Strikeforce: Houston Recap
First fight of the night. Arena ended up about 70% with 3/4 of upper section closed off.
Overall I believed that Strikeforce: Houston was a good show. There were some good fights on the undercard as well as some high quality bouts on the Showtime portion of the card. The one resounding problem with the show, for those in attendance as well as those at home, was the sub-par standard of refereeing.
There were multiple gaffs in the refereeing last night particularly on the main card. One that continues to stand out was when a gassed Bobby Lashley had mount on Chad Griggs and the fight was stood up. Or at least it seemed to have been stood up, Lashley had his eye checked by the ringside physician and instead of the fighters restarting with Lashley in mount the bout was restarted from standing. It could be argued that Lashley would have won the round and made it into the third if the referee was on top of his game.
Aside from the refereeing mistakes the fights were great, the crowd was really behind the Texan fighters initially, but as with all MMA events the crowd quickly jumped on the oppositions bandwagon as soon as it got rolling.
Bobby Lashley it turns out was “severely dehydrated” after his loss to Chad Griggs. I do expect to see him back in Strikeforce action. Hopefully next time he comes more prepared though, surely he should have known that Houston is one hot city and fluids should be overly consumed. I do believe that yesterday was one of the hottest days of the year also but that should be no excuse for an athlete in an air-conditioned building. All credit to Chad Griggs though; he withstood the early wrestling onslaught and came out of there with a TKO victory.
The KJ Noons, Jorge Grugel fight in my opinion was one of the best of the night. There were some moments during the fight that were a bit iffy. I’m talking about the after the bell shot and the knee to the head right at the end. Despite those two mishaps though Noons really did impress me. Here’s hoping he sticks with MMA this time instead of running away to do some other sport.
I may have been one of the few in the Toyota Center who was actually rooting for Souza to win against American fighter Tim Kennedy. As becomes the norm with these types of fights though we did have the standard “U-S-A” chant echoing throughout the arena. In my honest opinion I thought that Souza did win the fight. I figured he had the first round in the bag and took rounds 2 and 3 barely. Rounds 4 and 5 I knew would probably (I say probably because this is MMA judging) have gone to Kennedy so I was not disappointed in the result.
Ah the main event, King Mo with his WWE style entrance wearing a crown, walking to the cage with rose petals scattered at his feet. Give me a break this is MMA not pro-wrestling, get in there and fight. I don’t know how this fight came across on TV but to me Mo did seem really cocky, he looked like he was keeping his arms down way too much especially considering he is not one of the fastest light heavyweights. Aside from the suplex the first two rounds of that fight were boring to watch and people even got up to leave. I’m glad I wasn’t one of those who left though because Feijao turned up the heat and knocked King Mo down with a solid knee followed by a flurry of punches. I did feel that Big John let the fight go on way too long though, those elbows from Feijao were unnecessary and the fight should have been stopped before then.
I hope that Strikeforce does return to Houston sometime in the near future but based upon the commissions lack of drug testing and the complete mess of officiating that probably wont happen for some time. Come on Texas, get your mess sorted out!
King Mo’s Strikeforce VLog for Strikeforce: Houston
Make sure to check out Strikeforce: Houston tonight on Showtime at 10EST. For those without Showtime you can still check out some prelim action on Sherdog.com. Sherdog will be providing, for free, some heavyweight action between Daniel Cormier and Jason Riley as well as an all Brazilian affair between welterweights André Galvão and Jorge Patino.
Strikeforce: ‘Houston’ 30-Second Trailer
Fedor Emelianenko Eying Retirement, Not The UFC
“Fighting for my country and my heritage is what motivates me. Nothing else … I’m not a UFC fan, so I believe our fight is more important (than Lesnar vs. Carwin). I’m not a fan of watching UFC fights. There is always a lot of negativity coming out of their fights. I don’t want to look too far ahead, I’m just focusing on Werdum. We have two fights left with Stirkeforce, and assuming everything goes well, I don’t see any reason why we wouldn’t continue the relationship. But I am considering retirement more and more often now. I’d like to finish out my contract without any losses and then just see what God has planned for me.”
