« Transcript of CBS Executive Kelly Kahl’s interview with Fanhouse | Home | The limitations of the CBS/Showtime model for Strikeforce »
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).
—
TV ratings news for the event.
Topics: Media, MMA, StrikeForce, Zach Arnold | 197 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
‘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?”’
So it’s genetic?
lol…. My brother doesn’t know much MMA. He is very much a casual fan. Orders only the big UFC PPV’s, has remotely heard of Fedor, that sort of stuff.
I don’t even tell him my opinion on the sport because I find it interesting to here is opinion as a casual fan. He is part of the majority of MMA fans, unlike us…
Rogers showed enough skill to make people take him seriously, but in the end, it was another memorable Fedor victory.
Short of Mayhem having five more seconds to finish the title fight at the end of Round 3, that show could not have possibly gone off any better. (Which must tear 45 apart inside, LOL)
Mousasi didn’t look his best exactly, but he showed a ton of versatility against Sokoudjou. Both of those sweeps were nice to watch.
I like Werdum, but he must have crappy balance or something, because he seems to buttflop a lot early in fights. Overall I’m impressed with his MMA game, but he didn’t exactly force the issue for a shot at Fedor. I think Overeem remains the most compelling challenger (unless he flakes out at the WGP), but Werdum is a solid second choice. And consider Antonio Silva and Brett Rogers both had their moments tonight, they will probably remain in the picture.
Really Alan? Christison, back when Mir was still recovering from getting his body crushed in a motorcycle accident?
Mir has his flaws, but a healthy Mir is very, very good on the ground.
Love 45’s comments.
Outside of 1 shot cutting a notoriously cut prone fighter and a 6 second g’n’p that resulted in a lightening fast armbar attempt – the world’s best fighter tooled someone. Not only that, but he tossed around a much bigger opponent in transitions with throws, rocked him with punches and had at least 3 sub attempts.
Rogers is not as good of a wrestler by any strech, but a far better striker (than Lesnar) and actually showed some decent if over matched chops.
For all the talk of “loopy punches” that KO punch was fast, straight and pulled off superbly.
Really Alan? Christison, back when Mir was still recovering from getting his body crushed in a motorcycle accident?
I don’t think highly of Mir. I think there’s some guys he matches up well with like Noguiera, Couture, or Coleman who are aging grapplers that he can either hang with or would find it too risky to get him down and that he can bang with. I think Kongo will destroy him, and I’ll go so far as to predict that Kongo ends up on top of him raining down blows without a desperation leg scissor bailing him out.
Rogers did good, better than anyone since PRIDE ended. That said, Gus Johnson question about a rematch is absurd.
Rogers got KTFO and it won’t be much different in a rematch. Just replace knockout with gets tapped out.
Wow that was a great fight. Rogers would beat a lot of guys in the UFC. The right hand that put him out sounded like someone getting hit with a bat.
I think I read 45 Dana Huddle write that Fedor wouldn’t have a speed advantage over Cain or Brock. LOL, what a ridiculous post. I also saw you write that and that one of them would beat him. What on Earth have you ever seen from Cain that would make you think he could beat Fedor? He got dropped like 3 times by Kongo, who has nowhere near the speed, timing, or punching power that Fedor has, not to mention is about 400 levels below Fedor on the ground. Fedor kills Cain on the feet–he hits like a featherweight, and he would tap him on the ground. He is levels beyond him.
Brock vs Fedor is at least interesting because Lesnar is so goddamned big, but I don’t see him surviving on the feet for more than a minute before getting knocked out. Fedor hits like a goddamn gorilla and he still hasn’t even figured out that he can elbow when he is on the ground. He also has some of the best subs in mma and moves super well off his back. Lesnar’s only shot would be winning via cut. Fedor is the best in mma history, in terms of hw and p4p.
