Strikeforce LA recap

It's been a very, very busy week in MMA so I'll try to keep this brief (at least brirf for me) because I have other events to cover. I know I'm way late but I'd still like to offer my recap of the Strikeforce: Los Angeles event. Thankfully, the only fights Strikeforce really airs (or are even relevant, for that matter) are the main card bouts.

Renato Sobral def Robbie Lawler via Unanimous Decision Rd 3
I've always liked Sobral and I'm glad he's back on the winning track with this fight. It was actually a pretty close fight and was hard to score because while Sobral (and surprisingly) outstruck Lawler with volume, it was Lawler who scored the more damaging strikes. What really won the fight for Sobral was his penchant for body kicks and overall willingness to throw. He was definitely the more busy of the two, which looks good to the judges, and Lawler was visibly slowed down and worried by the body shots. Lawler's problem in this fight was the same problem he's pretty much always had: he relies too much on a hypothetical hail-mary KO shot. It saved his ass against Melvin Manhoef, who was utterly destroying him until he got a little too aggressive after sensing a finish and left himself wide open to a haymaker right to the chin. Sobral fought too smart and cautious to let that fight ending shot land, and got a well-earned decision to show for it. I'm actually glad Sobral doesn't want King Mo for the belt next; I think Mo will lay n pray his way to victory just like he did with Mousasi. Plus, the rematch with Dan Henderson he requested actually does intrigue me. As for Lawler, the loss shouldn't keep him out of the inevitable middleweight tourney. But if it were up to me, I've always wanted to see Lawler fight Cung Le.

Evangelista Santos def Marius Zaromskis via TKO (punches) Rd 1
I didn't really expect this one to go past the first round, as both fighters tend to throw with ill intentions from the opening bell, but I thought it would go the opposite way. Ignoring Santos' obvious size advantage, I just thought Zaromskis' speed and overall technical advantage would notch him another highlight reel stoppage. Santos had other plans, as he decided to take a much more methodical approach and used his reach advantage to land repeatedly. The opening was pretty even, then Santos just found his range and started tagging Zaromskis repeatedly. After getting rocked a couple times Zaromskis for whatever reason decided a blindly executed flying knee would get him out of harm's way. It just got him punched in the face and dropped out of mid-air, then finished. I feel bad for Zaromskis, as his run in DREAM really made him out to be a contender, but his 0-2 Strikeforce run really shows the competition gap between the US and Japan. Give him a doable fight in Japan to get his confidence back up. I think Santos can do some damage at welterweight if he stays with the more conservative gameplan. He's finally not small for his division so he could pose problems, but let's see how his cardio holds up. OK, thats the last long one. I swear.

Tim Kennedy def Trevor Prangley via Submission (rear-naked choke) Rd 1
Kennedy really solidified his mark as an up and coming contender at 185 with a great showing against Prangley. I had Kennedy pegged to win, but not before Prangely roughed him up a bit and gassed. Prangley did score a couple nice throws as expected, but Kennedy popped right back up and ended up controlling Prangley en route to a quick RNC victory as Prangley was still standing. I'm pretty sure Kennedy will get a slot in the middleweight tourney for his troubles. As for Prangley, he's been in the game a while but he's still got the skills to hang with some notables at 185. A fight with Joey Villasenor might be a novel idea, keeping in mind how well he did with Jacare's takedowns and ground game.

KJ Noons def Connor Heun via Split Decision Rd 3
I agree that Noons has some of the best boxing in MMA, but seriously, where's that KO power I keep hearing about? But my hat goes off to Heun even more than Noons for not only taking the fight on short notice, but for really taking the fight to Noons. He was by far the more aggressive of the two and wasn't afraid to jump in for heated exchanges despite being a grappler. He even came close to ending the fight in the first, but props to Noons for showing some skills at getting off the ground. But broken rib or not, Noons hasn't looked impressive enough since his return for all this talk of him taking the 155 and 170 lb belts. And next I would really like to see him rematch Krazy Horse. Since Noons won't be looking to take it to the ground (where KH is 90% guaranteed to lose), Krazy Horse has a legit chance at landing another big upset.