Strikeforce MW Title

Post #1 » by **CPT** » Mon May 17, 2010 1:41 am

So, given that all indications are that Jake Shields will not return to Strikeforce, what do you think they should do with their MW Championship.

The way I see it, they have two options.

First, and most likely, they will just pick two guys and have them fight for it. Most likely Jacare and someone (Lawler or Miller). I think this is a bad move, since it will not make the title strong, and it will remain too closely associated with Shields, especially if you have someone in there who has lost to Shields in recent memory. On the bright side, it gets the title on someone quickly, which can be good for marketing.

The other idea is to do a tournament. Strikeforce's MW division is the only one deep enough to actually support this idea. They could probably do a 16 man tournament, but given their existing difficulties with getting people card space, an 8 man tournament is more realistic. They could do 4 fights on one show, two on another show a few months down the line, and the finals. Would probably take 6 to 8 months all told. I think it would create more interest and make the title seem stronger than just arbitrarily awarding it to the winner of some fight.

Possible participants:
Jacare
Lawler
Mayhem Miller
Manhoef
Scott Smith
Cung Le
Tim Kennedy
Luke Rockhold
Villasenor
Lindland
Prangley
Henderson (should not be in it, is more needed at 205)
Diaz (should not be in it, stick to 170)
Shamrock (should not be in it...isn't good)
????

You could easily pick a solid 8 man bracket from those guys. I think if they were to do this, it would create a lot more interest and do a much better job of removing Jake Shields from memory. I think Strikeforce has been relegated to Showtime for good, but if they do have another CBS show or make the move to PPV, the finals of this could make a solid co-main event.

cowboyronnie · Post #2 » by **cowboyronnie** » Mon May 17, 2010 5:15 am

I like it. Ninja Rua too. And I'm sure there are Cage Rage and Sudoku dudes who could be entered. Whatshisface, the ATT guy.

Post #3 » by **CPT** » Mon May 17, 2010 5:54 am

Yeah, Ninja could definitely be in it.

You talking about Jorge Santiago? That would be awesome, but I'm not sure it would be possible. Some more Dream guys though, sure.

At the same time, I think an 8 man tournament is the biggest they could do due to card space. So it can't get too crazy with participants, but they could hold out prospects like Kennedy and Rockhold, and guys who have lost their last fight like Villasenor in order to trim the fat and make it a pretty competitive tourney.

cowboyronnie · Post #4 » by **cowboyronnie** » Mon May 17, 2010 6:07 am

Bruce Lee
Genghis Khan
Dracula

Should flesh out the 16. Let's do it big.

If Bruce Banner makes weight, can the Hulk fight?

skflives · Post #5 » by **skflives** » Mon May 17, 2010 1:55 pm

CPT wrote:So, given that all indications are that Jake Shields will not return to Strikeforce, what do you think they should do with their MW Championship.

The way I see it, they have two options.

First, and most likely, they will just pick two guys and have them fight for it. Most likely Jacare and someone (Lawler or Miller). I think this is a bad move, since it will not make the title strong, and it will remain too closely associated with Shields, especially if you have someone in there who has lost to Shields in recent memory. On the bright side, it gets the title on someone quickly, which can be good for marketing.

The other idea is to do a tournament. Strikeforce's MW division is the only one deep enough to actually support this idea. They could probably do a 16 man tournament, but given their existing difficulties with getting people card space, an 8 man tournament is more realistic. They could do 4 fights on one show, two on another show a few months down the line, and the finals. Would probably take 6 to 8 months all told. I think it would create more interest and make the title seem stronger than just arbitrarily awarding it to the winner of some fight.

Possible participants:
Jacare
Lawler
Mayhem Miller
Manhoef
Scott Smith
Cung Le
Tim Kennedy
Luke Rockhold
Villasenor
Lindland
Prangley
Henderson (should not be in it, is more needed at 205)
Diaz (should not be in it, stick to 170)
Shamrock (should not be in it...isn't good)
????

You could easily pick a solid 8 man bracket from those guys. I think if they were to do this, it would create a lot more interest and do a much better job of removing Jake Shields from memory. I think Strikeforce has been relegated to Showtime for good, but if they do have another CBS show or make the move to PPV, the finals of this could make a solid co-main event.

I actually agree with you 100%.