“Outside of 1 shot cutting a notoriously cut prone fighter and a 6 second g’n’p that resulted in a lightening fast armbar attempt – the world’s best fighter tooled someone. Not only that, but he tossed around a much bigger opponent in transitions with throws, rocked him with punches and had at least 3 sub attempts.”
The same Brett Rogers that has mediocre striking and absolutely no concept of grappling? Yeap, that is impressive. The size alone Fedor had a hard time with. Imagine what would happen if you combine that size with speed and actual grappling technique. Yikes!!
“Rogers is not as good of a wrestler by any strech, but a far better striker (than Lesnar) and actually showed some decent if over matched chops.”
Welcome to a world called reality…. Did you see Rogers against Ron Humphrey? Did you see how bad his striking was? Lesnar has knocked down Mir, knocked down Herring, and KO’d Couture. Not exactly a list of great strikers, but Lesnar’s striking is at least on par with Rogers. Rogers having a quick KO of Glass Arlovski doesn’t mean he is a great striker. It means he has power in his hands and he connected.
Go watch the fight again. Rogers had his hands at his waste during the last 30 seconds before the KO. In what universe does that mean “good striking”? Unless your name is Anderson Silva and you use that as a weapon to lure your opponents in, it is called crappy striking. Lesnar always has his hands up higher, ready to block, and throws heavy straight hands. They might not be the fastest, but they are much better then what Rogers does.
David M,
Are you telling me if Fedor entered the UFC tomorrow and was given Brock Lesnar, Shane Carwin, and then Cain Velasquez… He would be 3-0 in the UFC?
This is the true test for the Fedor nuthuggers…. If they really think he would go 3-0 against that line-up…. I want to smoke what you are inhaling….
Doesn’t mean Fedor is a bad fighter…. He is a great fighter. I just don’t see anybody going 3-0 against that line-up. Heck…. I don’t think any of those 3 UFC guys would go 3-0 against the other 3 (including Fedor).
45 Huddle,
Please, shut up. The fact that you are saying that Fedor isn’t as good as Cain Velasquez or Brock Lesnar or Carwin. You are the definition of a UFC mark.
On an non idiot related note, I thoroughly enjoyed the fights in HD and loved the fact that I could watch it in my home in HD without having to go to a bar or come up with $45 dollars. More of this type of stuff would be good.
45 Huddle,
I found a great website where people will think exactly the way that you do and agree with everything that you do.
http://www.ufc.tv
I didn’t say as good. I said he wouldn’t be all 3. No way he runs the gauntlet on that trio.
Fedor got thrown around on more then one occassion by Rogers who has basically no grappling ability. It was the size alone that gave Fedor fits. Those 3 guys have the size and the ability to control.
And they also have the speed that the vast majority of Fedor’s past opponents never had.
45 Huddle,
What has:
Shane Carwin (11-0)
Cain Velasquez (7-0)
Brock Lesnar (4-1)
done that makes you think that they could beat Fedor? Honest question, and I would like an honest answer.
Go to bed 45hustle, you’re already dreaming.
Brock is 1-1 against a guy(Mir) who had 2 wars with Wes Simms.
Yeah, he can beat Fedor.
It’s not as much what they have done… It’s more how they match-up with Fedor’s weaknesses. They each have proven to be solid fighters, and have the tools to be a real threat to Fedor.
First, look at what Fedor’s management has gotten him for fights since his win over Mirko Filipovic back in 2005…. Zulu, Coleman, Hunt, Lindland, Choi, Sylvia, Arlovski, & Rogers.
Of those 8 fighters, Fedor had a definitive speed advantage on all of them except for Arlovski. There are also no great wrestlers in there besides Coleman, but he was pretty much over the hill even then. And the big guys have been awkward big guys not very mobile.
How does Fedor Emelianenko win his fights over the last 4 years? Speed and being able to use his unorthodox hip movements in order to get superior positions and scramble on the ground. That is really the crux of the Fedor winning ways. His accuracy in his punching also helps, but that is only how he ends the fights, not how he set’s everything up.
