The Unpopular Opinion: CBS Saturday Night Fights Edition

Us here at MMA4Real try to be politically correct for the most part and call everything down the middle.  However, there comes a time when you have to call it how you see it and maybe give your own brash opinion(s) on certain topics.  I am going to try to do this on a regular basis following each major event and give a few of my own harsh views towards the companies and fighters involved.  The beauty of it all is you can join in yourself and either blast me for my comments or throw in your own opinions.  So here we go:

[DISCLAIMER]  Just to clarify, the thumbs down does NOT mean that I disliked the event, it's somewhat of a working logo for the column.

SBN coverage of Strikeforce: Emelianenko vs. Rogers

First of all, let me say that I thorougly enjoyed Saturday's Strikeforce event on CBS.  Nearly every fight lived up to it's expectation and some even went beyond ours.  With that, let's get into the Unpopular Opinion:

Strikeforce  - As much as I did not believe in you, you changed a little of my opinion on where you guys are headed and I think Strikeforce is on the rise for sure.  However, the next time you put together a CBS event, leave fights like Jake Shields/Jason Miller OFF of it!  I literally had to stand up from my recliner because I kept dosing off during the fight and I was not going to miss the main event.  Also, why not showcase the ladies?  Sure a middleweight title fight is much more intriguing but with the time constraints they obviously had, the better option probably would have been to put the ladies over and stuck the Shields/Miller fight on a Showtime card where they probably don't have AS many time constraints as they do on CBS.  Also, some of those angles that the cameramen were working Saturday were horrible, but I guess that's nitpicking.

Gus Johnson, Mauro Ranallo, & Frank Shamrock - Somebody tell CBS or Strikeforce they do not need a three man team.  It DOESN'T WORK.  While their commentating wasn't horrible, at times you could tell Gus didn't know what he was talking about and I think it was Frank that was mispronouncing Sokoudjou's name.  Can't have that.  Either axe Gus or Mauro and/or leave it just Gus and Mauro.  But never EVER let the guy that comentated for the Strikeforce Challenger's show come close to a mic on a major show...he made Bill Goldberg look like a pro.

Antonio Silva - Get some cardio!  I understand that's a big big guy but to go from just tossing Fabricio Werdum around to simply standing in one place while Werdum did whatever he wanted says a lot.  While Silva showed he can hang with the big boys he also showed that he could do so much more with some cardio. 

Fabricio Werdum - I didn't think he had as much heart as he showed Saturday, which is a good thing.  However, he wants to stay as far away from Fedor Emelianenko as humanly possible.  You see the intrigue with Brett Rogers against Fedor is that he actually had a 'puncher's chance'.  Werdum doesn't even have that and without that he simply has a 'Fedor succumbing to amnesia and forgetting how to fight chance' which isn't a very good one at all.  I really think Werdum is better suited for the UFC as they have a collection of guys that he can showcase his talents against, in Strikeforce, he's running out of guys that he can look good against.

Sokoudjou - Well, you certainly showed people you have an ounce of talent but then you went and did exactly what EVERYONE predicted and fell completely apart in the second round.  This guy seriously needs to either stay in Japan fighting slower guys that he can manhandle or just be a showcase fight for up and comers who need a quick and easy win.  I know that's harsh, but Sokoudjou or maybe his trainers seem to fail to see his glaring flaws and work on them.  There's a thing called pacing yourself in a fight, why does he not understand that?  He's still young and he does have an upside to his career but he also has to take it upon himself to make a choice and do the things needed to actually do something with his career.  Here's one easy step to take...LEAVE TEAM QUEST!

Gegard Mousasi - Stay as far away from the UFC's light heavyweight division as you can.  Also a young guy but it was very obvious that Mousasi isn't ready for the upper echelon in the light heavyweight division although some people for some reason think he is.  From Luiz Cane (and wherever you rank him) up, he would get absolutely mauled and sent back to the unknown from which he came.  I do feel with his frame, he should either drop back down to middleweight where he would really flourish as he has or pack on some more muscle.  Could you imagine guys like Shogun, Machida, and/or Rampage (I know, I know) getting a hold of this guy.  Not pretty.  Hell, if Strikeforce DOES sign Dan Henderson, I'd say he'd have very little problems with Mousasi.

Jason 'Mayhem' Miller - I don't fault him entirely for the co-main event that nearly cost this show tons of ratings but he is to blame.  Miller was at least attempting to bring a little excitement and not just win the fight but give the fans something to cheer about.  Unfortunately, it didn't work.  Miller does relax a lot during his fights, especially when in precarious predicaments but that relaxing only works if you can figure a way to get out of that predicament and put yourself in a good one.  Miller couldn't and pretty much if you wanted to show someone that fight you could show them one round and tell them repeat that in your head four more times and you have the fight in a nutshell.  Miller might as well go back to MTV and get some more Mayhem Monkeys on his side before he returns to the cage.

Jake Shields - His nickname should be 'Buzzkill' and we all know why.  As I stated earlier, I had to stand up to keep myself from falling asleep as I watched Shields basically lay on top of Miller and pitter patter him for five loooong rounds.  It's sad though that in victory, Shields is probably going to get ridiculed for his performance and the fact that his fight lost many, many viewers on Saturday night.  However, it's not totally his fault as Strikeforce should've known better.  I mean, that's like the UFC getting a television deal and in their first show having Yushin Okami in the co-main event.  Not smart!

Brett Rogers - Maaaan, did this guy not have us all thinking for a few moments he was going to do what no one thought possible.  However, you can not beat a guy like Fedor...WITH YOUR HANDS DOWN...I know he was running out of steam after what was probably a huge adrenaline rush that first round but that's got to be something you learn from day one in striking, I mean I don't know I've never taken a class, but I would think that keeping your guard up at all times would be high on the list of things to teach/learn.  I don't think this fight really damages Rogers, other than his jaw of course but he has to work on that cardio and get some boxers in his camp to teach him a few things about head movement and KEEPING HIS HANDS UP.  Back to the drawing board big man.

Fedor Emelianenko - With the celebration that followed his win, you would've thought he just beat the entire UFC roster.  Here's a quick message to Fedor and his management.  FINISH YOUR CAREER IN STRIKEFORCE OR JAPAN.  The one thing you can not deny about Fedor is that he throws with ALOT of force and he does so at some insanely crazy angles...I mean I was watching from the luxury of my home and I didn't even see that right coming.  However, Fedor in a cage is a Fedor that is highly beatable.  Imagine Brock Lesnar pinning him against the cage and dropping elbows (which for some reason are outlawed under 'Strikeforce Rules') instead of punches with Fedor having no where to go and no way of getting his hips up for an armbar.  The age of the big athletic heavyweight will be Fedor's nightmare.  Though, while he is in Strikeforce I do not think he has much to worry about as far as challenges.  The only name that comes to mind is Alistair Overeem and it seems that he'd much rather fight James Thompson or Random Fighter than anyone of note, so don't hold your breath on that one ever coming to fruition.  'The Last Emperor' should have pretty much a cakewalk in Strikeforce, so great for him.  However, watching Saturday, if we give 'The Spider' a few months to gain some muscle mass at heavyweight and get his conditioning together, I without a doubt believe Anderson Silva would make Fedor look just like Forrest Griffin.  Yep I said it.

Hope you guys enjoyed the read or maybe you didn't.  That's cool, I did this to open the floodgates of discussion and I hope it does, so let me know:  do you agree, do you disagree, or do you have your own unpopular opinions coming from Saturday Nights Strikeforce show, if so...LET IT BE KNOWN!