Antonio Silva
Antonio Silva
Bigfoot Announces His Presence
It would be easy to start this assessment of the news that came out of Saturday’s Strikeforce event talking about Fedor Emelianenko, but that would be a disservice to Antonio Silva.
The massive Brazilian executed a tremendous game plan and showed he belongs in the hunt of the Heavyweight Grand Prix title, working a more technical approach in the opening round and stinging Emelianenko several times before taking him down at the outset of the second frame. From there, Silva put a beating on the iconic Russian, landing hammerfists from mount and cinching in strong chokes a couple different times.
When the round ended, Emelianenko was a mess, his right eye swollen shut and purple welts painting his face, leading the doctor to call an end to the bout. Silva was overjoyed, and showed the utmost respect for his opponent, walking over to kneel at Fedor’s feet before shaking his hand and giving him a kiss on the head.
While many will trumpet Silva’s size advantage as the main deciding factor in the fight – and it was certainly important – he’s also a highly-skilled fighter, and one the rest of the tournament field should watch out for moving forward.
The End of an Era
Even if that wasn’t the last time we see Fedor Emelianenko inside the cage, it was the last time fans and media alike will look at “The Last Emperor” as a mythic superstar with an aura of invincibility.
His loss to Fabricio Werdum showed that the old adage that everybody loses is true, but back-to-back defeats takes it a step further; it shows that Emelianenko is as human as his opponents, capable of being outworked and victimized by a bigger man or a better game plan, or both as was the case Saturday night in New Jersey.
Regardless of the realization that Emelianenko is indeed mortal, his career has still been legendary; more than eight years without a defeat, a 31-3 record and a place as the best heavyweight in the history of the sport cannot be taken away from him.
The debates about Emelianenko will rage on throughout the week, but when the dust settles, the smoke clears and the next biggest story in MMA arrives, “The Last Emperor” will go down in history as one of the best to ever compete, and that is what is most important.
On the Road to Epic Failure?
With Emelianenko out of the tournament there are only two scenarios that prevent this tournament from going down in flames.
The first is a Silva sweep from here on out.
The Brazilian should gain momentum with fans because of his win, though he won’t receive nearly as much interest as Emelianenko would have generated. Still, beating Fedor and following it up with two more strong wins catapults Silva up the rankings, and sets up a title fight with Overeem once the tournament conclused.
Outside of “Bigfoot” winning it all, the winner of the April clash between Fabricio Werdum and Alistair Overeem has to do the same.
Ideally, the Strikeforce heavyweight champion runs the table, legitimizes the belt and solidifies his place as one of the top heavyweights in the sport today. If Werdum beats Overeem, he too needs to win out, even if that renders the heavyweight title meaningless.
Anything else turns the division into a complete mess, with a title belt that holds no value and a collection of contenders that are hit-and-miss from fight-to-fight.
Strikeforce Threw Their Females Fighters Under the Bus
Hey everybody! Look over here! Gina Carano is back! She’s the face of women’s MMA!
After an 18-month stretch where fighters like Sarah Kaufman, Miesha Tate, Marloes Coenen and Cris Cyborg carried the torch for Women’s MMA in the Strikeforce organization, the company threw them all under the bus by parading out Carano and making a grand production out of her impending return.
I get it, she’s really attractive. But she also got throttled the last time she was in the cage and has yet to show me anything on the level of Cyborg or the other three females mentioned earlier that merits such an over-the-top announcement.
Until she gets back in the cage and impresses against a solid contender, Strikeforce should hold off on trumpeting Carano as loudly as they did Saturday night. It’s an insult to the females who have established themselves in her stead and keeps you out of danger should “The Face of Women’s MMA” catch another beating when she steps back into the cage.
Broadcasting Rule #1: Know Who and What You’re Talking About
A new MMA drinking game could have been born Saturday night: take a shot every time the Strikeforce announce team bastardizes the name Kharitonov or over-extends on a comparison.
I’m not going to linger here long because it’s a moot point; Gus Johnson and company aren’t going anywhere any time soon.
That being said, it’s Kharitonov and as solid as he looked in dispatching Andrei Arlovski, he most certainly didn’t look like a young Emelianenko.
P.S. Mauro: you need to relax, and not every situation relates back to a moment from your career, Frank.
