Strikeforce: Houston was one of the more enjoyable events to me, for reasons anyone who knows me would immediately see. The night saw two hype trains I found annoying come to a screeching halt, and the action was overall entertaining. Strikeforce just needs to ditch that god-awful announce team and things could be a lot better.
Rafael "Feijao" Cavalcante def. Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal (c) via TKO (elbows), Rd 3
Prediction: Mo wrestles Feijao down for a few rounds to tire him out, and scores a 3rd or 4th round TKO.
What happened: The exact opposite. Mo didn't use his wrestling too much, and when he did Feijao showed the defensive wrestling to keep from being bullied for too long. Mo tried struck with Feijao to success in the first two rounds but got a little too loose, which allowed Feijao to find his mark. While Mo attempted body punches, Feijao latched on the Thai clinch and delivered some knees to rock Mo, put him flat on his back with a right hand, and elbowed the ever-loving crap out of his head while Mo instinctively went clung to a leg. When Big John stepped in Mo was pretty much out.
Thoughts: It's no secret I can't stand Mo. I definitely respect his skill, but I couldn't get passed his facade. He acts like he's God's gift to MMA and can beat anyone. I'm all for fighters talking themselves up a bit, but his brash cockiness rubbed me the wrong way. All of that cockiness was present in this title fight, and it cost him the title. Once Mo landed a few body shots that affected Feijao he thought he was Roy Jones out there. He showboated, kept his hands low, and generally acted as if he had the world class striking skills to get away with it. Well he didn't. Keeping his hands low and getting to confident with body strikes caused him to forget about protecting his face, and once Feijao sent him a reminder it was too late. Feijao made the best of it and definitely looked improved, but I wonder how differently the fight would have gone had Mo used his wrestling like he did with Mousasi instead of getting stupid once he had some stand up success. I didn't think Feijao had a chance in hell with this fight, and I'm glad I was wrong. Hopefully this loss will grant Mo some humility, and I'm sure he'll be back making waves in the division.
Next for Cavalcante: If Dan Henderson and Renato Sobral fight each other, it'd make for a good title eliminator. Otherwise, once Mousasi wins the Dream light heavyweight title (and he will) I could see him getting another shot at the Strikeforce title to add to his collection.
Next for Lawal: He's still a draw in Strikeforce who hasn't hit his ceiling yet. He could rematch Mousasi if Henderson/Sobral is a title eliminator, or Kevin Randleman (as sad as that is to say) if they want Mo back in the win column.
Ronaldo Souza def. Tim Kennedy via Decision (unanimous), Rd 5
Prediction: Souza outworks Kennedy with potent grappling to a unanimous decision.
What happened: Surprisingly, Souza outworked Kennedy with potent counterstriking to a unanimous decision.
Thoughts: This one of the more annoying fights on the card because it was so obvious how much Strikeforce wanted their American hero Tim Kennedy to win. It was made more annoying after the fight when Kennedy acted like a little bitch and complained about the decision, busted up face and all. Look, I get that Kennedy outstruck Souza in volume. I also get that Kennedy scored the only two takedowns of the fight. But what Kennedy supporters fail to get is that Kennedy landed almost no significant strikes and didn't do a damn thing with either of those takedowns. Souza on the other hand, had Kennedy bloody and battered, and snapped his head back with shots several times. Quality over quantity. Getting a takedown means nothing if you can't capitalize. Sure it was a close fight, but it was a close fight that Souza won convincingly, even if by a small margin.
Next for Souza: A rematch with Mousasi would be great, but it ain't gonna happen. A rematch with Jason Miller would be the next best thing. Should he get past Matt Lindland, Luke Rockhold would also be a good choice.
Next for Kennedy: If not a rematch with Miller, Robbie Lawler or Benji Radach would make good match ups for Kennedy.
KJ Noons def. Jorge Gurgel via TKO (punches), Rd 2
Prediction: Gurgel would idiotically opt to stand and bang instead of use his BJJ, and Noons would batter him to a decision.
What happened: See above, except for a wicked right hand that connected after the 1st round bell. And a subsequent demolishing of Gurgel early in the 2nd round, complete with an errant knee to the Gurgel's head while he was down as the fight was being stopped.
