In a press release today, Strikeforce announced a three-part documentary series titled “Collision Course: The Path to Diaz vs. Noons II”. The first episode premieres today on Sherdog.com and then will be available on Strikeforce.com and Youtube.
With cameras in the camps of bitter rivals Nick Diaz and KJ Noons, STRIKEFORCE presents Collision Course: The Path To Diaz vs. Noons II – an in-depth, three-part documentary series that provides exclusive, insightful, behind-the-scenes access to the lives and training camps of perhaps MMA’s fiercest rivals as they prepare for a must-see Oct. 9 rematch presented by Rockstar Energy Drink at HP Pavilion, live on SHOWTIME®.
Each episode will premiere online at Sherdog.com, exclusively for a two-hour period, followed by widespread distribution on the web, including Strikeforce.com.
Premiering tomorrow/Wednesday, Sept. 29, at 11 a.m. ET/8 a.m. PT, Episode 1 recaps their first fight on Nov. 7, 2007, which ended in controversy when Noons won a disputed, upset first-round TKO over Diaz in a thrilling, give-and-take brawl. Each fighter has since gone undefeated and animosity between the fighters has grown.
Episode 1 also provides the fighters’ thoughts about a heated verbal exchange in the cage after an event in Hawaii in 2008 in which they both registered separate victories. Noons believes Diaz disrespected his family, while Diaz apologized, claiming that he wasn’t the instigator. Finally, the episode will shed light on the events that lead to this anticipated rematch.
STRIKEFORCE: Diaz-Noons II is the main event of a stacked fight card on Oct. 9, LIVE on SHOWTIME (10 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the West Coast). The world championship doubleheader also features undefeated Sarah Kaufman (12-0) defending her STRIKEFORCE Women’s Welterweight (135 pounds) World Title against No. 1 contender Marloes Coenen (17-4).
Payout Perspective:
Back in August, MMAPayout pointed out the criticism Strikeforce receives for the lack of promotion and time it typically gives to their future events. We noticed a change in philosophy back in August when they announced the Oct 9th event headlined by Nick Diaz vs KJ Noons II, and it appears they are following that same strategy by announcing the Dec. 4th card headlined by Dan Henderson and “Babalu” Sobral this month, giving themselves around 8-10 weeks to promote the event, instead of the typical 4-6 weeks that we have seen in the past from the transitioning promotion.
Along those same lines, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker told MMAPayout that E. Casey Lendon and Esther Lin (who both form AllElbows.com) would be assigned some promotional duties for the Oct 9th event. Since then, we have learned that Leydon (Director and Editor) and Lin (Producer and Writer) have been working on a three-part documentary series for Diaz vs Noons. AllElbows has been around the MMA industry for quite some time, making a splash years ago for ProElite (EliteXC) and has worked with various MMA promotions such as UFC, EliteXC, Shark Fights, and Strikeforce to name a few. Lendon and Lin’s work is highly regarded within the industry and Strikeforce’s decision to get them closer integrated to the promotional side of the business is a great move to aid an area that was lacking and criticized in the past by the fans and media.
Yes cartwheels.
This fight should be garnering so much more hype. I find it somewhat intriguing. If Noons can do it again, it’ll be an interesting turn of events in the rankings.
I’m happy that SF see the areas of their business that need improvement and are willing to try new things.
Now if they could just get Fedor to fight more than once a year.
I don’t know how much they are paying for this but I hope it’s not a lot. It sounds like too little, too late. How many viewers do they think they will pick up on Sherdog that aren’t already watching the fight? If they want new viewers, they need to go closer to the mainstream. Granted, that can be very expensive, but everybody on Sherdog for the last month plus has known about the fight, and I doubt seeing this promo will affect whether or not they watch it. I guarantee you that none of my friends that watch the UFC know this card is happening next week. We buy EVERY UFC ppv (even the weak ones) and yet Strikeforce has found no way to even inform them the fight is happening.
Nick Oliver:
This is a problem, like I state in the piece, that Strikeforce is currently trying to address, but at the same time fit into the budget. I can tell you that this particular project had a small budget and the overseers will analyze how successful and effective it is.
I understand that they are working with a limited budget. However, they have spent millions on their fighters and its a shame that nobody even knows who they are.