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FIVE ROUNDS WITH STRIKEFORCE: FEDOR VS. WERDUM

The king as been shoved off the throne, as Fedor Emelianenko has finally suffered his first real loss in his professional MMA career. Besides that monumental moment in MMA on Saturday Night, Cristiane Santos destroyed challenger Jan Finney to retain her Strikeforce Women’s Middleweight Title.

Round One: The Last Emperor Is Dethroned

In an honest world, there is nobody who walked away Saturday Night after Fabricio Werdum tapped out Fedor Emelianenko that said, “I saw that coming.” Even in my column previewing the fight card, I selected Fedor Emelianenko to defeat Fabricio Werdum. In a gracious moment following the fight, Fabricio Werdum instantly said that he wanted one more fight with Fedor Emeianenko, while still putting him over as the best fighter in the world. The real question is, where does this leave Fedor Emelianenko in his status of the proclaimed “worlds best heavyweight fighter?” The real loser of the fight could be current Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion Allistair Overeem, who was looking forward to a big money title fight with Allistair Overeem.

Next Round For Fabricio Werdum: A Strikeforce Heavyweight Title fight with Allistair Overeem

Next Round For Fedor Emelianenko: A rematch with Fabricio Werdum.

Round Two: The Cyborg Wasn’t Cuddled

When I look back on the fight between Strikeforce Women’s Middleweight Champion Cristiane Santos and Jan Finney, destruction is the best word that comes to mind. Cristiane Santos turned a blonde headed Jan Finney into her personal punching bag for one and a half rounds. During the fight, the Showtime commentary team criticized the referee of the fight, Kim Winslow, for not stopping the fight on multiple occasions. One thing was made clear throughout the demolition of Jan Finney, that is that Strikeforce needs to find better opponents for their champion. Most people give Jan Finney credit for sticking it out during the fight, which she deserves, but I look at the fight for the lack of actual officiating work by referee Kim Winslow.

Next Round For Cristiane Santos: Erin Toughill

Next Round For Jan Finney: Recovery, then Kerry Vera, Kim Couture or Meisha Tate.

Round Three: Cung Le…Welcome Back!

After taking a long hiatus from MMA to take some acting roles, Cung Le suffered his first defeat in his MMA career to Scott Smith over six months ago. This past Saturday Night, Cung Le returned to the form of old to destroy Scott Smith with a series of strikes that just decimated him to the point of defeat in the second round. Hopefully, Cung Le takes less and less acting roles, because it was truly awesome to see the old Cung Le back in the cage. For those not in the know, Cung Le also had actor Channing Tatum work his corner during the destruction of Scott Smith. Also keep this in mind folks, Cung Le never was defeated for his Strikeforce Middleweight Title, so a few victories could get him another opportunity at the championship.

Next Round For Cung Le: Ronaldo Souza or waiting for the Strikeforce Middleweight Title Tournament

Next Round For Scott Smith: Cung Le vs. Scott Smith III

Round Four: Upset Averted

Heading into the third round of the Josh Thomson/Pat Healy battle, it looked like Pat Healy was ready to pull off a huge upset. However, a fatal mistake during an attempt at back control not only cost Pat Healy position, but the fight as well. Josh Thomson then took advantage of the aforementioned fatal flaw to lock Pat Healy in a rear naked choke to force an eventual tap out. Pat Healy proved that even though his record isn’t the greatest, but he was still capable of nearly getting the win over Josh Thomson. Prior to the fight taking place, Josh Thomson declared that he doesn’t want to be “the punk” no more, which if true, we could all rename him “the survivor.”

Next Round For Josh Thomson: Lyle Beerbohm or a rubber match with Gilbert Melendez

Next Round For Pat Healy: Strikeforce Challengers Series

Round Five: A Legend Retires

The man was a former UFC Middleweight Champion, the man was a former Strikeforce Middleweight Champion and now the man is retired. In between all the brutal action at Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Werdum, Frank Shamrock took center cage to announce his retirement from professional MMA. Frank Shamrock has had great battles over the years with Tito Ortiz, Nick Diaz, Phil Baroni, Cung Le and a host of other fighters. Frank Shamrock will also go down in Strikeforce history for facing Nick Diaz in the main event of the first ever Strikeforce card on Showtime. Frank Shamrock will not disappear completely from MMA though, as he will remain a broadcaster for future Strikeforce events.

Next Round For Frank Shamrock: The commentators table.

You can contact David Tees at bigtees360@yahoo.com

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