I think Cung Le has to be in there just to get as much as they can out of him b4 he leaves for Hollywood fulltime. Scott Smith, Robbie Lawler, Melvin Manhoef should all be in there because they are always in good fights. Jacare should be in there because its clear they are making him their new golden child once Shields leaves. Then I think they should put in at least two out of Kennedy/Prangley/Rockhold in order to try and build up some other names on their roster. Maybe give Frank Shamrock the last spot so that one of those guys I just mentioned can build their reps on his animated corpse.

Cammo101 · Post #6 » by **Cammo101** » Mon May 17, 2010 2:47 pm

I like the idea of a 16 man tourney. Here is how I would make it...

Jake Rosholt vs. Joey Villasenor
Thales Leites vs. Luke Rockhold
Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza vs. Denis Kang
Robbie Lawler vs. Karl Amoussou
Jason Miller vs. Trevor Prangley
Scott Smith vs. Melvin Manhoef
Cung Le vs. Benji Radach
Tim Kennedy vs. Frank Shamrock

skflives · Post #7 » by **skflives** » Mon May 17, 2010 4:25 pm

I think 16 is too big a field.

Nemesis21 · Post #8 » by **Nemesis21** » Mon May 17, 2010 7:54 pm

^ Yeah , probably like a 12 man .

Post #9 » by **Walt Cronkite** » Mon May 17, 2010 8:36 pm

I like the tournament idea. 8 is a good number. Injuries are pretty likely, right? How would 12 work? Triple threat match finale?

Nemesis21 · Post #10 » by **Nemesis21** » Mon May 17, 2010 8:40 pm

Walt Cronkite wrote:I like the tournament idea. 8 is a good number. Injuries are pretty likely, right? How would 12 work? Triple threat match finale?

Was kind of guessing a number. 8 is good.

CapeCrusader · Post #11 » by **CapeCrusader** » Mon May 17, 2010 9:03 pm

8 is a good number for a tourny....

Posey H8er · Post #12 » by **Posey H8er** » Mon May 17, 2010 9:36 pm

Nemesis21 wrote:
Walt Cronkite wrote:I like the tournament idea. 8 is a good number. Injuries are pretty likely, right? How would 12 work? Triple threat match finale?

Was kind of guessing a number. 8 is good.

1st round bye.

8 is the best imo, and SF might be doing something like this...

In related news- http://sherdogblog.craveonline.com/blog ... 5-17#24537

A source told Sherdog.com there is a tentative plan to book fights in the division with an eye toward crowning a new 185-pound champion later in 2010, possibly at one of the company’s bigger shows in November or December.

Fighters expected to be in the mix for title consideration include Robbie Lawler, Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza, Dan Henderson, Jason Miller, Tim Kennedy and Luke Rockhold among others.

Post #13 » by **CPT** » Mon May 17, 2010 10:08 pm

Nice.

I really think they should keep Henderson out of it though.

Nemesis21 · Post #14 » by **Nemesis21** » Mon May 17, 2010 10:10 pm

CPT wrote:Nice.

I really think they should keep Henderson out of it though.

Agreed. Scott Smith should be in it, as others have already mentioned.

SDM · Post #15 » by **SDM** » Mon May 17, 2010 10:57 pm

Yep, Smith deserves it.

Post #16 » by **Walt Cronkite** » Tue May 18, 2010 12:44 am

Posey H8er wrote:1st round bye.

I think any sort of bye is tough to justify for a vacant title. I guess you could have it action related, like two fastest stoppages skip round 2 and each fight one of the rd 2 winners in the semifinal. Gives a nice incentive to not have boring fights where you're trying not to get injured and only do enough damage/establish enough control to advance...

Post #17 » by **CPT** » Thu Jul 1, 2010 10:29 am

Bump for possibility of actually happening.

Cammo101 · Post #18 » by **Cammo101** » Thu Jul 1, 2010 11:10 pm

Cammo101 wrote:I like the idea of a 16 man tourney. Here is how I would make it...

Jake Rosholt vs. Joey Villasenor
Thales Leites vs. Luke Rockhold
Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza vs. Denis Kang
Robbie Lawler vs. Karl Amoussou
Jason Miller vs. Trevor Prangley
Scott Smith vs. Melvin Manhoef
Cung Le vs. Benji Radach
Tim Kennedy vs. Frank Shamrock

Same idea, adjusted since the retirement of Shamrock and Le not wanting in...

Jake Rosholt vs. Joey Villasenor
Thales Leites vs. Luke Rockhold
Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza vs. Yancy Medeiros
Robbie Lawler vs. Jordan Smith
Jason Miller vs. Trevor Prangley
Scott Smith vs. Karl Amoussou
Denis Kang vs. Benji Radach
Tim Kennedy vs. Matt Lindland