Strikeforce is the New Player in the World of Mixed Martial Arts

When premier Mixed Martial Art fighter Fedor Emelianenko signed with California based promotion Strikeforce, the UFC knew that it lost a huge payday. Fans were eagerly awaiting a heavyweight showdown between UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar and the once beaten Russian fighter. Dana White, the brash talking President of the UFC organization was upset and claimed that Fedor wouldn't sign due to "Fedor's bad management advice". It is no secret that the majority of the best fighters in MMA are in the UFC. Many of the fighters in Strikeforce at one time competed in the UFC and most were cut from the organization due to losses. Fedor gave Strikeforce the marquee star it needed and on November 7, 2009, he fought previously unbeaten American fighter Brett Rogers in the main event on CBS Television that Saturday night.

Despite getting his nose broken by the first punch and surviving being pounded on the ground, Fedor prevailed in victory when he used an overhand right hook to knock the 265 pound, 6 foot 5 inch Rogers to the canvas. The fight was called at 1:48 of the second round before Fedor could further inflict more damage on the downed American fighter. It was a wild fight with both fighters throwing punches and takedowns. At one point it seemed that Fedor was in trouble, but his toughness proved true and he gave Rogers his first ever defeat in Mixed Martial Arts competition. With Fedor headlining the card, fans also got to see several other exciting fights which included Strikeforce Light-Heavyweight champion Gegard Mousasi getting a technical knockout over "The African Assassin Rameau Sokoudjou. Heaveyweight Fabricio Werdum scored a close decision over the bigger Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva and Strikeforce Middleweight Champion Jake Shields successfully defended his belt in a five round war against Jason "Mayhem" Miller. The latter fight featured most of the action on the ground as Shields used his wrestling to outpoint and pound the host of "MTV's Bully Beatdown". According to the MMA junkie website over 5.46 million people tuned in to see the Fedor/Rogers fight. This doesn't even include the millions that were watching over in Russia.

Strikeforce struck gold with a major television deal with both the CBS network and Showtime cable channel. It allows it's fighter including female fighters Cris "Cyborg" Santos and Gina Carano to be visible in front of a national audience. Strikeforce even worked a deal with other international promotions such as the Russian organization, M-1 Global and Dream (Japan) to showcase and cross promote all of their fighters. But another coup for Strikeforce was the signing of veteran UFC fighter Dan "Hendo" Henderson to their promotion. Henderson who was a two time title holder in the now defunct Pride promotion left due to a contract dispute and looks to finish his career in the California based promotion. Henderson is on three fight win streak and is talking about taking on Jake Shields as well as Mousasi.

The UFC showcases their fights on pay per view shows as well as having a deal with the "Spike" cable channel. The pay per view numbers for the UFC have been very good, however, they don't publicize their actual numbers. The UFC is very strict regarding many of their practices and that includes how it treats its fighter. They do not co-promote with other organizations and do not allow their fighter to promote products that are not UFC sponsors.

In the end, Strikeforce will benefit from more UFC fighters jumping from Dana White's tight ship. This does not bode well for the UFC since they are missing their most recognizable name outside of MMA, Brock Lesnar. The former Professional Wrestler has been out with mononucleosis as well as an undisclosed illness and may never fight again. It has been speculated in the media that Lesnar has diverticulitis (a condition which causes pouches in the large intestine). Despite the loss of Lesnar, The UFC still has other big names, Anderson Silva, Forrest Griffin, George St. Pierre and BJ Penn just to name a few.

But a few more fighters jumping ship could cause Dana White and the UFC brass to realize that there is a new player in town. Hopefully, for the future of MMA, that is what will exactly happen.