MMA Weekly reports that Strikeforce is targeting a July date for its debut on PPV. One of the rumored fights appears to be a Light Heavyweight match-up between Muhammed Lawal versus Roger Gracie.
In addition to Lawal-Gracie, Bloody Elbow speculates that Dan Henderson, Nick Diaz and a match-up in the HW Grand Prix are likely candidates for the card. There is also Fedor seeking to fight in July
Payout Perspective:
A Strikeforce PPV had been rumored even before the Zuffa purchase. The one glaring problem with a Strikeforce PPV is the saturation of the PPV market. As a fan, its hard to shell out $100 plus a month on PPV.
Bloody Elbow points this out:
The UFC already has four PPV events scheduled between now and July 2nd. UFC 133 and the UFC’s return to Brazil are both scheduled in August, and both are likely to be PPV shows. How will fans react to dishing out cash for five shows within a three-month span, especially for a roster of fighters that they have grown accustomed to watching for free (or a nominal monthly subscription fee)?
Will there be a regular spot in the PPV landscape for Strikeforce? It seems hard to fathom that Zuffa can continue to add the number of PPVs to its schedule. Strikeforce could have an occasional PPV, but I do not believe there is a continual audience to support its PPVs.
Sounds like a stacked card. Will the same thing happen to SF that happened to the WEC after their stacked PPV?
Meaning low rating for several shows.
According the Jordan Breen, this PPV is likely designed to fulfill a provision in Fedor’s contract that demands one PPV event for him and M1. Zuffa want to fulfill all SF related contracts so they can seemlessly merge the companies when the time is right.
TheRage,
That sounds about right. Henderson v. Fedor? Could surpass UFC 132 for PPV buys in July. With BJ Penn out of 132, you are relying on Bantamweights (Cruz-Faber), Tito Ortiz and Chris Leben to carry the card.
Yeah, Penn’s injury is a massive hit to that card, as he was the only reliable PPV draw (Ortiz has lost that imo). However, the floor for a UFC branded event seems to be around 300K. You have to think a title fight will at least match that (I see Maynard-Edgar as an exception because that was literally the deadest Saturday night I have ever seen by far thanks to new year’s hangovers).
Fedor–Henderson would be a big name fight that they could build around, but no non-UFC PPV has ever done more than 200K buys. I expect a SF event to match the WEC event–brand confusion and the hardcores should lead to an amount in that range.
Fedor vs Hendo will be a great fight, but this one fight doesn’t justify a ppv. I dont think SF has enough good fighters to make a enitire ppv card. DIaz vs Daley was there most stacked card ever and I cant even see paying $55 for that card. I am interested to see how they pull this one off, because Fedor vs Hendo cannot carry a ppv by itself. There needs to be at least 3 QUALITY fights for a ppv. I also dont know about paying for a card with Gus Johnson and Frank Shamrock as commentators. Gus is terrible and Frank should know more about MMA since he is an “expert”. I think showtime should bring back Bas Rutten and pair him with Ranallo. Or maybe theyll just use Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan like they did for WEC’s ppv: Aldo vs Faber.