Sudden Death Round to Settle Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix Draws


The Strikeforce heavyweight grand prix will resume Saturday night in Dallas with a new rule in place: a sudden death round to settle a draw.

When the GP was first announced in January, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker said that a draw would be settled by an independent fourth judge who would "determine who advances or who wins based on the fighter's overall performance in the fight."

However, Marc Ratner, Zuffa's vice president of regulatory affairs, informed MMA Fighting on Sunday that Zuffa, the new parent company of the Strikeforce, has decided that all tournament fights ending in a draw will now be settled by a fourth sudden death round. There will not be a fourth judge assigned to the tournament fights anymore.

Other than the finals of the tournament, all fights are scheduled for three five-minute rounds. The finals will be a five five-minute round fight.

Antonio Silva and Sergei Kharitonov advanced to the semifinals of the tournament in February. Saturday's night card, which will air on Showtime, will feature Alistair Overeem vs. Fabricio Werdum and Josh Barnett vs. Brett Rogers.

The semifinals of the GP are slated for the fall.


Source: Sudden Death Round to Settle Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix Draws

Much better than an "independent judge" judging the fights.

Sudden death as in no time limit at all??

Lol no.
If the fight ends in a draw then there will be a fourth round.
Before this they would have an independent judge that will give a must decision.
Though for heavyweights I doubt many fights will end in a draw.

Ah cool gotya hehe I was imagening 1 hour fights