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Strikeforce 11/7 Chicago (Fedor/Rogers)
By Zach Arnold | November 7, 2009
Venue: Sears Centre Arena (Hoffman Estates, Illinois)
TV: CBS
- Welterweights (170 pounds): Christian Uflacker vs. Jonatas Novaes
- Middleweights (185 pounds): Louis Taylor vs. Nate Moore
- Welterweights (185 pounds): Shamar Bailey vs. John Kolosci
- Lightweights (155 pounds): Mark Miller vs. Deray Davis
- Featherweights (145 pounds): Jeff Curran vs. Dustin Neace
- Women (145 pounds): Roxanne Modafferi vs. Marloes Coenen
- Heavyweights: Antonio Silva vs. Fabricio Werdum
- Light Heavyweights (205 pounds): Gegard Mousasi vs. Sokoudjou
- Middleweights (185 pounds): Jake Shields vs. Jason “Mayhem” Miller
- Heavyweights: Brett Rogers vs. Fedor Emelianenko
Event coverage: Heavy | MMA Torch | Sherdog | Fanhouse | USA Today | Bloody Elbow | MMA Frenzy | MMA Junkie
Strikeforce/Showtime public relations staff sent out this notice during the Chicago event:
CHICAGO (Nov. 7, 2009) — The stakes will be high when STRIKEFORCE closes out a spectacular 2009 with the return of one of the most prolific and exciting fighters in Mixed Martial Arts – unbeaten former STRIKEFORCE world middleweight champion Cung Le, who will headline a star-studded lineup at HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif. on Saturday, Dec. 19, on SHOWTIME®.
Joining the legendary Le (6-0) will be five other outstanding and widely recognized 185-pound stalwarts, Scott “Hands Of Steel’’ Smith (16-6), “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler (16-5), Matt “The Law” Lindland (21-6) and highly regarded STRIKEFORCE newcomers Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza (10-2) and Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal (5-0), who will be making their respective highly anticipated debuts for the organization. Souza will face Lindland. Opponents for Lawler and “King Mo’’ will be announced soon.
A special pre-sale ticket purchase opportunity will take place for “STRIKEFORCE Insider” e-newsletter subscribers (www.strikeforce.com) beginning at 10:00 AM, PT Tuesday, Nov. 10, and ending at 10 PM, PT on Thursday, Nov. 12. ”STRIKEFORCE Insiders” will receive a special e-newsletter today with the pre-sale code.
Tickets, priced from $30, go on sale to the general public at 10:00 AM, PT on Friday, Nov. 13 at the HP Pavilion ticket office as well as at all Ticketmaster locations (800-745-3000), Ticketmaster online (www.ticketmaster.com) and STRIKEFORCE’S official website (www.strikeforce.com).
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TV ratings news for the event.
Topics: Media, MMA, StrikeForce, Zach Arnold | 197 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Where did RussianThug’s posts go?
Wolverine I’m assuming you’re not Russian. RussianThug, who seemed to talk like a Russian and knew a lot about Russian television, said that Fedor is on channel 1(which I assume is a main channel) all the time. Do any of you have any knowledge of Russia or Russian or are you all just making stuff up along as you go? I assume the latter. Why did comments from an actual Russian person get booted? wtf?
Again, if Fedor is not a star in Japan, why did he main event 8 Pride shows and have commercials? None of you can answer that. I didn’t say he was the biggest star in Japan, but he is definitely a star there. I saw someone say that youtube can’t make someone famous—I guess you’ve never heard of Kimbo.
Aw, bring back the RussianThug posts. Those were hilarious. He equated Christianity to TapOuT clothing, that was bordering on comedic genius.
“It’s a shame that they weren’t able to put something in place to build a #1 contender for Cyborg.”
They were able to put something in to build a #1 contender for Cyborg. It’s a shame they’ve chosen to place that fight on the undercard.
Women (145 pounds): Roxanne Modafferi vs. Marloes Coenen
Fedro is a fat drunk Russian who drinks too much vodka, only fights cans, and hasn\’t accomplished anything recently.
