...OH, ONE MORE THING - PLEASE BOOKMARK US & VISIT DAILY!
By: Rich Hansen, MMA Torch Columnist
Contrary to public opinion, tonight's Strikeforce: Marquardt vs. Saffeidine event is not in fact the final even in Strikeforce history. In fact, the final Strikeforce show happened in Columbus, Ohio on March 5, 2011. That event, headlined by Dan Henderson (remember him?) defending his light heavyweight championship against Rafael Cavalcante, was the final event hosted by Strikeforce in its proper in their proper form; owned by Scott Coker and Silicon Valley Sports Entertainment. Barely a week after that show, Dana White gleefully put a spike into the heart of Strikeforce. Every show branded as "Strikeforce" after that date has not been a Strikeforce show. Strikeforce was murdered by Dana White much more thoroughly than Jon Jones and Greg Jackson murdered UFC 151.
There is an argument to be made that Strikeforce died on the day that the San Jose based promotion signed the great Fedor Emelianenko, but that would be a faulty argument. Strikeforce was the influence of Scott Coker, Bob Cook, Frank Shamrock, Shannon Knapp, Rich Chiu, the dozen or so employees who worked for the company outside of the public eye, etc. That small troupe of people were Strikeforce, and even after signing Fedor and dealing with M1-Global, Strikeforce still lived. The signing of Fedor wasn't the death of Strikeforce, it was merely the day the terminal disease that would eventually lead to Strikeforce's demise was born.
About a week ago, I told my editor that I wanted to write a column entitled "The Top 42 Clusterf***s in Strikeforce History." Lord knows there is enough material to find 42 things to at least list, if not describe in detail. I just didn't have to heart or the desire to rehash it. I was one of Strikeforce's most pointed critics from the moment they signed Fedor until a short time after Zuffa murdered Strikeforce, so it's not like I'm unfamiliar with slinging as many arrows as possible at Strikeforce. And Lord knows I have no fear of speaking ill of the (metaphorical) dead. But I just didn't want to do it. What Strikeforce accomplished from the middle of the last decade through 2011 is absolutely amazing. All of the subsequent mistakes don't diminish the fact that they accomplished a hell of a lot, and should be lauded for that.
Unfortunately for them, I'm not big on lauding anyone that doesn't fight out of Milwaukee, or doesn't play their home games at Soldier Field. So while I might not want to write 4000 words putting my final nail in the coffin of Strikeforce, I need to do something to commemorate the moment (and if you want to read what I've written about Strikeforce in the past, it's easy enough to find all of the grenades I've lobbed their way on this website).
So with all of that in mind, tonight I will be doing my own running commentary of the final Strikeforce show. For straight round by round coverage, Jamie Penick will be handling that in his very professional manner. And he's absolutely the best there is at that, so please do follow his report whether you're turning in to the fights or not. While he does what he does, I'll do what I do, which is to give whatever is left of Strikeforce the proper burial that they deserve.
6:57 PM (all times Central): I am absolutely digging the pre0fights show on Sho Extreme. I mean, sure it looks like the thirty-third replaying of this weeks edition of Inside the NFL, but that's only to the untrained eye. To the savvy of us, we see the symbolism and stuff, and we know what they're really saying to America about Strikeforce.
6:59 PM: Michelle Beadle is on Sho Extreme. She's no Heidi Androl. That is both a compliment and an insult.
7:00 PM: If I can be serious for a moment #NoLanceStorm, Ron Kruck is handling play by play tonight. Mauro Ranallo is out so he can tend to his ill parents. It's a damn shame that the voice of Strikeforce (normally that would be damning with faint praise, but I really like Ranallo's work) won't be able to attend the final show.
7:01 PM: The opening video montage just finished up. I counted 42 fighters in the video package who are no longer part of Strikeforce. On a lighter note, I've seen an advanced copy of the UFC 156 intro, and there's a whole lot of Tank Abbott and Oleg Taktarov in it. So, it's not just Strikeforce that's going retro.
7:03 PM: Classy move that essentially the first thing Ron Kruck did was to give tribute to Mauro Ranallo. Even classier, he fed to Pat Miletich first, so as to minimize the time Frank Shamrock is on.
