With two championship title fights, an insane, come-from-behind knockout highlight, and the successful victory of Herschel Walker in his MMA debut, Strikeforce had even casual fans tuned into Showtime with rapt attention.
Shown for free on EASportsMMA.com, a preliminary bout between Jay Hieron and Joe Riggs went the distance with Hieron dominating most of the fight from top position. Hieron used his wrestling to both control his opponent and do damage from inside the guard but also looked good standing up with high kicks and crisp combinations. Riggs almost pulled out the upset at the start of the third round with a clean right hook but Hieron recovered to win a unanimous decision. After this performance, Hieron will be looking on in hopeful anticipation to face the winner of the welterweight championship fight later in the evening.
In Showtime’s opening event, Bobby Lashely pounded out Wes Sims from top position with a TKO victory that was not very exciting or surprising. Given only one week’s notice, it’s hard to imagine anyone, much less funny-man Wes Sims, being truly prepared for a fight. Nonetheless, Lashley showed some weakness in his stiff standup, but also displayed his raw power with strong ground and pound. Lashley really deserves a tough test next after such an easy victory.
Following this bout was one of the most exciting fights Strikeforce has ever televised. Melvin Manhoef was absolutely destroying Robbie Lawler for the majority of the first round with some of the most brutal leg kicks this sport has ever seen.
The boxing Lawler seemed to have no answer for kickboxing Manhoef’s powerful offense until the Dutchman got cocky and came in after a low-kick with his hands down and got caught by a beautiful counter-right from Lawler. This was one of the nastiest knockouts I’ve ever seen and will certainly be shown on highlight reels for years to come.
Unfortunately for Manhoef his aggression is what allowed Lawler to so easily counter. If Manhoef had been patient and simply stayed out of range until the second round, I doubt Lawler would have even been able to stand up out of his corner to answer the bell, but this is why Manhoef is always an exciting fighter to watch, win or lose. Lawler’s lead leg was so hurt that he was limping badly around the cage and probably will be for weeks, while Manhoef may very well have suffered a concussion as he was out cold with blood streaming down his face.
The victorious Lawler’s noncommittal response about who he wants to fight next either means he wants to renegotiate his contract for more money after such a big upset win, or indeed he wants to move back up to the UFC. (****+)
Unfortunately, the MMA debut of Herschel Walker was marred only by the caliber of his opponent, as a much smaller and timid looking Greg Nagy went in there and fought tough but was obviously outclassed. Hell, even in the staredown Nagy avoided eye contact and seemed to know he was in there to get beat. Man did he get dominated by a ferocious Walker who had plenty of stamina as he was taken into deep water with a third round TKO win. Very impressive victory and even more so given how humble the Heisman Trophy winner was towards his opponent and his team at AKA.
The female 145 lb. belt was also on the line as top Contender Marloes Coenen went to war with a dominant Cristiane Santos. Cyborg showed she has no weakness on the mat with vicious ground and pound and perfect control from top position, neutralizing Coenen’s more experienced submission game with punching power. Coenen was a game opponent but seemed out-sized and will probably drop down to fight at 135 from now on.
As far as Cyborg’s next opponent, it might be difficult to find a female capable, or even willing to fight, so I think Strikeforce should promote the first ever co-op fight with Cyborg welcoming a young amateur guy to the cage. A joke, of course, but given Cyborg’s impressive performance and lack of competition, it can be said half-seriously.
In the night’s main event, Nick Diaz and Marius Zaromskis battled it out in a back and forth brawl for the welterweight title. Diaz decided to stand and trade with the Lithuanian and was mostly successful utilizing his longer reach with fantastic punching combinations that set Zaromskis backpedaling. Though he was able to drop Diaz with a good hard shot once, Nick quickly recovered and got back to his feet. The kicking game of The Whitemare was effectively countered by the non-stop, in-your-face style of Diaz that proved successful with a first round TKO finish resulting from brutal head and body shots.
As Gilbert Melendez pointed out, The Cesar Gracie team now runs Strikeforce with three different fighters holding belts in three different weight classes. Jake Shields at middleweight, Gilbert Melendez at lightweight, and now Diaz at welterweight. Shields will likely lose his to Dan Henderson when they fight, but the other two may very well establish themselves as legitimate champs for the year to come. Diaz will likely face Hieron next and should be able to run through him just as easily as he did Zaromskis.
[Bobby Lashley photo by Mike Lano (c) MMATorch]
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