Solid show, though not spectacular. The standout fight was Nick Diaz vs Scott Smith. Diaz probably could have won this fight much more easily if he had taken it to the ground. Instead, as we figured, he stood and traded. Diaz still won decisively, but his iron jaw ate some shots along the way. Scott Smith tasted many more punches, however. His heart and mental toughness is at an elite level for any combat sport. It was a highly entertaining slugfest.
Brett Rogers vs Andrei Arlovski was memorable for the upset, rankings-crashing knock out. Huge credit to Jake Shields because on paper, Robbie Lawler should have never lost to him. Kevin Randleman is painfully done. Joe Riggs' performance is much more impressive now that we know he broke both hands.
Frank Hyden, MMATorch Contributor: (8.5)
I'm going to jump Brett Rogers up into my Top 10 Heavyweight Rankings for sure. I know some people may balk at that, or think it's crazy to do so, but I think Rogers is the real deal. He might seem a bit one-dimensional now, but he's a hungry guy, and those types of guys are dangerous. I still think Andrei Arlovski's a good fighter, but he still has to drop some after losing like that. Those were some heavy shots from Rogers, but Arlovski's still got to do a better job of avoiding.
Joe Riggs looked really good against Phil Baroni. The only problem, he was in there with Phil Baroni. It was a good fight. Nick Diaz was unbelievable. The only thing crazier than him throwing all those strikes was that Scott Smith stood there and took them. Smith has a ton of heart, but you kind of have to wonder how long he'll last after fights like this one. Jake Shields looked very impressive in his win over Robbie Lawler. On the ground he's hard to beat. Getting the fight to the ground is the thing for him. If Shields can get the fight to the ground he could probably beat a lot of guys in MMA. I want to see him get tested against a quality wrestler who can defend takedowns and who keeps the fight standing. I want to see how Shields reacts when he's out of his comfort zone.
Matt Pelkey, MMATorch Columnist: (7.5)
It was a great night of fights, even if basically every fight went the wrong way for Strikeforce brass. Jake Shields can dismiss Joe Riggs all he wants, but Riggs has always been an ultra-talented fighter who just couldn't seem to put it all together in the cage. Well, he did on Saturday. I, for one, think Riggs-Shields could be a hell of a fight to crown a welterweight champ. Whitehead-Randleman was awful. It was the only below average fight of the weekend, and it was well below average. I'm not generally a fan of stand-ups, but I was pleading with Big John to stand them up even when Whitehead had Randleman mounted.
Nick Diaz is a stud, plain and simple. He flat out toyed with a decent fighter a weight division above him. He's the star Strikeforce should be building around. No offense to Jake Shields, but he just doesn't have the personality to carry a promotion, and that's what Strikeforce needs. Diaz-Le would be awesome, and its currently the best fight (quality and business-wise) that Strikeforce can put on right now.
Poor Andrei Arlovski. This fight was not only a coming out party for Brett Rogers, but an indictment on Arlovski's defense. He has to realize that in a division of mastodon's looking to decapitate him, simply going straight back when pressured is not a sound strategy. I'm still not convinced Rogers is top-10 material, and I'm leaning towards thinking Overeem will destroy him, but at least he got his moment in the sun. Good for him.
The main event was fun for the two minutes it lasted, but it ruined the potential Lawler-Diaz rematch that could've done big business. It also pointed out a big-time flaw in the game of one of their best fighters. Lawler can look like a world beater when matched up with the right opponent (see: Smith, Scott), but he can look foolish against high-level grapplers. At least they still have Carano-Cyborg, Thomson-Melendez II, and Overeem-Rogers to promote, but after that it gets dicey.
Jason Bent, MMATorch Columnist: (9.0)
This was the most fun I have had watching a non-UFC card in seemingly forever, and in all honesty was a card which was infinitely more fun than I had watching something such as UFC 94. Obviously we all went into that card with the mindset that Jesus was going to show up inside of the Octagon and give the thumbs up to us all as Penn and GSP battled in a bout which would go down as a most memorable one.
