Well, another MMA event has come and gone, so it's time to take a look at the event and see what we learned. Overall, I thought the Strikeforce event went pretty well. I mean we got to see 4 fights in less than two hours and all of none of them went to the judges. However, I would have like to see more than four fights. So let's get right to it:
Fabricio Werdum vs. Mike Kyle
This fight went pretty much how everyone thought it would for the most part. Most people picked Werdum by submission in the first round and that's exactly what happened. However, Mike Kyle did try to lock up that submission(armbar) of his own before being submitted with the quickness. So we didn't really learn much from this fight. Only that Werdum moves into the Strikeforce title picture sweepstakes with Fedor Emelianenko. I was happy and surprised to see Werdum speaking English during the post-fight interview. He gets MADD props for that, and I wish more foreign fighters would take the initiative to learn English if they are going to fight in the states.
Gilbert Melendez vs. Mitsuhiro Ishida
Wow. Gilbert Melendez pretty much dominated Ishida the entire fight. Now we must remember that Ishida took this fight on short notice, but we can't take anything away from Melendez and his performance. He landed strikes at will, and defended all of Ishida's take down attempts except like one I think. Josh Thompson is going to have his hands full when he fights Melendez to unify the Strikeforce lightweight title.
Gegard Mousasi vs. Renato "Babalu" Sobral
Check the open thread and discussion. I said that Mousasi was going to wreck Sobral, and that's exactly what happened. Mousasi was Fedor-like exuded a quiet confidence about himself. We learned that Mousasi is for real in beating a veteran like Sobral. However, I don't think Sobral really wanted this fight. He's been talking about retirement quite a bit during the past few months. So I had to question where his heart was, and that's why I thought Mouasasi would beat him handily. Who will Strikeforce send out there next to face Mousasi? They have Mike Whitehead, Bobby Southworth, and not much else.
Gina Carano vs. Cris Cyborg
Wow. That was an action packed round of women's MMA. However, Cyborg was just too strong, too fast, and just too good for Carano. Aside from a couple of punches, and a couple of positions where Carano had mount, Cyborg dominated. She pressed the action the entire round and just seemed to overwhelm Carano. Some may question the stoppage of the fight. However, I thought Josh Rosenthal did an excellent job and gave Carano time to do something if she was able to. She wasn't, and Strikeforce has crowned their first Women's MMA champion. The question now is who will Cyborg face next? Where does Carano go from here? Despite not being as popular as Carano, Cyborg can and will become a star in America as long as she keeps winning. She actually got a good reaction from the fans in attendance as she was carried to the locker room on the shoulders of her fight camp. I'll be posting more on this later today. In the meantime, give me your thoughts on the event, the fights, and what you think will be next for Strikeforce.
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