As you can see from the above quote Fedor Emelianenko, widely believed to be MMA’s number one heavyweight, has no plans on joining the UFC. Instead the 33-year-old WAMMA champion is looking more towards retirement. In his next fight Fedor will face off against Fabricio Werdum and if all goes well Fedor would likely challenge for the Strikeforce championship against Alistair Overeem in what would surely be one of Strikeforce’s biggest fights ever.
Strikeforce ‘Los Angeles’ Official Event Poster
Strikeforce ‘Los Angeles’ will take place June 16th from the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, California. As of right now only one bout has been announced for the card which is a catchweight fight between Robbie Lawler and Renato “Babalu” Sobral. Bobby Lashley and KJ Noons will also be fighting at the event but as of right now neither of them have an opponent.
After Win Last Night Melendez Believes He is World #1
Strikeforce “Heavy Artillery” Poster
Strikeforce ‘Miami’ Salaries — Diaz and Lawler Get Six Figures
Below are the Strikeforce ‘Miami’ salaries. ‘Miami’ took place on January 30th and had an attendance of 8,156. Approximately 517,000 watched the event on Showtime.
- Nick Diaz $100,000 (no win bonus) def. Marius Zaromskis $30,000
- Cris “Cyborg” Santos $35,000 (includes $15,000 win bonus and $5,000 championship bonus) def. Marloes Coenen $2,000
- Herschel Walker $600 (no win bonus) def. Greg Nagy $5,000
- Robbie Lawler $100,000 (no win bonus) def. Melvin Manhoef $5,000
- Bobby Lashley $50,000 (no win bonus) def. Wes Sims $25,000
- Jay Hieron $65,000 (includes $35,000 win bonus) def. Joe Riggs $30,000
- Pablo Alfonso $3,000 (includes $1,500 win bonus) def. Marcos DaMotta $2,500
- Hadar Hassan $2,000 (includes $1,000 win bonus) def. Ryan Keenan $2,000
- John Kelly $2,000 (includes $1,000 win bonus) def. Sabah Homasi $1,000
- Michael Byrnes $2,000 (includes $1,000 win bonus) def. David Zitnik $1,500
- David Gomez $2,000 (includes $1,000 win bonus) def. Craig Oxley $1,500
- Joe Ray $1,500 (includes $500 win bonus) def. John Clarke $1,000
The total salary for those fighting on the card came to $469,600 which is just over $19,500 per fighter on average. The average figure was only brought down by the fact that Herschel Walker took home only $600. By comparison the average salary at UFC 108 was $42,250.
My Thoughts on Strikeforce Miami
Overall I thought the show was put on really well. That would have been an amazing CBS card just because of the addition of Herscel Walker.
The first fight of the night was Bobby Lashley making his Strikeforce debut against Wes Sims. I don’t really think anyone had any faith in Sims winning this fight based on the fact that Lashley was -1500 to win at some bookmakers, that is just insane. Lashley ended up winning the fight anyway in a very dominating fashion. When the referee stopped the bout Sims believed it was premature but I feel it was a good stoppage due to the fact that Sims collapsed right after taking a shot from Lashley, he could of been out but the ref couldn’t see his eyes.
Then we moved on to the second fight which was probably one of the greatest comebacks Strikeforce has ever seen. Melvin Manhoef against Robbie Lawler. Melvin was destroying Lawler all the way through the fight with punishing leg kicks and some big uppercuts. It was getting to the stages where Lawler was hobbling about the ring with nowhere to go until Manhoef dropped his hands after throwing a kick and Lawler cracked him with a huge right hand to take the KO victory.
The third fight was 47-year-old Herschel Walker making his MMA debut against Greg Nagy or “Nudge.” Herschel Walker definitely looked good in the fight to say that: A, he is 47-years-old and B, he has had only ten months of training. The fight took place mostly on the ground where Herschel had the upper hand it seemed. He kept falling into a few traps though but managed to get out of both an ankle lock and an armbar. If Herschel does decide to fight again it would do good for the sport I think. They should put him on a CBS card though next time to take advantage of what would sure be big ratings. I have no idea who they could put him up against though, oh wait, didn’t Shaq want to fight?
