"The irony of it all was that even for the WEC, we all said, ‘Let’s not have the fight on that date with (WEC general manager) Reed Harris. Let’s support him and move it to the 17th. I don’t know if that serves everybody properly and what I mean by that is is it going to help them? Is it going to help us? Is it going to help the fans of MMA? To me, I think CBS had the right idea when they decided to put the show on a day where everybody could watch it,. There’s nothing else (MMA-related) on TV and let’s try and get as many eyeballs as we can to watch it and make some new fans out of people that aren’t MMA fans already. Dan Henderson left the UFC and came over to us. This is his inaugural fight with us and I feel really confident that he’s going to be a draw in Tennessee and in the ratings. We’re in a great market. The CBS affiliate in Nashville has been one of top-rated local markets for the previous MMA broadcast."
Counter-programming be damned, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker tells Sherdog.com that he's confident enough in his "Nashville" CBS card to stay put on April 17 whether or not the UFC decides to hastily assemble a competing event on the same night (or even the same town) via Spike TV. Dana White and Co. have a long history of challenging smaller and upstart promotions to insure that he keeps a majority of mixed martial arts fans loyal to his brand. But is it good for business -- and ultimately for MMA overall?
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