Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Silva thoughts

I give it a 7 for the emotional impact the show had on me...although none of the fights were that great.

First of all, if Fedor is retired. Congrats on amazing career and if you feel your time is up, props for walking away at the right time....unlike some people we know...perhaps from this same card.

Antonio Silva was amazing. He looked crisp on his counters. Excellent AND brutal on the mat. Great strategy. Great poise. Absolutley destroyed Fedor. The stoppage was right. With that eye it was only going to get worse despite Silva looking like he was getting tired. Fedor didnt look that fresh himself. I've been saying it all along and i'll just give up if Bigfoot still does not get the credit he deserves. There is NOTHING this guy can't offer any heavyweight in the world. He can swing. He can take you down. He can grapple. He's HUGE and POWERFUL and he's actually a much better matchup for Overeem should he beat Werdum, and even in a rematch with Fabricio...Bigfoot was a boneheaded 2nd round mistake from taking that fight 2-1. The only worry one can have about Bigfoot is overconfidence(dropped hands in the 1st round of Kyle fight, following Werdum to the mat in round 2) and gas tank in later rounds(Werdum and probably Fedor).

Now when i say i've been saying it all along, i've been saying Bigfoot was the real deal and his overall game coupled with his size is apparent and should be respected as one of the absolute best HW in the world...i didnt need tonight to solidify that for me, but it helps...i did pick Fedor to win tonight but i think Fedor should stick around and move to 205 and take it seriously. The fact is, when Fedor was beating guys MUCH bigger than him...they didnt have the overall skills like Bigfoot has...or Overeem...or a few guys in UFC. That is the landscape of the division now. Fedor in Strikeforce has been more than human. 1-2 and even Rogers size posed a problem for him. It's eitheir Fedor is past his prime or the big guys are more skilled than they once were coupled with the cage doing Fedor no favors(which it isnt)...i truly think it's the ladder and desperatley want to see Fedor cut to 205 though i don't think he will. I do believe that he won't fight at HW again.

Andrei Arlovski vs. Sergei Kharitonov

I picked Sergei to win the fight but Arlovski looked really game and quick. Like he did pre-Fedor knockout but the cage was doing him no favors and it was just a matter of time until a headhunter like Sergey found his chin with the way AA was being the agressor yet, backing himself into a corner the entire round. I was really hoping AA would find his way back in this tournament and it was looking like it but AA at the very least needs to take some lower level fights and since he has been fighting top competition..i won't liken him to current Big Tim..but thats probably a fight that should happen. AA can't be fighting these guys right now and i always take an AA loss hard because i know how hard AA takes them. AA is the only MMA fighter i would say is on suicide watch and truly hope he is in fact on suicide watch.

Shane del Rosario vs. Lavar Johnson

Good competitive bout. The most skilled fighter won as expected. I was hoping it would make it out of round 1 though. I like Lavar...Shane vs. Griggs or Othereem is next i suppose.

Griggs/Villiante was fun. I have more respect for Gravedigga than i had pre or post Lashley fight. He's one of those guys every promoter from Dana White to the guys in Japan would like. He comes to bang. He has a chin, personality, character, and swings for the fences. Althought after awhile i can see it getting old like Leonard Garcia fights but if he's knocking guys out and not getting his wins off controversial split decisions, i'm fine. Villiante from what i heard is talented...i'd like to see him at 205 before i make a final verdict on him...he couldnt get away from Griggs punches tonight..Griggs practically landed everyone he threw.

Othereem vs. Sefo was meh as i expected. I didnt really think it was a responsible matchup to make. Sefo is a pathetic mixed martial artist although a great kickboxer. You could have found a lot of HW, even with lousy records that would have posed a better more enteraining matchup to Othereem. I thought it was kind of embarrasing for it to end with a neck crank. I've been in millions of neck cranks in my life and got out of all of them...he could have atleast TRIED to wiggle out of it.

Gina is coming back. Cool. Womens MMA is doing pretty good without her. She would be a huge boost for it. If i had it my way, she is still the best girl i can think of to fight Cyborg if Toughill is out being fat somewhere...but i know that won't happen. She'll probably fight Jan Finney or something...though if her and Kaufman or something can agree at a weight...that would be awesome.

