UFC is ready to counter Strikeforce on CBS

Earlier today, WKR passed along a rumor that the UFC was preparing a fight card to counter Strikeforce's April show and that Wanderlei Silva vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama was being floated as a possible fight for the card. Dave Meltzer confirms that the UFC has a show ready to counter Strikeforce's Nashville offering:

Dana White confirmed today that UFC is running a show on April 17th, head-to-head with the announced Strikeforce show on CBS.  The event would air most likely on Spike TV.  The Wanderlei Silva vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama match is not the main event.  The only thing confirmed is they are trying to finalize a Matt Serra vs. Mike Swick semifinal fight today.

Mike Swick is currently in Thailand hanging out with Roger Heurta, his wife and giant crustaceans.

Note: Update below.

Josh Gross adds that Strikeforce does have the option to move the April 17th show back a week, which would place them head-to-head with WEC 48.

After officially announcing April 17 as the return for MMA on CBS, sources tell SI.com that CBS is willing to move the card back a week if, as rumored, the UFC decides to move ahead with counter-programing. That would put Strikeforce in direct competition with Zuffa’s first attempt at selling WEC on pay-per-view, and likely signal the commencement of major ground operations between the promotional companies.

Note: Update below.

So, we know the UFC is ready to go with a counter to Strikeforce and Strikeforce is ready to move to counter WEC 48. Does this mean we have a giant game of chicken on our hands, with the UFC sitting on their April 17th event for fear if they strike too soon Strikeforce may withdraw a week and as a result hurt WEC 48? Or does Strikeforce move the show back a week no matter what if the UFC goes ahead with the rival show?

Dave Meltzer discussed the reasoning behind such a decision for both promotions on his radio show, which MMA Memories transcribed.

OK, they go head-to-head, they will lose to the CBS show and they know that they will lose and some people will go, "Well, God, look at that! UFC lost!" and I think that their mentality is like, well if we lose but the CBS show does like a 2.1 rating, CBS is still going to be squeamish about "Do we really want to do this show again with a 2.1 rating?" So if they widdle down the rating a little bit, then it's a win even though they will lose on the night and they will lose.

WKR also discussed this eventuality with Luke Thomas and that interview will be apart of tomorrow's podcast but one of the topics mentioned was the UFC's ability to capture the initiative and keep the pressure on the competition, even if the competition is self-defined. This isn't about winning in the short-term it is about damaging the opponent for the long-term.

Zach Arnold adds his own thoughts on Strikeforce counter WEC 48: 

Regarding the concept of Strikeforce running on the 24th to cause damage to the WEC debut PPV... that would be a waste of time. The WEC PPV will struggle to draw a big buy rate, even with Urijah Faber vs. Jose Aldo on top of the card as the main event. Plus, getting into a war with WEC is exactly what UFC would like to see happen. It would, image-wise, make Strikeforce look like a minor-league promotion going against Zuffa's second-tier Trojan horse promotion. In other words, UFC would welcome a fight where hardcore fight fans would have to pick between Urijah Faber on PPV versus Jake Shields on free television. Faber is a star in Mixed Martial Arts. We don't know how many people will actually pay to watch him, but the fans that want to see him will pay to do so and they won't care that a Strikeforce show is on CBS.

WKR would point out that Strikeforce is a second tier promotion compared to the UFC. So why not match up against more favorable competition considering that the UFC has elevated Strikeforce as their rival.

For those curious as to how the MMA public would react to a Strikeforce and WEC going head-to-head WKR asked our readers to tell us which event they would watch when this rumor first broke. While things have changed slightly (no Fedor vs. Werdum, Aoki vs. Melendez instead) 73% of voters said they would watch Strikeforce on CBS while 7% chose WEC 48 while 20% said they would watch both.

WKR wants to know what you will watch in the event of a UFC counter to Strikeforce.

Update: Scott Coker talked to MMA Junkie about the possibility of moving the card.

"CBS had an opportunity to do the fight on the 24th and go after the WEC pay-per-view date, and they said, 'No, let's just do it on the 17th and be nice guys. Now that the counter-programming is coming their way, I think there is some fluidity in what could happen.

It hasn't been decided yet, I think we're meeting probably Monday. But for now, everything is going to be locked and loaded for the 17th."

Update #2: Mike Swick tweeted:

Not fighting Serra guys. Most likely having surgery soon. @oxphos Any truth to Serra fight 4/17? Seems unlikely unless ur arm is better

Update #3: The UFC is planning on holding the event in Nashville...