The Strikeforce Event Discussion Thread

[Rey_Piste]

It's kinda strange how very few people are giving Kaufman a chance, she's 15-1 and outside of a loss to Marlos Coenen (in a fight she was dominating until getting caught) she's undefeated, she's beaten some of the best female fighters on the planet (including Meisha Tate), the Ronda train is in full effect and everybody's overlooking Kaufman.

 

I'm sniffing an upset...which really, wouldn't be much of an upset.

I still see Rousey winning this because I don't think Kaufman's got the footwork to be able to get out of range quick enough before getting taken down and submitted.

[wandshogun09]

Showtime Extreme prelims start at 1am if anyone's watching live.

[wandshogun09]

Jesus Christ. So much for me thinking Kaufman would test Ronda eh? Ridiculous. Cracking show as well. Strikeforce have consistently delivered this year.

 

Rousey vs Kaufman

54 seconds. Flawless performance, Kaufman was never in it. What else can be said? Ronda vs Cyborg has to happen, the KO wrecking machine vs the arm collector. Depends how long Cyborg is still out for though. When's her suspension up? If not that then Rousey vs Tate 2 would be great in the meantime.

 

Ronda going nuts calling Cyborg out sells the fight more. She should have left out the parking lot stuff though, that just sounds unprofessional and cack. Nice to see a bit of respect shown from Ronda to Kaufman though.

 

Ronda is that weird mix for me where she both arouses and terrifies me in equal measures.

 

She still doesn't like Heidi Androl either..

 

 

Jacare vs Brunson

Jacare looked great. He's really improved his striking over the last few years and he's a legit threat in all areas now as he showed tonight. His hands looked sharp and it was an excellent finish. Big fan of Jacare, great fighter and just a really likeable personality which makes him easy to root for. Jacare vs Kennedy 2 for the title makes sense now, especially with how close the first fight was.

 

Saffiedine vs Bowling

This was a good fight. I had Saffiedine 30-27 myself but Bowling was game throughout as he always is. Good stuff from both but I felt like Tarec shut down most of Bowling's offense and controlled more of the action as well as getting more dominant positions. Ending the fight with the near choke sealed it for him.

 

Sayers vs Smith

Really fun round of action this. Nice grappling with non stop scrambles and the finishing triangle was pretty slick.

 

OSP vs Cook

Sweet fuck what a KO. I was genuinely worried for Cook for a minute, bit of a sigh of relief when I saw him sitting up. Hopefully he's OK now. Brutal, scary knockout. Very exciting fight as well. The first round was an all out war, which left them both fucked for the second round but OSP came out re-energised for the 3rd and took care of business.

 

Tate vs Kedzie

This was my FOTN hands down. Probably one of my favourite fights this year to be honest. You've gotta give Miesha a ton of credit, that comeback was some Pride Nogueira shit. The first round Kedzie gave Tate a right hiding, then Miesha comes back in round 2 with some close sub attempts. Then the third that headkick. Fuck me, I don't know how Tate survived that. It landed flush with the shin and rocked her head right back. Amazing heart to not only pull through that but actually come back and finish the fight afterwards. Fantastic fight. Both deserve credit for that.

 

 

Not keen on the new 'Cupcake' nickname for Tate though. Bit shit that really.

 

 

Amagov vs Berry

Bit of an odd fight. I've liked the look of Amagov so far and he looked a vicious fucker here. But I agree with Miletich completely when he said them pushing kicks to the kneecap should be banned. I mean, if you're not allowed to use knees on the ground, or even knee when the opponent puts a hand down on the canvas, why the fuck are you allowed to effectively stamp on your opponents kneecap bending it backwards the opposite way? It's a serious career ender waiting to happen.

 

What's the deal with it? I thought it was illegal but I've seen Jon Jones, Brandon Vera, now Amagov and a few others use that technique for ages now with nowt said from the ref. I don't like it, I wince every time I see it.

 

The other women's fight De Randamie vs Yamanaka was alright. Nothing special, 3rd round was good when Randamie turned up the aggression though. Green vs Ricehouse wasn't bad either. No duds on the card in my opinion.

 

Very entertaining show top to bottom.

 

Oh and....

 

 

[The Natural]

Watched Rousey/Kaufman and Tate/Kedzie, the two fights I was most interested in before the show started. Rousey/Kaufman was easy for Rousey, securing the clinch at the fence, taking her down and got the Armbar which Kaufman defended until Rousey tapped her out with it in less than a minute. Tate/Kedzie was really good. Kedzie won the first round with her strikes, Tate the second with her two choke attempts, Tate surviving a kick to the face in the third and submitting Kedzie with the Armbar. I've only seen two Tate fights (vs. Rousey and vs. Kedzie) and I come out of both really liking her. Any others I should look at? I'm sure I watched some Kedzie fights before on The Fight Network channel in the UK.

 

EDIT. This is funny:

 

[wandshogun09]

Haha poor Junior. He should have joined up here I'd have PM'd him a stream.

 

Dana posted this on his Twitter

 

Tate is SO tough!!!!

 

[The Natural]

Jesus Christ. So much for me thinking Kaufman would test Ronda eh? Ridiculous. Cracking show as well. Strikeforce have consistently delivered this year.

 

Rousey vs Kaufman

54 seconds. Flawless performance, Kaufman was never in it. What else can be said? Ronda vs Cyborg has to happen, the KO wrecking machine vs the arm collector. Depends how long Cyborg is still out for though. When's her suspension up?

