Remembering Strikeforce: 12 Fun Facts for Recollection

12 Fun Facts about Strikeforce

1. Strikeforce was founded in 1985 by Scott Coker in San Jose, CA as a kickboxing organization.

2. Strikeforce introduced MMA into the organization in March 2006 with an event the featured a main event of Frank Shamrock vs. Cesar Gracie. Also fighting on the card were Cung Le, Clay Guida, Josh Thomson, Gilbert Melendez, Brian Ebersole, Krzysztof Soszynski and Nate Diaz.

3. The aforementioned event was California's first regulated MMA card. It set the record for largest audience to attend a MMA event in North America with 18,265 fans in attendance. The record has since been broken by UFC 129 in Toronto.

4. March 2008: Strikeforce partnered with NBC to produce a weekly highlight show that aired late night on the network.

5. February 2009: Strikeforce purchased EliteXC, acquiring the contracts of Nick Diaz, Jake Shields, Robbie Lawler and Scott Smith among others.

6. Also in February 2009, Strikeforce announced a broadcast deal with Showtime to air up to 16 events per year on the network.

7. August 2009: Scott Coker announced Strikeforce had formed a partnership with Japanese MMA organization DREAM as well as partnering up with Russian MMA organization M-1 Global.

8. November 2009: MMA icon Fedor Emelianenko made his debut for the promotion against Brett Rogers. He won the bout via KO in the 2nd round. Fedor went on to lose his next three Strikeforce fights to Fabricio Werdum, Antonio Silva and Dan Henderson, respectively.

9. January 2010: former WWE superstar Bobby Lashley made his Strikeforce debut. He beat Wes Sims via TKO in that bout, but lost his only other Strikeforce fight to Chad Griggs.

10. March 2011: Zuffa, the parent organization of the UFC, announced the purchase of Strikeforce. After the purchase, many of Strikeforce's biggest stars, such as Jason Miller, Dan Henderson, Alistair Overeem, Nick Diaz and Cung Le were moved over to the UFC.

11. September 2012 and again in October 2012: Strikeforce was forced to cancel events due to fighter injuries, sparking speculation that the promotion might be folded.

12. January 12, 2012: Strikeforce conducts final show in promotion's history.