The Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix: Shoehorning a 20th Century Concept into a 21st Century Market

Strikeforce's Heavyweight Tournaments includes big names to longtime MMA fan, but how does it actually benefit the promotion?

Strikeforce has announced an upcoming Heavyweight Tournament to determine the #1 Heavyweight fighter in the promotion. The tournament includes name draws such as Fedor Emelianenko, Alistair Overeem, Josh Barnett, and former UFC Heavyweight Champion Andrei Arlovski. Rounding out the eight-man field are former UFC heavyweight Fabricio Werdum, Brett Rogers, former Pride heavyweight Sergei Kharitonov, and Antonio “Big Foot” Silva.

The winner will get a title shot at champion Alistair Overeem, who himself appears in the tournament. If he wins, he’ll simply be re-crowned and anointed (by Strikeforce at least) as the best Heavyweight fighter in the world.

The tournament concept has been around for as long as the sport itself. When the unregulated, bare-knuckle Ultimate Fighting Championships first appeared on the national scene in the early 1990s, the concept was a one-night tournament that would determine the best pure fighter in the world. It was accused of drawing in an audience based on bloodlust, though more can be attributed to the idea that one event would solidify which style of martial arts – and fighter – was the best in the world.

In the nearly two decades since its inception, the sport has seen dramatic changes, though it might be more accurate to say that it has since become a sport. With State Athletic Commissions providing oversight as well as the Unified Rules of MMA adopted by the New Jersey State Athletic Commission in 2000 becoming the standard in the industry, what we see today is an amalgamation of submission wrestling with a much tamer, safer version of kickboxing that bears little to no resemblance to the concept that was introduced to American audiences in 1994.

Much has changed in a sport that began as what could charitably be described as  a freak show attraction on pay-per-view. Yet in 2011, Strikeforce wants to turn the clock back and sell itself to the mainstream using a Heavyweight Grand Prix tournament.

For those unfamiliar, Strikeforce is an MMA promotion operating out of San Jose, California. What was once a successful regional promotion has in the past several years risen to national prominence due to their deal with Showtime and partnerships with former national outfits like EliteXC and with the Japanese fight promotion DREAM (helmed by former management of the now defunct Pride Fighting Championships).

Their place as the #2 promotion in America is secure for the moment, but their Heavyweight Grand Prix tournament is an exercise in futility that exhibits all the reasons why the promotion was stuck spinning its wheels for most of 2010 and may not be able to hold onto their status in the industry for very long.

On paper and at first glance, it’s an impressive field and potential home run for the promotion. But some  consideration of the logistics, finances, and fighters behind the tournament present challenges for the promotion in pulling off the tournament, let alone Strikeforce reaping any long-term benefit.

There are reasons a tournament hasn’t happened for so many years in the United States. Although the fight promotion Bellator has seen success with its own brand of “tournament” marketing, it’s slightly different; theirs is a tournament format which is feasible due to a greater frequency of shows and reliable talent. It’s more apt to say that what Bellator offers is seasons with linear matchmaking, which may seem like semantics but is important in understanding the conundrums inherent in the Heavyweight Grand Prix.

If not executed in one or two shots, a tournament can be unwieldy. Injuries happen often in MMA, with Heavyweights particularly succeptible to injuries that can quickly derail a promotion’s plans. One need look no further than the UFC’s Heavyweight division to see what injuries can do to the best laid plans, and their matchmaking is far less ambitious in terms of layout and execution.

Bracket for the upcoming Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix (click to enlarge)

Beyond that, the fighters involved are, with only a few exceptions, those that resided in the top 10 anywhere from five to ten years ago. Beyond Alistair Overeem, however, there are serious questions as to where these fighters fall in 2011. Brett Rogers fights with some heart, but has looked unimpressive in recent outings. That goes double for the man whom he made his name against, Andrei Arlovski, whose reputation as a feared striker has softened with age and his chin. Former #1 consensus heavyweight Fedor Emelinaneko is coming off an upset loss to former UFC fighter Fabricio Werdum that shattered his mystique with the casual audience and made an already tough sell to American audiences a draw to only the most hardcore fans. Antonio Silva hasn’t been nearly as impressive against top tier competition, and Sergei Kharitonov has been a non-factor in the sport for several years.

Then there’s Josh Barnett, perhaps the only other fighter who one could provide a realistic argument for Top 5 placement. The problem is…well, he hasn’t fought very much in the last few years, and he’s still unlicensed in the United States due to three drug test failures over the course of his career. Barnett is scheduled to be on the docket for the California State Athletic Commission in February, but he failed to file the proper paperwork necessary by the January 10th deadline and has already announced he will not attend the hearing. His inclusion means that, for the time being, any Strikeforce cards featuring him will have to occur in a state with no Athletic Commission providing oversight.

Oh, and if you’re not familiar with Strikeforce’s woes in dealing with Fedor Emelianenko’s management, let’s just say that the idea of him completing an entire tournament with the promotion sans a hold-out from M1 (the management group behind him) is something akin to a pipe dream.

There’s also the matter of profitability. While hardcores on the internet will anticipate it, casual fight fans and mainstream onlookers couldn’t care less. These fighters are either complete strangers to them or guys that looked great five years ago but haven’t fought at the highest level they’re accustomed to (the UFC). A layman to the sport who doesn’t have the emotional attachment we have to Pride’s Grand Prix tournaments will either completely disregard the novelty of the tournament due to the fact that it’s spread across seven months and/or wonder aloud why Strikeforce would even bother with a tournament. They’ll ask “wait, why a tournament? Shouldn’t all these guys be fighting each other anyway?”

The answer, of course, is that they should and this is Strikeforce’s biggest failing: its inability to have their name fighters appear on a consistent basis and develop matchmaking that actually builds a division rather than focuses on the value of a one or two of its fighters.

Longtime fans of the sport are anticipating the tournament and curious to see what happens, and I include myself in that group. But as someone who makes it a hobby to analyze the business side of the sport as well as the technical aspects, I can’t help but feel that the only reason this tournament exists is because they’re unable to do any matchmaking and get their Heavyweights to compete consistently without the equivalent of everyone in the room pointing a gun at each other’s heads.

As a fight fan I wish Strikeforce the best, but in the end this won’t solve any of the overarching issues with the promotion and will most likely be more trouble than it’s worth.

Just ask boxing how that Super 6 concept is going and tell them about your plans. then watch them laugh as they tell you what happens with such grand plans in the fight game.

Recommended reading: The analysis provided by former Sherdog writer Tomas Rios over on his Snark Fights blog, which hits on many of the points of concerns I have and more.