{"id":527549,"date":"2026-03-10T20:30:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T20:30:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/527549\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T20:30:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T20:30:11","slug":"a-magical-moment-how-strikeforce-broke-records-and-launched-ufcs-last-great-rival-20-years-ago-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/527549\/","title":{"rendered":"‘A magical moment:’ How Strikeforce broke records and launched UFC’s last great rival, 20 years ago today"},"content":{"rendered":"

Just before he set a North American attendance record for a single MMA event, Scott Coker had a problem with his cage. This was 20 years ago today \u2014 his first MMA event, the one that launched the Strikeforce brand and made him a somebody in the wild world of professional fighting \u2014 and it\u2019s still the part he remembers best, mostly because it was the part that stressed him out the most.<\/p>\n

The first problem with the cage was that there was no cage. Coker had ordered one, of course. He knew a guy who said he knew a guy in Tennessee, and that guy \u2014 or some other guy he knew \u2014 could get them a cage from a professional wrestling company down there. But it didn\u2019t arrive on time and still needed to be loaded on a truck and driven more or less non-stop to San Jose, California \u2014 a task that was completed just in time by a young fighter named Donald \u201cCowboy\u201d Cerrone.<\/p>\n

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But when the cage arrived and they went to put it together inside San Jose\u2019s HP Pavilion, Coker and his associates discovered there was another problem.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe cage got there seriously overnight, between midnight and the next morning,\u201d Coker told Uncrowned. \u201cWe go to put it together and we realize, ‘Oh my God, this thing is shaking. Like, it is really shaking.’\u201d<\/p>\n

Coker turned to Bob Cook \u2014 better known in MMA circles as \u201cCrazy Bob,\u201d then one of the main coaches and prime movers at San Jose\u2019s American Kickboxing Academy \u2014 and asked if he had any ideas. Turned out he did.<\/p>\n

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\u201cHe was like, \u2018Let\u2019s just get some zip ties,\u201d Coker said. \u201cSo we did. We put like 2,000 zip ties on that cage to hold it together.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Cook, it wasn\u2019t just zip ties. \u201cWe used duct tape and rope and everything else we could think of,\u201d Cook said. \u201cThat cage was just a disaster and the whole time we were so nervous about it falling apart.\u201d<\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t, though. The cage held together in front of 18,265 people \u2014 a number Coker can still quote from memory \u2014 and Strikeforce began its existence on March 10, 2006, as an MMA promotion with a record-breaking event. It was also the first fully sanctioned MMA event in the state of California, which had previously hosted multiple events at Native American casinos.<\/p>\n

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About a year earlier, the UFC had set a high-water mark for itself with 14,562 fans in attendance to see the rematch between Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture at UFC 52 in Las Vegas. Coker didn\u2019t think he\u2019d beat that, but he thought maybe if he did everything right, maximizing his connections in the Bay Area martial arts community and putting together the right card for this place and time, he could maybe get 10,000 people in the door.<\/p>\n

When he started to think he might be wrong was when AKA coach and founder Javier Mendez called and asked about tickets.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe said he wanted to buy some for his friends and he didn\u2019t want to bother me when I was so busy, so he went to Ticketmaster and they were all sold out,\u201d Coker said. \u201cI was like, ‘No, that can\u2019t be right.’ So I checked \u2014 and sure enough, we were sold out.\u201d<\/p>\n

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In case you\u2019re wondering, this is the kind of thing that basically never happens. A new fight promotion does not take shape in the combat sports ether and then sell out an NHL arena with its very first show. It certainly does not set attendance records with its first attempt.<\/p>\n

And yet Strikeforce did.<\/p>\n

With no TV deal and no existing fan awareness of the brand or the product, it kicked in the doors of MMA with a wildly successful first event.<\/p>\n

\"Clay<\/p>\n

March 10, 2006: Future UFC Hall of Famer Clay Guida (left) prepares to deliver a blow to Josh Thomson at Strikeforce’s debut show. Guida beat Thomson via unanimous decision to win the inaugural Strikeforce lightweight title.<\/p>\n

