STRIKEFORCE: NASHVILLE REVIEW

Strikeforce’s Nashville event, which was held on April 17, 2010 at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennesee, has recently caused quite a stir within the mixed martial arts industry. And, unfortunately, it isn’t the good kind.

Let’s start with the fights. I’ll be honest upfront: I enjoyed all of them. The first piece of negativity that arose during the event was that all the fights were boring. I’d disagree based entirely on my own personal views on what makes good mixed martial arts matches, but in terms of actual objectivity and the ultimate purpose of the event, I’d have to agree.

Confused? Well, that’s what the Strikeforce executives probably felt after their “blockbuster” event ended as well. See, there’s something mighty special about this event. It featured only three fights within the main card, and all of them (and I’m not joking here), all of them were championship title matches. Strikeforce is attempting to break into mixed martial arts mainstream the same as the UFC did with the first Ultimate Fighter finale by broadcasting such a stacked card on CBS domestically all over the United States. Strikeforce execs hoped for similar results.

See, one of the primary reasons that mixed martial arts is supposedly “the fastest growing sport in the world” is because of The Ultimate Fighter 1 Finale. It was hyped particularly well, what with a main event featuring then-incredibly popular Ken Shamrock, who was still well known from his pro wrestling days, and UFC rising star Rich Franklin, but the real show stealer was the bout right before that, which featured TUF 1 finalists Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar.