Strikeforce mixed bag: Diaz vs. Daley on Apr. 9, HWT Grand Prix delayed

It looks like the Strikeforce is set to give fans another excellent main event and co-main on April 9, sadly neither one of those fights will involve participants in the heavyweight Grand Prix. The Josh Barnett-Brett Rogers and Alistair Overeem-Fabricio Werdum scraps have been moved to Dallas on June 18.

Nick Diaz is expected to defend his welterweight title against Paul Daley in April with Gilbert Melendez defending his lightweight belt against Tatsuya Kawajiri. The card goes down at the San Diego Sports Arena, now known as the Valley View Casino Center. 

The fellas at Fight Opinion are livid about the heavyweight tournament change:

Yes, in Texas. Who could have seen that coming? Read that Junkie report and the statement given by Scott Coker. Horrible.

First and foremost, as I stated this morning, there should absolutely be a penalty fee paid by Strikeforce & Showtime to the four fighters in the 'tournament' (Werdum, Barnett, Overeem, Rogers) for this ridiculous two month delay. It no doubt has impacted some of the scheduling for the fighters and their camps. No excuses, it’s time for Scott Coker to pay up.

Josh Gross at ESPN.com spoke with the camps of several fighters. Overeem's manager seemed okay with the change, while Rogers' manager Mike Reilly was a bit pertrubed. It was also interesting to hear Antonio Silva's camp say they want to get their guy another fight, out the tournament, before the fall. Silva pulled the upset on tourney favorite Fedor Emelianenko in February. 

Zach at FO hammers Coker for trying to initially place the card in Japan. Clearly, there are issues with Josh Barnett's license. The American heavyweight was suspended in 2009 by the state of California. He still hasn't gotten the license reinstated. It looks like New Jersey and Nevada also had California's back. The solution was running to Japan where the lack of drug testing has always been problematic?

Second, the fact that Scott Coker really did push all of his chips to try to run the April 9th date in Japan is absurd. Yes, I predicted that Strikeforce would try to run some if not all of Barnett’s fights in Japan, but you would have to be a clueless idiot in 2011 to try to run that market — especially if you are a foreigner. What it goes to show you is what a mark Scott Coker is when it comes to Japan to ignore all the realities that were facing him and to proceed ahead as if he was running into a brick wall just for the fun of it. I’m not angry at Mr. Coker, I’m just embarrassed for him at this point.

He also says this will test the trust of some fans. 

Third, the delay in the HW GP should absolutely raise red flags in the minds of fans that this ‘tournament’ will even get completed. I’m not saying 100% that it won’t happen be finished, but it certainly has a larger chance of not getting finished within the 2011 calendar frame. [...] Fans should have every right to be upset about the delay and what they may perceive as ‘false advertising’ when it’s really more or less incompetence.

I don’t know how many times I need to repeat this, but I will do so again: MMA fans want competency and consistency. Not one or the other, but both. Demonstrate that and you will win over fan trust.

Is this just a short delay in scheduling or something more sinister that leaves you frustrated with Strikeforce? 

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Strikeforce-mixed-bag-Diaz-vs-Daley-on-Apr-9-?urn=mma-328549

Stav Crazy Bear Economou  Yves Edwards  Justin Eilers  Jon Olav Einemo Per Eklund

Bisping camp blames Rivera's 'Phinney' for explosion in the Octagon

While the MMA world waits for the UFC to come to a decision on Michael Bisping's behavior, the Brit's manager Anthony McGann wanted to tell their side of the story. According to McGann, the week of the fight, there were more shenanigans from Matt Phinney of Camp Rivera and his tomfoolery continued on the night of the fight.

“I would like to give our take on what happened in Australia. Let me begin first by saying that in five years of competing in the UFC at every level, we have never encountered a more unprofessional outfit as Jorge Rivera’s camp," McGann told MMAWeekly. "All the teams who rub shoulders regularly at all the events are always polite, respectful and courteous to each other. Regardless of any of the fighters smack talk or actions. all the camps will attest to this. Along comes this Phinney guy out of the blue, he is Rivera’s boxing coach and the guy who features heavily in the YouTube videos making fun of Mike Bisping."

It was one thing to goad Bisping and Co. on video, but according to McGann, the trash talk continued at the UFC hotel in Sydney.

