For as many entertaining scraps as Strikeforce broadcast in its pre-Zuffa era, fans of the sport always had one complaint: Where are the preliminary card fights?
Perhaps spoiled by the UFC's recent strategy of utilizing varying combinations Spike TV, ION Television, Facebook and UFC.com to air entire fight cards, MMA fans wanted to know why Strikeforce wasn't doing the same.
Now that the promotion is under the same ownership umbrella as the UFC, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker said things may be changing.
"I think right now, Showtime would only air the top five fights," Coker told MMAjunkie.com (
www.mmajunkie.com). "But we'll find other platforms to get those fights out there."
This past year, Strikeforce twice partnered with HDNet to air select preliminary card contests from major events. But with 10 Strikeforce events already in the books for 2011, the offerings have hardly been consistent.
Meanwhile, August's UFC 133 event will mark the seventh-consecutive UFC event in which every single fight has been available for live viewing in some form or another.
For an organization looking to build stars, the strategy only makes sense. How can a fighter have fans if no one can watch him/her fight?
And for fans, the more MMA action, the better. At Friday night's Strikeforce Challengers 17 event in Las Vegas, those in attendance at The Pearl at the Palms Casino resort were treated to a crushing Anthony Smith knockout of Ben Lagman, and T.J. Cook and Lionel Lanham combined for rousing back-and-forth affair that ended with just one tick of the clock left in the opening round. Those watching from home on Showtime got nary a mention of the entertaining contests.
It's a reality Coker said he and matchmaker Sean Shelby realize and are hoping to correct as soon as possible.
"I think we had some great action on the undercard," Coker said. "I think we'll probably find a way on our site or the Internet portals to get that out. I think they should be out there."
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