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From MMATorch.com Staff Columnists
Where do I begin? Strikeforce has shown so many signs of promise, and it really makes me feel bad for them when a card like the one we just experienced on Saturday night takes place. No one can control anything in this sport. Well, I take that back. The UFC can control almost everything in this sport, but even they cannot control the outcome of a fight. I am not going to get into an argument again over Griffin-Silva here and am continuing on under the pretense that no one has ever tried to fix a fight or has fixed a fight in this great sport. If you are Strikeforce today, you are wishing you could have fixed these fights because this company is breaking by the day. Signing Fedor put the bullseye on the company and now they will have to deal with an angry UFC burning a hole through them while also trying to pick up the pieces and find a fighter they can promote. Good luck with that one, I say. Fabricio Werdum won his bout, which was expected, and then proceeded to give us the ugliest celebration I have seen. Well, until Cris Cyborg smiled at the end of the night; but Werdum brought the ugly in droves as he climbed the cage a la Mike Swick and then staggered as he tried to balance himself before not so elegantly taking flight. Werdum is a serviceable fighter and a solid hand to have on your roster, but if he is near your top tier of heavyweights, it is a sure sign you have trouble. He beat Mike Kyle, but big deal; if this is supposed to show us he is ready for Fedor we should not be believing what we have been told. Gegard Mousasi is not a household name. Hell, I can go up to 100 people today and say his name and 99 of them will ask me if I am looking for a Greek diner to whip me up Moussaka. The 1 out of the 100 will just tell me he knows neither the man nor does he know the Greek dish and then would shuffle off angrily for having been stopped by me. Renato "Babalu" Sobral is more well known and this is generally because he fought for the UFC and once headlined against Chuck Liddell. Period. The only other reason anyone knows his name is because of the reason he is no longer in the UFC, and that was because he held onto a choke just a little too long. Aside from this, if you mention "Babalu" to most folks, they either think of Desi Arnaz or Michael Buble if they are older, that or the chain of Cuban restaurants called "Babalu Grill". To those who follow the sport, we know him and know he is one of the better light heavyweights, but none of us would claim he is top five at this moment. He just got trounced by a real deal top five fighter in Gegard Mousasi at just 1:00 of the first round, and his eyes were left rolling about to the point that you wondered if he could hear someone telling him to walk into the light with Carol Anne. The problem with this is that Sobral was pushed and pushed and pushed, and his UFC cachet allowed him to be placed on a higher pedestal than perhaps his talent should allow, and now he got stomped by a guy most watching had never heard of. This win does little to make Mousasi in their eyes but rather shows them that Sobral wasn't that special and a reason why he no longer fights in the UFC. Couple this with the result from the main event and it would appear Strikeforce has lied to these fans who are watching at home. These fans were told these were the best fighters, and now since neither put up a ton of a fight, it makes them look like also-rans. What do you do with Gegard Mousasi now? He is in the EA MMA 2010 video game but he really has nothing much left to do and would have been so much better off with the UFC marketing muscle behind him. Now, he is stuck in purgatory and will probably find stiffer opposition by tweaking the AI when he plays as himself in the video game. Gilbert Melendez did what he was supposed to do in defeating Mitushiro Ishida, but this was not as entertaining a fight as they were trying to make you believe. Gus Johnson telling us how this was a grudge match and how Melendez wanted to get this win over a man who had beaten him previously was a paper thin reason to get excited for this one. Melendez has two losses on his record, and we would all rather see him against the man who gave him the other one. Obviously, once Thomson is healed and ready to go we will see him face Melendez in what should be a very solid bout. The problem I had Saturday night is that the announcers were trying to act as if Ishida was possibly an even better replacement. Of course, they also celebrated Werdum's win as if Jesus had come back and signed a contract to face Fedor in November. Anyhow, Melendez vs. Ishida was good, but not great and it sure as hell couldn't save the night. The main event was historic and most fans were at least curious to watch it. Even the guys who cannot bear to think of two women slugging each other in the face were at least interested to see just how polished these female athletes are and if they can hack it in the world of MMA. Both had obviously competed before and on a much larger stage on CBS, but against opposition that makes a Lane Bryant mannequin seem like a number one contender. Now, they would face each other and by golly, we would know who the best female fighter on the planet is! Of course, everyone hoped it would be Gina Carano. Let me repeat this, EVERYONE hoped it would be Gina Carano. Strikeforce, because they paid her a hell of a sum and figured to have it all locked up by having both she and Fedor under the same banner. The male fans who furiously masturbate to her images and want her to win because it means they