Ronda Rousey def. Miesha Tate (c) via Submission (Armbar), Rd 1
What Happened: Tate came out a ball of fire, Rousey responded in kind, and it wasn't long before the two were clinched up and tumbling to the ground in an exciting bout of grappling. Miesha got the better of the brief stand up exchanges, but it was clear Rousey was the stronger of the two in the clinch and on the ground. After surviving a particularly tight armbar that appeared to dislocate her elbow (upon watching the replay it appeared she actually rotated her arm and turned her elbow inward toward her body, so it looked much worse than it actually was), the second time was a charm for Rousey as she locked in another armbar, and this time actually did badly dislocate Tate's elbow, inducing the tap late in the round.
Thoughts: Although mildly, Rousey was finally tested. Tate brought the fight to her and made her go through a little adversity. Rousey showed why her judo and ground control (and of course her armbar) aren't to be messed with, which brings me to why I was overall pretty disappointed in Tate's performance. Although Tate's striking is modest, she has the advantage in that category over Rousey and it might have been in her best interest to test that out on Rousey. However, she decided to eschew that gameplan in favor of rushing inside, brawling, and looking to take her down. I know Tate is a wrestler, and stated that her wrestling could trump Rousey's judo; well, if she was worried on fighting smart she might have tested out Rousey's limited striking. It seemed that her anger and pride led her to run right into Rousey's wheelhouse, and I feel she could have done much better.
I made no secret about the fact that although I'm glad this fight brought attention to women's MMA, I didn't like the fact that Rousey essentially talked trash in order to leapfrog the rightful challenger in Sarah Kaufman, who ended up on the undercard having to earn a title shot she already earned. So needless to say, I was rooting for Tate to win, although I predicted a Rousey win. The reason for the prediction is that I believe women's MMA is still some years behind men's MMA in terms of depth and overall talent level. Rousey is essentially a fighter who's really good and rushing in, throwing women to the ground, and armbarring them. Everyone knows it's coming, and yet she can do it over and over again with relatively little resistance. This is reminiscent of the sport years ago, when you didn't have to be well-rounded to compete at the very top. One-trick ponies definitely still exist in men's MMA, but how many of them are champions? How many of them get to the highest level in MMA and are still able to just use that one trick without needing to evolve? Rousey is the #1 women's bantamweight in the world right now, and she's essentially a fighter with great judo and a mean armbar. MMA as a whole is a young sport, and women's MMA is even younger; it'll be interesting to see how female fighters develop and evolve in the coming years. One thing's for sure, Rousey may not be well-rounded, but as things are now that one trick she does is pretty damn exciting. The attitude she displayed after the fight, on the other hand, didn't excite me at all.
Next for Rousey: Sarah Kaufman will finally get the title shot she already deserved, and it'll likely be against a tougher opponent in Rousey. It will be interesting to see how Kaufman's strength and preference to keep fights standing plays into the fight.
Next for Tate: The shallowness of the women's bantamweight division makes the matchmaking pretty straightforward. Alexis Davis lost the title eliminator to Kaufman, so that's who Tate should fight next.
Josh Thomson def. KJ Noons via Decision (Unanimous), Rd 3
What Happened: Thomson was apparently wary of Noons' boxing acumen, and opted to use his superior wrestling instead. Although he should some flashes of solid stand up, mostly in the first round, Thomson relied on his wrestling more and more, and controlled Noons on the ground for the majority of the fight. The most significant action came in the third round, which saw Thomson lock in a tight arm triangle, and come close to locking in another and a rear naked choke.
Thoughts: Well it wasn't exciting, but it was effective. Thomson hadn't fought in over a year, and explained that changes in training to focus on staying healthy actually contributed to him tiring in the fight. He may show disdain for his performance, but I'm sure he's happy to get the win and acknowledges that he fought Noons pretty intelligently in being the only man to hold him down for extended periods of time. It looks like his claim that his fight with Noons should have been the main event turned out to be very untrue, and in actuality it was arguably the least eventful fight on the card.
Next for Thomson: Looks like it'll be a rubber match with Gilbert Melendez for the lightweight strap. Hopefully he can stay healthy long enough for it to happen relatively soon.
