WEC or Strikeforce: Which Will You Watch?

Two promotions are set to go head-to-head on Saturday night.

Strikeforce and WEC will face off with live shows. The main event of the Strikeforce card will be Cung Le vs. Scott Smith. On the opposing side, WEC headlines with Donald Cerrone vs. Ed Ratcliff.

Clearly, Strikeforce is loaded with much more star power, but WEC has the Zuffa machine and more television behind it. Plus, looking at recent history, WEC shows are almost always a lock to deliver two-plus hours of non-stop action.

At the same time, the Strikeforce show is one of the weaker ones Showtime has televised. There is no Frank Shamrock. There is no Nick Diaz. Heck, Robbie Lawler isn’t even on the card anymore.

Still, with Le, Josh Thomson, Gilbert Melendez, and Matt Lindland, Strikeforce still boasts the more famous names even if they are not involved in the most compelling match-ups the station has offered.

Here is the televised portion of the Strikeforce show:

• Cung Le vs. Scott Smith
• Josh Thomson vs. Gilbert Melendez
• Matt Lindland vs. Ronald “Jacare” Souza
• “King” Mo Lawal vs. Mike Whitehead

On the opposing side, WEC puts on a show with little-to-no fanfare. There is no Urijah Faber, Jose Also, Miguel Torres or even Jens Pulver. It’s easy to question why WEC would even televise a show like this, but the likely answer is that Versus wants the programming.

WEC counters with:

• Donald Cerrone vs. Ed Ratcliff
• Anthony Njokuani vs. Chris Horodecki
• Joseph Benavidez vs. Rani Yahya
• Takeya Mizugaki vs. Scott Jorgensen

Nevertheless, WEC and Versus will learn if better fights are more popular than fighters with better names. With Strikeforce appearing on pay cable and WEC being shown on basic cable (for most people without DirecTV), the ratings will not be an accurate judge.

What will be an accurate measure? Well, the majority of the fans that will tune into Versus likely also subscribe to Showtime, if for no other reason, to watch Strikeforce. Most (if not all) hardcore fans will figure out a way to watch both shows.

Therefore, the most accurate measure will likely be the result of a simple census. The question is, “Which show will you watch live – Strikeforce or WEC?”

That is the fairest measurement because it takes the ratings factor out of the equation. It also levels the playing field among the majority of fans that will watch both shows.

Most importantly, the results will tell the promoters what will sell better to the audience: fighters with name power or fights with guaranteed action.