With Strikeforce: Barnett vs. Kharitonov in the books, and Chris Roberts’ play by play being viewable here, there are plenty of possibilities to be found with the winners and losers. With the dust settled, one fight is already set up. It’s time to play the job of the Strikeforce equivalent to Joe Silva and see where five of the main fighters on this card will end up next.
Daniel Cormier vs. Josh Barnett – The only real guaranteed fight to happen in the next six months or so, it’s quite a letdown for a tournament final meant to crown someone as the best heavyweight in the world when originally announced. Scott Coker’s original intent was pure, to try and get Alistair Overeem vs. Fedor, and instead gets a top prospect with his first big win vs. a fighter who really hasn’t had a top notch opponent since 2006.
It’s not a glamorous final and it’s mainly because this had to have been the worst set up tournament ever in retrospect.
It was set up to be loaded on one half, with people praying that no one got hurt, and set up so that one of the two bigger names would hopefully make it through (Barnett or Andrei Arlovski). This was perhaps the worst nightmare for Scott Coker when the tourney was announced, with an alternate stepping into the semi-finals and then stopping the lowest ranked heavyweight at the time (Silva) before taking on Barnett. You honestly can’t call the winner of Barnett/Cormier the best heavyweight in the world, which was the intention early on, because neither has beaten multiple opponents that would dictate that title. Defeating Brett Rogers, Sergei Kharitonov and Bigfoot Silva combined doth not make a #1 heavyweight.
Bigfoot Silva vs. Fabricio Werdum – Both fighters are going to need to stay busy before Strikeforce is ended, and they’re in the UFC. If they can squeeze another fight in for the two it makes sense to get a rematch in of a tough fight they had one the Fedor-Rogers card. It’ll keep them both busy and functions as a sort of loser’s bracket matchup between the two.
Muhammed Lawal vs. Dan Henderson – There’s nothing left for King Mo in Strikeforce unless it’s a fight against Henderson. And frankly it’s a better chance that this fight would take place in the UFC instead, which is where King Mo and Henderson both really need to be at this point in time. Henderson is a Top 10 Light Heavyweight and King Mo is close to being one, thus you really need to get both over there immediately where Mo would become a major star in the Zuffa machine. Plus you have a potential Mo-Rampage Jackson fight as well, if only for the trash-talking that would ensue.
Luke Rockhold vs. Tim Kennedy – Kennedy is deserving of a title shot and a rematch against Jacare would’ve made sense. But with a new champion, and Kennedy ready for a fight, Rockhold-Kennedy makes perfect sense now. Plus there aren’t any real top contenders in the division in Strikeforce outside of Kennedy; it’s a weak division to begin with. So at this point you’re really stuck with Kennedy and Rockhold in a title fight, especially considering how close both Jacare-Rockhold and Jacare-Kennedy both were, so it would make sense. Using MMAth you’d think that this, too, would also be a close fight. Plus one imagines it would be a really exciting fight, as well.
Roger Gracie vs. Mike Kyle – Gracie is at a bit of a crossroads in his MMA career right now. He’s defeated a handful of lesser fighters and struggled with someone who could be a fringe contender at this point in King Mo. He needs to take a step back and get some fights in against lesser competition. Losing to King Mo isn’t a huge deal in the long run because Mo is a fighter designed to defeat someone with Roger Gracie’s skill set with his ability to dictate where the fight would take place. Kyle would be a better matchup for Gracie right now; he needs seasoning and that’s precisely what Kyle will give him. And if he can’t defeat Mike Kyle his future in MMA is pretty bleak.