(John Medina via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Strikeforce would eventually go on to become one of the world’s most important MMA organizations. What started as a regional power became a genuine nationwide competitor to the UFC, so much so that the UFC\u2019s parent company bought it in 2011, just five years after that first event. UFC later absorbed the jewels of the Strikeforce roster, which included future superstars and UFC headliners like Ronda Rousey, Daniel Cormier, Nick Diaz, Miesha Tate, Alistair Overeem and Dan Henderson, among many others.<\/p>\n

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It all started that first night in San Jose, when Coker put together a card that perfectly captured a mood and a moment in the sport of MMA.<\/p>\n

The big key was the main event. Frank Shamrock, the former UFC champ who hadn\u2019t fought in three years<\/a>, would return to the cage to take on Cesar Gracie, who owned and operated the Northern California gym that became most notable for producing fighters like the Diaz brothers.<\/p>\n

While Shamrock brought MMA titles and a fighting pedigree to the headliner, Gracie mostly brought a name. Officially, he remains 0-1 as a professional in 2026. There were rumors of gym fights and other informal no-holds-barred competitions, but he was primarily a jiu-jitsu coach whose last name matched up perfectly with Strikeforce\u2019s hopes to cash in on memories of the Shamrock-Gracie feud.<\/p>\n

[Mendez] went to Ticketmaster and they were all sold out. I was like, \u2018No, that can\u2019t be right.\u2019 So I checked \u2014 and sure enough, we were sold out.<\/p>\n

Scott Coker<\/p>\n

That rivalry began in 1993, with Royce Gracie\u2019s submission win over Ken Shamrock at UFC 1, but it continued in the media and in various proxy battles for years afterward. With both of them being prominent figures in the Northern California martial arts scene, Shamrock thought it made perfect sense as a pairing to get Strikeforce some immediate attention.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI really respect Cesar for taking it,\u201d Shamrock said. \u201cHe never should have fought me. That was silly. But I had ideas about how we could sell it, how we could promote it, and to Cesar\u2019s credit he listened to me, and he got in there and did it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Greg Savage, a longtime MMA media member who covered the event for Sherdog.com, remembered officials from the California State Athletic Commission reaching out in an effort to verify Gracie\u2019s credentials before agreeing to sanction the bout.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was the big thing leading up to it, is [Gracie] had no real experience, so they kind of made up a bunch of stuff to help get him licensed in California,\u201d Savage said. \u201cThey had a call with family in Brazil, from what I remember them talking about, asking about his credentials because there were no sanctioned fights, no tape, nothing. I honestly don’t know what his record really was before, if there was any.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The main event itself didn\u2019t last long. Just 21 seconds, with all of the offense coming from Shamrock, who dropped Gracie with a right hand behind the ear and then finished him with punches on the mat. It was still long enough for Shamrock to injure his hand in the process, he said, but he declined a ride to the hospital in the immediate aftermath.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy buddy Phil had negotiated something like a $50,000 appearance [fee] for me at this club,\u201d Shamrock said. \u201cSo the medics wanted to take me to the hospital and I was like, ‘No, I\u2019ve got to do this thing.’ So me and Phil took a limo to the club, did my appearance, then took a limo to the hospital.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The undercard that night was a reflection of how strong the Bay Area MMA scene had become, and also a look at where things were headed. Nate Diaz won a first-round TKO victory. So did Cung Le, who was already something of a local sensation due to his decorated kickboxing career. Future Strikeforce champion Gilbert Melendez also picked up a win on the undercard, while Clay Guida became the first Strikeforce lightweight champ with a decision win over Josh Thomson.<\/p>\n

Strikeforce would go on to hold three more events that year, featuring a diverse crop of fighters ranging from Vitor Belfort and Alistair Overeem to Paul Buentello and David \u201cTank\u201d Abbott. Somewhere in there, future UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez made his pro debut<\/a>, while future MMA sensation Gina Carano became the first woman to win a Strikeforce bout.<\/p>\n

As Strikeforce grew and became more of a national promotion, San Jose remained its stronghold. Fights at the HP Pavilion (later renamed SAP Center at San Jose, but commonly known as \u201cThe Shark Tank,\u201d due to its status as the home of the San Jose Sharks hockey franchise) were their own kind of special. During a fight week in San Jose, media members could grab a seat at Original Joe\u2019s, an Italian restaurant with old-fashioned red leather booths and waiters in tuxedos, and watch as fighters, managers and all manner of industry insiders came and went.<\/p>\n

