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Round 1: There Is A New “King†In The Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Division
There was a few small group of people outside of King Mo’s family who believed he would walk away Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion, but the king got his crown. While not competing in the most exciting fight ever, King Mo put on a smart performance that put the usually dominant Gegard Mousasi in an unnatural position for the fighter, exhausted and constantly on his back. It seemed like Gegard Mousasi had no answer for the dominant King Mo, usually trying to strike off his back while King Mo was dominant in the top position. It is even more impressive that King Mo did defeat one of the top light heavyweight fighters in the world and win the Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Title, in only his seventh professional MMA fight.
Next Round For King Mo: A rematch with Gegard Mousasi or a fight against Dan Henderson, if he chooses to move up a weight class.
Next Round For Gegard Mousasi: A rematch with King Mo or taking a few fights in Japan.
Round 2: “El Nino†Makes A Fool Out Of The DREAM Lightweight Champion
What do Melvin Manhoef, Marius Zaromskis and Shinya Aoki all have in common, they all entered Strikeforce as heavy favorites out of the DREAM promotion to destroy the American promotions fighters and they have all failed. Despite only having one title on the line, as Shinya Aoki is the DREAM Lightweight Champion, Gilbert Melendez came through in a big fight situation to defend his title. With this victory over Shinya Aoki, Gilbert Melendez could be in line to get an opportunity at the DREAM Lightweight Title over in Japan. With BJ Penn recently dropping his UFC Lightweight Title to Frankie Edgar and DREAM Lightweight Champion Shinya Aoki suffering a defeat, Gilbert Melendez could be considered the top lightweight fighter in the world.
Next Round For Gilbert Melendez: A rematch with Shinya Aoki in Japan or the rubber fight with Josh Thomson.
Next Round For Shinya Aoki: Find the quickest route to Japan and prepare to defend the title against El Nino.
Round 3: The Prelude To The “Mayhemâ€
In what can be considered a first for Strikeforce, highlights of a preliminary fight aired that featured Jason “Mayhem†Miller and Tim Stout. It only took thirty seconds or so to show that Jason Miller has rebounded from his loss to Jake Shields during the first Strikeforce On CBS card by destroying Tim Stout in less than five minutes. The victory for Jason Miller was set to put him in a contenders fight with Robbie Lawler this Summer, but “Mayhem†of a different kind could put those plans in the crapper.
Next Round For Jason Miller: Robbie Lawler, if Strikeforce doesn’t end up suspending him first.
Next Round For Time Stout: Strikeforce Challengers
Round 4: Jake Shields Got His Marquee Victory
Most people within the MMA community feel that Jake Shields is a boring fighter who doesn’t take any chances and fights to safe. However, after surviving an opening round scare that saw Jake Shields get knocked down twice by Dan Henderson, the Strikeforce Welterweight Champion put on a masterful performance for the following twenty minutes. Jake Shields put on a takedown clinic on Dan Henderson that rivaled what King Mo did to Gegard Mousasi in the events first fight. Jake Shields even gained full mount on Dan Henderson multiple times and dominated him with strikes for multiple positions. The one criticism that is still following Jake Shields is that he rarely finishes his fights and the fight with Dan Henderson was no exception, as Jake Shields won the fight via unanimous decision. Unfortunately, the marquee victory for Jake Shields was marred by some mayhem caused by a future challenger for the Strikeforce Middleweight Champion.
Next Round For Jake Shields: Contract negotiations with Strikeforce.
Next Round For Dan Henderson: The loser of the Robbie Lawler/Jason Miller fight this Summer.
Round 5: “Mayhem†Rules Above All
"It was an amazing night. I think it was a milestone with Gilbert's fight with the DREAM champion and the Strikeforce champion. For something like that, to try and steal the limelight from a great fighter like Jake Shields, who really imposed his will and his style of fighting on Dan Henderson, I think it's unnecessary."
This was a statement made by Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker and it sums up the post fight activities better than anything I could write. It all started during a post fight interview with Jake Shields, which was interrupted by a insult laden Jason Miller and the war soon erupted. The battle between the camps of Jake Shields and Jason Miller not only included those two fighters, but also featured Nick Diaz, Gilbert Melendez, Nate Diaz and a host of others. With all of the battles MMA has been fighting, post fight riots are a black eye on the sport that it surely didn’t need in this current climate.
You can contact David Tees at bigtees360@yahoo.com