7:05 PM: Between the three announcers, I see no lipstick and no braces. WHAT HAPPENED TO THE STRIKEFORCE THAT I LOVED!?!??!?!?!
7:06 PM: Wait? Baltimore tied Denver? Someone please hop on Twitter and tell me what happened!
7:08 PM: Also, I expect you to tweet me whenever San Francisco does something good, and to shut the hell up when their unnamed opponents do something good.
7:09 PM: Anthony Smith is on his way to the cage, wearing a blue Tapout track suit and horn rimmed glasses. I wish I had something for that.
7:10 PM: I'm sure that Ron Kruck is fine, but man it's weird not hearing Mauro's voice. I might have to start watch Showtime Boxing.
7:10 and 3 seconds: Nah.
7:12 PM: So, Anthony Smith vs. HAH-juh Gracie is on now. Middleweights. Remember when Strikeforce had a middleweight division that almost rivaled the UFC's? Shields, Lawler, Manhoef, Jacare, Le, Diaz (he did fight at 182), Kennedy, Rockhold. Sometime in 2010 I remember being geeked up at the thought of a middleweight grand prix in Strikeforce. This is before the heavyweight grand prix actually happened. That could have been great. I mean, how in the holy hell can you have Jacare and Cung Le on the roster at the same time and not make them fight? Jesus Christ Monkeyballs!
7:15 PM: Now we have Anthony Smith vs. HAH-juh Gracie. Downgrade.
7:16 PM: Why isn't Keith Jardine fighting on this card. That would have been PERFECT symbolism for what happened to Strikeforce.
7:18 PM: Ron Kruck sounds WAY too happy to be there. He's the only one.
7:20 PM: Kruck went from working with Bas Rutten on AXS TV to working with Frank Shamrock on Sho Extreme. There's a joke there somewhere...
7:22 PM: To be fair, Pat Miletich is better at technical commentary than anyone the UFC has on their announcing staff.
7:23 PM: Roger Gracie choked out Anthony Smith by arm triangle choke in the second round. Smith lit him up on the first, Gracie got him down in the second. One more Gracie to the UFC, one more Smith to, um, RFA maybe?
7:25 PM: I'd love to tell you which fight is coming up next, but they've already changed the fight order once they put Gracie on first.
7:26 PM: Heidi Androl sighting. one paragraph, 3 verbal typos. Heidi Androl sure is pretty. As a broadcaster, Heidi Androl sure is pretty.
7:30 PM: Pat Healy is up next against Kurt Holobaugh. The winner of the fight will be crowned the final Strikeforce Interim Lightweight Champion. Which has all the prestige of Chael Sonnen's claim to being the last WEC Middleweight Champion.
7:31 PM: Pat Healy was just introduced by Jimmy Lennon (Junior) as a respected lightweight contender. Now THAT is damning with faint praise. Jimmy Lennon is trolling hard tonight.
7:32 PM: Seriously, Gracie is stiffer than stiff, but the idea of him vs. Jacare in Rio would sell a butt load of tickets.
7:34 PM: So, Gilbert Melendez pulled out of a fight with Pat Healy either 2 or 3 times now, depending on who you believe. With (in?)conveniently timed injuries. Now Gilbert Melendez is looking at a UFC title shot, and Pat Healy is fighting on a card called by ron Kruck, needing a win to have a shot at the UFC. Yeah, that's a good precedent.
7:36 PM: Holobaugh had Healy in a heel hook, and you could distinctly hear his corner telling him to break it, over and over again.
7:39 PM: If it ever comes out that Melendez isn't hurt, I think Pat Healy is going to kill himself.
7:40 PM: There sure is way too much discussion out there from people pitying Pat Healy's circumstances. Meaning, how Melendez kept getting himself injured and now Healy's on ShoExtreme instead of the main event for a title shot (at the world's most prestigious belt no less), blah blah blah. Watch Pat Healy fight, and you know that he saved himself a beating. He offers nothing that Melendez hasn't seen a million times before.