Bring in Brock Lesnar. The guy has speed. He is light on his feet for a Heavyweight. And he is a Division 1 National Wrestling Champion. Big guy.
Bring in Shane Carwin. Solid wrestling, and extremely fast powerful fans. Big guy.
Bring in Cain Velasquez. Very quick, solid chin, can keep a faster pace then Fedor, and was a Division 1 All-American. Solid but not as big as Carwin & Lesnar.
The wrestling is the great neutralizer. All that fancy stuff Fedor does on the ground with his hip movements would not work against the highest level wrestlers who are properly trained in submissions. Brett Rogers threw Fedor around a couple of times with absolutely horrible wrestling. Actually, I wouldn’t even call it wrestling as it was more just brawling like stuff.
Now take what Lesnar did to Mir. He absolutely controlled him. Look at what Cain did to Rothwell and Kongo. all 3 are great examples of what they call in wrestling as great “hip control”. That is the same stuff GSP uses to dominate his opponents.
Once Fedor gots on his back, the combination of elbows and his lack of ability to get back to his feet as easily (due to that great hip control), will mean he will be taking several minutes of punishment on the ground. And this is with bigger fighters on top of him.
I honestly cannot see him surviving all 3 of those fighters. The match-ups just don’t work out for him. Yes, he can only get a KO, but that is much hard when those guys are going for the shots and Fedor doesn’t have enough to avoid them as he showed in his fight with Rogers.
Shane Carwin? look at the cans he has fought?
Carwins best win is against Gonzaga… wow… he got beat by the guys(werdum and Couture) that got beat by the guy(Nog)that got beat by Fedor(twice).
Styles make fights. Just like how Rogers beat Arlovski. Rogers punches hard and Arlovski has no chin….
Like at what Warren did to Kid Yamamoto. He had a good enough chin to take the shots and his wrestling was much better. And then look at Warren against Fernandez. He looked like an amateur by getting caught in that armbar.
This isn’t boxing. Style is a huge part of MMA and always will be. That is why a guy like Carwin would be a threat to a guy like Fedor.
Cain has the most potential, and would give a spirited show until he got finished by Fedor.
Cain himself admits he is not yet in Fedors league.
So you did not answer my question. I asked you what they had done and you instead tried to answer with what you think that they could do against Fedor.
The truth of the matter is none of them has gone as far Fedor has and has the in-ring/cage experience that he has.
I think you are just being a UFC nuthugger like you always are.
Cain also ridicules himself after every fight in his post-fight interview. The guy is his own worst critic. Doesn’t mean he doesn’t have what it takes to be a serious threat to Fedor.
Some of it might be building up his confidence… but after he beats Nogueira, that confidence will be there.
And that is the other thing. Fedor has the MENTAL edge on some fighters. He doesn’t have it on Lesnar. Unfortunetly for Fedor, Lesnar isn’t the type of guy to put others up in higher regard. There is no mental edge for Fedor in that fight.
Okay, I made my point. Will not post anymore.
“This isn’t boxing.”
Tell us about the tiny 4 oz gloves 45 hustle!
“So you did not answer my question. I asked you what they had done and you instead tried to answer with what you think that they could do against Fedor.”
I did answer your question, you just didn’t have the reading comprehension to figure it out. Let me spell it out for you more….
1. Brock Lesnar did years of wrestling which gives him the proper hip control techniques to beat Fedor. He showed in his fights with Herring, Couture, and Mir that he is a master at controlling his opponents. Based on that, he presents an obstivle for Fedor that he has never really faced before. And based on those performances, would be more likely to win.
2. Cain Velasquez did years of wrestling which gives him the proper hip control techniques to beat Fedor. He showed in his fights with O’Brien, Kongo, Rothwell, and others that he is a master at controlling his opponents. Based on that, he presents an obsticle for Fedor that he has never really faced before. And based on those performances, would be more likely to win.
3. Shane Carwin…. Repeat the above two, except put in that he has less of a grappling background and has exhibited huge punching power that Fedor has not faced in the size and speed of an opponent before.