“More of my casual fan friends have expressed interest in this than in basically any UFC card other than when Brock fights. Fedor is a huge star. He’s the best fighter in the entire history of mma, and getting to see him fight for free is like seeing Mike Tyson in his prime on free television, but only if the internet had been around 25 years ago and everyone had gotten to see hundreds of his highlight clips before ever seeing him fight live.”
I don’t know a single person, mma fan or not, that knows who Fedro is except for people on the internet. Fedro is not popular in America. So sorry.
SIGH.
Talk about Fedor being unmarketable, Rogers with his low, deep, and almost monotone voice doesn’t help much either (not to mention his lack of charisma, see ESPN interview). It’s really sad how few promoters, fighters, and hardcore mma fans understand promotion & business of the fight game.
MMA geeks like Josh Gross and many others live in this bubble world that in NO way reflects the average combat sports viewer.
The 360 show was ok, they did the best they could without any fight footage for Fedor.
But I gotta say that both training camps looked very underwhelming. I will give Fedor the benefit of the doubt because he is a seasoned pro, but all they showed was him sparring with what looked like novices.
Also, I always assumed that Fedor had made some upgrades to his standard of living since that documentary that Japanese TV shot of him in 2004. You would assume that he can still live modestly but more comfortably then that , he must of made a few million in his career. But if he is happy more power to him, I really do hope that other people are not taking advantage of him and his earnings. Both Rogers and Fedor live like working class folks, I can respect that.
Even with the lack of footage the countdown should have really made a bigger case of telling the casuals why Fedor is considered the best (his history in the sport), seeing a chubby Russian guy train in weak sparring sessions won’t get people talking.
I kinda hate living in mountain time, as I have to watch it on tape delay or just stream it, which is ridiculously stupid.
Its an hour and its just a NCIS repeat, who cares?
Didn’t watch the preview show, but both came in out of shape for the weigh-ins. You would thin Rogers would have lost 15 pounds of that fat for the biggest fight of his career. And Fedor was looking fatter then he has in a while.
Good thing this thing is only 3 rounds just in case it goes to a decision.
1) Average production so far. The first segment was good. It kind of went downhill from there. There felt like some dead airtime.
2) Camera angles have been bad for the fights. Feels like we missed a few good pieces of action due to them.
3) Fabricio Werdum vs. Antonio Silva – Much better 1st round then I expect. The last two rounds definitely slowed down. Silva’s stock has completely plummeted at this point. He couldn’t knock out Werdum with his striking and his conditioning was crap. Werdum, we all know where he stands in terms of skills. I agreed with all 3 of the judges, with a 29-28 result.
4) Turning to an interview while waiting for the decision to be read was a weird decision. Saying we would be seeing Fedor and then not was stupid. And then having a translater for the Fedor replacement was even more corny.
Good HDNet Commercial during that next break…
Really good fight for the first 6 minutes. Then they gassed. Still competitive and stuff but man, Silva just shit the bed out there and it was his to lose. If Rogers beats Fedor and we end up with Fabricio Werdum fighting for the linear heavyweight championship, I will consider that my cue to start watching minor league motorcycle racing instead of MMA.
If it goes to a decision I’ll eat my shoe (well, that or go on and on about how over-rated Fedor is).
There’s no reason Fedor should not make very quick work of Rogers. I’m expecting a finish in the first, most likely by armbar. Anything less is unacceptable.
I think everyone agrees that Fedor should make short work of Rogers. He probably makes short work of everyone in the sport. I dunno. I hope its a competitive fight and I feel like it was worth my time. I’m glad I’m not spending money though.
Somebody was saying on The UG that he has a friend who works for CBS, and that if Congress votes for the Healthcare Bill tonight, they will cut away from whatever is being shown to show that vote. Don’t know the truth of it…. And who knows how that will be timed… But can you imagine the epic fail that would be?
Sounds like Dana White has connections as high as the White House!! lol
Sokoudjou is a bigger star than Fedor in the US (proof: Sok has been on Law & Order, or was it CSI? ;))
The first fight was plenty good. I continue to be annoyed by the bespectacled blowhard’s ridiculous commentary. I don’t give a crap about Survivor, I don’t want to hear about it.