7:46 PM: It's so difficult to have any emotional connection with any lightweight in Strikeforce. Gilbert Melendez won the title from Clay Guida in 2006. And other than a ten-month span in 2008-09, he's held that title the entire time. Melendez dropped the belt to Josh Thomson in June 2008, and won it back from Thomson in April 2009. Thomson is as synonymous with Strikeforce as Melendez, as Coker, as Shamrock, as Le. Thomson is gutty as all hell, and a very good representative for the sport, but man, if Josh Thomson is on your company's Mount Rushmore, then maybe you need a better sculptor.
7:49: Pat Haly is dominating this fight, but if Melendez beats Henderson in the UFC, there's no damn way he's getting that long (not really) awaited fight with Melendez. Melendez would clown him like Dumbo.
7:54 PM: Speaking of Melendez, did you know he's the only 2-time champion in Strikeforce history?
7:56 PM: Tim Kennedy vs. Trevor Smith up next. Trevor Smith soming to the cage to the song that was playing in Reservoir Dogs when Mister Blonde cut off that dude's ear. Also, he has a ravenous hate for Evander Holyfield. Kennedy, like always, comes out to one of my 10 least-favorite songs of all-time (Rooster). Pretty easy vote here.
8:01 PM: The referee for this fight looks like Big Poppa Pump, minus all muscle definition, crossed with a relatively clean-shaved Santa Claus.
8:04 PM: I've never been a Kennedy guy. I mean, dude, Jacare kicked your ass, get over it already . You weren't competitive in that fight, it was the easiest fight in the world to score, you don't deserve a rematch!
8:05 PM: Some Strikeforce trivia for you. Since there won't be a light heavyweight fight on tonight's card I'll pose it here. Did you know that Bobby Southworth is the only man in the existence of world history to successfully defend the Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Championship?
8:08 PM: Ron Kruck just told us that Tim Kennedy has landed 17 power strikes. This is a Tim Kennedy fight, so I think the phrase 'power strikes' isn't applicable here.
8:13 PM: Pat Healy, HAH-juh Gracie, and Tim Kennedy are collectively putting the entire arena to sleep. More people are watching Foreigner and Iron Maiden on AXS TV than these awful fights. To be fair, the Healy fight was interesting, just very slow.
8:15 PM: Trevor Smith is about to fall asleep. I was typing that just based on looking at his face, he looked tired. By the time I finished typing the first sentence, he tapped to a guillotine. Now Kennedy will give an awkward speech, and the audience will fall asleep.
8:19 PM: I've said this before, I'll say it again. KJ Noons looks like a wax statue of KJ Noons. I don't know exactly what that means, but look at him about half way through the second round and you'll nod your head in agreement.
8:22 PM: Ryan Couture vs. KJ Noons is up next. Neither of these guys should be anywhere near a UFC contract. That said, they've on a Strikeforce undercard, so you didn't need me to spell that out for you.
8:23 PM: KJ Noons has the thickest hair I've ever seen. It's so thick that if he ever headbutt someone with the top of his head, that person would die, and Noons would never feel the impact.
8:25 PM: I have so little to say about this fight, these fighters, and this division (LW).
8:28 PM: Dude, I just cannot get over KJ Noons' hair. His hair is wider than his shoulders.
8:32 PM: This fight is a lot of fun. Noons is beating Couture from pillar to post, but Couture has been competitive. And for the vampires out there, Noons has a lot of cat soup on his face.
8:37 PM: I was wrong to denigrate this fight. I expected very little action and a decision. Instead, it's been lots of action... en route to a (likely) decision. If either of these guys were any damn good, I'd like to see em in the UFC.
8:41 PM: That was a hell of a fight. Both of these guys enjoy being hit, which might not be the best attribute, but I'll certainly watch both of them fight again.
8:43 PM: KJ Noons just got screwed by two incompetent judges. Noons won 30-27, and lost a split. I mean, when the stakes are so damned high (a UFC contract for Christ's sake), the judges have a responsibility to WATCH THE DAMN FIGHT!
8:44 PM: Astute of Miletich to point out the fact that Couture's father wrestled at Oklahoma State University.
8:45 PM: I'll be back at the top of the hour for the main card. Assuming Strikeforce doesn't juggle the main card bout order like they did for the prelim card, Jacare vs. Herman will be up first.
