the event of strike force which will take place in March 2012 will not only mark the end of the heavyweight tournament. President Scott Coker announced at a press conference this Thursday that the division will be eliminated from the organization:
“We will focus on the other weight categories. We have a great division of light, welterweight, middleweight and light heavyweight. We will also focus on the women's categories. What will you see after the event with the tournament final between Josh barnett e Daniel Cormier, will see another fight between the winner and an elite heavyweight. After that we will turn our focus to the other weight categories.”
The heavyweight division was once the “apple of Strikeforce’s eye”. With big names like Fedor Emelianenko, alistair overeem, Fabricio Werdum e Andrei Arlovski, the organization hoped to go head to head with the UFC in the most noble category of combat sports. However, some facts led to the collapse of the division.
Hired heavily as a flagship to boost the audience, Fedor did not establish himself in the American event. He lost three fights in a row and his contract was not renewed. The purchase of Strikeforce by Zuffa, the company that owns the UFC, also contributed to the decline, as names like Overeem and Werdum migrated to the biggest event in the world.
Regarding the future of the other contractors in the category, nothing has been officially announced. The natural path would be for some to move to the UFC, just as happened when Zuffa closed the WEC's light heavyweight, middleweight and welterweight divisions.
Photo: Sergio Non/USA Today
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