When I was talking to Greg Jackson before the main card he told me Arlovski has been training with them for about 3 weeks.

The biggest disgrace were some of the Fedor fans that threw bottles of water into the cage after the fight was over.

Nice synopsis kings.

Mines short and sweet

AA- needs to retire. ala lidell he came out crisp and game but that button has been touched too many times
Fedor- dont want to see him fight anymore(just because i dont want to see him loose)
serg- i like it, was scared to pick him because of lack of activity but he landed anvils. He wil loose to barnett next rd.
silva- man he has come so far from earlier in his career and think he gets better every time out..
overreem- middle of the road guy. sefo made him look amatuer in the stand up
LJ- big strong guy would do great in smoker tourneys but has reached his celing.
griggs-fun to watch fights higher than his skill
shane- i like, hopefully he makes it to next rung on the ladder.


p.s. fedor had chances to win last night but as he said he didnt make adjustments during the fight and IMO he made mistakes like going to the matt with the big guy early.

I also think fedor broke or tore ligaments in silvas foot. we will find out in a few days i guess

The thing with Del Rosario is that he is still learning everything. He had no background at all, according to his cornermen, in combat sports, wrestling, football etc. All he did was surf, he started MMA training as a way to lose weight.

a couple thoughts.

Felt confident picking Silva, dude had a 50# weight adv. I mean c'mon.

I def give some props to Griggs that I was unwilling to give after lashley. Villante ate about 20 good punches b4 it finally got to him. Dude needs some head movement, or needs to go for a takedown earlier. But he was tough. Both these guys are lhw's. Very fun fight.

Was not super impressed with SDR. I thought Lavar was taking it to him in the standup, and on the ground SDR again proved he is better then a standup slugger.

AA. Retire. open up a gym, train guys, but do not fight competitvely.

Enough of Sefo. Don't care if I see Oldereem again.

captain organic wrote:

a couple thoughts.

Felt confident picking Silva, dude had a 50# weight adv. I mean c'mon.

I def give some props to Griggs that I was unwilling to give after lashley. Villante ate about 20 good punches b4 it finally got to him. Dude needs some head movement, or needs to go for a takedown earlier. But he was tough. Both these guys are lhw's. Very fun fight.

Was not super impressed with SDR. I thought Lavar was taking it to him in the standup, and on the ground SDR again proved he is better then a standup slugger.

AA. Retire. open up a gym, train guys, but do not fight competitvely.

Enough of Sefo. Don't care if I see Oldereem again.

That meant nothing when people were saying that's how Brock would go..

But I was 50/50 on he fight, pussed out and picked Fedor, but it was partially the size advantage, but the size avantage paired with actual skills, ths wsn't Brett Rogers...

and as far as the production.

1)Where was SF's best announcer? Though from what I heard(I don't typically listen intently on the commentating) the 3 in the booth did a good job.

2)Why no fighter intro, or post fight interview for the first 2 fights(especially Griggs who was in a good brawl, def worth an interview there)

3)And that chick interviewer stinks.

4)supposedly 11K in attendance. pretty small #.

Production was horrible as always, just horrible, they try too hard to do things different then the UFC.

They need a whole new team

LA wrote:

captain organic wrote:

a couple thoughts.

Felt confident picking Silva, dude had a 50# weight adv. I mean c'mon.

I def give some props to Griggs that I was unwilling to give after lashley. Villante ate about 20 good punches b4 it finally got to him. Dude needs some head movement, or needs to go for a takedown earlier. But he was tough. Both these guys are lhw's. Very fun fight.

Was not super impressed with SDR. I thought Lavar was taking it to him in the standup, and on the ground SDR again proved he is better then a standup slugger.

AA. Retire. open up a gym, train guys, but do not fight competitvely.

Enough of Sefo. Don't care if I see Oldereem again.

That meant nothing when people were saying that's how Brock would go..

But I was 50/50 on he fight, pussed out and picked Fedor, but it was partially the size advantage, but the size avantage paired with actual skills, ths wsn't Brett Rogers...