Then came the title fights. First up were the women of Strikeforce, “Cyborg” Santos was defending her title against Marloes Coenen. Marloes Coenen definitely put up a good fight, she threw everything she possibly could at Cyborg but everything just wasn’t enough as Cyborg was able to remain the lightweight champion in dominating fashion. I really don’t know if there is anyone that could pose a serious threat to Cyborg right now. After two dominating performances in a row she is looking good atop the women’s division.
The main event of the evening featured Nick Diaz against Marius Zaromskis for the vacant Strikeforce welterweight title. Diaz looked his usual self at the beginning of the fight. He was controlling Zaromskis for quite a significant portion of the first round until he got caught and went backwards onto the mat. I thought it was going to be over right there but Diaz managed to hang on. Once both fighters were back to standing it didn’t take long for Diaz to put the nails in the coffin of Zaromskis title shot.
To sum it all up, I liked the event. I thought the card was good, the fights were good and the production was good too. I watched the event using Showtimes online service which I will be posting a review of tomorrow for you all to see before you decide to use that service in the future. I would like to thank you all for reading this post and being here on MMA-Live.com for the Strikeforce coverage. Our coverage is not yet over though so come back tomorrow and join us for a whole lot more on the event and who we think the fighters from this event will face off against next.
Strikeforce Miami Live Results and Recap
Join us later tonight for live results and recap from Strikeforce Miami. The main card will begin at 10PM EST on Showtime. There will also be a free online stream of the preliminary bout between Jay Hieron and Joe Riggs on the EA Sports website which is set to start at 9:05 EST. We will be live blogging the EA Sports feed and the live show as well as providing quick results for all of the other prelim bouts.
Strikeforce Miami Quick Results
Nick Diaz defeats Marius Zaromskis via TKO at 4:38 , Round 1*
Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos defeats Marloes Coenen via TKO (Strikes) at 3:40, Round 3**
Herschel Walker defeats Greg Nagy via TKO (Strikes) at 2:17, Round 3
Robbie Lawler defeats Melvin Manhoef via KO at 3:33, Round 1
Bobby Lashley defeats Wes Sims via TKO (Strikes) at 2:06, Round 1
Jay Hieron defeats Joe Riggs via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
Pablo Alfonso defeats Marcos da Matta via arm bar at 1:47, round 1
Hayder Hassan defeats Ryan Keenan via KO at 2:42, round 2
John Kelly defeats Sabah Homasi via rear naked choke at 2:48, round 2
Michael Byrnes vs. David Zitnik
David Gomez defeats Craig Oxley via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Joe Ray defeats John Clarke via TKO (Strikes) at 3:14, round 1
*For vacant welterweight title
**Womens 145lb title defense, Santos is current champion
Strikeforce Miami Live Recap
Nick Diaz vs. Marius Zaromskis (170-pound)
Round one: Here we go with the main event! Zaromskis comes out quick and tries to take DIaz out but Diaz returns some good shots of his own. Diaz looks for the single leg takedown but Zaromskis catches him and both fighters end up clinching against the cage. Diaz spends around a minute kneeing Zaromskis in the leg which against the cage. Zaromskis gets taken down by Diaz but gets back up quick and Diaz connects with a good left. Zaromskis tags Diaz though and Diaz falls and shells up. Diaz is bleeding and Zaromskis goes after him, it is not over for Diaz though who continues to throw some big shots. The crowd begins to chant “Diaz”. There is absolutely no defense from either fighter at this point and Zaromskis gets tagged with a massive uppercut, it looked as though he would go out but he continued standing and staggering around until Diaz connected with one more good shot and Zaromskis went down. Diaz takes the fight and the Strikeforce welterweight championship.
Result: Nick Diaz defeats Marius Zaromskis via TKO at 4:38 , Round 1*
Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos vs. Marloes Coenen (145-pound)
Round one: Fight gets underway fast with both fighters throwing big shots and then ending up in the clinch against the fence. Coenen tries to get the armbar from guard but Cyborg gets out and drops a huge right hand on the face of Coenen. Cyborg picks up Coenen from guard and slams her down then drops two big shots once again. Coenen gets a couple of upkciks and the referee stands the women back up and both fighters begin exchanging blows. Coenen drops levels and looks for the takedown but Cyborg stands her back up and both fighters end up against the cage in the clinch. After separation both fighters begin throwing massive shots once again. A very hard round to call but I would go with Cyborg 10-9.
