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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
STRIKEFORCE: HEAVY ARTILLERY
MAY 15, 2010
LIVE FROM SAN JOSE, CALIF.
-The opening video highlighted Brett Rogers' rise up to the Fedor fight and ran with the story of whether he can overcome the loss to take out Overeem, who has "more knockouts than Rogers has fights."
-Gus Johnson opened the show on commentary. It's a surprise he's doing the Showtime show, and not necessarily a good one after last month's CBS event. Frank "Braces" Shamrock is back on color commentary, as is Mauro Ranallo, and they run down the fights for tonight's televised card.\
FIGHT ONE: ANTWAIN BRITT VS. RAFAEL "FEIJAO" CAVALCANTE (LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT)
ROUND ONE: Feijao takes the center early and Britt circles the outside. Britt comes in and lands a punch but eats a counter left. Britt gets in close and lands a short combo before Feijao clinches and spins him to the cage. Feijao landed a couple of good knees and slips, but Britt lets him back up. Britt counters a leg kick with a combination and presses Feijao back. He lands a combination to the body. Feijao pops him with a hook. He engages and they clinch to the cage. Feijao lands a few knees with his back on the cage. Britt lands some short punches to the body. Britt tags Feijao with an uppercut as they separate that staggers him. Britt gets in a nice straight punch but Feijao counters well with a punch and a big knee to the body. Britt clinches again and they jockey for position on the cage. The crowd starts to boo and the referee separates them. Feijao throws a half hearted high kick that gets blocked but then he rocks Britt with an overhand right. He follows the staggered Britt to the cage and lands a combination to the body and then knocks Britt out against the cage with an uppercut. Nice finish.
WINNER: Feijao via KO at 3:45 of the first round.
STAR RATING: (**+) Good one round fight with a nice finish by Feijao. He rocked Britt with that big overhand right and then followed up well and got in the KO uppercut.
RAMIFICATIONS: In Strikeforce's light heavyweight division, there aren't very many fighters in front of him on the path to a Title shot, and this second straight victory is a good one to get to that point.
-Brett Rogers is interviewed backstage by Mauro Ranallo, and he talks about deserving a shot as he's working just as hard as any other heavyweight and he's going to take the opportunity he was given. He predicted a first round KO like the last time he was in this arena.
FIGHT TWO: KEVIN RANDLEMAN VS. ROGER GRACIE (LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT)
PRE FIGHT: Randleman said he's a smart fighter this time out. He said he's not fighting the "Gracie" name, he's fighting a man named Gracie. He added that he's got 40 fights while Gracie has just two.
ROUND ONE: Gracie's seemingly got about a foot of height on Randleman here. Randleman tried to press forward. He landed a leg kick but was definitely tentative. Gracie tried to lightly pat him with jabs and Randleman landed another leg kick. Randleman unloaded with bad intentions but came up about a foot short on the delivery. Gracie tried to get in close to clinch but Randleman shook him off. Gracie walked Randleman down and landed a knee as he tried to clinch. Randleman got loose again. This is very tentative stand up here, and they're still feeling out the range. Gracie throws a bad kick that Randleman catches and throws away. Gracie lands a good straight punch but Randleman absorbs it and keeps moving. The crowd starts to boo. Gracie's punches have nothing on them. He finally gets a tie up. Randleman pushes Gracie to the cage as Gracie grabbed a guillotine. He let it go. Gracie got him down briefly but Randleman pulled off a nice switch and got back to his feet. Gracie lands some more short punches but again they don't have much of anything behind them. Randleman lands a nice short combination late before the round comes to an end.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Gracie. Close round, but Gracie used his reach to land some punches and Randleman couldn't get into his range much until the end of the round.
ROUND TWO: Randleman lands a hard two punch combo to the body to push Gracie back. Gracie comes at Randleman and lands a combination as Randleman tries to get away. Randleman lands another body shot. He throws another right that misses. Gracie lands a couple punches and gets in for the clinch. He again grabs for a headlock standing and Randleman lowers his posture and grabs for a double leg takedown. Gracie pushes off the cage and lands a knee. He lands another and drops Randleman and then drops down into the mount. Randleman moves to north-south, then to side control. He goes for an arm triangle and Randleman rolls out but Gracie gets his back and rolls him and goes for the rear naked choke. He locks him in a body lock but Randleman is doing a decent job of holding off the choke attempt. He finally locks it on and Randleman taps as he goes out.
