Bad Week for Strikeforce?

This past week several events transpired which undoubtedly brought concern to Strikeforce owner Scot Coker. The Strikeforce Challengers card on Friday night suffered from several problems. The referees for the event seemed to not understand even the most basic rules. At one point the third man in the cage told a fighter who just suffered a low blow, “You are all right…fight” The ref did not give the fighter the standard five minutes to recover. The championship fight was a lackluster affair and the co-main event ended quickly due to an eye poke resulting in the dreaded draw. Strikeforce is a growing org and obviously many of the above are out of their control. But Strikeforce’s problems went beyond Friday night’s event. News this week that Fedor will not fight on the upcoming CBS card also signaled a larger problem for the organization. Strikeforce seems unable or unwilling to set the card lineup up in advance of its next marquee show. When all these things happen on the same card and during the same week it makes Strikeforce seem second rate.