Next for Noons: Honestly, I'm glad Noons lost because I don't think he has any chance against Melendez. He was soundly outclassed by Jorge Masvidal and didn't look overly impressive in his win over Billy Evangelista. Although he has made strides and is a solid fighter, he still isn't well-rounded enough to compete and win at the top of the division. Caros Fodor, who took a tough loss on the card, may be a good next step for him.
Kazuo Misaki def. Paul Daley via Decision (Split), Rd 3
What Happened: Misaki used pressure, movement, and plain old veteran savvy to render Daley's usually dangerous stand up tentative and subdued. Daley seemed less willing to engage than he usually is, and actually resorted to shooting eight takedowns; easily more than he had attempted in the last few years combined, if not rivaling the amount he's attempted in his entire career to that point. Misaki seemed content to be on his back but still defended five of those eight. A turning point occurred when a Daley elbow from the top sliced open a deep cut above Misaki's left eye, but he was deemed fit to continue and came out even more aggressive when the fight resumed. In the end, Misaki did enough to take home the decision on two judges scorecards.
Thoughts: I've never been of the ilk that viewed Daley as a great striker, as many do. Sure, he is definitely a dangerous one, as he is without a doubt one of the hardest hitters at welterweight, but other than his patented left hook he hasn't displayed a wealth of other tools to give solid competitors trouble. It seems many fighters have figured that out and largely avoid the left hook, as evidenced by his inability to land it too often or solidly in the past few years against opposition that decide not to stand in the pocket with him. He's definitely improved his takedown defense and overall ground game, but it'll never be his strong suit; he needs to vary up his striking assault to be at a high level. Misaki, meanwhile, looked spry and rejuvenated in his more natural weight class. His aggression, intensity, and spirit seemed to catch Daley off guard and had him on the defensive for a lot of the fight. You know something is up when you see Daley trying to steal rounds or slow things down with takedowns. Daley was obviously annoyed at the decision, but the truth is that Misaki looked the more impressive fighter that night.
Next for Misaki: He looked great in his welterweight debut, and figures to quickly find himself in the mix, given the shallowness of the welterweight division in Strikeforce. Tarec Saffiedine now appears to be the odd man out in the welterweight division after the inclusion of Nate Marquardt, so pairing him with Misaki sounds like as good a bout as any.
Next for Daley: Daley lost a close decision here, and should be paired with another welterweight who lost a close decision in his last outing: Tyler Stinson, who took really made Saffiedine work to secure a decision win.
Lumumba Sayers def. Scott Smith via Submission (Guillotine Choke), Rd 1
What Happened: Smith looked slow and lethargic for this brief encounter, and didn't get the time to unleash one of his trademark dramatic comebacks as Sayers countered a guillotine attempt with an impressive backdrop slam, and followed it up with a guillotine of his own to get the quick tap.
Thoughts: Watching Smith fight has just become sad, and I fear for his health in the future after taking so much punishment over his career. Through my concern for his well-being there is also disappointment and outright disgust for the fact that after all this time he still seems as if he hasn't learned to do much besides throw his right hand and take punishment. He has decent kicks that he doesn't use, and seemingly little to no wrestling or ground game to speak of. For the past few years I've said that if he works on his overall game he could be a pretty good middleweight, but unfortunately he seems to have digressed more than anything. The way he tapped to that choke immediately despite it seemingly not being tightly locked in and having a clear route to escape was just saddening. He simply can't compete against even upper-mid level guys anymore.
Next for Sayers: Sayers still has yet to see the second round, and while he looked impressive, I don't know how much that actually means coming against Smith. Sherdog says he should welcome Lorenz Larkin to middleweight, and I don't see why that wouldn't be a good idea.
Next for Smith: Smith has lost four straight and looked terrible in every one of those losses. In fact, he looked terrible in his vintage comeback win against Cung Le as well. I would say the last time Smith impressed was in his quick knockout of Terry Martin in 2008. If he doesn't hang 'em up, he should see a vast downsizing in competition. Antwain Britt has the shaky chin and questionable defense to possibly put Smith back in the win column.
Ronaldo Souza def. Bristol Marunde via Submission (Arm Triangle), Rd 3
What Happened: Marunde didn't have much for Souza throughout, and all he could do was survive until the final round. Souza both out-struck (including a great spinning wheel kick that landed on Marunde's jaw) and out-grappled him for two and a half rounds until finally catching him in an arm triangle against the cage.