Yeah I thought for sure u was gonna pick Silva.

I'd post a pic of a muff right now if I could, cause that's what I was.

LA wrote:

I'd post a pic of a muff right now if I could, cause that's what I was.

LMAO

This card delivered, bittersweet yes, but I can't complain.

Val vs Sefo was ordinary but spared by haste. Val has pride in his standup, Sefo was only going to win on the feet. Val saw what was being offered and so no thank you and got Sef down ftw. Short and sweet, nothing special.

Gian vs Viallente was fucking great. If you weren't swearing in excitements with ohhhhh and wows littered in between, check your pulse. Awesome.

SDR vs Lavar was good I thought. Lavar had a sleight edge in the standup and looked strong. SDR kept cool and took different angles. Found a clean and impressive win, no let downs for me.

Sergei vs AA was cool. They were trading nicely on the feet I though. Sergei does what AA seems to have forgotten, lands good punches. AA got clobbered again, and the Chuck knockouts are a good comparison in results, but gotta remember, these guys hit harder than all others in the sport. Improve the D.

The main event was both great and terrible equaling out to very good. The first round was incredible. Great action on the feet both were landing. The ground game was interesting. Crazy to see Fedor jump in to another guard, it didn't cost him though this time. Bot ate some shots though. I gave it to Fedor though, round of the night(only round). The second round was brutal. Silva was brilliant to go for the takedown. It started just like the first, a big punch from Fedor, the takedown was perfect. Several things happened after that. Odds past defied had arrived to claim redemption against Fedor. Heart, desire and ability were not going to prevail in this contest. Pound for Pound he is better but this is a fight. Silva is a combination of talented and too large, and for 4 minutes it showed and he exploited to the maximum extent he was capable of and effective it was. He beat Fedor up. He big manned him. I scored the round 10-8, I was considering 10-9 with Fedor able to eventually mount a very short offense to the leg and foot, and just for not being knocked out or subbed, but Silva was dominant. The fight ended between rounds, understandable, but very, very bitter and sad to see. You want to see guys like this have the chance to fight it out after seeing what they have already given. The ending made sense but was the last way many want to see it end, especially since it was a great fight.

I liked the card. I give it an 8+. Can't let the emotional ending overshadow everything. Something I really liked about this card, after the first fight, it seemed like we were treated to 8 fighters, 8 fighters who all fought like either the young up and coming fighters they are or once were, 8 fighters all eager and hungry. It was really cool.

Nice write up on the main event GDP.

I didnt notice the commentary. Was not paying much attention to it for this card, but noticed Frank said Werdum has defeated 6 of the other 7 participants in the Tournament when he has only defeated the 3 in his side of the bracket...he lost to AA and Sergey..and never fought Barnett and Grim.

I actually like when Gus does these cards because it usually means less Mauro..but unfortunatly it meant no Pat Militich who seems like only one who takes the action seriously and wants to offer valuble insight. I know Mauro takes the action seriously as well but he's too much of a blowhard.

I liked the opening introductions.

KingsOwn19 wrote:

Nice write up on the main event GDP.

I didnt notice the commentary. Was not paying much attention to it for this card, but noticed Frank said Werdum has defeated 6 of the other 7 participants in the Tournament when he has only defeated the 3 in his side of the bracket...he lost to AA and Sergey..and never fought Barnett and Grim.

I actually like when Gus does these cards because it usually means less Mauro..but unfortunatly it meant no Pat Militich who seems like only one who takes the action seriously and wants to offer valuble insight. I know Mauro takes the action seriously as well but he's too much of a blowhard.

I liked the opening introductions.

Yeah, all three of those guys were making mistakes last night. this was 1 of those cards where that stuff didn't really matter it took little away from the fights themselves. It was nice not having mauro go apeshit too much.

Tthey kept saying AA has been Ko'd 4 times in a row also. Tthis was one in a row actually, but fourth loss.

Their fight team should be Gus, the Voice and Pat or Bas; Mauro and Frank don't do much for me.


The overall production, just think they do a little too much or something.