WINNER: Gracie via submission (rear naked choke) at 4:10 of the second round.
POST FIGHT: Gracie said a fighter has to fight with his mind. He said he's a patient person and always waits for the right moment. He talked about working the jab to keep Randleman out of range.
STAR RATING: (**+) That was a good second round after a very tentative first. As soon as the fight hit the ground the finish was inevitable.
RAMIFICATIONS: Randleman looked better than in the Whitehead fight for awhile, but the range was far too much to overcome and once it hit the ground he was done. Gracie's striking is rudimentary, but he was effective in keeping Randleman at bay with the jab and then he dropped him with a nice knee to the temple. He's got to be done after this fight.
-Ranallo is backstage with Overeem from earlier tonight for an interview. Overeem talked baout there not being any other heavyweights to fight him for the Title after he beat Buentello. He said after Affliction went bankrupt more heavyweights came into the market. He said he thinks Rogers lacks experience, but he said he's prepared for him. He seemed to almost shrug it off. He doesn't at all look worried about this fight.
FIGHT THREE: JOEY VILLASENOR VS. RONALDO "JACARE" SOUZA (MIDDLEWEIGHT)
PRE FIGHT: Both fighters said they come to fight the best. Villasenor said this is a perfect fight to find out where both stand in the division. Souza said he's studied his style and he's done his homework. Souza said his goal it to get a shot at the Championship, and Villasenor said the winner could be the next Champ.
ROUND ONE: Souza took the center of the cage to start the fight. He tried to shoot with an overhand right but slipped up. He got the clinch up on his feet anyway and pushed Villasenor to the cage. Villasenor broke free but Jacare stayed on him and grabbed a single leg. He drove Villasenor to the ground and got into half guard. He landed some short shots to stay active. He pulled off a nice pass to mount. He postured up and landed some punches. Villasenor pushed off the cage and bucked Souza off and got back to his feet. Souza got right back onto him with the clinch and pushed his back to the cage. He landed some short punches and a knee to the body. Villasenor landed a knee but Souza went right back to him with three hard knees to the gut. Souza drops to single and drags Villasenor to the ground. He postures up and lands some hard punches to the face before passing to half guard. Jacare let Villasenor get back up to his feet, but he followed him with punches, shot at the cage and slammed him back to the ground and into half guard. He grabbed for an arm but Villasenor broke free before he could get anything locked in. Souza stood up and Villasenor made it to his feet as the round ended.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-8 Souza. He was all over Villasenor on the feet and on the ground. Great start to the fight for Jacare.
ROUND TWO: Villasenor walked Souza down early and both landed punches. Villasenor pushed forward again and landed a leg kick. Souza then shot in and took him down with ease into half guard. Villasenor pulled off a nice sweep and got to his feet. Souza got right after him with a takedown attempt. Villasenor held it off briefly on the cage but Souza pulled him to the ground. Souza passed to half guard. Souza tried to pass to side control but Villasenor again escaped and got to his feet. Villasenor walked him down and landed a nice left hook. He landed a hard leg kick as he continued to walk him down. Souza landed a left hook. He shot in from a ways away and completed it against the cage. He dropped down with a right. Souza lands some more short punches in Villasenor's guard. Villasenor kicked him off and got back up. Villasenor ladned a right and Souza countered. Souza shot in for a single but Villasenor sprawled at the cage as the round came to an end.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Souza. He's slowing down considerably in this one, but he's still getting the takedowns and controlling the fight right now.
ROUND THREE: Villasenor landed an early combo but Souza countered and pushed him back. Villasenor came right back and landed another right that tagged Souza. Souza lands a kick to the body. Souza shoots in but Villasenor holds off the takedown. Villasenor pushed him down. He lands a body shot but eats a counter right from Souza. Villasenor lands a right but Souza eats it and shoots in. Villasenor shakes it off again. Souza lands a right and takes Souza down. I have to comment on Gus Johnson overreacting to Villasenor's offense, saying this fight is his for the taking. Not when he's down two rounds to one and hasn't landed anything near a knockout blow. Back to the action, Souza got into half guard and landed short shots to stay active. All the commentary team is talking about is Villasenor wearing Jacare down, when he's on his back and down on the scorecards! Terrible commentary. Souza keeps busy, though Villasenor defends well. The ref stands them up even though Souza's working in the half guard. Terrible. Villasenor comes forward, lands a punch and a knee and Souza takes him down again into half guard. Souza lands some hard shots in the guard and keeps Villasenor on his back as the round ends.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Villasenor. Villasenor did more damage in that round, but he got taken down twice and was on his back for half the round. I'd give the edge to him slightly, but he probably lost that one. 29-27 on my card, but I could see 30-26 or 30-27.