9:00 PM: A nice 5 minute video package documenting the high moments of Strikeforce's history.
9:05 PM: I'm not minding Ron Kruck.
9:12 PM: Scott Coker has a new job. The former Strikeforce founder is not the Official Tweeter of Strikeforce. That's such an ignominious way to leave.
9:14 PM: In case you want to know how this fight plays out, please remember Herman vs. Jake Shields, and then remember that Jacare is better than Shields.
9:16 PM: This is going to be cold, but it's almost cruel that Ed Herman's last fight for Zuffa could be for Strikeforce, fighting against a Strikeforce fighter who has already signed a UFC contract.
9:19 PM: So this is a catchweight fight, but Jacare and Herman are both middleweights by trade. So let's talk about Nashville. Specifically, the brawl that followed the middleweight title fight between Jake Shields and Dan Henderson.
So, Strikeforce had signed Fedor a few months prior...
Hold on...
Jacare just tapped Herman with a kimura that for a moment looked like an arm-breaker. We'll get back to Nashville in a minute.
9:25 PM: Before I get back to Nashville... Why did Strikeforce never even TRY to make Rockhold vs. Jacare 2? After Strikeforce let their middleweight division die a meaningless death, JAcare dropped his title to Luke Rockhold. This was Rockhold's first fight in more than 18 months. Anyhoo, Rockhold shocked and bored the world en route to a victory. Jacare worked his way back into contention, Strikeforce made it clear they wanted to do the rematch, and then booked Rockhold vs. the under-qualified Lorenz Larkin. I bet Rockhold wouldn't have gotten injured for a Jacare fight. Nashville next.
9:35 PM: OK, so Strikeforce grew organically for a decade and a half. Then they got bit by ambition and bought Elite, got the CBS deal, and then signed Fedor, all in less than a year. The thing is that your reach will always exceed your grasp, so it's never enough. Next was the signing of Dan Henderson.
Now, none of those decisions were bad decisions. It made sense to buy Elite XC's assets, to get on CBS, to sign Fedor. But they went against their own mission statement, which was to put on a few exciting shows per year on the west coast, and nothing more. They did it brilliantly, but after those decisions, they became a national company that had to put on more than a dozen shows per year, from coast to coast. So then they signed Dan Henderson away from the UFC and marketed him as the best thing since sliced bread.
Hold on...
Gegard Mousasi just submitted Mike Kyle. Kyle tapped for like 15 seconds, right in front of the ref, before the ref called the fight. How very Strikeforce.
Mousasi and Jacare will have more of an impact on the UFC than Rockhold and Melendez.
9:42 PM: So, the UFC got Henderson, coming off of a huge win over Michael Bisping, and then promoted him like he was a one-man Beatles reunion tour (with Lennon and Harrison). this pissed off Dana White and the UFC. This pissed off reigning middleweight champ Jake Shields. This pissed off Shields' entire camp, which included Strikeforce Lightweight champ Gilbert Melendez and Strikeforce Welterweight champ Nick Diaz.
So, Henderson got an immediate title shot against... Well, based on the commercials on CBS he got a title shot against some guy who might have had a name, but you couldn't tell based on small type they used to promote the reigning champion. Needless to say, Strikeforce was counting on Henderson throttling Shields more than Elite XC was counting on Kimbo Slice over Seth Petruzelli.
9:50 PM: So that's the main event. FUTURE CHAMPION BY BIRTHRIGHT DAN HENDERSON vs. some handsome guy. Also on the card, Gilbert Melendez defending against Shinya Aoki, and Gegard Mousasi defending against (call and response time):
KING!!!
MO!!!
So, three title fights in a two hour window. Dana White was laughing, thinking of UFC 33. Anyhow. The first two fights went to decision, and were just awful. Strikeforce and CBS ran tons of promos and video pieces galore, and it was beyond their two-hour window before the main event even started.
The fight itself was memorable, in as much as I scored every round as a 10-8 round. the first to Henderson, the last four to Shields. And the forgotten champion remained champion.
Hold on...
Barnett vs. Guelmino is 15 seconds in. Barnett got the immediate takedown, and Miletich said point blank that Barnett wants to get this thing over with. I love that they don't feel need to hard sell Guelmino here.
