As many had been anticipating, Strikeforce have now officially confirmed that they are scrapping their November 3rd show after a series of injuries decimated the event’s main card.
The UFC’s Frank Mir was the first to pull out of a cross-promotional tussle with Daniel Cormier which would have served as the main event, while middleweight champion Luke Rockhold and the debuting Sara McMann also withdrew leaving the promotion with too many fires to fight less than four weeks out from fight night.
This was the second Strikeforce event in a row that’s had to be canceled due to injuries and has lead to strong rumors that Showtime were set to pull the plug on their TV deal with the company which would have almost certainly led to it’s demise, but both Strikeforce and Showtime execs have moved to assure fans that the deal is still alive and kicking.
“Due to a series of injuries, we were forced to cancel the upcoming card on Nov. 3, but are already working to put together a stacked card in January,” Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker said in a statement to the press.
“While we’re disappointed with the cancellation, we are looking forward to an even bigger STRIKEFORCE event on SHOWTIME early next year,” Showtime’s Stephen Espinoza confirmed.
That implies that as things stand Showtime do intend to take up their contractual option to continue to broadcast Strikeforce events for a further year in 2013.
A lot can happen in a few months over at Zuffa HQ though, so as Dana White is fond of saying, let’s see how this whole thing plays out.
