TORONTO – Strikeforce is both staying alive and remaining on Showtime.
The promotion, which UFC parent company Zuffa purchased earlier this year, once appeared on its way to the scrap heap of failed MMA promotions.
But with the current broadcast deal set to expire in February, talks between UFC officials and the premium-cable-station representatives proved fruitful, and UFC president Dana White now expects to announce details of a new deal very soon.
"It's staying, and hopefully I'll have all the information for you next week," today said White, who said they could come as soon as Monday.
Strikeforce, a former kickboxing promotion that got into the MMA game in 2006, quickly produced some of the sport's biggest fight cards in its former home base on San Jose, Calif. It signed its deal with Strikeforce in 2009. But especially after the Zuffa purchase – which later saw Strikeforce champions Nick Diaz, Dan Henderson and Alistair Overeem moved to the UFC – the organization appeared to be on life support. For now, though, it appears to have gotten a reprieve.
White hinted that changes could be coming to Strikeforce, which boasts women's MMA but otherwise has overlapping divisions with the UFC's male weight classes.
So why maintain an organization that has competing weight classes with the UFC? Didn't the since-merged WEC already teach us that doesn't work?
"[The WEC] did work," White told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). "We had a great television deal with the WEC. It was very successful. The fights were awesome. There were people that loved watching the WEC fights. It absolutely worked."
But wouldn't it be better to have all the top talent under one umbrella? White, who recently jumped into the negotiations following Showtime's executive-level restructuring, said fans must be patient and wait for the details.
"Just sit and wait and watch what I do," he said. "Trust me, it's going to be just fine. Like I said last time I talked to you guys about this, I'm getting into this, and I'm going to handle it. Watch and see.
For more on Strikeforce's upcoming cards, stay tuned to the MMA Rumors section of MMAjunkie.com.
(Pictured: Dana White)