Last week, I shared with you some footage of Fedor vs Rogers 360 on Showtime. This past Saturday, M1 Global and Strikeforce presented Fedor vs. Rogers on Saturday Night Fights. While this card had a lot of hype going in, I’ll be the first to admit that I expected most of the fights to be formulaic in terms of the right guys winning and the card lacking any drama. I’ll start off by saying that all the fights on the card delivered.
I am going to go fight by fight sharing my thoughts.
HEAVYWEIGHT BOUT – Antonio Silva (13-1) vs. Fabricio Werdum (12-4-1): Werdum-Decision
Exciting heavyweight bout that showed a wealth of talent with plenty of action. I expected Silva to come away with the victory but Werdum (pronounced Ver-Doom) showed great cage awareness as well as great scrambles and solid stand-up to defend against the larger opponent.
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT BOUT – Gegard Mousasi (26-2-1) vs. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou (7-4): Mousasi-TKO 2nd Round
Shields-Unanimous Decision
Shields vs. Miller was for the vacant Middleweight Title and did not disappoint. I really didn’t know much about Mayhem going into this fight other than his work on the MTV show Bully Beatdown, but he made a fan out of me with his performance against a very talented Shields. Shields used his wrestling and Gracie Jiu-Jitsu skill to take the fight to Mayhem, who while on the losing end of the decision showed tremendous composure throughout the fight and had one of the coolest entrances I have ever seen in a US MMA fight. I see a rematch between these two in the near future.
HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE BOUT: Fedor Emelianenko (31-1-1nc) vs. Brett Rogers (10-0): Fedor-TKO 2nd Round
Fedor and Rogers were fighting for the WAMMA Heavyweight Title instead of the Strikeforce title which is currently held by Alastair Overeem. Rogers came into this fight as the underdog, but boy did he promptly introduce himself with a swift jab to Fedor’s face which may or may not have broken his nose. Rogers showed zero fear in taking the fight to Fedor, at one point securing the mount and pummeling Fedor in the first round. Fedor has not seen a second round in years but seemed unfazed as the round started. Sadly, like I said last week, Rogers made a mistake and was hit with a huge right that put him to sleep.
I must say Rogers got a lot further than I gave him credit for and had a decent chance. Fedor is a great strategist and knows to wait for his opponent to make a mistake. Rogers will see Fedor again since I am sure Fedor enjoyed the competition.
In closing I’d like to commend Strikeforce for a great card, but you guys need to get rid of Gus Johnson because he sucks.
EA treated us to some footage of EA Sports MMA which showed not only what the game looks like but the main event we were about to see. While the footage was welcome, the fighters didn’t look as realistic as the ones in UFC Undisputed 2009. Given that it was a just a trailer, I am sure EA will tighten up the graphics.
I am not sure I’d buy the EA game given how they gave the UFC a hard time when their game needed to be published but that may change if the game is good and has a good roster.Have a look for yourselves
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Rogers had no chance. you could see the fear in him as he backed up at the beginning of the fight. yeah he made it to the second round but he is a much bigger fighter which gives him a big advantage. fedor is just much, much better and if they had a rematch rogers probably wouldn't do any better.
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LikeGotta disagree. I would think Fedor would not bother with someone that could not give him any issues. That dude has no fear in his eyes whatsoever. If I was as well known for making people tap as I was for knocking them the eff out, I'd have respect for the fact that I could not lock anything on Rogers. Rogers needs to up his ground offense because his defense against Fedor (on the ground) was great, all things considered. With some polishing by the right trainers, he could definitely beat Fedor - I gotta see a rematch.
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LikeShield's looked right at the clock and was well aware there was milliseconds left in the round....his cardio most likely allowed him to tough out that choke. Miller clearly was out-wrestled here. I didn't choose sides for this fight because Jake Shields is a great fighter, and Miller amuses me to no end. (come on, the guy DANCED to the cage!!!! fracking awesome!) I would have definitley liked to have seen at least one stand up round, however, strategy is how you win fights - and Shields KNEW not to stand with Miller. When a belt is on the line, you do what you have to, regardless of what the fans want.
Antonio Silva's back tattoo of a foot is dumb - and he has the loooooooongest face I have ever seen in my life. The doctor must have delivered him by pulling chin first...fight was good though...
I don't like Gaygard Moose-cocky or Predator Sokoudjou...so I slept throught that fight.
I can commentate better than Gus Johnson....Dear Strikeforce - offer me a job.
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LikeI only caught the last two fights but I have to disagree on my feelings of the middleweight bout. Miller did stay very cool and really was on the floor most of the fight to the dismay of the crowd (boos heard more than once), but Miller won the fight to me. MMA is the "anything can happen" sport and in something like that, I do not feel that one should be saved by the bell. Miller was biding his time the whole fight and was unlucky enough to score the rear naked choke in the final 10 seconds of round 3 (correct me if I am wrong on that number). He better get a rematch because Shields was seconds from straight passing out - he was not getting out of that hold.
Rogers earned my respect and I was proud of his performance (for the most part) against Fedor - considering I feel that no one gave any credit to Rogers against "the greatest MMA fighter in the world." I hate titles like that. I feel that Rogers did show some fear against Fedor and on at least one occasion he backed up when he should not have. Fedor must respect Rogers and not because he got his nose busted; not because he had to fight a second round; not because he got pounded out horribly on the ground. Fedor was unable to truly show dominance like he normally does and if not for that one instant, I think the fight would have gone decision (which in my book would make Rogers the winner) Fedor had at least three submissions locked in and Rogers was like "you ain't getting me this way," powering out of each one. If Rogers works on speed and evasion and keeps up his ground game, Fedor is gonna have a serious problem in a rematch. I would love to see Rogers payback Fedor with a TKO of his own.
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