Speaking of Kharitonov…
The dark horse in the Heavyweight Grand Prix field looked good in stalking Arlovski and putting him away with a series of thunderous strikes.
But what does it all mean?
Right now, all it means is that Kharitonov is through to the semifinals, where he will meet the winner of the April fight between Brett Rogers and Josh Barnett.
Knocking out Arlovski at this stage isn’t a grand accomplishment. Kharitonov is the fourth consecutive opponent to leave “The Pitbull” glassy-eyed.
Putting together the same kind of performance in the second round will solidify the Russian as a true contender in the heavyweight ranks, win or lose. Outside of that, he’s still an underdog in the field.
Another Former UFC Stalwart at the End of the Line
Andrei Arlovski is currently in the same position Chuck Liddell was earlier this year, minus the Vice Presidential position with the UFC waiting on the other side.
He’s now lost four straight, three by brutal knockout, leaving many to wonder what the future holds for “The Pitbull.” It is a question that will be difficult for Arlovski to answer, I’m sure, as his competitive instincts will try to push him passed the reality that he can’t take the punishment inside the cage any longer; at least not at this level.
There are a few paths Arlovski can take from here; a gatekeeper role to emerging talents with Strikeforce, a marquee attraction on the regional circuit against has-beens, never-was’es and unknowns looking to make a splash, or he can hang’em up.
Whatever he decides, it’s indicative of the evolution of this sport and the development of its fighters that another veteran, another stalwart from the emerging days of the UFC has been passed by.
Alternate Endings
The three alternate bouts that kicked off the card all ended in the opening round, and showed the best of what you’re going to get from each winner moving forward.
Shane del Rosario was the most impressive, although that’s like taking home first prize in a three-person spelling bee with two kids who can’t spell their own names. The best prospect on the Strikeforce heavyweight roster remained undefeated, but took a few shots from Lavar Johnson and showed there is still improvement needed before he takes the next step.
That said, his armbar victory was much better than the performances put forth by Chad Griggs and Valentijn Overeem.
The man who earned this opportunity to outlasting an exhausted Bobby Lashley swing hard and wild against Gian Villante, stopping the athletic youngster with a series of shots along the cage. While some will argue it was a strong showing, I tend to disagree; no one in the tournament field is going to stand in the pocket against Griggs the way Villante did, and an experienced fighter would have countered him to death.
It also didn’t hurt that Yves Lavigne called time to replace Villante’s mouthpiece right after he rocked Griggs with a headkick that popped his cauliflower ear.
As for the elder Overeem, he scored the submission victory over Ray Sefo that everyone should have seen coming. There was a clear path to victory for Valentijn and he took it, but no part of it was overly impressive.
Like Griggs, the older ‘Reem would likely be badly beaten by the remaining members of the tournament field, especially if he continued to finish takedowns by crawling on his knees.
Speaking of the Alternates…
Rumors started bubbling on the Internet that Strikeforce was entertaining the idea of Fedor now taking over the first alternate position from del Rosario.
As my colleague Jeremy Botter stated on Twitter, “I guess Shane Del Rosario and Lavar Johnson were fighting for the “Only if Fedor wins” tourney alternate spot.”
The sarcasm is understandable, as shifting gears to re-incorporate Emelianenko would be a colossal blow to the credibility of the tournament and the organization running it. Strikeforce certainly wouldn’t be considering bringing Arlovski back into the mix following his loss, or having the loser of Barnett vs. Rogers re-enter the field ahead of del Rosario, so doing so with Emelianenko shouldn’t be considered either.
Time for Better Delivery
Everything about the delivery of this event, and each of Strikeforce’s events to be honest, screams for an upgrade.
From the confusion at the end of the Fedor bout and Frank Shamrock totally ignoring Mauro Ranallo’s question about Fedor dropping down to introducing some fighters in the cage and others before they walked down the ramp, I can’t take this company seriously when I’ve seen regional shows with better production.
The three-man booth doesn’t work, especially when the lead man knows little about the sport and the other two are competing for airtime and who can promote their past more.
Jimmy Lennon Jr. sounds awkward in his post-fight delivery; he has all the right content, just everything is misaligned and comes out labored.
I know I’ve said it before and I’ll probably say it again, but if Strikeforce wants to be taken seriously, they need to clean up their production in every way possible.
Want more UFC news? The official HeavyMMA Twitter account is a great place to start. Just saying.
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