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“King Mo” Lawal vs. Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante (most of it): This was an excellent fight and a return to form for “Feijao.” The setback against Mike Kyle derailed a lot of the support for Cavalcante, but the brutal stoppage of the highly touted “King Mo” should more than make up for that. This was definitely a fight to re-watch (more on that below).
The Bad
Judging: Tim Kennedy and Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza was a close fight, but the result goes against what we’ve come to expect from judges in recent fights. This year, Dominic Cruz vs. Joseph Benavidez II and B.J. Penn vs. Frankie Edgar showed that if you land more strikes and secure more takedowns (Jacare failed all of his attempts), you should receive a victory fairly unanimously. While I don’t outright dispute their decision here, it blurs my understanding of the judging criteria even further.
Referee Kerry Hatley: The referee in the fight between Jorge Gurgel and K.J. Noons did a terrible job. That fight is beyond tainted for a few reasons (more on that below). The absolute worst call was not stopping the fight after Gurgel was hit with a clean punch to the head after the bell. Gurgel’s arms were down and he took a fierce shot to the skull from Noons, completely unprotected. The fight should have been called a no contest right then and there.
Kerry Hatley has to be the most indecisive referee in MMA. First he does nothing after a damaging punch lands after the bell, and then his hesitant stoppage allowed Gurgel to withstand unnecessary damage and a possible illegal knee in the second round.
The Ugly
Strikeforce Betting on Fighters: It seems as if after every Strikeforce event, there is ample cause to declare that the sky is falling and that the organization is heading for certain doom. The perpetual question mark over Strikeforce’s future stems from their pro-wrestling style approach to MMA. They invest a lot in the likes of King Mo, Fedor Emelianenko, and Bobby Lashley, when they should be building their brand on fights, not fighters.
There’s no questioning the fact that Chad Griggs, a fighter who had never fought for StrikeForce previously, and who hadn’t even competed consistently since 2007, was brought in specifically to lose to Bobby Lashley. Sadly, this can only make it easier for Strikeforce to put together the Bobby Lashley-Dave Bautista fight that they want.
Possible Cheating: In between rounds, King Mo and K.J. Noons can clearly be seen ingesting a substance from a spray cans. From the look of the cans, many have concluded these to be pure compressed oxygen, a banned substance in many endurance sports. The purpose of ingesting pure oxygen is to bolster one’s cardio, which would have given both Lawal and Noons unfair advantages against their respective opponents. If they did indeed ingest pure oxygen to bolster their stamina between rounds, the most despicable part of their actions was not sharing the spray cans with Bobby Lashley.
RELATED STORY: STRIKEFORCE NEWS: K.J. Noons lined up for two title shots; contends he's not a dirty fighter after Gurgel win: [CLICK TO READ FULL ARTICLE]
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