9:53 PM: Barnett got the submission like 2 minutes in. Leg trip to forearm choke to arm-triangle. Pathetic. Barnett should have been minus-infinity.
9:54 PM: 3 fights finished in the first hour, and Showtime doesn't add filler during Strikeforce shows. There's no way I'm going to finish talking about Nashville.
9:55 PM: Nice of Miletich to corner Barnett about his past "contract disputes" with parent company Zuffa, but never mention the word nandrolone.
9:56 PM: So, back to Nashville. Which was more of a disaster than Alex Bullis' love life. Shields wins, Henderson's $42,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 contract is a bust, and Jake Shields is still the champ. He's damaged goods, based not only off of the blanket-like nature of his performance, but his bland persona as well. But he was hated my a ton of MMA fans due to his less than thrilling victory over Jason Miller. That fight was seen by millions of people, because it was on the undercard of Fedor's debut on CBS with Strikeforce.
So, the wrong guy won (a theme with Strikeforce). And while being interviewed, Jason Miller snuck into the cage, stole airtime from Shields during his interview with esteemed lipstick wearer Gus Johnson, and then Melendez cold-cocked him. A near-riot ensued.
10:06 PM: Remember, the first aggressive action was Melendez, not Miller. So, Melendez starts a brawl, the Diaz brothers get involved, OH THE HUMANITY.
Hold on:
Staring is being introduced. Which means that the fight with Daniel Cormier which will begin in 45 seconds will be done in 59 seconds.
10:07 PM: This is going to be ugly. Green Bay Packer defense ugly.
10:08 PM: Cormier got the takedown to side mount, and Staring got up without taking any damage. Just a prelude to the murder at hand, though.
10:11 PM: Staring survived the first. Of course, Cormier bet Bob Cook $100 that he could win the fihgt without throwing a closed hand punch, so there's that...
10:13 PM: So Strikeforce put on one of the worst shows of all time. The main event winner was the wrong guy, and then there was a near-riot during the interview portion.
That was the last time MMA appeared on CBS.
Jake Shields' next fight was with the UFC, because he bolted Strikeforce after that fight.
Henderson defeated Fedor Emelianenko, which led to Fedor being released.
Henderson became the Light Heavyweight champion, and then went back to the UFC without ever defending the championship.
So, Nashville managed to get Strikeforce thrown off of network TV, cost them their prized HW, killed their LHW division (which never crowned another champion), led to their MW champion leaving the company for greener pastures (after they promoted the ever loving shit out of the guy he beat up), and left the WW and LW champions mad at Strikeforce.
The moral of the story? The moral is Green Bay sucks, of course. the Niners have run for 315 yards so far, and there's still time left in the 4th quarter!
10:18 PM Cormier methodically pounded out Staring mid0way through the second. That was meaningless. The Barnett fight was meaningless.
10:22 Cormier just called out Frank Mir and Jon Jones, both UFC fighters. WHERE'S THE LOYALTY TO YOUR CURRENT EMPLOYER, SON?
10:30 PM: Tonight's last fight, and this incarnation of Strikeforce's last fight, is Tarec Saffiedine vs. Nathan Marquardt. An actual semi-competitive fight, believe it or not. Marquardt is going to starch him, but there's a chance for Tarec to do something impressive here.
10:33 PM: Strikeforce is going out in the manner they should, with Mister Strikeforce himself Nathan Marquardt fighting someone in Oklahoma.
10:39 PM: You know, that's a pretty apropos way to end this commentary. I'm going to go out on a whimper, just like Strikeforce. I'm glad that this Zuffa-owned perversion of a once-proud company is gone, simply so that the fighters trapped in this version of purgatory can get on with their careers and their lives.
(Attention MMATorch app users: Make sure to upgrade to the latest edition of the MMATorch app on your iPhone, iPad, or Android device!)
Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
STAFF COLUMNISTS: Shawn Ennis - Jason Amadi
Frank Hyden - Rich Hansen
Chris Park - Matt Pelkey
Interested in joining MMATorch's writing team? Send idea for a theme to your column (for Specialist section) or area of interest (i.e. TV Reporter) along with a sample of writing to mmatorch@gmail.com.
