UFC vs. Strikeforce is On! Echoes of Vince McMahon?

The UFC is planning on not only holding an event on April 17th, the same day as a Strikeforce show, they will also hold the event in the same city. With Mike Swick not partaking in the card all eyes turn to Kimbo Slice as a probable main event participant.

Certainly there a few people out there smiling at the irony of the UFC potentially using a fighter that Dana White often described as a "freak show" (plus other less savory comments) to counter an event that actually features meaningful fights between top level fighters, but hey, all is fair in love and war and clearly this is war to the UFC president.

WKR will wait until next week to dive into all the particulars (hopefully we will have more information then) but one item jumped to our attention thanks to Cage Side Seats. The pro-wrestling blog pointed out that this action by the UFC is directly out of Vince McMahon's playbook:

If it wasn't obvious before, it is now: Dana White idolizes Vince McMahon and loves to borrow from his playbook. According to Sherdog, he's about to lift one of the classics, as the planned UFC Ultimate Fight Night card on Spike TV that will oppose Strike Force's CBS special from Nashville on April 17th may take place in...Nashville.

Back in the late '80s and early '80s, running against major shows from Jim Crockett Promotions and then (after JCP was bought by Turner Broadcasting) World Championship Wrestling was something that McMahon had down to a science. The WWF would get prime tenant status for wrestling in major arenas, forcing JCP/WCW to run in a smaller or less desirable building.

As PPV events became more important, McMahon got more creative. The night before a WCW PPV event, the WWF would run a house show in the same city. If it was possible, they'd use the same arena. These shows would run incredibly long so as to hurt the walk-up ticket sales and keep the fans from getting lively at the PPV event, giving the impression of a dead show. If the shows were in the same building, then the WCW crew would be delayed in setting up the building.

WKR can't wait for Kimbo Slice to roll up to the Strikeforce show in a tank with a DX-UFC shirt. And people say there isn't a pro-wrestling MMA crossover.

source: watchkalibrun.com