Comments on: Strikeforce Quietly Collecting Talent

By: smoogy

smoogy — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 00:41:17 +0000

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

By: MMASuPreMaCy

MMASuPreMaCy — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 23:06:20 +0000

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.”

By: Kelsey Philpott

Kelsey Philpott — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 21:39:24 +0000

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!

By: MMASuPreMaCy

MMASuPreMaCy — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 19:24:00 +0000

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.