That really couldn't have worked out much better for Strikeforce

1. There are no particularly big college football games to siphon viewership.
2. The fight is exciting and almost certainly kept people's attention.
3. Fedor wins by knockout, showing new fans what the guy is capable of.
4. Rogers looks pretty good in the fight, which keeps him as a viable draw and possibly sets up a rematch later on.
5. The crowd reaction to Fedor helps to convey to new viewers that this is someone special.

If it were a scripted event they couldn't have drawn it up much better for their business than the way it turned out. They ought to strike while the iron is hot and put together Fedor-Overeem as soon as they can manage it. If Overeem keeps declining to defend the title, strip him of it and match Fedor against Werdum or something. With any luck it pisses Overeem off enough that he bothers to fight in the US in Fedor's 3rd fight with the company.

Ur right especially about nothing on too take viewers away. The cincinnati vs Uconn game, Florida vs Vandy and Florida St. vs Clemson was the primetime games in my area so I really didnt care about them at all. It was a great night for Strikeforce also in the sense none of there moneymakers were upset. Fedor, Shields, and Werdum all won so it was as close to perfect as it gets for them.

This could work out really well for SF. MMA needs competition. I bet Dana will start putting on better shows now.

imagine if fedor lost though, what do you think the impact would be?

I was very impressed with Strikeforce. Im still new to watching MMA for the most part.

I've looked up alotta fights and stuff on the internet and learned alot about MMA and how most fighters are, and how good they are and things of that nature.

Last night I felt like Strikeforce did a great job. They showed their fighters were as skilled as those of the UFC (we all knew that but others may not have)

They displayed some of the best jiu jitsu ive seen in MMA fights in a LONG TIME. The Silva/Werdum fight and Fedor/Rogers fights were both great, and Mousasi looked awesome in his win, and even though the Miller/Shields fight was on the ground alot, it was still a very good fight.

Overall I give last night's show a 9/10. Very good show IMO.

I was very impressed with Mousasi last night. I knew he was good but after watching last night, he impressed me enough to be one of my new favorite fighters....(like top 5 or 6)

Soukodju looks like he should be a bad ass in this sport, I don't kow if it is his heart, or he trains like shit and has no gameplan except swing away, but he looks like he has too much talent to be losing like this, he is like the gatekeeper now wherever he goes, if you can't beat him than pack it in, and if you can then you can continue on your way.

The grappling in the Miller-Shields fight left a lot to be desired for a casual fan, but it was super entertaining for us, and Soko is as good as anyone typically for the first 7 minutes of the fight. He nearly stopped Babalu and Cane early if you remember. He fades fast. Too much muscle, not enough fat, something like that. Also, for all his explosive power, he always looks so akward standing.

That said, I never understood this "he sucked in the UFC" mantra, considering he went 2-1, losing only to Machida and Cane, neither of whom have ever been actually defeated by an opponent(Rua controversy and Cane's DQ withstanding)

thedarkwingduck2k50 wrote:

imagine if fedor lost though, what do you think the impact would be?

Bankrupcty

Wolfgangsta wrote:

The grappling in the Miller-Shields fight left a lot to be desired for a casual fan, but it was super entertaining for us,

This.

The numbers so far have shown that Fedor-Rogers is more popular then Lawler-Smith, but less popular than Kimbo.

Awesome night. If Strikeforce keeps it up then the UFC will have a new Pride to deal with.

Pride was unknown on this continent, Fedor's KO was on sportscenter last night and referenced during the fox broadcast when discussing Tommy Harris' punching of a Cardinal while on the ground. This will be bigger than Pride.

Also, had Fedor lost, Brett Rogers would be the star. A rag to ritches story, marketable to average/casual boxing fans(he's huge and black and throws punches which is all typical boxing fans really care about, you know, the type who think boxing is somehow dead nowdays).

They need to dump the announcers. Gus referred to the UFC, GSP, Machida too many times. How the hell can't Frank score a round when asked? Christ it's what he's there for and he couldn't get Sokoudjou's name right. Mauro was the only bright spot he had the color commentary job but had to add things in that Gus didn't. Gus could do a good job but needs to work harder learning the game and he'll pick the things up he needs. Some of the camera angles weren't that great either, how many times were we looking at the ref's back.

