Strikeforce moving to Unified Rules, elbows
When UFC President Dana White told reporters it would be “business as usual,” he was largely correct. Strikeforce will continue…
When UFC President Dana White told reporters it would be “business as usual,” he was largely correct.
Strikeforce will continue to operate independently under the direction of CEO Scott Coker. No changes will be made to the current fight schedule, including the upcoming Showtime event scheduled for April 9 in San Diego as well as the continuation of the heavyweight grand prix tournament on June 18 in Dallas.
But one thing you may notice differently during both of those upcoming shows is the use of elbows on the ground. That’s because the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts will be implemented effective immediately for all Strikeforce events according to UFC owner Lorenzo Feritta, who joined both White and Coker on today’s conference call.
We’ll continue to use the hexagon, Fertitta commented about the cage to be used in Strikeforce. The one change that we’re going to implement as promoters of this show is going to be the unified rules that we use in the UFC.
Fertitta did answer ‘correct’ when asked point blank if elbows would be allowed on the ground as well.
Showtime maintains control over the televised production of Strikeforce broadcasts, meaning everything from the look and feel of the show (the cage will remain a hexagon) to the announce team on fight night is likely to stay the same.
News of the change was met with wide approval by the MMA community including Strikeforce middleweight Tim Kennedy who twittered:
It sounds like we will be allowed to use elbows on the ground in Strikeforce from now on… (evil smile)