Thoughts: First off, I don't think Noons is a cheater. He's an annoying turbo-douche, but not a cheater. The first shot and the end of the 1st round happened because he was in mid-swing as the round ended. Noons motioned to the ref to stop the fight after knocking down Gurgel early in the 2nd, but the ref hesitated and Noons continued attacking. He threw an illegal knee, I doubt he meant to do it to cheat, not that it's an excuse. Rules are meant to be followed, and he screwed up. If Gurgel were smart (and he's proven time and time again that he isn't, although I like the guy), he would have just chosen not to continue after the first illegal blow instead of coming into the 2nd round still rocked. Either way, Gurgel showed us nothing new and Noons showed that although he is an annoying turbo-douche, he's got some of the best hands in MMA.
Next for Noons: Either a shot at Gilbert Melendez for the lightweight title or a rematch with Nick Diaz, possibly for Diaz's welterweight belt. Either would be great fights in my eyes, although a fight with Diaz has more promotional juice. Noons wants it, Diaz wants it, I want it.
Next for Gurgel: He needs to use his goddamn BJJ. It's sad to imagine what he could be if he used his greatest asset just once. A match with Vitor Ribeiro might not only force him to use his BJJ, but to bring his BJJ A game.
Chad Griggs def. Bobby Lashley via. TKO (retirement), Rd 2
Prediction: Lashley takes Griggs down and pounds him out. Simple.
What happened: One out of two ain't bad, right? Lashley took Griggs down. Repeatedly. But from there, not only did Griggs show the defensive wrestling and ground offense to make Lashley work, Lashley's ground and pound was ineffective and he wouldn't know a submission if Griggs stuck his arm out in front of his face wrapped in a bow. Lashley slowed down and Griggs cut him under the left eye with a well timed uppercut while Lashley shot in. After gassing and a horrendous ref stand up while Lashley was in full mount, Griggs took advantage and stuffed a lethargic takedown, then battered away at Lashley while he clung to an ankle. The round expired, but Lashley was in no shape to continue.
Thoughts: I'm glad Lashley's self-induced hype train is over. He looked as one-dimensional as they come against Griggs. All this talk he did about showing off his striking, and what did he do seconds into the 1st round? Shoot for a takedown. No strikes to set it up, just shot on in there. This would be how he executed all his takedowns. Just barrell in there and use superior strength to bulldoze Griggs. Once on the ground Griggs was busy off his back looking for subs and attacking with punches. Lashley did throw some hard punches, but did little damage and didn't even think about attempting submissions. And all this made him tired. I agree that there was some egregious reffing in the fight, but do you really thing Lashley was screwed? What would have happened differently? When the fight was stopped to check his cut, you could see in his eyes that he was not in the fight anymore. He said he wanted to continue, but the look on his face said he got a lot more than he bargained for. If the fight were restarted with Lashley in full mount, he was far too gassed to finish the fight in the last 30 seconds. He would have started the 3rd round gassed, shot in for a lazy takedown with no set up, gotten stuffed, and Griggs would have beaten a hole in his head just like he did at the end of round 2. And what about Griggs' shots to the back of the head. Yes, it's bad and the ref should have at least warned him, but it wasn't shots to the back of the head that did Lashley in. Regardless of where they were landing, Lashley was taking shot after shot and doing nothing about it. Temple, back of the head, either one can take you out of a fight. It's unfortunate that Lashley fell victim to horrible officiating, but let's not act like it's the reason Lashley looked like crap. He did that all by himself.
Next for Griggs: Shane del Rosario. I've been hearing Brett Rogers, but c'mon. Before the Lashley fight no one had even heard of Griggs. Even with the big win, Griggs is a bit much of a step down for Rogers.
Next for Lashley: Hopefully some skills other than wrestling. After this fight, a potential bout with Dave Bautista doesn't look so silly. Otherwise, Lolohea Mahe is on the right track to continue actually grooming Lashley as a prospect.
Prelims
Only saw the two that were streamed for free, and they were the only two that mattered since Strikeforce prelims are usually a who's who of who? talent (I don't care if that makes sense or not).
-Andre Galvao looked a bit underwhelming in a 3rd round TKO of Jorge Patino. He showed some good heart after being rocked, but otherwise didn't set the world ablaze and make a case for a title shot as he said he would. The stoppage was really awkward too. Glavao was raining punches from a dominant position but wasn't exactly destroying Patino when the ref opted to step in.
-Not much to say about Daniel Cormier vs. Jason Riley. It took Cormier a little over a minute to try and fail for a couple takedowns, drop Riley and bomb on him until he tapped. I'm not one of those guys who thinks everyone who taps to strikes is a coward, but Riley tapped awfully fast. Kinda looked like a little biatch.
That's all for now. In the next few days I'll post a recap of Sengoku 14, which not only housed what was in my opinion the best fight of 2010, but also about 10 groin shots (5 of which were in a single fight). I bet you can't wait for that!
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