10 Things We Learned from Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson

Tim Kennedy

KENNEDY MAKES A CASE FOR ANOTHER TITLE SHOT

Tim Kennedy has done all he can do to convince the Strikeforce brass that he’s deserving of another title shot.

He scored a unanimous decision win over Robbie Lawler with a solid all-around performance. He dominated the opening two rounds. While he slowed in the third, Lawler spent the majority of the fight playing defense, and there was no need for Kennedy to rush in wildly simply to try and finish the fight.

Though he was frustrated with himself after the fight for letting it go to the judges, Kennedy did everything he could short of being careless.

It was Kennedy’s second consecutive win since losing a close decision to current champ Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza last August; he submitted Melvin Manhoef in March as well. With no other options in sight, a meeting with the winner of September’s fight between Souza and Luke Rockhold seems to make sense.

WOODLEY NOT READY FOR WELTERWEIGHT ELITE

The fact that Tyron Woodley is the top welterweight in Strikeforce should tell you all you need to know about Strikeforce.

That’s not to take anything away from Woodley; he executed a solid game plan in beating Paul Daley on Saturday night. It’s the biggest win of his young career.

But it doesn’t mean he’s ready to take the next step.

While his takedown defense and abilities off his back have improved, Daley is still a striker. Woodley was expected to control this fight with his wrestling and did so. It’s harder to execute a game plan when your opponent is working to stop you from doing so, but Woodley didn’t show enough to make me think he’s ready for prime time.

He’s had just nine professional fights. Saturday’s win over Daley was a good feather in his cap, but also a bout that fit his style to a tee. People are going to mistakenly rush Woodley up the rankings after this win, just as they’ve done with fellow Missouri teammate Ben Askren. Both are quality prospects, but they’re not ready to face the best.

He needs seasoning and time to keep improving and developing as a fighter.

TITLE CHASES SHOW CRACKS IN STRIKEFORCE FOUNDATION

As much as Kennedy has earned another shot at the middleweight title, how many people are that interested in seeing a rematch between he and Souza this quickly? Rockhold is an even less appealing option.

The presumed pairing of Woodley and Tarec Saffiedine for the vacant welterweight strap is even worse. They may be the best Strikeforce has to offer, but that’s because it’s Strikeforce.

No one knows what is going to become of the heavyweight title now that Alistair Overeem has been stripped of the belt and released. The smart money is on Strikeforce sticking it on the winner of the Heavyweight Grand Prix.

Even the company’s most deserving and talented champion, Gilbert Melendez, doesn’t have much on the horizon. A meeting with Jorge Masvidal is all that awaits him in the Strikeforce cage. Masvidal is good, but he’s no Melendez.

Something needs to be done. The Strikeforce titles are becoming even less meaningful than they already were. The company seems to be cruising along aimlessly, waiting for the other shoe to drop as soon as the Showtime contracts expire.

That’s not a good way to run a business.

THE ANNOUNCERS COMMENT

Fedor is not the Michael Jordan of MMA.  Dana White is right — that is a stupid comment, but it wasn’t the worst one of the night.

That honor belonged to Frank Shamrock, who answered, “I don’t know” when asked what Henderson’s motivation would be for taking this fight against Fedor. You’re being paid to give your expert analysis, Frank — how about you take a guess?

Having Gus Johnson conduct the post-fight interviews in the cage is ridiculous. For starters, he doesn’t really know what he’s talking about and he seems to just make up his questions on the fly; that’s never a good look, especially for live TV.

Secondly, how about you don’t ask the iconic Russian who was just beaten for the third straight time to walk us through the finish? Are you kidding me? He just finished telling you that he thought the fight was stopped early, and now you want his play-by-play on him eating a stiff uppercut?

THESE INTRODUCTIONS SUCK

Strikeforce fights make me miss Bruce Buffer.

The nasally voice of Jimmy Lennon Jr. and his compulsion with using 19 words when 9 would suffice makes me want to jam pencils deep into my ears. Every fighter has a handful of completely bogus introductory anecdotes attached to them. Tarec Saffiedine was called a “world class welterweight” on Saturday night. Need I say more?

While the introductions in the UFC build off my enjoyment of the walkout songs and get me on the edge of my seat for the fight that’s about to start, they feel anticlimactic in Strikeforce.

The flow feels backwards. I would even rather they revert back to the double introductions they did in the past; at least that way I was reminded of each fighter’s record right before the fight started.

Now, both fighters get inside the cage, Lennon nasals out who the referee is and we’re underway, pausing briefly for the confused cornermen to finally take down their fighter’s banner that no one even got to see in the first place. It feels rushed, even though all the elements have been covered.

From here on out, give me Buffer or I’m hitting the mute button.