Good second fight. If Henderson was ever offered a lot of money to come in and fight Mousasi, he should do it. He’s too vertical and can be taken down.
5) Mousasi vs. Soko – Another solid 1st round. And then as usual, Soko ran ot of gas. The one thing that happened in this fight, is that Mousasi looked very human. He could not contend with Soko’s strength during those Judo throws in the 1st round. That could be an issue against the better grapplers at 205 pounds in the future.
6) I forget exactly what Mauro said right at the beginning of the Mousasi/Soko fight, but it was something that basically pointed out that Soko was a failed UFC fighter. Nothing like making your telecast sound second rate. Stupid comment by Mauro.
Ninja Assassin, from the people who brought you Cheddar Cheese.
Jason Miller, never indulgent.
Yeah, he lost the fight with GSP, and that was 50 numbered UFCs ago…
7) I can’t figure out if Miller’s entrance was horrible or fantastic… I’m leaning more towards fantastic… Talk about being relaxed for a fight.
8) Did Jake Shields train with Antonio McKee for this fight? Wet Blanket….
9) If Jason Miller can take down Shields with a slam in the 1st round, what would Fitch, Koscheck, or GSP do to him?
10) Shields looks gassed at the end of the 1st round.
11) Anybody else notice the huge amount of pimples of Shield’s back?
LOL watching 45 be negative about this card is great stuff. Every fight has been good, and more importantly, isn’t shitty kickboxing unlike the old EXC shows. I’m happy.
Praised the 1st round of Werdum/Silva. Praised the 1st round of Soko/Mousasi. Said I liked the Mayhem entrance. Yeap, I’m all negative today.
Calling it like I see it. I think my comments have been pretty accurate as to what is happening on the screen.
Dude, you’re complaining about Shields’ acne while there’s a crazy grappling battle going on in the third. Hilarious. Maybe you can count empty seats while you’re at it? LOLOL
Round 1 of Shields vs. Mayhem was solid despite Shields trying to be a wet blanket. The last 3 rounds have been hard to watch. If Miller has any sort of takedown defense this fight would be over already. Shields was somewhat exposed against Paul Daley, but him finishing it kind of helped him save the performance. Even if he gets the submission in the 5th here, he has been completely exposed.
Alan,
The guy who complains about everything is now complaining about what he feels is other people complaining. Now that is the true funny in your posts.
He was exposed by not finishing Miller? The third was hard to watch? I love it when you decide to be this transparent.
Outside of being saved by the bell, those last 4 rounds were horrible.
Look…. I’ve actually been trying to find positives in this card so far… but it has been ugly. Of the 6 fighters we have seen….. 4 have gassed badly, and 1 forgot to show up to the 1st day of wrestling practice. Mousasi, despite looking human, has been the only shining moment of this card.
These guys are supposed to be professional athletes, and they have not been able to go the length of their fights. I’m not sure how that is good MMA no matter how much you try and bash me.
Disgraceful that a double champion isn’t given time for a post fight interview on television.
I didn’t know guys had to look superhuman to make for an entertaining card. If that’s the case, than the last 3 UFC cards were total crapola.
I also fail to see how you were hating virtually the entire Shields/Mayhem fight. I’m willing to go with “it slowed in the 4th and 5th a bit much”, but otherwise?
“I didn’t know guys had to look superhuman to make for an entertaining card. If that’s the case, than the last 3 UFC cards were total crapola.”
They don’t have to look superhuman. They just have to be in shape. And Shields looked gassed after 4 minutes. Soko looked gassed at the start of the 2nd round. And Werdum & Silva both looked gassed at bout the 1 or 2 minute mark of the 2nd round.
Shields fought pretty well for the next 21 minutes for a guy who was gassed.
As for the other guys, I’m not denying that they did or didn’t gas. Hell, read my comments. But the fights themselves have been pretty well matched, competitive, and actually showed a modicum of skill rather than having slam-bang shitty kickboxing. I’m getting more out of this show than I did UFC 104, and I don’t have to pay $55 to watch it in HD or go to a bar to view it.
