Category — Strikeforce

You might’ve noticed something strange at Saturday’s Strikeforce: Houston event. I’m not talking about Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal losing his light heavyweight title to a hard-slugging Rafael Cavalcante or Bobby Lashley losing steam and falling to Chad Griggs. Both Lawal and Lashley have been more hype than execution so far in their MMA careers.

No, what I’m referring to are the oxygen bottles King Mo and KJ Noons sucked from between rounds in what would appear to be a clear violation of the rules. Check out MiddleEasy.com’s full breakdown of the matter. The only argument I can see in favour of allowing the cardio-boosting oxygen puffers is that they merely deliver a more concentrated version of what the fighters and every other mammal on the planet already inhale. But if the rules ban them, then why were Lawal and Noons allowed to use them?

MMA Junkie is reporting that none of the fighters at Saturday’s Strikeforce: Houston event were drug tested. The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation overseeing the event doesn’t require testing and only conducts testing at the specific request of the promotion, such as when UFC 103 came to town. And Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker didn’t think it mattered enough to make such a request or to implement his own testing.

This is baffling. Why wouldn’t Coker want the fighters tested? Was it the expense? Was it just a case of “the TDLR doesn’t care so why should we?” The decision makes the promotion look shifty, unprofessional or both. Now, I’m not one of these “steroids are evil” pulpit pounders. I couldn’t care less that Shane Carwin has been connected to a steroid scandal. I think a lot of fighters take advantage of whatever they have available to them, considering the punishment their bodies take not just in the fights but during training. It’s as much about being able to heal muscles and recover quickly and keep training as much as it is building muscles and getting stronger.

That said, if you’re caught breaking the rules you need to pay the price. But the lack of drug testing by Strikeforce sends a message that they don’t care about holding fighters accountable to the rules. And that looks bad.

Houston, we have a problem. Strikeforce hits town tonight and well, my excitement level is humming near a 4-4.5 on a 10-point scale. Sure, there’s “King Mo” Lawal defending his 205-pound title against Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante in the main event, while GI Joe Tim Kennedy and Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza face off in a 185-pound scrap. Both bouts offer the potential for some sick jiu-jitsu (courtesy of Feijao and Jacare), as does Andre Galvao vs. Jorge Patino, although none of them have a “can’t miss” sense about them. Likewise, KJ Noons vs. Jorge Gurgel or former pro wrestling behemoth Bobby Lashley vs. Chad Griggs. Then again, maybe this will be a case of underwhelming expectations leading to a highly entertaining card. My point is that Strikeforce has to do something more than it already is in order to build anticipation for events that don’t feature Fedor Emelianenko or Alistair Overeem.

It was a solid technical fight – crisp striking from Sarah Kaufman, solid grappling from Roxanne Modaferri, dirty boxing from both – until the last 15 seconds of the third round. That’s when the undefeated Strikeforce women’s 135-pound champ finished her opponent in dramatic, spectacular, bone-jarring fashion, pancaking her to the canvas and into unconsciousness.

It’s one of the most incredible ends to a women’s bout ever and the kind of highlight reel finish you expect in men’s MMA (or possibly from a Cris “Cyborg” Santos fight). Simply put: that was one hell of a power slam. Bombs-a-way!

Kaufman had complained about being stuck on a Strikeforce Challengers card for four consecutive fights and made it clear she intended to use this fight to make a point – that she deserved (and rightly so) to be on the roster for a Strikeforce regular card. Consider the point made.

Taking a more macro view, it’s also a finish that will silence some of the naysayers and help further entrench women’s MMA into the mainstream. Let’s not underestimate its significance in this regard. Women’s MMA needs great fighters, great personalities and great fights to become more accepted. Knocking out Modaferri should make the rest of the MMA world wake up.

It’s bullshit that tonight’s women’s 135-pound title fight between champ Sarah Kaufman and Roxanne Modaferri has been stuck in tonight’s Strikeforce: Challengers ghetto. Sure, it’s the co-main event, but these are two of the toughest, scrappiest fighters – male or female – in all of MMA, fighting for a belt. This deserves to be on a regular Strikeforce card, not this Grapefruit League event. And I have to agree with Kaufman and Cage Potato that it appears the only way to be successful in women’s MMA is to look like a Maxim model (like Gina Carano) or smash every opponent Hulk-style (like Cris “Cyborg” Santos). I guess having the hair style of Bo Derek without the cheekbones just isn’t enough. And for the record, my money’s on Kaufman.

Should Jake Shields have to wait in line to face UFC welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre? Shields, the Strikeforce middleweight champ until he officially and unsurprisingly jumped ship to the UFC earlier this week, will drop back to (his natural) welterweight and face Martin Kampmann at UFC 121 in October.

While Kampmann is no slouch – he’s a strong striker and an adroit grappler with a 17-3 (8-2 UFC) record – and Shields shouldn’t take him lightly, the GSP bout is the only one anyone really wants to see. Granted, GSP is slated to defend his title against opposing Ultimate Fighter coach and all-round heel Josh Koscheck on December 11. And giving Shields a warm-up fight to ease him into the octagon makes sense. Except…

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Just as Strikeforce gave loser Brett Rogers a title shot against heavyweight champ Alistair Overeem, the promotion is prepared to do it again, only this time I’m not complaining.

Seems Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker is hoping to line up a title shot for Fedor Emelianenko, the fighter who beat Rogers and who just lost to Fabricio Werdum. The plan is for Werdum to face the winner of the Fedor-Overeem match-up for the title.

Does Fedor deserve a title shot ahead of Werdum? No. Would I rather see a rematch between Fedor and Werdum, which has also been speculated about? Sure, but not right away. Would I rather see Werdum face Overeem next? Not at the expense of Fedor sitting out for months. I just want to see Fedor take big fights before he decides to retire. It’s as simple as that.

Is there anyone who can beat Strikeforce women’s 145-pound champ Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos? Short of the Toronto riot squad, I mean. Give Cyborg’s target for the night, Jan “Snuggles” Finney, credit, though, she took a licking and kept on ticking. Some wonder why the fight wasn’t called sooner than the second round, like in the first round when Finney was getting knocked down four times and beaten upon. Or when she took that huge knee to the face that dropped her again. And the reason is because Finney was still intelligently – if feebly – defending herself; she even landed her strongest shots in the opening seconds of the second round. The referee stepped in when she needed to. Any sooner would have done Finney a disservice.

And since the Cyborg-Finney fight isn’t available online, here’s last week’s Bellator bout between Zoila Frausto and Rosi Sexton, which also contained a devastating – and fight-ending – knee.

The headlines wrote themselves following Fedor Emelianenko’s loss to Fabricio Werdum at Saturday’s Strikeforce event. Some variation on the Last Emperor being dethroned, his reign ending. Melodramatic stuff, to say the least.

Now, two days later the dust has settled a bit and the shock of seeing the greatest fighter in MMA history beaten so easily has dissipated. Fedor suffered the first true loss in his legendary 10-year, 35-fight career.

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Wednesday’s Strikeforce card in Los Angeles was merely an appetizer for June 26’s Fedor Emelianenko vs. Fabricio Werdum main course. But coming between a pair of UFC events (and a WEC card) made it feel even more like pigs-in-a-blanket.

Here’s the Fight of the Night, in my opinion, and it clearly shows that DREAM Welterweight Grand Prix champ Marius Zaromskis needs more than a killer head kick to be competitive. As a side note, it’s crazy how easily Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos was lifted in victory by his bride, Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos.