Tonight, Strikeforce presented their latest card from Hoffman Estates, Illinois. They wanted us to believe it was Chicago, but it’s not. That’s like saying Ballston Spa, New York is really Saratoga Springs (where the track is).
Nevermind, that’s probably too much of an Upstate New York reference. It’s far too late and things were pretty great tonight, so let’s get right into our “10 Thoughts on Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Dan Henderson”.
1. Fedor Emelianenko had nothing to prove with his fight against Dan Henderson. If he wins, he beat a middleweight. If he loses, he lost to a middleweight. It’s not a good look for him either way and comes off incredibly desperate for a man that many considered among the best fighters of all time.
1a. How tiny is this venue? The entrance looks short (think WrestleMania at MSG short) and it feels like a minor league hockey venue on TV. Seriously.
2. Live reports were calling these preliminary fights among the best that Strikeforce has put together in recent memory. The problem is that they aren’t shown on the Showtime broadcast, which is terribly frustrating. You can’t give us one extra fight before the main event? Stretch things out a bit? This has to be the result of the channel wanting to adhere to the same policies that they do with their boxing coverage.
3. Scott Smith is known to start slow (like Forrest Griffin) but tonight, he didn’t appear to start at all. Tarec Saffiedine beat Smith at his own game tonight, unleashing powerful and accurate combinations with his hands, while also connected with several huge head kicks. Smith walked away from the fight with a lot of damage to his face, but the result had to hurt his pride more than anything else.
4. Paul Daley and Tyron Woodley put on a great fight. Paul Daley showed a lot of growth on the mat. He’s light years ahead of where he was in his fight with Josh Koscheck, and he demonstrated a much improved takedown defense, but he’s still got a ways to go. Tyron Woodley is probably Strikeforce’s dream welterweight and he earned his title shot this evening.
5. Just as I think he’s not ready to finally take that next step in a major promotion, Daley almost pulls of a huge omoplata for the win. It’s sad that he wasn’t able to finish there, but it shows that he has grown as a fight and is willing to not only go for the gusto when he’s losing, but he’s mature enough to actually see when he is behind.
6. Tim Kennedy is a big favorite on the site here as he has been on “MMA 24/7” with us in the past and was really awesome. Robbie Lawler looked very crisp in the first round, he was energetic and looked ready to bang. He did too, apparently breaking Kennedy’s nose in the process. Still, Kennedy looked great in victory and will hopefully get his shot at Jacare if and when the Middleweight champion retains his title against Luke Rockhold.
7. Referee Herb Dean looks as though he has been hitting the P90X. Dude was looking seriously slim tonight.
8. Miesha Tate is hotter than Gina Carano. Yeah, I said it. I also mean it.
9. The women’s bantamweight title fight was all that is right with MMA: it had back-and-forth action. It wasn’t too sloppy or too dull and both fighters were looking to finish, not fighting to “not lose.” It was awesome. When Miesha Tate forced her knee onto Marloes Coenen’s belly and slid across with the arm triangle, Inside Fights HQ “popped” a little. Great result for Tate, as her jubilation in the cage illustrated that she was very happy with the results of all of her hard work.
10. Where to start with this main event? Should I have to make a 10th point when I don’t really want to? Here’s what I will say:
Fedor is done.
His heart wasn’t into it when he lost to Antonio Silva. He was humiliated by his loss to Fabricio Werdum and came out flat with a chance to halt his losing streak. Now, in an attempt to prevent losing three straight fights, he loses to a man that lost to Jake Shields who lost to Georges St. Pierre. Four degrees of Fedor: “The Last Emperor” just lost to the UFC Welterweight Champion.
Henderson pulled off a result that was equal parts Randy Couture-Tim Sylvia and Cheick Kongo-Pat Barry. He avoided getting knocked out and came back to win like the latter, and despite his increasing age, defeated someone that was 6 years his junior.
Where does Fedor go from here? Hopefully, he’ll hang it up. He’s got nothing to prove to me or anyone else, but it’s up to him if he keeps fighting. He’ll keep being paraded out by M-1 as long as he’ll fight, but you’ve got to think that his stock is so low right now that there is no way that he stays with Strikeforce/Showtime once this deal is up.
Overall, “Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson” was a great show and we saw a ton of great fights all on free TV (if you have Showtime, that is). Goodnight everybody.
