to fight for the Strikeforce belt if Dan Henderson still held it.  Considering Henderson has been signed to the UFC this now seems unlikely.

He then admitted that he felt the organization felt like it was going to pass soon and he just wanted to get his fights in.

Between Melendez and Lawal's comments it's easy to see that many of the fighters have lost faith in the organization.  If even the fighters don't believe in the company's future anymore, it just might be the end.

Dana White Has Done It Before

When the UFC first bought Pride, Dana White stated that the organization would keep going.

Instead it was quickly merged with the UFC.

Then he bought the WEC and promised that it would be a separate company.

This time, the UFC slowly stripped away its weight classes, and after seeing that it couldn't do well on pay-per-view, it dissolved the company into itself.

Now the UFC has bought Strikeforce and White has stated that it will be its own company.

History tells us otherwise.

Your Thoughts

Is Strikeforce doomed or not?

Let your thoughts be known in the comments below.

And as always, thanks for reading.