Strikeforce Quietly Collecting Talent
September 10, 2009
A member of Bloodyelbow.com has written a very interesting fan post detailing the rather stunning MMA talent that Strikeforce has quietly managed to collect over the past few months. MMAPayout.com doesn’t often delve into the fan posts of other websites, but this piece has a certain business element that cannot be ignored.
The piece includes pictures, videos, and extensive background stories for most fighters, but here’s a snippet list of some of the men signed by the organization in the past year:
FW: Thomas Longacre (4-0):
Hometown: Sapulpa, OK
Age: 31
Height: 5’9
Weight: 147 lbs
Background: Kickboxing
Accomplishments: 2nd Degree Black Belt in TKD, 3rd Degree Black Belt in Goju-Ryu.
Background Records: Kickboxing: 28-2 (19 KOs), WCL (8-4).
LW: Bryan Travers (13-1):
Hometown: Bakersfield, CA
Age: 26
Height: 5′ 10
Weight: 155 lbs
Background: Wrestling
Accomplishments: Placed 4th in PAC-10 and became a NCAA Div. I national qualifier.
WW: Shamar Bailey (9-1):
Hometown: Indianapolis, IN
Age: 26
Height: 5’10
Weight: 170 lbs
Background: Wrestling
Accomplishments: Reached NCAA Division III national tournament (1st athlete in school to accomplish that.)
Background Records: Highschool: 32-0.
WW: Tyron Woodley (3-0):
Hometown: St. Louis, MO
Age: 27
Height: 5’9
Weight: 170 lbs
Background: Wrestling (Currently training with American Top Team).
Accomplishments: Highschool: State Champion. College: Conference Champion (Missouri University).
Background Records: Highschool: 48-0. College: 2 Time All American Honors (Missouri University).
…
Payout Perspective:
We’ve touched on the subject of fighter roster management before, and it would seem as though Strikeforce also understands that the cheapest and most effective way to build a roster is through the prospect strategy. It also serves to keep some of this top-flight talent out of the hands of its competition, the UFC (who employ their own prospect strategy).
The flipside of any prospect strategy – in any sport for that matter – is having the resources to retain those prospects once they develop into contenders. We all know that the UFC has the resources to pay the likes of a Georges St. Pierre, but does Strikeforce? And can Strikeforce afford to pay 4-5 of these guys what they might be worth on the open market, once they hit it?
Time will tell.
Hopefully the organization experiences enough growth – in part due to these prospects maturing and putting on great fights – that they can retain their services.
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The MMA fanatic in me also appreciated the post: I love seeing organizations (MMA, NHL, NFL, or otherwise) stockpiling young prospects and building the right way. It’s a process that I find truly fascinating, and watching the fighters develop is also extremely exciting.
4 Responses to “Strikeforce Quietly Collecting Talent”
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Thanks for the feature on my post. I think it is very important to point out that Daniel Cormier (an American Olympic wrestler) was a pretty big addition for them. I added some of the other talent that has been acquired within the past few months. I do recommend to check out my post for the entire list. Absent from my list are great fighters (though new to MMA) such as Jacare, Galvao, Sefo, and Roger Gracie. These are fighters that should make a big impact for them.
WW: Paul Bradley (11-1):
Hometown: Tama, IA
Age: 26
Height: 5′ 9
Weight: 170 & 185 lbs
Background: Wrestling
Accomplishments: Part of TUF 7. High School: State Champion. College: 2 Time All-American (Univ. of Iowa).
Background Records: College: 77-37 (University of Iowa), placed 2nd in Big 10 and 4th in NCAA.
MW: Zak Cummings (10-0):
Hometown: Springfield, MO
Age: 25
Height: 6’0
Weight: 185 lbs
Background: Wrestling
Accomplishments: Decorated wrestling background.
LHW: Antwain Britt (9-2):
Hometown: Virginia Beach, VA
Age: 31
Height: 6’1
Weight: 205 lbs
Background: Wrestling
Accomplishments: Wrestling and football standout at Indian River High School.
LHW: Daniel Cormier (0-0):
Hometown: Lafayette, LA
Age: 30
Height: 5’11
Weight: 235 lbs
Background: Wrestling
Accomplishments: U.S. Nationals Champion (2008), 4th In Olympic Games Freestyle Wrestling (2004).
Background Records: College: 117-10 (Oklahoma State) Olympic Games (2004): Placed 4th.
In regards to retaining their services. At the moment, Strikeforce can offer fighters some pretty good incentives (TV exposure with Showtime and CBS, pretty good pay outside of the UFC, the ability to fight in Japan and fight great Japanese talent due to the Strikeforce/DREAM partnership, and the ability to earn money through other avenues, such as video games (EA Sports MMA), TV Shows (MTV Bully Beatdown), and movies (Cung Le, Gina Carano, etc) . These incentives are probably good enough leverage for Strikeforce to retain most of their young talent as Strikeforce grows. The right mixture of young prospects, proven veterans, and MMA stars are key to the promotions future and growth.
You’re welcome. It was a good post.
I didn’t highlight all of the fighters you covered, because I wanted our readers to click over and read your piece in its entirety once they were done with our brief analysis.
Definitely worth a read!
Thanks for that Kelsey.
On the subject in which you brought up, I do believe that Strikeforce has some real nice incentives I listed above. It certainly isn’t any guarantee, but it is definitely some good leverage for them.
“At the moment, Strikeforce can offer fighters some pretty good incentives (TV exposure with Showtime and CBS, pretty good pay outside of the UFC, the ability to fight in Japan and fight great Japanese talent due to the Strikeforce/DREAM partnership, and the ability to earn money through other avenues, such as video games (EA Sports MMA), TV Shows (MTV Bully Beatdown), and movies (Cung Le, Gina Carano, etc) . These incentives are probably good enough leverage for Strikeforce to retain most of their young talent as Strikeforce grows. The right mixture of young prospects, proven veterans, and MMA stars are key to the promotions future and growth.”
Here is a list I compiled recently of acquisitions by UFC and Strikeforce since July:
Strikeforce:
Fedor Emelianenko (30-1-0-1)
Roger Gracie** (2-0)
Ray Sefo* (1-0)
Kevin Jordan* (11-7)
Mike Cook (7-5)
James Thompson* (14-10)
Daniel Cormier (0-0)
Gegard Mousasi** (26-2-1)
Antwain Britt (9-2)
Ricardo Arona* (13-5)
Jorge Santiago* (21-7)
Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza (10-2-0-1)
Jason Miller** (22-6-0-1)
Matt Lindland (21-6)
Mario Miranda (8-0)
Zak Cummings (10-0)
Kevin Casey (2-1)
Jay Hieron (18-4)
Jesse Taylor (13-4)
Andre Galvao** (3-1)
Paul Bradley (11-1)
Shamar Bailey (9-1)
Bryan Travers (13-1)
UFC:
Paul Buentello (27-10)
Ben Rothwell (30-6)
Chase Gormley (6-0)
Tito Ortiz (15-6-1)
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira* (17-3)
Vladimir Matyushenko (22-4)
Igor Pokrajac (21-5)
Jared Hamman (10-1)
Vitor Belfort (18-8)
Mike Pierce (9-1)
Paul Daley (21-8-2)
Jake Ellenberger (21-4)
Dennis Hallman (41-12-2-1)
Phil Baroni* (13-11)
Brian Foster (10-3)
Nik Lentz (16-3)
Dan Lauzon (12-2)
Rafaello Oliveira (9-1)
Marcus Aurelio (18-7)
Steve Lopez (12-1)
* Not Confirmed
** Signed to Strikeforce earlier in 2009, but only recently added to active roster