Round two: Cyborg unloads on Coenen and knocks her down but Coenen is still in it. Cyborg gets into guard and picks Coenen up to slam her but Coenen manages a safe landing right back on the ground. With a minute left Cyborg unleashes a great amount of shots on the grounded Coenen but none do any real damage. That second round clearly belongs to Cyborg so I have it at 20-18 right now for the champion.
Round three: Cyborg quickly goes for the takedown but cant and the fighters end up against the cage. The fighters separate and Cyborg begins to unleash. Coenen goes for the takedown and it is reversed by Cyborg who takes Coenen down and into half-guard. While in half-guard Cyborg keeps trying to keep Coenen down while throwing some blows. Coenen got Cyborg into her guard and Cyborg stood up and began to unleash. Coenen got out and both fighters got back to standing. Coenen through a big right hand and Cyborg returned a few before taking Coenen down and unleashing once again. Coenen shelled up and Cyborg continued the onslaught until the referee stopped the fight to give Cyborg the victory.
Result: Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos defeats Marloes Coenen via TKO (Strikes) at 3:40, Round 3
Greg Nagy vs. Herschel Walker (215-pound limit)
Round one: Walker tags Nagy with a straight jab early on which makes Nagy stagger back but then the fight gets back to normal. Walker is looking extremely tight in his stance and even throws a bit of a dance in there. Nagy goes for the takedown but Walker sprawls and attempts to take the back of Nagy. Walker then takes mount and begins to unleash the GnP. Nagy defends the initial onslaught of GnP. Nagy gets Walker in a heel hook but Walker gets out almost immediately and goes back to sprawl position. Walker then got north-south of Nagy and then into side control. First round went to Herschel Walker easily 10-9
Round two: Walker gets a good takedown in the opening minute of the first round and ends up in side control. Walker then transitions onto the back of Nagy who rolls over to give Walker high mount. Nagy escapes the mount and tries to get back to his feet but Walker keeps forcing him back down to the ground. Walker takes the back of Nagy again and flattens him out but can’t get the hooks in or the choke. Nagy tries to roll over again and Walker once again gets mount on Nagy. That round once again was all Herschel Walker 20-18 so far on my scorecard.
Round three: Nagy comes out quick in this round but Walker takes him down against the cage and lands in Nagy’s guard. Nagy goes for the armbar on Walker but Walker pulls his arm out quite easily. Walker gets back to where he left off in round number two, high mount. Walker begins with the punches from high mount and Nagy just struggles to get out of it any way he can. Walker gets to back mount and Nagy just covers up, the referee stops the fight because Nagy is not trying to improve his position.
Result: Herschel Walker defeats Greg Nagy via TKO (Strikes) at 2:17, Round 3
Robbie Lawler vs. Melvin Manhoef (185-pound limit)
Round one: The first thirty seconds pass with no contact and then Manhoef connected with a kick to the midsection of Lawler. After a minute the crowd begins to boo a little bit due to the lack of contact. Manhoef gets Lawler to shell up against the fence but Lawler gets away. Manhoef begins unleashing with 2:15 left in the round, there are some powerful leg kicks and huge uppercuts going in. Lawlers leg is clearly hurting but out of nowhere Lawler connects and KO’s Manhoef. I am left thinking WTF?
Result: Robbie Lawler defeats Melvin Manhoef via KO at 3:33, Round 1
Bobby Lashley vs. Wes Sims (265-pound limit)
Round one: Wes Sims acts like his normal self at the start of the fight by trying to play games with Lashley but he quickly gets taken down and Lashley begins with the GnP. Sims later regained control of Lashley but could not get back to standing. Lashley postures up and starts throwing down punches until Sims rolled over and the fight was stopped due to strikes. Sims thought the stoppage was pre-mature.
Result: Bobby Lashley defeats Wes Sims via TKO (Strikes) at 2:06, Round 1