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Dana White mouths off about Strikeforce card
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Fedor Emelianenko takes out Brett Rogers in the second round via TKO at Strikeforce in Ill.
After a very successful card debut this past Saturday, Strikeforce reported selling a near capacity crowd of 11,500 at the Sears Centre in Illinois. On an even better note, CBS has reported early rating of 3.8 million viewers, and a 276% increase in the number of males ages 18-34 who usually tune in for Saturday night programming. Even with the Pacific time delay, millions tuned in to watch Fedor Emelianenko knock out Brett Rogers with a strong right hand punch in round two. Scott Coker, Strikeforce chief executive, said because Saturday night's fights delivered "those 18-34 male [viewership] numbers in a big way," that CBS will be televising future Strikeforce bouts. A CBS executive was not able to confirm that, but mentioned that Saturday's bouts drew many new viewers. Not everyone had nice things to say about Strikeforce's success.
UFC president Dana White seemed to be unimpressed with the card. He told the LA Times that "CBS would be out of their mind to put that rinky-dink [Strikeforce] . . . on the air again . . . and without that backing, [promoters] won't have the money to pay [Emelianenko]." White is hoping that CBS will back out from Strikeforce and cause Emelianenko to realize that UFC is where the big money is. UFC originally extended an offer to Fedor, but negotiations collapsed after UFC rejected M-1 Global's (Emelianenko's promotional company) push to co-promote an event with Fedor on the card. Dana White went on to say that "The guy just got his face smashed in by Brett Rogers. Do you know what Brock or [UFC heavyweights] Frank Mir and Cain Velasquez would do to Brett Rogers?" "It's time to bring this guy [Fedor] in, to see Brock Lesnar smash his head." Fans all around are waiting for an Emelianenko-Lesnar match up but if and when it will happen is unknown. Jerry Millen, M-1 vice president said Fedor could fight Lesnar if the UFC drops its demands regarding co-promotion. Millen also added "Fedor's not ducking anybody. If UFC wants to prove it has the best fighters, step up and co-promote. Fedor just wants to be treated fairly. The UFC business model is to own the souls of their fighters. Fedor doesn't have to do that, and if the fans scream loudly enough, we can make that happen." For more info on Saturday nights Strikeforce card and for results, click here.
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