New Deal Begins During Jan. 7 Free Preview Weekend
Stephen Espinoza, Executive Vice President & General Manager SHOWTIME Sports, UFC President Dana White and STRIKEFORCE CEO Scott Coker participated in a conference call Thursday to formally announce that SHOWTIME Networks Inc. and world championship mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion STRIKEFORCE® have entered into a new broadcast agreement to continue producing live MMA events on the premium television network, SHOWTIME.
Under the new agreement, SHOWTIME will produce and televise up to eight live events a year. The new deal begins during the network’s Free Preview Weekend, Saturday, Jan. 7, when STRIKEFORCE champion Luke Rockhold defends against Keith Jardine. The Free Preview Weekend will be available in more than 60 million households nationwide across SHOWTIME, SHOWTIME HD™ and SHOWTIME On Demand®.
Beginning with the Jan. 7 card, SHOWTIME will also televise undercard fights for all STRIKEFORCE events live on SHOWTIME EXTREME. The new deal also means that the World Grand Prix Heavyweight Tournament champion will be determined when Josh Barnett battles Daniel Cormier. The winner will compete again on SHOWTIME under the STRIKEFORCE banner in the months to follow.
What the executives had to say on Thursday:
Opening comments
STEPHEN ESPINOZA: “SHOWTIME and STRIKEFORCE have a long, mutually beneficial history and a supportive relationship, and we are very happy that that continues and that we are able to build upon that foundation in this new structure.”
Stephen, is the STRIKEFORCE Challengers circuit now gone?
“What we decided to do was consolidate the programming. We are going to have the preliminaries airing on SHOWTIME Extreme and have the main event and main undercard on the primary network. Whether or not it will be Challengers or not is still something to be discussed. We thought it made more sense for the consistency of the production that we do it all and do one huge night of programming and serve MMA fans throughout the evening.”
Dana, many STRIKEFORCE fighters have expressed the desire to compete with their UFC counterparts. Will that happen under this deal?
“I’m fired up about this deal and the guys at STRIKEFORCE are fired up about this deal too. So, they are involved in this and the guys fighting at STRIKEFORCE are going to be very happy to be there.”
Scott, will the winner of the Grand Prix be named the new heavyweight champion of STRIKEFORCE?
“No, we are going to focus on our other weight classes. We have a great lightweight division, welterweight, middleweight and light heavyweight divisions, and we are going to focus on the women’s divisions. What you will see happen with the tournament finals between Daniel and Josh is one more fight where the winner will fight a top rated heavyweight and then we are going to go back to focusing on our other weight classes.’’
Stephen, how many years is this deal for?
“We are going to be looking at 6-8 events this year and there are options for additional events beyond that.”
Dana, how did this deal come about?
“Since we met in New York everything has been good. It just took a while to get everything together and announce the deal.”
Scott, will there continue to be two women’s division weight classes?
“We are going to continue to run the two divisions. We are going to go out there, scour the planet, get the best females in the world and bring them to STRIKEFORCE on SHOWTIME.”
Dana, what is the possibility that if Gilbert Melendez were to win this fight (on Saturday) and a couple more of going and fighting someone like Ben Henderson or (Clay) Guida or the champion in 2012?
“Gilbert Melendez is pumped to stay in STRIKEFORCE. If he wins he will continue to defend his belt in STRIKEFORCE and he is absolutely excited about it.”
Dana, one of the main things that was talked about in STRIKEFORCE before the purchase was the possibility of going to pay per view. Is that even a thought anymore?
“I would never say never to PPV, but we did this deal with SHOWTIME to put the fights on SHOWTIME. There could be an opportunity where we and SHOWTIME think that we can do a fight on PPV. But this is a fight deal for these fights to air on SHOWTIME.”
Stephen, how do these events co-exist with the current boxing schedule and what is the plan of integrating them together in 2012?
“It is something that selectively we would certainly consider when it made sense, but as it stands right now we are contemplating on doing at least four hours of programming of just MMA. So, as much as we all love our boxing and MMA programming, that is a little bit of overload. But having said that, we love to be creative and aggressive and we would love to be along for the ride if we can come up with something creative like that.”
WHITE: “One of the things that I love that these guys are doing is this Free Preview. It’s going to be open to 60 million homes. So, it is a chance for people to tune in, check out the new STRIKEFORCE, check out SHOWTIME, and it’s going to be free.”
Scott, how will scheduling go with eight shows? Are you going to do them every couple months or is that still to be determined?
“Yea, it is still to be determined. We have to sit down with SHOWTIME and get our schedules all linked up.”
ESPINOZA: “From the SHOWTIME perspective, we have a long history with STRIKEFORCE and Scott has always been great in terms of coming up with mutually beneficial dates, so it will be when the timing works for the events themselves.”
Dana, how is the running of STRIKEFORCE on a day-to-day basis going to work?
“Scott and the STRIKEFORCE crew will be running the day-to-day and I will be involved in both this side and creatively on the SHOWTIME side too. And I will be involved leading up to the events. When there is a STRIKEFORCE event on a Saturday, I will work on the SHOWTIME event just like I do a UFC event.”
