JNPO Classic: The rapidly disintegrating Strikeforce Grand Prix
On the July 21, 2011, edition of the WGAM MMA Show, yours truly and co-host/producer PJ Huot were in the middle of a heat wave and the NFL lockout.
The studio was air conditioned, so we somehow powered through it, joined by then-rising UFC middleweight Mark Munoz and writer Spencer Kyte, then of Heavy.com.
We began the show talking about the Strikeforce Grand Prix falling apart due to injuries and the growing discontent within the organization about not being absorbed into the UFC. We discussed the lack of production changes with the UFC product, something that six years later is still not that much different.
I talked about my debut in the commentary booth for the Global Fight League, an experience that was about as last second as they come.
We then did an interview with Munoz (a winner of six of his last seven) who was set to face Chris Leben in the main event of UFC 138 in England, a bout that would be the first five round non-title fight in UFC history. While this was a fairly vanilla interview, I got Mark’s thoughts on PED use in the sports and the TRT debate that was happening at the time.
We closed out the show talking to Spencer about whether Strikeforce was dead and the upcoming Fedor vs. Dan Henderson fight.
Enjoy this latest look back at history now: