Recently fired UFC fighter Marcus Davis told reporters that he is a fake Irishman. Actually wait, no, he said that he tried to get a job with Strikeforce but they have a new policy in place--they won't hire a guy who lost in the UFC last. They are above taking UFC 'rejects' now, apparently. This may have started with Paul Daley who went and got two pro wins after losing to Josh Koscheck before fighting for Strikeforce. Good/bad?
good, if Strikeforce wants to be an equal to the UFC they can't be taking their castaways. I mean, technically they're still taking guys that the UFC doesn't want but by telling them to get a couple wins first they can spin it and say that they were impressed by what he did in the smaller circuits and then decided to go after him, instead of basically looking like they signed a guy just cause he was in the UFC before.
IMO Strikeforce can't be choosey about adding professional quality fighters. Their depth in most divisions is flat out awful and for the most part after the champions the next rung of fighters in most classes is on the same level as a UFC cast off. I think this was probably in response to Hendo's major back issue. Perhaps they think that part of the reason the UFC cuts guys is due to major injuries so they want to see these guys go fight elsewhere and see what the deal is not only in the cage but also health-wise.
It's a smart move on their part if they want to build a legit product. It also gives DFW less ammo to badmouth strikeforce too. They are taking a chance though if these guys go out and get 1-2 wins, the UFC may come calling too. It worked with Daley because of DFW's comment that he'd never work for the UFC again after his post-fight cheapshot.
Seems like something they could do case-by-case. Telling Davis that it was policy means next time a big name comes up they won't be able to sign him right away.