 

I think it's either December or January.

 

Amagov vs Berry

Bit of an odd fight. I've liked the look of Amagov so far and he looked a vicious fucker here. But I agree with Miletich completely when he said them pushing kicks to the kneecap should be banned. I mean, if you're not allowed to use knees on the ground, or even knee when the opponent puts a hand down on the canvas, why the fuck are you allowed to effectively stamp on your opponents kneecap bending it backwards the opposite way? It's a serious career ender waiting to happen.

 

What's the deal with it? I thought it was illegal but I've seen Jon Jones, Brandon Vera, now Amagov and a few others use that technique for ages now with nowt said from the ref. I don't like it, I wince every time I see it.

 

I'm with you.

 

I'd like to see Rousey vs. Cyborg, Rousey vs. Tate II, Rousey vs. Carano and Rousey vs. Androl. I think Rousey vs. Tate II will happen, probably Rousey vs. Cyborg as well. No chance of the other two happening . For the last one, we'll have to make do with Rousey death stares!

[Bus Surfer]

The 'Team Rousey Death Stare' signature needs a part 2 now, Wand

 

Rousey was unbelievable again, she just bullies and does what she wants. It almost seems unfair. Before Kaufman could blink she got backed up to the cage and taken down. The Cyborg fight has to happen now.

 

Everything underneath was great, the Brunson KO was a little on the scary side though. Fair play to Strikeforce, their doing a good job with the little they have. Hopefully we'll get Rousey/Tate 2 to fill the time before Cyborg gets back. If they see any mileage in Women's MMA, they'll be strapping a rocket to this.

[The Natural]

I forgot to mention that Tate/Kedzie belonged on the main card, not the prelims like they were. I stil prefer Tate/Rousey to Tate/Kedzie.

[Bus Surfer]

Tate said in the post press that she wasn't happy with her performance and doesn't think she should get a title shot off it. She wants a few more fights before she has another crack. Where does this leave Rousey now, Cyborg's ban ends in December, so maybe they'll go straight to that.

 

Edit - This coming out now, Cris Cyborg to leave Strikeforce?

[JNLister]

I think there's now only one 135 pounder who stands a chance against Rousey:

 

[Shane O' Mac Version 2]

Rousey via stumpbar in 0:30 of R1.

[David]

I'd like to see Rousey vs. Cyborg, Rousey vs. Tate II, Rousey vs. Carano and Rousey vs. Androl. I think Rousey vs. Tate II will happen, probably Rousey vs. Cyborg as well. No chance of the other two happening . For the last one, we'll have to make do with Rousey death stares!

If Zuffa can get Carano back in the cage somehow the fight between her and Rousey would be huge as far as female MMA goes. After that, I don't know where she goes to be honest.

 

Cyborg won't be able to make 135lbs, it's as simple as that. If she forces herself to do it, she'll not be fighting at full tilt. Such a weight cut would see her fighting at much less than 100%, which is maybe what Rousey wants. All reports suggest that Cyborg isn't falling for it.

 

She's offered to meet her at a catchweight of 140lbs, which Rousey seems unwilling to accept. That's where the story ends as far as I can see.

 

That article posted by Silky seems to back that up. She's willing to drop to 140lbs, but asking her to drop 10lbs is ridiculous, especially when you consider the size of her.

[The Natural]

I'd like to see Rousey vs. Cyborg, Rousey vs. Tate II, Rousey vs. Carano and Rousey vs. Androl. I think Rousey vs. Tate II will happen, probably Rousey vs. Cyborg as well. No chance of the other two happening . For the last one, we'll have to make do with Rousey death stares!

If Zuffa can get Carano back in the cage somehow the fight between her and Rousey would be huge as far as female MMA goes. After that, I don't know where she goes to be honest.

 

Cyborg won't be able to make 135lbs, it's as simple as that. If she forces herself to do it, she'll not be fighting at full tilt. Such a weight cut would see her fighting at much less than 100%, which is maybe what Rousey wants. All reports suggest that Cyborg isn't falling for it.

 

She's offered to meet her at a catchweight of 140lbs, which Rousey seems unwilling to accept. That's where the story ends as far as I can see.

 

That article posted by Silky seems to back that up. She's willing to drop to 140lbs, but asking her to drop 10lbs is ridiculous, especially when you consider the size of her.

 

I agree with all this. Rousey vs. Carano would be big.

[wandshogun09]

I can see Gina fighting again at some point. Everybody said Cung Le was done with fighting when he started doing movies as well but he's still going. And he's 40. Gina's still a possibility, especially now there's more good female fighters for her to compete against.

 

Gina vs Ronda would be brilliant. There wouldn't be much trash talk because Ronda has said she likes Gina and they get on. But I'd love to see it.

 

Carano vs Tate, Kaufman or even a rematch with Kedzie would all be good to see. Gina vs Cyborg 2 would be big as well, wouldn't end well for Gina again though but people would watch.

 

Only thing with Gina is she had problems making weight at 140, she missed weight a couple of times which caused a bit of backlash towards her at the time. So 135 would be a tough cut for her.

[Rey_Piste]

Rousey is just os dominant in the 135 women's division I don't see anyone challenging her for a long time. Kaufman did a good job of defending the armbar for a fairly long time, but it was only a matter of who gave up first and it was Kaufman whose grip slipped and that was it.