can see more of her. Lastly, everyone else who supports the sport who all want to see women thrive had hoped Carano would prevail because she is super marketable and could help open doors for others. The worst thing possible happened as Wanderlei Silva put on his wig for the night and doled out an assbeating. Sure, Carano gave it right back as best she could, but it was clear from the beginning that Gina was nowhere near strong enough to really hang with her opponent. It was yet another first round stoppage on this card, and now Strikeforce had watched Sobral and Carano get beaten soundly, which does not bode well for them. No one at Strikeforce has spent any time building up Cris Cyborg at all. We were essentially told she would be Carano's toughest test but in the same breath it became clear no one expected Gina to lose. She did. To Jim Carrey's Vera de Milo from 'In Living Color'. Cris Cyborg is about as marketable as Elite XC hats and Michael Vick jerseys for your dog. She just handily beat down the Goddess of MMA in Gina Carano and now there is no one for her to fight, and there sure as hell isn't a Playboy deal on the table. I mean, sure, Cyborg could submit a shot to Hustler's "Beaver Hunt" or find her way into some fetish magazine but the mainstream wants absolutely nothing to do with her. Carano was the meal ticket and that ship sunk. It is also all over for Strikeforce and this is just sad. They have done some very good things for the sport, taken good care of their fighters financially and so far have put on the best shows possible. Yes, many, many fights have fallen through and their promotion has not always been the best but they truly are trying to give us a proper product and compete for a share of the MMA pie. Signing Fedor was the right thing to do. For those who say it was wrong, answer me why Dana wanted him in the first place? Hell, if signing Fedor was a bad move for Strikeforce, how can you justify the UFC's signing of Dennis Hallman? I mean, is that really setting the world on fire? Strikeforce had an opportunity and took it, but really have nothing they can do with it. Think of how many of you would accept a Porsche 911 as a gift without blinking. Now, tell me if you can afford to pay the taxes in order to get a title and tags on the car and then let me know if you can handle the insurance premiums for it. Who could blame you for taking it though? It's a Porsche for crying out loud! Well, it's Fedor for crying out loud and Strikeforce took him and now has to deal with the M-1 headaches while trying to find a way to make use of him. With Gina Carano getting thumped and the UFC countering their programming with UFC 100, it would suggest that the days are indeed numbered for Strikeforce. I mean the next Strikeforce event is in October and is tentatively set to feature Alistair Overeem, Brett Rogers Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza, Matt Lindland and Jake Shields. Solid, yes, but do you know anyone who will be looking forward to any of those possible bouts over anything on the UFC 104 card? Do you think the UFC will just allow October 10th to come and go without airing something to steal a little thunder? The last thing Strikeforce needed was for Carano to lose. It happened on Saturday and now they are stuck with an much less marketable female champion and no one to pit her against save for the rematch. Carano was the Laila Ali of women's MMA, except for the fact that she actually was forced to face a real fighter. See, Ali has skated along to an undefeated record and parlayed all of this success along with her good looks into gigs on 'Dancing with the Stars' and 'American Gladiators'. Carano was poised for this, and still is, but opportunities will be just a little bit less now that she has been exposed as not being the world's best female fighter. So, Carano's opportunities are hurt in much the same way Kimbo Slice's were when he was stopped by Petruzelli, but at least in Carano's case it can be said she was beaten by the best. If anyone had ever needed to fix a fight, it would have been Carano vs. Cyborg. This was a bout Carano needed to win and one Strikeforce needed for her to win, and it just didn't happen. Odds are that they now match Fedor Emelianenko up against Abongo Humphrey and call it a main event. It might seem unlikely that Brett Rogers beats Fedor, but what if he did? Strikeforce is going to need for Fedor to be protected, and if they are going to put him up against someone who could win, it is going to have to be a fighter with enough name value that they could then market the winner. I still say odds are that Fedor Emelianenko may never fight for Strikeforce, but Herschel Walker just might step inside of the cage; and hell, perhaps he could be an opponent for "The Last Emperor". Walker was a mainstay in the crowd at PRIDE shows and is a true fan who is a remarkable athlete, but was I the only one cringing when he spoke about possibly fighting? He said that if Scott Coker wants him to and the fans would like to see it, that he would step into the cage. Sadly, they might have to if Overeem's hand is still injured and they want to keep icing Brett Rogers from getting a chance. Worse things could happen, right? Strikeforce would probably disagree after seeing their prized possession getting treated like a rental car by Cris Cyborg on Saturday night as they try to come up with a way to salvage a promotion that is firmly in the sights of the UFC. After Saturday night, they are wishing they could control the outcomes of their fights and Dana White is wishing he could control his laughter. © Copyright by MMATorch.com |
