Watson likely to sign with Strikeforce

[MatParker116]

http://fiveouncesofpain.com/2012/03/...o-strikeforce/

There’s little question that Strikeforce’s middleweight roster could use an injection of talent. While the promotion boasts a number of talented competitors such as champion Luke Rockhold, Ronaldo Souza, and Tim Kennedy, the overall skill-level takes a severe slide after going through the first 5-6 fighters.

Fortunately it appears that could change in the immediate future, at least as long as 14-4 BAMMA champion Tom Watson comes away with a victory this weekend when he faces Jack Marshman at BAMMA 9 for the divisional gold.

According to Watson, he’s already discussed the possibility of heading over to Strikeforce with Zuffa officials and, though he isn’t counting his chickens before they hatch, the 29-year old Brit definitely appears to be interested in the idea.

“After (my) last fight I had quite a bit of contact with Sean Shelby of Strikeforce,” explained Watson in an interview with Fightline. “Everything is about timing in this business and the best thing that I can do is go out and win this fight against Marshman on March 24. The more I win the more in demand I will be and from there I can negotiate and see what’s next.”

“If the opportunity presents itself I will have to take it into consideration and see what is in the best interests of my career,” Watson continued, leaving the door open for a variety of scenarios.

It also appears Watson wouldn’t mind a boost up in the level of his opponent as well after struggling to find widely-respected adversaries at his weight outside of Strikeforce/UFC.

“The most difficult thing for me is if you look at the middleweight ranking the top 20-30 guys are all in the UFC. It’s very difficult to find good opponents. My last fight against Murilo “Ninja” Rua was met with a lot of criticism because people believed he wasn’t a tough enough opponent. It’s difficult to find a guy who isn’t contracted to the UFC,” Watson concluded on the subject.

There is nothing left for him to do in BAMMA so I say why the hell not?

[DanCrase]

Glad to hear it, he's taken some good scalps lately and it's the perfect time for him to see what he can truly achieve; best of luck to him!

[Nimmy]

Would like to see Watson vs wallhead before he goes

[Dano]

Would like to see Watson vs wallhead before he goes

Will never happen as Wallhead would win.

[THE EQUALIZER]

Will never happen as Watson would win.

I fixed it for you

[pmoney]

I think Tom Watson has cemented himself as the number 1 in the middleweight rankings and deserves to go onto one of the bigger US promotions should he wish it.
I do disagree though that there are no fights for him to be had dommestically or that there are a lack of tough guys ready to step up. Nothing against him personally but he holds a great belt and is the no 1 guy and there are 3 middleweights in my gym alone who would be eager to fight him and I believe give him a very competitive match: Zelg Galesic, Claudio Silva and Pavel Doroftei. And there are of course plenty of tough unsigned middleweights accross Europe too. Machmed Khalidov to name one.
If BAMMA or his management are struggling to find a match, please give me a call.

Paul

[Oswald Cobblepot]

There are still plenty of fights for Tom to have at domestic and European level and I personally would fancy Wallhead to beat him but he has certainly paid his dues and he would have to be crazy not to take his chance to fight in Strikeforce

[jonj]

I dont see why people seem to think that only the number one guy in the company should go to America... Why can we have a few and let them all fight out there? Let them fight against each other on the big stage where they can both make some good money out of it.

[Sengoku]

BAMMA are done!

[brashleyholland]

Jimmy Wallhead is a terrible opponent for Tom to be facing right now - from a career point of view. Regardless of who we think would win or lose, or how they'd do it, Tom's management should be steering him away from it. Tom is on the verge of signing to one of the big Zuffa-owned promotions, so look at it from a purely business perspective - you're on the cusp of signing the most important contract of your life - why take a fight against a guy in a lower weight division?

The only positive thing that could come out of that fight for Tom is if he knocks Jimmy out in first few minutes. If he goes to a decision then he's no longer 'surging middleweight Tom Watson' he's 'the guy who couldn't finish a welterweight'. If he loses, then he's 'the guy who just lost to a welterweight'. Even if he wins handily, he's 'the guy who just beat a welterweight'.

And more to the point, Jimmy is absolutely not 'just another welterweight', he's a top notch fighter and one of the most underrated guys in the sport - to me, that only makes the risk greater.

Personally I'd love to see the fight and I'm sure both guys are up for it too. But if I was Tom's manager and the options were fighting Jimmy or fighting on a Strikeforce/UFC card - the Strikeforce/UFC option is the smart move.