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\"In<\/p>\n

March 10, 2006: In his MMA debut, Cung Le (right) knocks out Mike Altman with a first-round kick at Strikeforce’s first show.<\/p>\n

(John Medina via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Rich Chou, who became Coker\u2019s right-hand man as a Strikeforce matchmaker, still recalls the magic around those events that somehow never quite repeated itself even when the two reunited at Bellator years later.<\/p>\n

\u201cStrikeforce was homegrown, it was Scott\u2019s baby,\u201d Chou said. \u201cMaybe that\u2019s what made it special. It had that organic, authentic, natural connection, building from the ground up.<\/p>\n

“I\u2019m proud of what we did at Bellator, and I think we were relevant and had a good run, but that same magic was never there, if I\u2019m being honest.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The timing of the 2011 sale to the UFC\u2019s parent company was particularly painful, Chou said. Strikeforce had signed former PRIDE FC champ Fedor Emelianenko, a fighter who\u2019d long been UFC CEO Dana White\u2019s own personal white whale. It put Emelianenko in a star-studded heavyweight grand prix along with fighters like Overeem and Josh Barnett, with Cormier eventually winning it all after beginning the tournament as an alternate.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were on a little bit of a hot streak at the time,\u201d Chou said. \u201cThe UFC was moving to a new media partner, which was going to maybe open some things up for us. I think they thought the timing was right and they made their move to buy us. That put a stop to our run, but it also validated what we\u2019d been doing in a way. They wouldn\u2019t have wanted to buy us if we weren\u2019t doing something right.\u201d<\/p>\n

Strikeforce was homegrown, it was Scott\u2019s baby. Maybe that\u2019s what made it special. I\u2019m proud of what we did at Bellator, and I think we were relevant and had a good run, but that same magic was never there.<\/p>\n

Rich Chou<\/p>\n

Part of what created that opportunity for the UFC was a desire on the part of Coker\u2019s partners at San Jose Sports & Entertainment Enterprises to sell and refocus on their primary business as the owners of the Sharks. Coker was reluctant to take the money and let the UFC have his baby, as Savage recalled.<\/p>\n

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\u201cHe was calling everyone in MMA who had two nickels to rub together, trying to get them to invest and help him hold onto it,\u201d Savage said.<\/p>\n

In the end, the UFC\u2019s offer was too enticing, and the brand was sold. That outcome still stings in some ways for Coker, who admitted he\u2019s battled his own share of what-ifs in the years since.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think Lorenzo [Fertitta] and Dana didn\u2019t want to have a competitor around, so that\u2019s when they came knocking on the door,\u201d Coker said. \u201cI still feel that, at the time, we had a much better heavyweight division than they did. That\u2019s why that tournament was so special for us, so I was sad it ended there. But the whole thing was a magical moment in my life, and something I\u2019ll never forget.\u201d<\/p>\n

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It was also something he never envisioned on that first night in March 2006. Looking back, Coker said, the real kicker is that he couldn\u2019t even truly enjoy what a success that first show was, or how it launched his career as an MMA promoter with one historic sellout.<\/p>\n

\u201cI should have been celebrating,\u201d Coker said. \u201cBut honestly, I was too stressed out. Every time someone hit that cage, I was sure it was going to collapse.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Just before he set a North American attendance record for a single MMA event, Scott Coker had a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":527550,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[444],"tags":[207346,207347,49,48,207345,641,35510,109024,35512,638,59464,5881,207344,4778,82,7040,640],"class_list":["post-527549","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mma","tag-alistair-overeem","tag-bob-cook","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-cesar-gracie","tag-fighting","tag-frank-shamrock","tag-javier-mendez","tag-ken-shamrock","tag-mma","tag-royce-gracie","tag-san-jose","tag-scott-coker","tag-sharks","tag-sports","tag-strikeforce","tag-ufc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/527549","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=527549"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/527549\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/527550"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=527549"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=527549"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=527549"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}