The Strikeforce Event Discussion Thread

[wandshogun09]

From Gareth A Davies twitter

 

Strikeforce rumour. They may bring event to the UK if Paul Daley fighting for title. Just whispers put to me last week 8:25 PM Dec 4th via web

 

Diaz vs Semtex for the title. I'd buy a ticket for that one.

 

Doubt it will happen yet though. Most likely Daley/Noons. Then again is Noons going back to 155? Plus what happens if KJ beat Daley, it would eliminate Daley from the title hunt and they can't really do Diaz/Noons 3 yet. Maybe they will just make Diaz vs Daley?

 

Loved the Strikeforce card top to bottom. Bigfoot/Kyle was a great fight and the last 3 KO's were awesome. And the last 3 fights were all a ton of fun while they lasted.

 

Gotta love a show where you get 2 of the best KO's of the year (Daley's and Lawler's) on the same card and in back to back fights too. Great stuff.

 

Daley's was KO of 2010 for me although Gomi/Griffin and Condit/Hardy are up there for me too.

[ajmcstyles]

Just watched the show, Amazing Knockouts. Good Fights really wished I watched this instead of TUF finale.

[Egg Shen]

the final 3 fights has to be the craziest series of fights ive ever seen, just 3 insane finishes.

 

So glad i avoided the results until tonight...

 

Radach-St. Preux - this was horrible, Strikeforce couldn't ask for a worse start to the night. Radach looked f'n terrible, he doomed from the outset. The fight should have been stopped in round 1, St. Preux basically punched himself out laying into Radach who just led there doing nothing, the ref. could have saved us from the rest of the fight. Round 3 had flashes of goodness but Radach basically shooting in just to rest was hard to watch. Radach is capable of so much more but conditioning and a harsh first killed him. St. Preux showed that he has potential, but again fighting on an empty tank makes for some horrible action.

 

Kyle/Silva - great little fight. Mike Kyle said he was confident standing and backed it up, i almost shit the bed when he dropped Silva in round 1. Kyle has never looked better than in round 1. Round 2 Big Foot was a man on a mission, once he got the takedown the size difference was apparent, Silva looked massive. The ground and pound from the mount was just scary, you do not want that guy on top of you. Does anyone actually think Antonio Silva can be knocked out? He's got one of those massive heads that tells me that he can't be KO'd.

 

Lawler/Lindland - i feared for Lindland here and i was right too. I never favour Lindland against a good striker, he seems to get hit cleanly and go out everytme. From the moment i saw Lindland attempt to trade i knew the end was inevitable. The punch that dropped him didn't KO him, it the Henderson/Bisping-esque diving right as Lindland spun, fucking brutal. Lindland will still likely compete but he needs to stop fighting strikers who can do this to him.

 

Daley/Smith - Scott Smith has pushed his luck too many times. Daley used superior movement and speed, Smith attempted to fire back in his trademark style but Daley's too good to get caught like that. Brutal KO again, one of the most brutal faceplants ive ever seen. Don't know where Smith goes? He's a fan favourite but like someone said previously the guy is basically a punching bag who's capable of landing massive punches. As for Daley, he has officially arrived again! So many good fights to make in Strikeforce... Daley/Noons will be fucking outstanding.

 

Henderson/Babalu - i called this one. After the fight started i just thought i couldn't see a way Babalu could win the fight. Henderson looked sharp and was throwing with bad intentions. The moment he stood up from guard i kind of sensed the KO was coming, that dropping right hand he throws is a thing of devastation. Thought Big John was a little slow stepping in too. Babalu is kind of like Lindland, he's a great competitor but i never favour him against great strikers (althought he shut me up when he outpointed Lawler), both guys have been KO'd badly too many times.

 

Crazy show, Strikeforce couldn't have asked for a better end to 2010, take out the Radach/St. Preux and you had a perfect night of Saturday Night MMA for a casual fan...and newbs tuning in for that would have fucking loved it, depsite the fact that the final 3 fights were quick and not really competitive.

 

2011 is gonna be a good one for Strikeforce.

[wandshogun09]

Predictions

 

Henderson vs Babalu - Henderson by decision.

Daley vs Smith - Daley by KO/TKO, round 2 or 3.

Lawler vs Lindland - Lawler KO/TKO, round 1 or 2.

Bigfoot vs Kyle - Bigfoot TKO, round 2.

Radach vs St Preux - St Preux by decision/late TKO.

 

I wish I'd put an accumulator on for this now

[wandshogun09]

Cesar Gracie and Scott Coker seem to want a Nick Diaz vs Paul Daley title fight.

 

Don't tell Cesar Gracie that Nick Diaz is scared, homie.

 

Well, unless you're Jason "Mayhem" Miller (24-7 MMA, 1-1 SF), who's dedicated a website to the phrase, which is a Diaz (23-7 MMA, 4-0 SF) quip that he's borrowed to express frustration at a stalemate that's arisen in booking a grudge match between them for a Jan. 29 event in San Jose, Calif.

 

Diaz vs. Miller is a fight Strikeforce seriously has considered since October when the two nearly came to blows backstage at "Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Noons 2." (The rivalry was sparked six months prior when Miller and Diaz brawled on national television at 'Strikeforce: Nashville.')

 

But getting the camps to agree on terms has been a weighty issue.

 

Miller, a middleweight, wants to meet at 183 pounds and claims Diaz has already fought at that weight and even expressed interest in fighting at light heavyweight.

 

Gracie points out that Diaz, the Strikeforce welterweight champion, hasn't fought above a 180-pound catchweight fight he took against former UFC champion Frank Shamrock in April 2009.

