Hardcore Championship Fighting Folds

by Robert Sargent

Confirming weeks of speculation, Hardcore Championship Fighting CEO Keith Crawford announced earlier today that HCF would be ceasing operations after complications arising from their proposed sale to The Score television network.

The announcement comes as a surprise to many, given HCF's meteoric rise to prominence in Canada in just nine months, but reports of inner turmoil have surfaced in the past few weeks.

This week was initially scheduled to feature an announcement confirming HCF's sale to The Score, which is the #3 sports network in Canada behind TSN and SportsNet, and which has aired HCF events since last year. However, after HCF postponed its scheduled May 10th event, rumours began to circulate that all was not well within the company.

Crawford had hoped that selling HCF to The Score would solidify the promotion's place as a contender for the "number two" spot in mixed martial arts in North America, behind the UFC, but that will not be the case.

HCF quickly surpassed TKO as the top mixed martial arts promotion in Canada in less than one year, aided by huge signings of international superstars such as former PRIDE standout Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, UFC contender Renato Sobral, PRIDE contender Gegard Mousasi and former UFC and TKO star David Loiseau.

As TKO saw its talent depart for the UFC, HCF's talent pool only continued to grow. However, in the end, it was not enough.

Crawford declined to publicly identify the causes of the turmoil within the company, but stated that both he and his former business partner, HCF President Dave Houshiar, will continue to be involved in MMA, with each running a promotion of their own.

This is sad news for a company that legitimately had more potential than any other in the current market.