So far, so good for Strikeforce.
Promoter Scott Coker’s California-based fight company hasn’t made too many mistakes as yet in its risky bid to baby-step out of the UFC’s considerable shadow. Now all the promotion needs is a fan base to match its potential. Coker has certainly been making some moves lately that are worthy of our attention.
Lost in the pre-fight hype for UFC 98 last week was Strikeforce’s announcement that Andrei Arlovski vs. Brett Rogers would be added to the already outstanding lineup the company has planned for its second Showtime offering on June 6.
A heavyweight attraction worthy of pay-per-view billing, Arlovski-Rogers shows that Coker and Co. posses the kind of match-making ability and forward momentum that other past contenders to the UFC’s dominance – like EliteXC and Affliction – have lacked. Not only is this a great fight, but the company has already publicized plans to have the winner challenge Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem sometime soon.
That kind of planning, kids, is how you run your MMA promotion.
For Rogers, an up-and-coming prospect who personally suffered through the listless match-making and administrative incompetence that defined EliteXC, this opportunity must be a welcome change. While advancing to 9-0, he did his best to stoke a rivalry with Elite poster boy Kimbo Slice during the stint they spent under the same banner. Instead Rogers wound up fighting opponents with far lower profiles – Ralph Kelly, James Thompson and Jon Murphy – during his tenure with the doomed company.
EliteXC was too busy trying to make the inexperienced, untested Slice a star to try to build Rogers into one too. Luckily, Strikeforce isn’t making the same mistake.
Arlovski represents a significant step-up in competition for Rogers and it’s a jump he has to prove ready for at this stage in his career. The learning curve for heavyweights in steeper than in other weight classes, because one or two quality wins generally puts a young fighter in line to fight the best in the world. A victory over Arlovski would certainly vault Rogers into most heavyweight Top 10s. A loss, on the other hand, doesn’t necessarily set the 28 year-old back too far.
In short, it’s a perfect fight for Rogers. For Arlovski, the stakes are probably higher.
The former UFC heavyweight champion was on the verge of his own mega breakthrough in January when he seemed to be getting the better of Fedor Emelianenko through the first three minutes of their fight at Affliction’s “Day of Reckoning” PPV. Unfortunately, Arlovski’s golden chance went down the tubes when an ill-advised flying-knee attempt essentially launched his own face into the waiting fist of the world’s consensus No.1-ranked fighter.
The knockout loss seemed to signify the end of Arlovski’s days among the very elite heavyweights of the world. A loss to Rogers would spell the end to any hope of re-establishing him as such. A win over Rogers doesn’t necessarily do a heck of a lot for Arlovski’s credibility, except to reaffirm his position as a top-tier guy.
If nothing else, the fight is an intriguing match-up of styles. Arlovski is certainly the more experienced, more athletic and better technical boxer. His chin, however, has fallen under suspicion in the past and the thing Rogers is most known for his hitting people. Hard.
All of Rogers’ nine wins have come as a result of his striking ability and only one of those fights ever made it out of the first round. It might be unwise for Arlovski to try to stand and bang with the 6-foot-5, 265-pounder.
The heavyweight slugfest will do well to compliment the rest of a card that features some interesting inter-weight class battles like Jake Shields vs. Robbie Lawler and Nick Diaz vs. Scott Smith as well as some just-for-fun match-ups like Phil Baroni vs. Joe Riggs and Kevin Randleman vs. Mike Whitehead.
Strikeforce has done well to build a great card for its second show on premium TV. Now it just needs a bigger platform to display its product, so it can stop being the best MMA promotion many mainstream fans haven’t heard about.
Chad Dundas edits the blog www.mma-america.com and writes a weekly column for CraveOnline. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.
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