WINNER: Souza via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
STAR RATING: (**+) Solid fight, but nothing special. Villasenor made a fight of it in the third, but the announce team was just terrible talking about how he was "wearing Jacare down" when he was losing the fight and on his back. You'd think with how many cards Mauro Ranallo has commentated for and with how many times Frank Shamrock and Gus Johnson have done this they'd at least improve, but that's just not the case. That was just really bad in this fight.
RAMIFICATIONS: Jacare will get the next shot at the Middleweight Championship, but whether that's against Jake Shields or another opponent for a vacant belt remains to be seen (it will be the latter). Villasenor needs to fight more often, plain and simple, so hopefully Strikeforce can book him sooner rather than later.
FIGHT FOUR: ANDREI ARLOVSKI VS. ANTONIO "BIGFOOT" SILVA
PRE FIGHT: Silva said he missed his chance against Werdum, but he won't let that happen again. Arlovski said it's possible for him to get on top again. Silva said Arlovski's been knocked out twice, and he'll try to do the same.
ROUND ONE: Arlovski lands an early leg kick. Silva lands one to the body. Arlovski lands a nice right as Silva misses. He lands a nice kick to the body and a short combination. Silva lands a couple counter shots. Silva lands a leg kick.Silva backs Arlovski off. Arlovski lands a right and backs away from a couple of jabs. Silva lands a left. Arlovski gets in with a straight left. Silva landed a nice combination ending with a nice left hook and Arlovski takes it. Silva with another leg kick. Arlovski misses a big right and eats a counter right from Silva. Silva lands a big right on Arlovski and backs him to the cage. Silva clinches him against the cage. Arlovski's taking the punches here pretty well so far, but he's getting tagged more often than he'd like to. Arlovski lands a knee. Silva backs off slightly and lands a nice combination before Arlovski clinches. Silva pulls Arlovski down in a sloppy takedown and then drops into his guard. He lands a couple of punches and Arlovski gets to the cage. He has a slight hold of a headlock but they just hold in the position as the round winds down. Arlovski gets to his feet and lands a knee as the round ends.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Silva. He out-struck Arlovski in that round and did some good damage. That was a good start for "Bigfoot."
ROUND TWO: Arlovski pushed forward to start the second round. Silva lands a kick to the body. Arlovski came in close and ate a combination. Silva again counters as he gets close. Silva with a nice jab. Arlovski lands an overhand right but Silva pushes forward and hurts him with a combo before clinching. Arlovski lands a knee to the body. Arlovski turns Silva and puts his back on the cage. Arlovski lands some body punches and an uppercut. Silva hits him with an uppercut and then they're stalemated briefly and they get separated. Silva shoots for a takedown but Arlovski holds it off and pushes him to the cage. They're just jockeying for position again on the cage. Silva lands a few knees and then tries to pull off a leg trip to no avail. They get separated again. Silva switches stances and walks Arlovski down. Arlovski starts landing some kicks and they both connect in a wild exchange. Silva lands a nice jab and then pushes forward with a clinch. He lands a nice knee, separates and clinches again. Silva turns him and they jockey again for position as there is some booing from the crowd. They separate with a flurry. They trade punches and clinch again as the round comes to an end.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Silva. Not as much action as in the first round, but Silva is still landing more on the feet and beating Arlovski to the punch.
ROUND THREE: Arlovski tried to open with a jab and they traded leg kicks. Arlovski lands a body punch but eats a two punch counter from Silva. Silva is swtiching stances here. Silva lands a leg kick and pushes forward. Arlovski lands a counter right but Silva pushes him into the cage. They exchange short body punches and knees. Silva tries to trip Arlovski up but can't get it. They get separated. Arlovski lands a combo and Silva counters. They both land punches in another exchange. Silva lands two big rights and presses forward. Arlovski spins Silva and puts his back against the cage. Arlovski lands a short uppercut but eats a knee from Silva and they again jockey for position on the cage. They get separated again. Arlovski lands a nice combination. He gets in a high kick and then a right hook that lands. Silva clinches again and pushes him to the cage. Silva dropped to attempt a takedown and Arlovski tries to hold it off. Silva then picked him up and slammed him down. Silva moved to half guard on the ground. He nearly passed to mount but Arlovski pulled him back to guard, but he ate a couple of punches in the process. Arlovski walked back up the cage and turned Silva around to the cage. They get separated with ten seconds left. Silva thought it was done and held his arms up. He then dropped his arms and shuffled a little bit, taunting Arlovski as the fight comes to a close.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Silva. Clean sweep, Arlovski was a bit off tonight, and coming off the year long layoff he just wasn't able to implement much of anything in this one. He did show he can take a punch, though, as he took a lot of them from Silva.
