Strikeforce 135lb tournament could be so much more but isn't

After dragging their heels for the last month, Strikeforce finally announced the participants in the 135lb women's tournament scheduled for Aug. 13 at the Dodge Theatre in Phoenix. We'll see how the fights go but the bottom line is this tournament is a pale shadow of what Strikeforce owner Scott Coker had in mind. Coker wanted to do a Japanese style one night eight woman tournament just like K-1 does for their guys all the time. Why? He used to promote the K-1 Vegas shows so he's done it before. But his first mistake was not making sure that the state athletic commission would allow the tournament. Arizona said no. There's two things they could have done. They could have moved it to Vegas where it would have been approved. Or they could have turned it into a three show tournament ending probably in December similar to what JEWELS is starting next week. But instead they have turned it into a one night four woman tournament. Not the best option and a little disappointing. I would have preferred the three show format and the finals make a big splash. I don't know if they're impatient or concerned about logistics but I doubt this tournament will have the impact it merits. Bigger is always better. It's almost like Coker is proud that he kept his promise of doing a women's tournament but he'd like to get it over with as soon as possible.





So who's in this tournament? Japanese veteran Hitomi Akano will face Miesha Tate and Brazilian Carina Damm will face Maiju Kujala from Finland. And don't forget Scott Coker said two weeks ago he was going to do a random draw the day of the show. Ooops! Meisha replaced Marloes Coenen. Marloes was supposed to drop to 135 but her camp have decided not to do that. I always thought it was strange that she would want to do that because she has never fought at 135. I thought Miesha should have been in the tournament anyway. Kujala won that European Upcoming Glory tournament a few months ago. Damm normally fights at 125 and she turned down Bellator's offer to be in the 115lb tournament. Of course she's a big deal in Brazil but since she was suspended in the US a couple of years ago, she hasn't fought top competition in Brazil. She's a big question mark especially at the heavier weight. So the concept of this tournament is it is supposed to be for title contending prospects. I like Hitomi Akano. But she's not a prospect anymore and really doesn't belong in this tournament. So why is she in it? Because Strikeforce owes her one from the Cyborg fiasco. There were plans to bring Akano in last fall but it didn't happen. Obviously Rin Nakai fits the prospect definition and would have been a better choice. So this might turn out OK but I doubt it will have the impact it would have if done properly. But that is Strikeforce's motto. Why do something properly if you can save time by doing it half assed? When writers criticize Strikeforce, the number one criticism is that they are small time operators trying unsuccessfully to be big time operators. Scott Coker seems like a nice guy but lacks vision. And the booking of this tournament is another example of that deficiency.