Strikeforce Woes, Hype

Strikeforce tried its best to keep the focus on this weekend’s Gina Carano-Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos superfight, but several forces conspired against it, including licensure issues and promotional warfare.

The card, which goes off Saturday at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif., has seen three originally-planned title fights fall through. The third came this week when Nick Diaz, who was set to face Jay Hieron in a bout to crown a welterweight champion, failed to appear for a drug test he needed to be pass to renew his fighting license in California.

Diaz trainer Cesar Gracie told Sherdog.com that Diaz skipped the test after he was informed that he no longer had an exemption for medical marijuana that he’d obtained from former athletic commission director Armando Garcia. Gracie said the agreement called for Diaz to only be tested the day of his fights so he could time the flushing of marijuana out of his system. Diaz, who once had a win over Takanori Gomi in Nevada overturned for marijuana use, claims he has a marijuana prescription to treat a hyperactivity disorder.

Soon after the announcement that Diaz was off the show, California boxing promoter Don Chargin announced he had signed Diaz to a boxing contract. Strikeforce will allow Diaz to compete in both sports simultaneously.

Strikeforce tapped “The Ultimate Fighter 7” alumnus Jesse Taylor to replace Diaz against Hieron. The three-round fight will be non-title bout, and has been moved to the undercard. The Fabricio Werdum vs. Mike Kyle heavyweight bout has been moved up to the Showtime-televised card, a Strikeforce official told Sherdog.com Friday.

Strikeforce also found itself the subject of headlines that cast them as the UFC’s latest target in for counter-programming tactics. Spike TV announced this week that it will air fights from the record-breaking UFC 100 card, including Brock Lesnar vs. Frank Mir, for the first time on free television opposite Saturday’s card. The move matches tactics the industry leader has engaged in on the nights of EliteXC and Affliction cards. UFC President Dana White, long deferential to Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker, started talking tough about the promotion almost immediately after it signed Fedor Emelianenko, who had turned down a UFC offer.

The Showtime network promoted the Carano vs. Cyborg fight diligently this week, as the fighters hosted replays of archived fights on Showtime every night this week, including Carano’s past fights with Julie Kedzie, Tonya Evinger and Kelly Kobald. The Sho2 network will air Santos’ victory over Hitomi Akano from April prior to the event going live at 10:30 p.m. EST. Showtime is hoping to top its ratings record for an MMA fight, set by the Feb. 2008 fight between Kevin Ferguson and Tank Abbott (511,000 viewers). The undefeated Carano was the underdog on most betting lines going into the five-round title fight.

However, Carano scored a small victory Friday, as she weighed in a svelte 143 pounds, a far cry from a handful of past failed attempts that the 27-year-old had in making weight requirements. Santos weighed in at a chiseled 144.5 pounds.