"The real problems begin in the hotel in Australia. As always fighters are staying in close proximity in the hotel for over a week and during the day the camps pass each other. Normally the fighters will be tense with their opponent but the teams always remain neutral and polite. Rivera’s crew were mocking mike and laughing at him and Jorge even gave an interview to Fanhouse (4:45 mark) saying if Mike was a man he would confront him in the hotel."

McGann says much of the effort was driven by the goal of selling t-shirts. 

"This situation was the reason for the emotional weigh-ins and throughout the catalyst was Phinney. In fact Rivera had two more coaches who never participated in any of this, they did act professional. It was always Rivera and Phinney. If you look at all the Ranger-Up YouTube stuff it seems Phinney is the driving force behind the company and it was him even up to the point on the scale who was constantly goading Mike. I believe he should have concentrated more on real fight preparation like we did than silly childish games and behavior."

McGann thinks Bisping's illegal knee was a mistake that happens sometimes in the course of the fight.

He says Phinney got Bisping's blood boiling further by chiding him as Rivera was trying to recover.

"This fight was not your normal fight, the hype was immense and I am sure the fans felt this. The illegal knee was what it was, Mike was over excited and timed it wrong. He is not known for illegal blows although this does happen in the sport from time to time. Whilst Rivera was recovering, Phinney was shouting obscenities to Mike if you look you can see Mike give him the finger in reply. He was also hurling abuse at our corner men, once again this behaviour is unheard of in the UFC. Anyway YouTube videos and goading Mike did him no good and Mike dispatched him with ease.”

At the end of the fight Bisping was still hearing it from Phinney.  

"Mike was still emotional and asked Rivera for an apology, still Phinney was shouting abuse and Mike replied to him, Mike did spit but on the floor in his direction not on him. Phinney was hurling abuse at Mike and our corner men the whole time. His behaviour at the cage was disgusting and unbefitting of the UFC and I won’t go into any more detail as Phinney doesn’t deserve any notoriety. He does not reflect in anyway the normal conduct of us and the rest of the teams. If that’s how he has behaved at other events then he needs to go back to them. Although I believe that after this we won’t be hearing much of Mr. Phinney anymore."

The UFC has an interesting situation here. Bisping is a driving force behind the promotion's efforts to build its brand in the U.K. and internationally. So cutting him, seems unlikely.

In the video below, Yahoo! Sports' lead MMA writer Kevin Iole says firing Bisping is absolutely a possibility. He followed that up on Twitter by saying he think it's 50-50.

That said, the UFC has two or three ready-made fights sitting there for Bisping with middleweights Vitor Belfort, Chael Sonnen and Nate Marquardt all calling him out.

What should the UFC do?

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Bisping-camp-blames-Rivera-s-Phinney-for-explo?urn=mma-328200

Urijah Faber Wagnney Fabiano Kevin Kimbo Slice Ferguson Paulo Filho Mirko Cro Cop Filipović

Sanchez and Kampmann take home $160k each in "Fight Night" bonuses; Roller and Bowles nab an additional $40k

This past Thursday, both Diego Sanchez and Martin Kampmann battled it out in what will be considered an early candidate for “Fight of the Year”. Both men had their moments, with Martin dropping Diego early in the first-round before “The Dream” was able to reverse fortunes and come out stronger in the second and third [...]

Source: http://www.fighters.com/03/05/sanchez-and-kampmann-take-home-160k-each-in-fight-night-bonuses-roller-and-bowles-nab-an-additional-40k

Rickson Gracie Rodrigo Gracie Roger Gracie Rolles Gracie Royce Gracie

Strikeforce Saturday ? Bits, Hits, Queries, and Random Reax! (live in progress)

Quick hit feedback about the fights, broadcast, and atmosphere in general with this Strikeforce Saturday night. I am not blogging the actual action, but blogging the whole event at large mixed with random MMA thoughts. *Strikeforce announcer Mauro Ranallo ? what can I say.  Very nice man, met him once, and he has a great career [...]

Source: http://www.fighters.com/03/05/strikeforce-saturday-%e2%80%93-bits-hits-queries-and-random-reax-live-in-progress

Tony Fryklund Kazuyuki Fujita Masakatsu Funaki Zelg Benkei Galesić Mauro Galvao