Fedor vs. Henderson Saves “Fedor vs. Henderson” From Mediocre Status

News, Results

If Strikeforce ceased to exist after “Fedor vs. Henderson,” Scott Coker and company could walk away with one of their strongest cards to date and a fitting fair well to the company. As it stands the company’s days may be numbered, especially with the dismissal of its heavyweight champion and the removal of its welterweight champion to the UFC, but a grand finale of a main event saved a lackluster show whose best moment until then would not be televised.

Tyler Stinson’s destruction of Eduardo Pamplona in 15 seconds was easily the highlight of the night for most of the evening in suburban Chicago.

“We worked on that exact finish in preparation for this fight but we didn’t anticipate finishing that quickly” Stinson said afterwards. “I laid a straight down the pipe and once I followed up and connected I knew it was over. I gave a Dan Henderson tribute with the hammer-fists until the fight was stopped.”

One of three finishes on a five fight non-televised undercard. With a spirited split-decision between JZ Cavalcante and Bobby Green leading up to the main event, “Fedor vs. Henderson” looked to start out well. And on paper the televised portion’s first three fights were all primed for exciting fights.

Scott Smith and Tarec Saffiedine was a one sided contest as Saffiedine completely dominated Smith but couldn’t quite finish him. It was a really good kick-boxing brawl but neither fighter pressed for a finish. Daley-Woodley and Kennedy-Lawler could be classified as the same. Both were good brawls but neither guy pushed for the finish, coasting for a decision in the third. You could argue that Daley won the fight, as you could score the first for him as well as a third round that saw him nearly finish Woodley on a submission.

“I don’t agree with the decision, I thought that I took the first and third rounds,” Daley said afterwards. “Tyron didn’t do anything with the takedowns and I was a more effective striker and active grappler than he was. My ground and pound and submission attempt were enough to win the fight.”

Coenen vs. Tate perked up a Chicago crowd that was into the fights, as Tate was clearly the crowd favorite. With a late round submission win from Tate, something even Coenen didn’t think possible, the female member of Team Alpha Male would capture gold. And then the main event commenced and Chicago exploded for both Dan Henderson and Fedor, with the Pride Heavyweight champion getting a reaction that can almost be described as “Hogan-esque” as you could barely hear Jimmy Lennon Jr. over them.

“Is there anything Dan Henderson cannot do? That guy is incredible” Scott Coker asked rhetorically at the post-fight press conference and for good reason: he came back after Fedor nearly stopped him after a wild first round to finish the “Last Emperor” with strikes at the end of the first round. With a slightly questionable stoppage, one which Coker agreed with, the fight leaves Strikeforce in a precarious position.

Both fighters in its main event just completed their contracts and don’t have immediate fights looking ahead. Henderson has no immediate challenger to fulfill his “champion’s clause” and a path back to the UFC seems likely. Fedor perhaps might have too much of an asking price, still, and there are not too many compelling matchups left for him especially on a three fight losing streak.

But if he walks away from MMA, and Henderson perhaps going back to the UFC, they certainly did one thing no one can take away. They gave one last great round for the ages.