Strikeforce and Dream enter partnership

Strikeforce appears to be making a great deal of new friends. 

On top of signing Fedor, and the partnership with M-1 that goes with it, Strikeforce is also teaming up with Dream creating MMA's own version of the Triple Alliance. Its almost like a giant game of Risk with everyone teaming up on the guy who has two continents. Outside of WVR/Sengoku and Bellator all of the remaining MMA promotions are now cooperating. Whether this cooperation for sheer economic survival or the creation of a better product we will have to wait and see. 

It will also be interesting to see if the Strikeforce/M-1/Dream co-promotion efforts lead to a single promotion as oppose to three distinct entities working together and sharing commodities. That goal seems unattainable at the moment but it would certainly be exciting to witness. 

Leland Roling of Bloody Elbow does an excellent job of breaking down what a fusion of talent could mean.

Not only are there bouts that can happen that are relevant within today's ranks, but even matches of MMA legends that could potentially be made between the two promotions. Think about some of these bouts: Frank Shamrock vs. Kazushi Sakuraba, Nick Diaz vs. Marius Zaromskis, Josh Thomson vs. Joachim Hansen/Shinya Aoki/Ribeiro/Kikuno... the list goes on.    

Whether the inclusion of new fighters into a new MMA/Borg collective can translate into meaningful ratings and revenue remains to be seen. 

Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg coverage

Edited for format

[Update: Note by Zak Woods, 08/05/09 10:07 AM EDT ]

The Alliance has been formalized.