I have a deep nostalgia for Strikeforce and the WEC. I started watching MMA around 2005 and became a pretty avid fan around 2008, Rashad vs Machida was one of my first live PPVs but before that I watched the WEC on Sun Sports which later turned into the Versus channel, I watched Strikeforce on Showtime and whatever UFC cards I could find on Spike along with TUF. Oh and I watched Bellator tournaments on an ESPN Latino channel and K1 and MMA on HDNet (cant remember what Mma promotions they aired).
Strikeforce and the WEC kind of epitomized this era of MMA for me, I remember Yoel Romeros Strikeforce debut vs Feijao, I remember following Rockholds climb to the MW title, Brunson on the challenger series, Cung Le breaking Shamrocks arm and the Scott Smith fights, Thompson vs Melendez battles, Nick Diaz beating down Daley, Shamrock, Zaromskis and Cyborg, Masvidal vs KJ Noons was an awesome upset. Misaki vs Daley was an awesome upset. The HW tournament was insane, everything about it was just legendary. I remember thinking Adlan Amagov was the next big thing. Lawlers KO of Linland where he straightens his legs is still one if my all time favorites. Oh I was a huge Mousasi fanboy, I remember telling people that Jones wasn't the future of LHW, that it was Mousasi! Hahaha. Jacare was fucking amazing too, I wish he got the UFC earlier. Hendo vs Shields, Shields vs Mayhem...I remember the rear naked choke being set in as the bell sounded, fucking wow. The Brett Roger's hype after the Arlovski KO and Fedor vs Roger's was a huge fucking deal, I tried to go see that live in Chicago when I was 15.
Strikeforce holds a special place in my heart. That era of MMA was amazing, the convergence of WEC and Strikeforce, the inclusion of the lower weight divisions was the dawn of a new era for the UFC and I do miss that old era.
