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Round One: “The Law†Dethrones “The Kingâ€
After suffering a first round submission loss to Ronaldo Souza in his Strikeforce debut, Matt Lindland made himself viable in the division again by defeating Kevin Casey. Matt Lindland may not be considered the fighter that he once was, but he delivered a thorough beating to the Gracie trained Kevin Casey with a variety of wrestling with ground and pound. With the potential that Jake Shields could leave Strikeforce for the UFC, Matt Lindland may have positioned himself in top contender status with his victory on Friday Night. Kevin Casey did show a lot of promise against the MMA veteran, but he needs to round out his skill set a little more to become a better MMA fighter.
Next Round For Matt Lindland: Jason Miller, if he doesn’t get suspended.
Next Round For Kevin Casey: The hiring of a striking coach to add on to his incredible grappling skills.
Round Two: “T-Wood†Got “T-Luckyâ€
Outside of the Matt Lindland/Kevin Casey main event, the fight I was looking forward to most on Friday Night was the undefeated Tyron Woodley taking on Nathan Coy. This fight featured a great mix of striking, solid takedowns and good action when the fight went to the ground. For the first time in his Strikeforce tenure, Tyron Woodley looked human against a more experienced fighter in Nathan Coy. Tyron Woodley even discussed in a pre-fight interview that he felt he was ready to face Strikeforce Welterweight Champion Nick Diaz, but that potential fight may be put on the back burner after getting a razor thin decision victory over Nathan Coy. While Strikeforce already has a star in the rising in Tyron Woodley, they may have inadvertently gotten a new one in Nathan Coy.
Next Round For Tyron Woodley: A rematch with Nathan Coy.
Next Round For Nathan Coy: A rematch with Tyron Woodley.
Round Three: Strikeforce Goes Bowling
Easily the breakthrough performance of the night came by Strikeforce newcomer Roger Bowling, who put on a clinic in his fight with Bobby Voelker. Within the first two rounds of the fight, Roger Bowling had decimated the body of Bobby Voelker with strikes and took him down with ease several times with takedown after takedown. Despite an amazing performance by Roger Bowling, the fight was marred by an errant eye poke in the final round after the referee attempted to separate the fighters following a slow down in action. The crowd in Portland, Oregon may not have appreciated the way the fight had concluded, but they definitely appreciated the fight until the accident occurred.
Next Round For Roger Bowling: Tarec Saffiedine in a potentially brutal slugfest.
Next Round For Bobby Voelker: Continuing his role as welterweight gatekeeper in Strikeforce Challengers.
Round Four: From Belgium, With Pain!
In a promotion that is rising to prominence in the way that Strikeforce has in the past year, it is important for a promotion to create new stars to insure a bright future for the promotion. On Friday Night, one of those stars may have been created in Belgium brawler Tarrec Saffiedine, who destroyed Nate Moore with an onslaught of strikes that finally toppled the fighter in round two. Tarrec Saffiedine is considered a top prospect in the Strikeforce Welterweight Division and has already gotten experience competing overseas in the DREAM promotion. While it may be some time before Tarrec Saffiedine would be considered a top contender in the Strikeforce Welterweight Division, the potential is definitely there with him.
Next Round For Tarrec Saffiedine: Roger Bowling in a slugfest dream fight.
Next Round For Nate Moore: A few fights outside of Strikeforce.
Round Five: Strikeforce Challengers Series = Amateur Fights Galore
While all five fights that aired on the televised portion of Strikeforce Challengers 8 featured professional MMA fighters, four out of the five preliminary card fights featured amateur MMA fighters. While I am a fan of fighters gaining amateur MMA experience before getting into the professional MMA world, one must wonder if a promotion like Strikeforce is wasting its time by promoting amateur MMA fights when they could use the slots to give aspiring professional fighters a chance to shine. When you are one of the top three MMA promotions in North America (UFC and WEC being the other two), is it bad for the promotions image with the MMA public to feature amateur MMA bouts?
Next Round For Amateur MMA Fights In Strikeforce: Strikeforce Challengers 9
You can contact David Tees at bigtees360@yahoo.com