WINNER: Silva via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
STAR RATING: (**) There were bursts of excitement in there, but there wasn't much to this one. Silva just outworked Arlovski and got the better of exchanges on the feet. I guess Arlovski took that second round, but it was a close one in that round. Silva had a good performance, though.
RAMIFICATIONS: Silva gets back on track after a loss to Fabricio Werdum, but Arlovski's now lost three straight fights. He may get the loser of tonight's main event, but that's not a given for him.
MAIN EVENT FIGHT FIVE: BRETT ROGERS VS. ALISTAIR OVEREEM (STRIKEFORCE HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP)
PRE FIGHT: Rogers says fighting for the Title is his only goal and he's been waiting years for this. Overeem said he's been training for 15 years and for him, this is just a work out. Rogers said he hopes Overeem wants to stand and trade with him. Overeem said Rogers is lacking all of the things he can do to him and he has nothing to prove tonight.
ROUND ONE: Overeem gets the center of the cage and he walks Rogers down. They engage with blocked punches and Rogers ties him up briefly. Rogers lands a jab and Overeem lands a leg kick. Another leg kick from Overeem and he's got Rogers backing up. Rogers pushes forward and misses. Overeem tosses Rogers to the ground with a trip and got on top of him and down into side control. He lands some elbows to the body. He landed a forearm to the face and came down with a big knee to the body. He lands some more elbows to the body. He postures up and Rogers rolls to his knees. Overeem drops with a right and Rogers tries to throw an upkick. Overeem drops with another right and passes back to side control. Rogers tries to scramble and then covers up. He eats a couple of punches and Overeem lands a big knee to the body. Overeem is unloading with a ton of shots and Rogers is just covering up. Overeem continues to land a ton of punches and all Rogers can do is cover up, forcing the stoppage. Well, they need to get Fedor and M-1 Global in line for a fight with Overeem this fall. If they can't put that fight together there's no point in having either of them on the roster. Good U.S. return for Overeem.
WINNER: Overeem via KO at 3:40 of the first round.
POST FIGHT: Overeem said it's been awhile, but he's back and he's here to stay. He said he was in the best shape of his life and this fight proved it. He said he wanted to finish like he always does. He called out Fedor, and said his management declined to fight him tonight and he gave Brett credit for stepping up for the fight.
STAR RATING: (***) That was just a dominating performance by Overeem. Rogers was backed down early, and the numbers show he outstruck Rogers 54-1. That's stunning. Most of them were on the ground, but that's still a staggeringly one-sided number.
RAMIFICATIONS: Well, as long as Fedor gets past Fabricio Werdum next month like he's supposed to then they have to set up Overeem vs. Fedor. There's no excuse for that fight not to happen in the fall if Fedor wins on June 26.
-The commentators talked up the Fedor-Overeem fight, while trying not to look past Werdum. They discussed Overeem's confidence and his dominating victory tonight.
-Looks like they're going to cut the event short by a half hour again tonight. Ridiculous that they never fill out their two and a half hour time slot on Showtime and then go 45 minutes over on their CBS show. This is where taped prelims need to come into play. You've got the time. Use it.
-That's another event in the books for Strikeforce, and it was a hell of a return by the Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion Alistair Overeem. Hopefully for Strikeforce they're able to book him against Fedor this fall, and hopefully he is in more than just that fight over the next two years for the organization instead of another two and a half year absence.
Make sure to tune in tomorrow, Sunday May 16, from 2-4 PM ET on BlogTalkRadio.com/MMATorch for our two hour livecast Sunday Conversation, hosted by me and MMATorch Columnist Matt Pelkey, as we discuss tonight's fight card and all of the action from the week that was in MMA. Thanks for joining us for our live report tonight!
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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