Thoughts: This takes the cake for mismatch of the night. One can't complain too much, as Souza was penciled in to take on prospect Derek Brunson before a failed eye exam took Brunson out of the equation with little time left to find a replacement. The much less heralded Marunde stepped in to try and catch lightning in a bottle. Even though he was lost handily, he survived longer than most thought he would against Souza, which brings up my constant flip-flopping notions of Souza's standing. Sometimes he looks like a real force in the division, citing his wins over Matt Lindland and Robbie Lawler. Other times he can really see his limits, such as in his title loss to Luke Rockhold, and even in wins against Tim Kennedy and Joey Villasenor. This fight was somewhere in between, as he clearly showed he was the dominant fighter, but didn't dominate as thoroughly as many of us thought he was capable of doing against an opponent of Marunde's caliber. Tough to see where he really goes from here.
Next for Souza: He doesn't deserve a title rematch just yet, and Rockhold seems to be booked to fight Kennedy next, so the best solution would be to re-book his fight with Brunson. If that doesn't work, the closest to viable opponent he hasn't yet beaten would be Lumumba Sayers.
Next for Marunde: Not sure where he fits in the division, making his debut against the former champion. He handled himself reasonably well for being so over-matched, but she shouldn't be facing anyone near Souza's level for his next bout. Scott Smith or Melvin Manhoef (if he's still under contract) might suffice.
The Prelims
Sarah Kaufman def. Alexis Davis via Decision (Majority), Rd 3
In what was arguably fight of the night, Kaufman and Davis engaged in a relentless, nonstop, bloody brawl for the better part of 3 rounds. Both women left it all in the cage and let the leather fly. It was a great way to prepare the audience for how great women in the main event could be. It was a close affair, but Kaufman seemed to edge Davis out a bit in effective striking over the first two rounds. Davis finally got to show off her considerable ground skills in the third round, as she took Kaufman down and punished her with strikes and submission threats for the latter part of the round. Kaufman held on, and the damage she had done in the first two rounds was deemed enough to get her the win, and a title shot. Fantastic fight, and Davis shouldn't fall far at all with the loss. Besides, it's hard to sink too far in shallow waters anyway.
Roger Bowling def. Brandon Saling via TKO (punches), Rd 2
In another fight of the night candidate, Bowling and Sayers stood in front of each other and threw bombs for stretches of their fight. Saling showed off a crazy chin, as he was able to walk through some very solid strikes and keep going. Bowling being the more well-rounded and better trained of the two took to wrestling when things got heavy, and the largely self-trained Saling showed some decent takedown defense, as well as a great deal of heart and determination, surviving a couple topside crucifixes until his demise early in the second round. Bowling got sucked into firefights a few times, but never strayed far enough from his gameplan to let it get him into too much trouble, which was impressive. As for Saling, Neo-Nazi sex offender or not, with a good team around him he could become someone to watch at 170...if they keep him around. He is (or was) a Neo-Nazi sex offender, after all.
Pat Healy def. Caros Fodor via Submission (Arm Triangle), Rd 3
This was my upset pick of the night, and it paid off. I think Fodor is a great talent and has a bright future in the sport, but I didn't think he could handle the size and experience advantage Healy had over him. Fodor handled himself very well in the first round in gaining good positioning on and battering Healy, but ever the crafty veteran, Healy survived the slow start and turned things up with relentless takedowns and pressure. I was actually surprised he locked in the submission and got Fodor to tap, as I thought he'd take home a clear-cut decision, but Healy seems to be the resident spoiler on the Strikeforce roster. Fodor will come back strong, and Healy should be inching closer to title talks already.
Ryan Couture def. Conor Heun via TKO (punches), Rd 3
Very impressive win for Couture, who hadn't impressed me a whole lot prior (which was why I picked against him). I thought Heun would more than hold his own on the ground, and that his penchant for swinging for the fences would overwhelm Couture's very modest stand up. Well Couture went a long way in improving his stand up, and used a lot of the grinding clinch work his father Randy popularized. In earning his first stoppage due to strikes he also showed evolution in that he utilized effective ground and pound, where he probably would have just searched for a submission in earlier fights. The old man should be proud.
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