Re: Strikeforce: Nashville spoiler thread Wow Aoki just got dominated... I was expecting so much more from him
Re: Strikeforce: Nashville spoiler thread Strikeforce Nashville: the night the casual fan lost interest. These were three technical ground battles that I doubt will be a hit in the ratings. Lawal/Mousasi was a bit surprising because everything went as expected for the first half of the fight, with Lawal gassing out and Mousasi starting to pick him apart on the feet--then Mousasi gassed out and the rest of the fight was a wrestling contest. Lawal is a very high level wrestler so you can't criticize Mousasi's take-down defence too much but that was the difference maker in the fight. Melendez/Aoki was much more predictable. Melendez is a good wrestler and Aoki had nothing for him. The "rematch in Japan" nonsense sounds like a deal brokered by Dream/Strikeforce more than something the fans really want or need to see. I was angry a bit with Mario Yamasaki for not allowing the butt-scoot. Why not? It almost screwed the fight up when Yamasaki stepped between them halfheartedly as Melendez threw some lunging punches. Melendez might've stopped the fight there. I thought the cage hurt Aoki tremendously as well. In the (smaller) ring he's closer to his opponents with greater opportunities to latch on. Miller/Stout was shoehorned into the broadcast for no apparent reason (at the time) but his presence would become more explainable later on... Shields/Henderson was a shocker. Shields dominated the wrestling! If it is true that Hendo's back is fucked up then that might be the first sign his career is coming to a close. I was extremely impressed with Shields after the first round--which he barely escaped. His top control was masterful though he wasn't able to do much damage. Shields will always be a position-oriented fighter yet his striking, as the fight wore on, was improved since the last time we saw him. I don't know what is next for him. Did you notice only ONE judge gave Henderson the first round of the fight? Implausible but true. Apparently two knockdowns don't count for much. Finally, the Miller/Team Ceasar Gracie debacle at the end of the night was disgraceful. You'd think Strikeforce would've learned from the Diaz/Noons dust-up years back. Guess not. Allowing Miller into the cage (deliberate) in an attempt to hype up a Shields/Miller rematch went horribly right, creating a big "story" people can talk about Monday. These kind of deliberate setups are about as phony as shoving matches during boxing press conferences. Does anybody want to see Shields decision Miller again over 25mins? Anybody?
Re: Strikeforce: Nashville spoiler thread The funniest moment of the night was an annoyed Mauro Renallo trying to force his way on camera during the final ringside Jake Shields interview. Shields wouldn't move and Maruo couldn't get around him so he just stuck his mic on screen until it went to a two-shot. Renallo is a diehard MMA supporter and he desperately wanted to express outrage over the brawl to the dismay of Gus Johnson. (Johnson broke out the "old bull, young bull" crap for the tenth straight show so if you were playing a drinking game at home I'm sure that cost a full beer--it is getting to the Magic Johnson "the dunk contest is back!" cliche point now).
Re: Strikeforce: Nashville spoiler thread Also, it seems to happen every time--yet again Strikeforce's show went way overtime (by 45mins or so), largely due to a huge gap between the second and third title fights. Closing in on three hours for three fights is not so good (5x5x3=75mins title fights, 90mins filler).
Re: Strikeforce: Nashville spoiler thread [warning: spoilers in spoiler thread] Edgar, Maynard, Griffin, Sherk, Penn, Florian--is there any good lightweight who couldn't repeat Melendez's strategy and beat Aoki?
Re: Strikeforce: Nashville spoiler thread [warning: spoilers in spoiler thread] Results 185 lbs.: Jake Shields (C) def. Dan Henderson via unanimous decision 205 lbs.: Muhammed Lawal (C) def. Gegard Mousasi via unanimous decision 155 lbs.: Gilbert Melendez (C) def. Shinya Aoki via unanimous decision 185 lbs.: Jason Miller def. Tim Stout via TKO (strikes) 3:09-R1 170 lbs.: Zach Underwood def. Hunter Worsham via unanimous decision 185 lbs.: Cale Yarbrough def. Josh Shockman via TKO (strikes) R2 125 lbs.: Dustin Ortiz def. Justin Pennington via submission (rear naked choke) R1 170 lbs.: Andrew Uhrich def. Dustin West via submission (rear naked choke) R1 205 lbs.: Ovince St. Preux def. Chris Hawk via TKO (strikes) R1 145 lbs.: Cody Floyd def. Thomas Campbell via TKO (strikes) R3
Re: Strikeforce: Nashville spoiler thread [warning: spoilers in spoiler thread] Pretty sure SF is rigged. No way Mousasi fucked that up bad. The brawl? C'mon...get real, SF. What rumors about hendo's back?
Re: Strikeforce: Nashville spoiler thread [warning: spoilers in spoiler thread] Man, Aoki is my second favourite fighter and to see him lose today and having the canucks lose...I am pretty disappointed. I also thought the cage hurt Aoki a lot, when melendez had him pressed up against it there was pretty much nothing he could of done to pull a sub off. I hope he takes this experience, goes back to Japan and gets stronger and improves his stand up so its at least a good distraction.
All I can say, is that CBS needs to get their act together. The fights weren't that great, but the production was a disaster. That last stunt at the end was just childish.
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I still think this whole shit was rigged. Mousasi had multiple times where he could have had a submission. He didn't even look to keep the fight on the feet, didn't attempt to get up, didn't attempt to stop the takedowns, etc...he basically just laid there and let King Mo do what he wanted. Hendo, maybe his age has caught up to him but I can't believe he got his ass whooped like that for 4 rounds. No fuckin' way. Either he threw that fight or his back is more fucked up than he is letting on. Strikeforce star Jake Shields vs. ex UFC vet Dan Henderson, who has never looked worse....I dunno.... The brawl? C'mon dude...seriously?
Mayhem Miller...5 on 1...he gained mad respect from me!!! War Mayhem!!!! Fuck the Diaz brothers! Either way for Hendo, he needs to stay @ 205. The cut to 185 is probably a lot on him.
Dana is off somewhere laughing at the Strikeforce promotion... It makes MMA looks so bad on national television....
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Re: Strikeforce: Nashville spoiler thread [video=youtube;HGMHXoNqhdE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGMHXoNqhdE&feature=player_embedded[/video]
