Zuffa and Strikeforce have always had a good relationship. It’s been tough to get Dana White to say anything remotely bad about Scott Coker, at least publicly, and it probably would have stayed that way if Coker hadn’t signed Fedor Emelianenko to a contract.
But now the gloves are off. White fired the first salvo last week, calling Coker’s company “Strikefarce” and declaring them a “regional promotion trying to act like a national promotion.” And in a move that isn’t the least bit surprising, Zuffa announced today that select bouts from the biggest show in MMA history, UFC 100, would be airing for free on Spike this Saturday as direct competition to the Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg card on Showtime.
The heavyweight title main event between Brock Lesnar and Frank Mir will be shown, as well as Michael Bisping vs. Dan Henderson. The only other fight from the main card to be shown will be Yoshihiro Akiyama’s North American debut against Alan Belcher.
The rest of the show will be filled out with fights from the non-televised undercard portion of the show. Mark Coleman’s upset win over Stephan Bonnar will finally be played, as well as Shannon Gugerty vs. Matt Grice and light heavyweight prospect Jon Jones taking on Jake O’ Brien.
The only surprising aspect to this story is that UFC 100 is airing for free only one month after the PPV broadcast. It was a given that Zuffa would begin counter-programming Strikeforce cards after the signing of Emelianenko, and I even suggested last week on our radio show here in Houston that I wouldn’t be surprised to see UFC 100 aired opposite an upcoming Strikeforce card.
I don’t think anyone expected it to be this soon, though.
