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Round One: A Terrible Conclusion To The Quarterfinals
Up until the Alistair Overeem/Fabricio Werdum encounter, one can make the argument that the opening round of the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix featured excellent fights. However, Fabricio Werdum’s seemingly endless attempts to pull guard on his foe left many people bored and shaking their heads. Alistair Overeem did the best he could in a bad situation, but the man is a fighter…not a miracle worker. At least there will be no pulling guard in the next round for Alistair Overeem, who faces Antonio Silva in a few months.
Next Round For Alistair Overeem: Antonio Silva
Next Round For Fabricio Werdum: Daniel Cormier or Valentijn Overeem
Round Two: Pro Wrestling Wins An MMA Fight
Josh Barnett has not competed on the big stage in several years, since defeating Gilbert Yvel at the final Affliction MMA event. The part time professional wrestler made an immediate impact by tapping out former heavyweight contender Brett Rogers in the second round. The victory propels Josh Barnett to the semi-finals of the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix, where a Russian star is waiting. The best part about having Josh Barnett as part of the Strikeforce roster is that you never know when the pro wrestler in him is going to surface.
Next Round For Josh Barnett: Sergei Kharitanov
Next Round For Brett Rogers: A Strikeforce release
Round Three: Gilbert Melendez Has A New Challenger In…
Jorge Masvidal, who put on a terrific performance out striking and out wrestling KJ Noons on route to a unanimous decision victory. Despite a somewhat lackluster third round, Jorge Masvidal showed why he is the new top contender to the Strikeforce Lightweight Title. What benefits Jorge Masvidal even more is that the other major lightweight fight between Gesias Cavalcante and Justin Wilcox ended without a winner. One must also hand it to KJ Noons, who was starting to form a mouse on his head that was rivaling that of UFC veteran Mark Hominick’s.
Next Round For Jorge Masvidal: Strikeforce Lightweight Champion Gilbert Melendez
Next Round For KJ Noons: Josh Thomson or Vitor Ribeiro
Round Four: Other Heavyweights Make An Impact As Well
The evening kicked off on Showtime when Chad Griggs easily pounded Valentijn Overeem into submission in less than a round. Strikeforce commentator Mauro Ranallo said it best when he stated that Chad Griggs is “the cockroach of Strikeforce.†In other heavyweight action, Daniel Cormier graduated to the next level with a unanimous decision win over Jeff Monson. This victory now puts Daniel Cormier in contention for a future shot at the Strikeforce Heavyweight Title.
Next Round For Chad Griggs: Lavar Johnson or Andrei Arlovski
Next Round For Daniel Cormier: Shane Del Rosario or Brett Rogers
Next Round For Valentijn Overeem: A search for his heart
Next Round For Jeff Monson: Returning to the regional MMA circuit
Round Five: While Not At The UFC’s Level, Strikeforce Preliminary Fights Are Fun
In a rare move by the California based promotion, Strikeforce aired four of their five preliminary fights on HDNet. Sadly, the preliminary action ended on a dark note when the Gesias Cavalcante/Justin Wilcox fight ended with a bad looking eye poke to Justin Wilcox. The show stealer of the preliminary card has to go to the Magno Almeida/Conor Heun fight, which was a submission escaping festival. Honorable mention must be given to the Nah-Shon Burrell/Joe Ray and Isaac Vallie-Flagg/Brian Melancon fights.
Next Round For Strikeforce Preliminary Fights: More live coverage on HDNet or Sherdog.com
You can contact David Tees at bigteesps3@yahoo.com
