Who Has The Better Heavyweight Division? Daniel Cormier Says Strikeforce, Others Say UFC, I Say We All Get Along

Whenever a major event or a big show is on the verge of coming to fruition, it becomes increasingly easier to stir the hornet’s nest. Tensions are high and opinions become fact, with many fans drawing their line in the sand and arguing back and forth over who will win and why. In particular, many fans are debating which major-level MMA promotion has the better Heavyweight division now that strikeforce’s Heavyweight Grand Prix is about to get underway while ufc Heavyweight Champion Cain Velasquez sits on the injured list. Rising Strikeforce Heavyweight Daniel Cormier recently chimed in with his opinion, and three guesses as to which side of this debate Cormier stands on. Here are all the details.

Cormier recently spoke with MMA Weekly and said the following: “With the injury and the time off and dare I say level of competition that (Cain is) fighting and the guys in this tournament are fighting, it’s not a stretch to say the guy that wins this is the No. 1 heavyweight in the world. These 8 guys, when you look at these 8 guys versus the top 8 guys in the UFC, I’m thinking Strikeforce wins a lot of those fights.”

Cormier’s sentiments seem to be par for the course, but interestingly enough, Cormier is actually one of the main training partners of Cain Velasquez, the current UFC Heavyweight Champion. Both men train at the prestigious American Kickboxing Academy.

To be honest, this is usually a debate I shy away from for one simple reason: the negativity it creates. Now, make no mistake, I don’t mind being negative and I think sometimes a little negativity is called for when a situation is being glossed over, overlooked, or sugar-coated. Sometimes tough love is the best option, sometimes hotly debating a topic is better than sweeping it under the rug even if a little collateral damage is caused. For this particular topic, though, I just don’t see the purpose. Furthermore, I think this debate shifts focus away from the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix itself, which we should all be hyping ourselves up for.

Like many fight fans, I enjoy talking about “dream fights” pitting two companies and their best fighters against each other. But this goes back to what I said about how easy it becomes to stir the hornet’s nest on the eve of a big event. When there’s excitement and tension in the air, it becomes a lot easier to turn a discussion into an argument, and it becomes a lot easier to adopt this “us versus them” mentality.

So let’s stop focusing on who will be the best once it’s all over, because it’s only just begun. Let’s stop pitting Strikeforce’s best against the UFC’s best in a make-believe promotional war when Strikeforce’s best are all getting ready to fight each other. The Heavyweight Grand Prix is an amazing tournament, that’s what we should be focusing on. Everything else, all the rankings and such, that comes afterwards.

So in the here and now, let’s inject this debate with a bit of positivity. Let’s just all appreciate what we’re going to get, shall we? Because what we’re going to get has the potential to be the best MMA tournament in this sport’s short history. We have several amazing fights to look forward to, fights that have a definitive chance of happening, so let’s focus on the present and the not-so-distant future, rather than the far-off dream-fights that may or may not ever get around to happening. Strikeforce is set to begin an amazing tournament, and in the here and now, that’s really all I care about. At least for now, let’s all just be MMA fans and appreciate a good show when we get it, because this show is going to be awesome.

And what about you, fans and friends? What’s your opinion on this “Strikeforce vs. UFC” debate?