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Round One: The Fall of Fedor
When Fedor Emelianenko signed with Strikeforce a few years ago, nobody expected him to drop any fights, never the less three in a row. Dan Henderson used excellent scrambling abilities after being dropped to level the Russian with multiple punches on route to a stoppage. Fedor Emelianenko complained of an early stoppage, but replays showed that referee Herb Dean made the right call. Dan Henderson is the Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion and he has no fights left on his contract, so he now has some power in negotiations.
Next Round For Dan Henderson: Gegard Mousasi or the King Mo/Roger Gracie winner
Next Round For Fedor Emelianenko: Retirement
Round Two: The Gold Looks Good Around Her
Marloes Coenen has never been submitted in a professional MMA fight, but that all came to an end on Saturday Night. In the fourth round of their title fight, Miesha Tate submitted Marloes Coenen with an arm triangle to win the Strikeforce Women’s Bantamweight Title. Marloes Coenen shouldn’t have long to wait for a rematch though, because the current talent pool in the division in thin. Miesha Tate now has the gold and a chance in the future to avenge her loss to Sarah Kaufman, who defeated her at Strikeforce Challengers 1.
Next Round For Miesha Tate: Sarah Kaufman
Next Round For Marloes Coenen: Alexis Davis, Julie Kedzie or a rematch with Liz Carmouche
Round Three: The Soldier Earns Another Shot
Tim Kennedy has been waiting to get another shot at the Strikeforce Middleweight Title and he earned another chance with his victory on Saturday Night. Tim Kennedy clearly gassed in the third round of the fight, but stupid choices by opponent Robbie Lawler nullified that. Essentially, Robbie Lawler never took the opportunity to pounce on a clearly tired middleweight contender. Props must also be given to Tim Kennedy, who again shined a bright light on the military in a post-fight interview.
Next Round For Tim Kennedy: A title shot against the Ronaldo Souza/Luke Rockhold winner
Next Round For Robbie Lawler: The Ronaldo Souza/Luke Rockhold loser
Round Four: The Welterweight Title Fighters Are Set…
Kicking off the televised portion of Saturday Night’s card featured Tarec Saffiedine out classing Scott Smith to earn a big victory. Tarec Saffiedine did this by mixing up his head kicks in with other strikes to wear his opponent down completely. Tyron Woodley also fought on the card, out pointing Paul Daley to earn a unanimous decision victory. Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker stated in a post-fight press conference that these two fighters would most likely contend for the vacant Strikeforce Welterweight Title.
Next Round For Tarec Saffiedine: Tyron Woodley
Next Round For Tyron Woodley: Tarec Saffiedine
Next Round For Scott Smith: A move back to middleweight
Next Round For Paul Daley: Evangelista Santos or Marius Zaromskis
Round Five: “JZ†Bounces Back
One of the biggest disappointments of the last year in Strikeforce has been Gesias Cavalcante, who has looked unimpressive in previous outings in the promotion. That all changed for the better on Saturday Night when he out pointed Bobby Green to get a unanimous decision victory. Controversy followed in this fight as it seemed Bobby Green tapped out in round two, but the referee was out of position to actually see it. Gesias Cavalcante may have given himself one last opportunity to make a run at the Strikeforce Lightweight Title.
Next Round For Gesias Cavalcante: Pat Healy, Billy Evangelista or Maximo Blanco
Next Round For Bobby Green: Strikeforce Challengers Series
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