Strikeforce to hold an 8 man tournament to decide new MW Champion

[jmt225]

Yup, you read that right. Now that the Strikeforce Middleweight Championship is vacant, Strikeforce has decided to hold an eight man tournament to determine it's new champion. Here are the fighters who will partake in it:

Robbie Lawler
Tim Kennedy
Dan Henderson
Nick Diaz
Jacare
Mayhem Miller
The winner of Scott Smith/Cung Le
The winner of Jorge Santiago/Kazuo Misaki in Sengoku

So, there you have it. Thoughts? Good or bad thing? Who did you think will win it all?

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Personally, I LOVE it. The possibilities here are endless. I mean, just look at the potential match-ups... it's mind-blowing when you think of all the fights we could possibly see from this tournament.

Anyways, of course.... I have Nick Diaz winning it all. I think he's better than everyone on that list when it comes to stand-up and Jiu-Jitsu. Maybe someone like Hendo could lay and pray his way to victory over Diaz, but that's the only person there who could pull that off, and I'm not so certain he could to begin with (plus I don't think Hendo could beat a couple of those other names).

But yeah... absolutely cannot wait for this thing to start. This will somewhat legitimatize Strikeforce, and make their program exciting to watch again. When you think about it, at this point all Strikeforce has to offer is a potential Fedor/Overeem fight, and a boat load of great Middleweights. That's it; only 3 good Light Heavies, no good Welterweights since Diaz is moving up, and a Lightweight Division that will be dominated by Gilbert Melendez. So, it's smart of them to put all their chips on the Middleweights and build their promotion off those guys for the next few months.

 

[INDYjon22]

Is it official that Jake Shields has indeed left Strikeforce? I haven't heard anything yet. Anyways, this is an awesome way to decide the new champion. I am a major sucker for tournaments and this one is fucking stacked with great talent. It is honestly a very wide open tournament for anyone to win.

Robbie Lawler always has a punchers chance against anybody. He can literally knock anyone in this tournament out. Hendo is a seasoned vet, easily looking to redeem himself. Nick Diaz is one of the best fighters in the world today and can beat almost anyone in the division. Mayhem is a very tough opponent for anyone to fight and figure out. Jacare is a very hot fighter right now and I honestly believe he can hang with anyone in the tournament. Smith/Le are both very tough to defeat. Kennedy is a strong young talent. And, Santiago/Misaki I don't know much about.

My point is, all of the fighters are very strong and have the make up for what could be a very memorable tournament. I am very excited that this is the plan for Strikeforce, especially if Shields has truly left. I cannot wait for this to get under way.

 

[jmt225]

Is it official that Jake Shields has indeed left Strikeforce?

No, it's not official yet, but this is a clear indication that he is indeed leaving and that the UFC will sign him. I just think Shields and the UFC are in a negotiating process right now (hopefully Shields can get all the money he can from out of them), which of course takes a little while. But I think Shields is a stand-up guy who gave Strikeforce a notice that he was leaving and will join the UFC once they can get his contract straight. So instead of wasting time until it was official, I think Strikeforce made the right move here to get this going right away, rather than waiting for Shields to "officially" leave the company.

I really cannot wait until they release the brackets. For my money, we're going to get a Jacare vs. Nick Diaz final, and that fight will be SPECTACULAR.

 

[Boxer38]

Man this is going too be great! I really can't find a boring fight too be made with these 8 guys. I agree with you, I have Nick Diaz winning it all. Dan Henderson can beat Diaz, only if takes a page out of Jon Fitch's book. Do you know when it'll begin?

 

[Ferbian]

The potential for this tournament is unlimited, while I don't know the background of all the competitors I do think that either way it can be absolutely amazing.

As you know JMT I think highly of the Super Six World Classic Boxing tournament, and while we often get the best of the best facing off in MMA, the fact that there is now a tournament to determine the actual best of the best, is an absolute money maker.

I think this could benefit Strikeforce a lot, and it is something that any fighting promotion or business should look to conduct more into, sure there's not a lot of vacations of the championships around the MMA world, but there are some obviously.

And on the other hand, you could have tournaments to determine the guy that should face the champion, there's unlimited potential to be put behind tournaments in fight based sports and promotions, it's the same as the World Cup, tournaments are needed, because we can't have the World Champion's from 2006 face off with a team that has "proved" themselves outside of a tournament.

In short, I think it's a great thing.

 

[Henry Hill]

I am super excited about this, with the main attractions for me being Henderson and Diaz. Lawler always has a puncher's chance, Mayhem is super entertaining and Cung Le has to get some props but depending on how the tournament is seeded I see the final being Henderson and Diaz. My question is: is this going to be a one night tourney or take place over time? either way would be intrigueing as allowing the fighters to heal up and be at top notch shape would be great, but the unpredictability of a one night tournament reminds me of the old ufc days, which for me hold a special place in my heart. anyways I agree with Jmt that Diaz will most likely be the one man left standing when its all over.

 

[Buffalo Dave]

Do you know when it'll begin?

My guess will be once the suspensions are over for Diaz and Miller. Also just seen that it might start at Strikeforce Houston on Aug. 21st.


This is definitely great for Strikeforce. It should draw more people into watch them. Like JMT said their middleweights are their most stacked division, so having the tournament will highly benefit Strikeforce. All the matchups they could have seem like they will be entertaining by looking at the names of the fighters for the tourny. I personally feel that this is the right thing to do. Alot of the names mentioned wouldn't really warrant a title shot unless they get a little winning streak going, and this tournament would do that for them. I'm intrested in seeing how they will go about making the first round matchups.

 

[Rizza]

Like most, I am looking forward to this very much, I mean who don't love a tournament? I also agree with the notion that this will be big for Strikeforce, one of, if not the biggest thing ever for Strikeforce, the only other thing I can think that might be bigger is them signing Fedor. This will be amazing for sure.

As for the tournament itself, Diaz all the way. I am rooting for him, and pretty confident that he can beat any of the guys in this tournament. Hendo, Mayhem, and Jacare are the only ones who I think even stand a chance against Diaz. I would say Mayhem, IMO is the dark horse for this tournament though, the dude is mad skilled and I could see him beating Hendo, and maybe get the better of Jacare this time, but that might be pushing it, but if he ends up not fighting Jacare, then Mayhem will be a heavy favorite in my book. I just hope to hell that Diaz and Mayhem get to fight. After the Nashville brawl that would make my fucking year if they get to fight.

For my money, we're going to get a Jacare vs. Nick Diaz final, and that fight will be SPECTACULAR.

That might very well be the final, but honestly, after the Joey Villaseñor fight. I have no faith in Jacare beating Diaz. I just think he would get completely demoralized in the stand up game. For some reason though, I hope Hendo and Jacare fight, that to me sounds like a epic battle.

If Santiago beats Kazuo Misaki(which I think he will soundly beat him) then he would be a dark horse too. He has improved leaps and bounds since his UFC run and before the first Khalidov fight, he looked damn near unstoppable. Aslo the winner of Smith/Le probably won't do shit in this tournament, but I hope to hell Le gets in. I would rather see Le fight some of these dudes rather then Scott Smith. I know everybody hates Le with a passion, but I am a fan, and have been for a while. So I would root for him every step of the way, except against Diaz, well, because Diaz is the fucking man.