History

Strikeforce was originally founded as a kickboxing organisation. It became involved with MMA in 2006 with the Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Gracie event on March 10, 2006. The event was California's first regulated MMA event and broke the previous record for largest audience at an MMA event in the United States, with 18,265 fans in attendance.

During August 2009, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker announced that they had signed formal alliances with Japanese MMA-promotion Dream and Russian promotion M-1 Global. Coker said the partnership would allow for co-promotion and fighter exchanges for events both in the US and Japan, and he mentioned Shinya Aoki versus Josh Thomson or Gilbert Melendez as well as Melvin Manhoef versus Robbie Lawler creating the best match ups possible that would not have existed before.

Strikeforce has major sponsorship deals, Rockstar Energy Drink is the official energy drink of Strikeforce. This in addition to having sponsors from Electronic Arts Video Games, Bodog and Full Tilt Poker.

Some notable fighters signed by Strikeforce in 2009 include Fedor Emelianenko, Gegard Mousasi, Dan Henderson, Marius Žaromskis, Muhammed Lawal, Melvin Manhoef, Nick Diaz, KJ Noons, and Bobby Lashley. They continue to be one of the premier MMA organisations in the world.

Rules

Strikeforce employs the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts. Ordinary matches consist of three five-minute rounds, while championship matches are five five-minute rounds. All rounds have a one-minute break between them. They do however deviate slightly from the formula laid out by the Unified rules (the rules state that organisations may opt for additional rules as long as they abide by the overall ruleset) by not allowing elbows on the ground.

Previous to June 2009, all women's bouts in Strikeforce consisted of three three-minute rounds as opposed to the men's five-minute rounds. However, on June 16, 2009, Strikeforce announced that it had received approval from the Washington- and California State Athletic Commissions to use five-minute rounds for all women's bouts, including five five-minute rounds for its championship bouts.

Weight Divisions

• Bantamweight: 126 to 135 pounds (57 to 61 kg)
• Featherweight: 136 to 145 pounds (62 to 66 kg)
• Lightweight: 146 to 155 pounds (66 to 70 kg)
• Welterweight:156 to 170 pounds (71 to 77 kg)
• Middleweight: 171 to 185 pounds (78 to 84 kg)
• Light heavyweight: 186 to 205 pounds (84 to 93 kg)
• Heavyweight: 206 to 265 pounds (93 to 120 kg)

Women's

• Welterweight: 126 to 135 pounds (57 to 61 kg)
• Middleweight: 136 to 145 pounds (62 to 66 kg)

Match Outcome

Matches usually end via:

• Submission: a fighter clearly taps on his/her opponent, the mat or his/her opponent verbally submits.
• Knockout: a fighter falls from a legal blow and is either unconscious or unable to immediately continue..
• Technical Knockout (TKO): If a fighter cannot continue, the fight is ended as a technical knockout. Technical knockouts can be classified into three categories:.
  1. Referee Stoppage
  2. Doctor Stoppage
  3. Corner Stoppage

Note: In the event of a draw, it is not necessary that the fighters' total points be equal. However, in a unanimous or split draw, each fighter does score an equal number of win judgments from the three judges (0 or 1, respectively).

A fight can also end in a technical decision, disqualification, forfeit, technical draw, or no contest. The latter two outcomes have no winners.

Fouls

Strikeforce currently lists the following as fouls:

1. Butting with the head
2. Eye gouging of any kind
3. Biting
4. Hair pulling
5. Fish hooking
6. Groin attacks of any kind
7. Putting a finger into any orifice or into any cut or laceration on an opponent.
8. Small joint manipulation.
9. Striking to the spine or the back of the head.
10. Striking downward using the point of the elbow.
11. Throat strikes of any kind, including, without limitation, grabbing the trachea.
12. Clawing, pinching or twisting the flesh.
13. Grabbing the clavicle.
14. Kicking the head of a grounded opponent.
15. Kneeing the head of a grounded opponent.
16. Stomping a grounded opponent.
17. Kicking to the kidney with the heel.
18. Spiking an opponent to the canvas on his head or neck.
19. Throwing an opponent out of the ring or fenced area.
20. Holding the shorts or gloves of an opponent.
21. Spitting at an opponent.
22. Engaging in unsportsmanlike conduct that causes an injury to an opponent.
23. Holding the ropes or the fence.
24. Attacking the referee.
25. Attacking an opponent on or during the break.
26. Attacking an opponent who is under the care of the referee.
27. Attacking an opponent after the bell (horn) has sounded the end of a round.
28. Flagrantly disregarding the instructions of the referee.
29. Timidity, including, without limitation, avoiding contact with an opponent, intentionally or consistently dropping the mouthpiece or faking an injury.
30. Interference by the corner.
31. Throwing in the towel during competition.

When a foul is charged, the referee in their discretion may deduct one or more points as a penalty. If a foul incapacitates a fighter, then the match may end in a disqualification if the foul was intentional, or a no contest if unintentional. If a foul causes a fighter to be unable to continue later in the bout, it ends with a technical decision win to the injured fighter if the injured fighter is ahead on points, otherwise it is a technical draw

Match Conduct

The Nevada State Athletic Commission currently lists the following as fouls:

• After a verbal warning the referee can stop the fighters and stand them up if they reach a stalemate on the ground (where neither are in a dominant position or working towards one). This rule is codified in Nevada as the stand-up rule.
• If the referee pauses the match, it is resumed with the fighters in their prior positions.
• Grabbing the cage brings a verbal warning, followed by an attempt by the referee to release the grab by pulling on the grabbing hand. If that attempt fails or if the fighter continues to hold the cage, the referee may charge a foul.
• Under unified rules, antics are permitted before events to add to excitement and allow fighters to express themselves, but abusive language during combat is prohibited.