Imagine what Lesnar would do to this guy….
Rogers is strong, but he has been very lucky so far.
And now all of his leeches are celebrating with him.
lose
Okay, this was worth my time. You know, the oddsmakers picked all the favorites correctly, but that doesn’t come close to telling the whole story here.
The question about how he’d do with Lesnar or Velasquez is certainly legit. I dunno? I’d like to know?
Fedor’s advantage has continued to be his speed. Against guys like Cain & Brock… He doesn’t have that speed advantage. One of them would certainly beat him…. Which is why it sucks that he is not in the UFC…. There is nobody outside of the UFC like Lesnar or Cain….
I don’t really think Lesnar would be significantly different. He’d come in with more muscle, but is he any taller or with a longer reach? I don’t think he’s currently as good on the ground as what Rogers was able to manage in this fight. Better on the boards with the knees for sure, and more power if he does have that distance.
Not as good on the ground as Rogers? The guy’s a former NCAA Division 1 National Wrestling Champion. He would be able to control the ground grappling to a much higher degree….
Did you see the way Lesnar has controlled his opponents? Or the way Cain has controlled them? It’s 3 levels above what Rogers has…. And with more speed. Rogers is a slowly Heavyweight. Just walk him walk. It reminds me of CC Sabathia. Tall big guy with a belly who woddles. Not exactly built for speed….
Jeremy, are you out of your mind? Lesnar just took apart Mir entirely on the ground. Rogers couldn’t do that.
I like Lesnar a lot, but the dude is not lightning quick. He is a big ass wrestler though and he can probably throw as straight a shot as Rogers though.
Cain’s the faster guy, but doesn’t hit as hard and he’s never faced a grappler half as good as Fedor. He needs more seasoning first, but that’s true for a lot of guys, Lesnar included. I’d like to see those fights though. Who wouldn’t? Better than Werdum, for sure.
Lesnar just took apart Mir entirely on the ground. Rogers couldn’t do that.
Can we review how great Mir is after the Kongo fight, please? Because Dan Christensen did a stunningly good job of that too once.
Lesnar isn’t fast on his punches, but he has a lightening fast shot that he can land from enough distance away that he doesn’t have to worry about Fedor’s looping punches. And once on the ground, Fedor is a sitting duck. He isn’t the same Fedor of the Pride days… He has lost a step, and with his unorthodox style, that would catch up with him…. just not against guys like Rogers, Werdum, or Overeem….
I know random people’s comments aren’t exactly indicative of public opinion… but my brother who is a real casual fan (just went to his first UFC a little ago) just texted me and said this exactly:
“WTF?!? That guy da best fighter?”
The big kabosh, indeed. Rogers need not hang his head; he hung in there with the GOAT.
Dana White spin coming in 3….2…1….
Lesnar isn’t fast on his punches, but he has a lightening fast shot that he can land from enough distance away that he doesn’t have to worry about Fedor’s looping punches.
His shot isn’t that fast either. Couture seemed capable of anticipating it, and Couture is a billion years old and capable of being timed with a sundial now. The difference is the power. He’s so strong, he can force you down even if you try to stop it and know how to, and he himself is nearly impossible to put on his back.
I don’t see Fedor as a sitting duck on his back though. He had an active guard in this fight and almost pulled off a couple subs in the first round. No guarantee that all works with Lesnar, but I give him far better odds than Mir (who I will probably never say anything positive about).
UFC doesn’t even want agents backstage, can you imagine Fedor wanting to bring his 1,000 member crew?
I’m not sure what Lesnar fights you have watched. Lesnar has the fastest double leg takedown in the entire Heavyweight Division. And he can get it from the farthest distance as well. It’s not the best technique. It’s more of a football type tackle then it is a pure double leg, but that is how they teach it to Heavyweight wrestlers so they don’t get caught under their opponents.
Cain’t isn’t as fast but it has better technique. He drops is level better and gets his hips under it.
Either way, Fedor is wasting his time outside of the UFC. These are the fights that need to be happening….