http://www.fiveouncesofpain.comMMA Rated recently conducted an interview with Scott Coker, the CEO of Strikeforce, regarding what’s ahead for the promotion. Coker had some very interesting things to say in the interview. Here are some highlights:
* There have been preliminary talks between Strikeforce and NBC to air a live event sometime in the future
* The next Strikeforce at the Playboy mansion show will take place the weekend of September 19th.
* Kazuo Misaki will be making his Strikeforce debut on the Playboy card. Also scheduled to fight at the mansion is Renato “Babalu” Sobral, the winner of Thomson/Melendez and, assuming his visa issues are straightened, Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos.
* No word on which network will air the Playboy show but Coker did not rule out the possibility of it airing on the station that boasts a peacock as its logo.
Considering the relative success of Strikeforce’s Saturday night show given the time slot, it’s not hard to imagine them being on national television sooner than later. Coker knows what he’s doing. He’s running the only promotion outside of the UFC right now that’s in the black. Everyone else is bleeding money. He knows a good thing when he sees it and he has solid matchmaking to boot. Another promotion getting onto national television, especially one with Coker at the helm, can only put more pressure on the UFC to get a television deal done.