It wasn't. In fact, were it not GSP vs. Penn it would have been a ho-hum bout at the top of a card which really didn't offer too terribly much save for the emergence of Lyoto Machida as a thrilling fighter with a killer instinct. Take this away and most of us were left feeling let down or as if we didn't get the most bang for our collective buck.
Enter a card such as Strikeforce: Lawler vs. Shields and I am surely not the only one who feels like it was a steal that this card was being aired on Showtime and no premium needed to be paid beyond subscribing to the channel. We were sold a solid bout between Lawler and Shields along with the chance to see Scott Smith try his hand at Nick Diaz and in addition to this we got Rogers vs. Arlovski and Baroni vs. Riggs.
Lawler vs. Shields did not live up to its billing or perhaps any of our hopes but it did show the world just how deadly and skilled that a guy like Jake Shields can be. Brett Rogers pulled off what was arguably the biggest upset in MMA heavyweight history as I can guarantee none of us predicted what would happen. Hell, I had Arlovski ripping Rogers' head off and drinking the blood out of it since I was so sure of the Belarusian winning. What we got was a huge upset and a feel good moment.
How could you not see Brett Rogers celebrate after this win and not feel good for him?
Strikeforce: Lawler vs. Shields did not deliver a card full of epic bouts but it is not like the UFC brings the same each and every time out. Strikeforce hit a home run here with a card that featured notable names, solid and compelling match ups and featured upsets along with definitive and dominant performances which suddenly make future match ups all the more attractive.
In short, this wasn't the most technical and didn't feature perhaps the very best in the world but it was FUN. Strikeforce did the best they could with the best of what they've got and hit it out of the park. Their production aspects were pitch perfect, the presentation looked like this was a major happening and the card itself had something for everyone.
Rogers' upset of Arlovski could be either a fluke or we could have a true heavyweight sensation on our hands. The site is now polling to see how Shields would fare against GSP if that is any indication of what this win against Lawler did for the young man. Last but not least, I had fun. This wasn't a three hour t-shirt ad with Megadeth playing "Symphony of Destruction" and not once did we have to hear from the President of Strikeforce over the course of the night. It was about the fighters and the fights. Strikeforce clearly does not have the best fighters but they put together the best match ups they could and everyone gave their best efforts. Why knock Strikeforce for not being the UFC and instead just enjoy them for being Strikeforce?
Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief: (8.0)
This was an enjoyable second show for Strikeforce. Even the painfully average Randleman-Whitehead fight had it's moments. This wasn't the most star studded card ever, but outside of the aforementioned averageness of the opening bout the rest of the card was very entertaining.
Brett Rogers knocking out Andrei Arlovski in 22 seconds was one of those "did that really just happen?" moments that help spread the word for a promotion to get people to check them out. When you've got an emerging star, even if he hasn't been fully tested, it's nothing but a good thing.
Watching Nick Diaz pepper Scott Smith's head like a speed bag was interesting. It was fun to watch in the sense that the ungodly number of strikes being thrown and landed seemed impossible, and at the same time it just seemed a complete mismatch. Smith would not move his head and seemed as if he was willing to take 150 shots to try just to land one, but outside of that it was quite fun to watch Diaz land those 150 shots a round.
The main event was another interesting outcome, and with Jake Shields being extremely impressive against Robbie Lawler it's just a shame he can't be facing the top guys in his weight class. You can disagree with me if you like that the UFC's got a the top guys for most of the weight divisions, but the fact is the top seven or eight in each division is being made better by the fact that they're facing tougher competition on a more regular basis than those outside of the organization, for the most part.
Still, Strikeforce is moving in the right direction with their product, and August should be another very good show. Where they go from there remains to be seen, but Saturday was a good move forward for Strikeforce as they establish themselves as the #2 place to be in MMA.
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