Dana, in years past you weren’t particularly happy with the old regime at SHOWTIME. Was it easier to decide to make this decision moving forward with STRIKEFORCE after the UFC decided to go with FOX?
“No, not at all. The reality is that I did not have a good relationship with the old regime and I have a good relationship with the new regime. I flew out there, we sat down, we talked, we worked this deal out and I love what we came up with. I would not be involved and I would not be this enthusiastic about it I wasn’t happy with this deal”
Dana, would it be fair to assume that if there is a UFC fighter that might be facing a cut, that you could see them fight in STRIKEFORCE?
“If you look at the way the MMA world works, there’s this talent pool that exists out there and there are new guys coming up, guys who have been around for a long time, and it is pretty much the same on how it works anywhere. When a guy loses so many fights in a row he goes away, fights somewhere else and comes back. It’s not that guys that get cut will go over there or guys that leave there will come here. We are always looking for the best fighters in the world. Whoever they are at that time, those are the guys we are looking for and will sign.”
Stephen, does this deal with STRIKEFORCE end all deals M-1 Global?
“It is a possibility, but it is certainly not our focus right now. Our focus here is getting the deal done with STRIKEFORCE. As for an M-1 deal or other deals, we will play it out and see.”
Scott, is there a date for the Grand Prix final?
“It’s not confirmed yet, but we are looking to promote that fight at the end of first quarter.”
Dana, what are the specific elements of this deal that get you so excited?
“I love getting involved with networks and getting in with SHOWTIME and building it. We are going to create all this talent, bring these guys in and put on great exciting fights. I love to pull big numbers. Opening this thing up to 60 million people and letting them check it out (is awesome). I went to the STRIKEFORCE fight in San Diego and it was awesome, so I want to get on SHOWTIME and I want to blow this thing up and build big numbers. That’s what I get excited about and that’s what I love to do.”
Dana, what kind of crossover can we expect out of UFC and STRIKEFORCE fighters?
“This whole thing is a work in progress, but we are both looking for the same thing. We are both looking for the best fighters in the world. There is a ton of talent and only so many slots to fill. There are a lot of great fighters that we can bring into STRIKEFORCE, build an incredible division in each weight class and put on great fights.”
Dana, does this now bring you up to about 42 shows for 2012?
“That puts us at about 40 shows for the year.”
Dana, are we going to see the same type of production or is Zuffa going to have more input into the production?
“SHOWTIME has been putting the show on for a long time, but I am involved. We will make some changes and do some fun stuff. This isn’t an ego competition. It is two guys that are passionate about what they do and are trying to make it the best it can be.”
ESPINOZA: “We view this as a partnership and it isn’t about whom controls what. We are going to come up with the best possible programming that all of our collective organizations can come up with.”
Dana, you have to fight in the UFC to be considered the best in the world. Do you envision a day where a guy can be a STRIKEFORCE champion and be the best fighter in his weight class?
“Yes, it’s possible. We are going after the best possible talent and there is only one way to find out and that is to fight.”
Scott, is there a time frame or an idea for the direction you will be going with Meisha Tate defending her championship?
“Right now that fight and date have not been determined yet, but that’s something that we will sit down and determine. I think that there will be a fight out there with Ronda Rousey at some point that is going to be very exciting and Ronda wants to get down to the 135-pound weight class. Ronda wants to take a couple fights down there and then go up to 145 and fight. So, we have a potential star here in Ronda and I think we are going to put her in some big fights that she wants to be in. And I think Meisha, whether she fights Ronda first or in a couple more fights, I eventually think that fight will happen.”
Scott, are all of the STRIKEFORCE shows going to be on Saturday nights with SHOWTIME Extreme running prelims and then SHOWTIME running the last one?
“Yes”
Stephen, will Gina (Carano) be returning at some point?
“Gina is, at heart, a fighter, and will always have the genuine desire to fight, so it would not surprise me at all to see her back in MMA.”
Dana and Scott, is STRIKEFORCE going to be a feeder league to the UFC? What is so wrong about it being a feeder league?
WHITE: “There is nothing wrong about being a feeder league, but that is not what this thing is designed to be. We are going after the best talent out there. A feeder league to me would mean that if you lose you go back down to STRIKEFORCE and then you have to win some more fights and then we bring you back up. No, when you lose in the UFC you go somewhere else and you fight. STRIKEFORCE is going to be looking for the best guys in these titles exactly like we do in the UFC.”
COKER: “If you look at the history of the relationship that we have had with SHOWTIME since 2007 and if you look at the fighters that have come across our events, it is far from a feeder league. We have had some of the world’s best fighters and have had record-breaking ratings.”
Stephen, what kind of program are you going to put together to make these names more household?
“The exciting part from the SHOWTIME perspective is to get creative and get together with Scott and Dana and the entire STRIKEFORCE team and talk about things like that. Everything is on the table at this point. We are just going to open the doors and get as creative and aggressive as we can.”