 

"'Mayhem' is now saying he'll only cut down to 183," Gracie told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). "Well, with a one-pound allowance, that's 184. He weighed in at 184 for the Jake Shields fight (at 'Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Rogers'). So he's saying he won't cut anything."

 

Gracie said the heaviest Diaz will fight Miller at is 179 pounds, a mark that could expand to 180 pounds with a one-pound allowance granted to non-title fights.

 

Miller said it doesn't matter whether he gives a number or not

[1SinN6]

"It's ridiculous," he said. "Especially not in that timeframe. I would have to go do some homosexual triathlons to get to that weight. I'm not Lance Armstrong."

 

What did Miller mean by that? What an asshole.

[Egg Shen]

this Miller/Diaz thing is getting ridiculous, it's like the Haye/Klitchsko situation of MMA, clearly there's some lies being told.

[jimufctna24]

this Miller/Diaz thing is getting ridiculous, it's like the Haye/Klitchsko situation of MMA, clearly there's some lies being told.

I thought that as well

 

Nick Diaz is the hottest property in MMA outside the UFC and Mayhem is the fighter that he will do the best business with in my opinion, that being said with Daley, Riggs and Woodley all possible challengers that he could headline a Strikeforce show with he doesnt need Miller as much as Miller needs him

 

I hope they come to some compromise of 181 lbs or somthing it would be a shame if they missed the boat like they MMA did with Fedor vs Randy for various reasons and boxing seems to be doing with Floyd vs Manny

[Egg Shen]

next main card for Jan. 29th looks like this:

 

Jacare Souze vs. Robbie Lawler (MW Title Fight)

Nick Diaz vs. Cyborg Santos (WW Title Fight)

Herschel Walker vs. Scott Carson

Roger Gracie vs. Trevor Prangley

 

So they are skating around Diaz/Miller I can't see Diaz having problems with Cyborg, if it stays standing (which i expect it will) it could be a fun fight but i think Diaz takes it by submission.

 

Jacare/Lawler is gonna be a case of who can keep the fight where they want it.

[Egg Shen]

there's a pretty interesting interview with Coker over on MMA Fanhouse too where he reveals that in around 2 weeks Strikeforce will be announcing 'phase 2', not sure what he means by that? im assuming its to do with the heavyweight tournament.

[Egg Shen]

[METAL ON METAL]

Big news (from MMAFighting.com):

 

Eight Strikeforce heavyweights have all signed to compete in a single-elimination tournament to begin on Feb. 12, sources have confirmed to MMA Fighting.

 

The first two quarterfinal bouts will take place on Feb. 12, with Fedor Emelianenko taking on Antonio SIlva, while Andrei Arlovski will face Sergei Kharitonov.

 

The other two quarterfinal bouts include Brett Rogers facing Josh Barnett and current Strikeforce champ Alistair Overeem taking on Fabricio Werdum, the last man to beat Emelianenko.

 

While the Emelianenko-Silva and Arlovski-Kharitonov fights will take place at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey, the location and date of the second sets of quarterfinals is still to be determined.

 

Overeem's presence in the field is particularly relevant, as the promotion's champion has defended the belt only once, in a May 2010 knockout over Rogers. Since then he's won the K-1 Max kickboxing title and fought in a DREAM interim heavyweight title fight, defeating Todd Duffee. But his participation in the tournament field may give fans a chance to see him multiple times in the U.S. in 2011.

[GlennCullen]

Big news (from MMAFighting.com):

 

Eight Strikeforce heavyweights have all signed to compete in a single-elimination tournament to begin on Feb. 12, sources have confirmed to MMA Fighting.

 

The first two quarterfinal bouts will take place on Feb. 12, with Fedor Emelianenko taking on Antonio SIlva, while Andrei Arlovski will face Sergei Kharitonov.

 

The other two quarterfinal bouts include Brett Rogers facing Josh Barnett and current Strikeforce champ Alistair Overeem taking on Fabricio Werdum, the last man to beat Emelianenko.

 

While the Emelianenko-Silva and Arlovski-Kharitonov fights will take place at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey, the location and date of the second sets of quarterfinals is still to be determined.

 

Overeem's presence in the field is particularly relevant, as the promotion's champion has defended the belt only once, in a May 2010 knockout over Rogers. Since then he's won the K-1 Max kickboxing title and fought in a DREAM interim heavyweight title fight, defeating Todd Duffee. But his participation in the tournament field may give fans a chance to see him multiple times in the U.S. in 2011.

 

Poor Werdum!

 

I'll take Fedor, Kharitonov, Barnett & Overeem to go through.

[Egg Shen]

i love this tournament, takes me back to the Pride tournament days the lineup is a full on Pride lineup too with the exception of Rogers & Arlovski...great stuff.

 

I'll have Fedor and Arlovski to take the first 2 fights, then Barnett and Overeem winning the second too.

 

Lots of dream contests could come out of this, awesome.

[METAL ON METAL]

i love this tournament, takes me back to the Pride tournament days the lineup is a full on Pride lineup too with the exception of Rogers & Arlovski...great stuff.

 

I'll have Fedor and Arlovski to take the first 2 fights, then Barnett and Overeem winning the second too.

 

Lots of dream contests could come out of this, awesome.

 

Agreed, I have it going the same way.

 

I bet in the semi's we just magically get the pairings of Fedor/Barnett & Arlovski/Overeem, that way they get the long awaited Fedor/Barnett fight & possibly Fedor/Overeem in the final (the fight pretty much everyone wants - including Strikeforce).