The biggest travesty was that Mark Miller vs Deray Davis was canceled by fight organizers due to lack of time. A real un-cool decision. Both fighters prepared for this evening and were told with no advance notice what-so-ever. At the moment they would be walking out on the floor for their match, Miller and Davis were informed that they were canceled! Fighters stood stand-by in shock trying to understand how this became their evening's destiny. Two hometown guys have been put through a training camp, all the mental and physical preparation, the weight cut only to be told seconds before walking out to the cage that the fight is canceled. It's a massive ball drop.


With all the negative stuff I put out there, overall it was a good card and a good night of fights. They just need to work on some things to get better, let's hope CBS liked it enough to keep it going.

Gus is a good announcer, I have absolutely zero clue why anyone criticizes him at all, especially considering Mike Goldberg exists and breaths the living air. Kenny Rice, Run Kruk, those guys are bad, but Gus is good. Frank is ok, but ya, we could do without him. Mauro is one of the best in my mind.

And referencing the UFC is bad how exactly? Strikeforce is not a UFC rival. They've never wanted to be and have never positioned themselves as. That is a fabrication of dumbass fans, the media and Dana White's superiority complex. As for what mentioning the UFC does ; putting your guys in the same sentence with the known brand and fighters should be done more, if anything, so casual fans hear things they know and start to see Strikeforce and the UFC as the same thing, as the same sport. The Mets and Yankees are rivals yet would it be outlandish for someone to mention A-Rod during a Mets game?

I'd take this crew any day over Mike and Joe right now, especially after that Shogun ball hugging disgrace a few weeks ago.

Gus needs to immerse himself into MMA and learn the things he needs to become a great announcer. He's good but could be better. Mauro is the best. I think the UFC announcers pretty much suck too, they nuthug too much on certain fighters.

I'd like to see Mauro and Bas together again.

Michael Shavello or whatever from Cage Rage who now does some of HDnet's stuff is pretty good. Him and Mauro have the best analogies in all of sports.

Wolfgangsta wrote:

Michael Shavello or whatever from Cage Rage who now does some of HDnet's stuff is pretty good. Him and Mauro have the best analogies in all of sports.

The Voice(Michael Schiavello) is one of my favorite commentators in MMA. Him and Guy Mezgar are an awesome team.

Gus Johnson, Mike Goldberg, Frank Shamrock, and Kenny are some of the worst.

Rogan and Mir are pretty good, but their bias opinions are just too much sometimes.

yeah, I like Joe Rogan he's a good commentator IMO.

I like Rogan, but the Shogun butt-love coupled with the Akiyama hate at 100 have me pissed.

I like Rogan alot and its funny to listen to Goldberg say something and Joe pretty much shut him down lol.

My wife goes off on Goldy every UFC event for staring through Rogan, leaning towards him with a look of lust in his eyes while getting 6" away to lay down a big kiss. All while sounding like he was just released from a special ed. academy for MMA. She can't stand Goldy to the point I have to ask her to leave the room between fights...lol

Lol he does give Joe a I want to hump u stare sometimes lol.

I wish Goldie wouldn't die, I just wish he'd suffer a stroke.

But Kenny Rice was Pride's Goldie equal, and yet somehow, HDnet has hired him to do a lot of their broadcasts. Ranked college football games, the UFL and whatever else. Does he do their Hockey too?

Ron Kruk as a sideline UFL reporter is hilarious.

1)A big bonus for strikeforce is that besides all their $$$ makers winning is that all of the guys who lost put on good shows, and proved they are worthy of more televised shows. there was no babalu situation.

2)I wonder if soko should try to drop to 185. despite landing good shots in all these fights, these guys are able to survive the early onslaught. I also wonder if too much muscle is a concer. but he is still very young and put on a good performance vs a top notch guy

3) Gus, of all the mma announcers, is the most accomplished announcer outside of MMA. If anyone is a pro it is he. He is still learning the sport, but he has jumped in with both feet.

Yeah I didnt think Gus was as bad as some people but it takes time for me to get used to him doing MMA and not College Basketball.