What each of these guys have done in their previous UFC fights makes me believe that Fedor is not capable of beating all 3 of them in a row.
If you are looking for an experience comparison between Fedor and the rest…. It is an empty debate you are going to get. GSP had fewer fights then Hughes when he beat him. Lesnar had fewer fights then Couture, Herring, and Mir when he beat them.
But they each carried the right skills in order to beat them. There was nothing in GSP’s history that said he would win a rematch with Hughes. There was nothing in Lesnar’s history that said he would be world champion… At least not in terms of results. But there was in terms of what they showed in skill level.
Besides… Who would you rather have Fedor fight?
Rogers, Werdum, & Overeem…. Or Lesnar, Velasquez, and Carwin? I think it’s a pretty simple answer. Fedor’s biggest threats are in the UFC. And Fedor is not in the UFC.
Rogers is of the same mold of fighters that Fedor has beaten time and time again. Nothing new to see here.
Nothing changes the fact that Fedor is the true UFC heavy weight champiom.
The first undisputed ufc heavy weight champ was Dan Severn.
He lost to Coleman…coleman < smith < couture < enson < kerr < fujita < coleman < Nogueira < Fedor
So years of collegiate wrestling? That is your answer.
Man…if that is all it takes to beat Fedor! of course…so that means that a guy like Kharam Ibrahim, a legit Gold Olympian, should be able to control Fedor on the ground?
You and I both know that is not the case. But all you can offer is what you think will happen. And if you’re going to do that, then so will I.
Lesnar was subbed by Mir, and I sincerely feel that Fedor has a better ground game and sub game than Mir does, and could sub Brock in an instant.
Velasquez was rocked, but not finished by Kongo two to three times in their fight. I think that not only can Fedor rock Velasquez and drop him like Kongo did, but could finish him with true GnP…not the stuff Kongo was throwing out there.
And Carwin, I am sure is a great guy, but has fought cans so far with the exception of Gonzaga. Fedor runs over him no problem.
And I was not talking about experience as in number of fights…I meant experience in who they had beaten. And you gave me nothing.
And what happened to you not posting anymore? Did you finally come to your senses and see that you are just plain wrong?
Oh lord Grafdog….lineage titles!
And 45 Huddle, I would agree that Fedor in the UFC would be awesome! Not saying it isn’t so. But with fights like were put on tonight all the way around….I can live with and enjoy him outside of the UFC.
“But all you can offer is what you think will happen. And if you’re going to do that, then so will I.”
Um, that is all anybody can do since they haven’t ever fought. Talk about arguing with a concept known as “common sense”.
“Lesnar was subbed by Mir”
You did see their rematch, correct?
“Velasquez was rocked, but not finished by Kongo two to three times in their fight.”
He came in quick with his hands down. Something that was completely corrected for his next fight.
It’s not just being wrestlers. Obviously they need to adopt their game to MMA.
But think of this…. Many of fighters have looked AWESOME outside of the UFC, only to get absolutely dominated in the UFC by their wrestlers.
And wrestling has produced a ton of MMA World Champions. As Joe Rogan says, it is the best base for MMA.
And yet Fedor has completely avoided that type of fighter. Hmmmm, I wonder why…..
Ever notice how sometimes UFC events have more boring fights? Why is this? It has a lot to do with the level of grappling that goes on. The UFC definitely likes the strikers, but they are the most grappling friendly organization in the world right now.
Due to those grapplers, we don’t see as many wild fights. The UFC has turned into a very mechanical fighting process because the grappling technique is so high that you can’t go in there with a wide open style and be the victor all the time.
Go watch an event in Japan, and you will see crazy stuff. There isn’t that hug wrestling base, and because of that, fighters can get away with taking more risks during the fight and sometimes they pay off. Do that against a Gray Maynard or GSP, and you are going to lose.
Fedor has a very wide open style. It works against big awkward Heavyweights.
While nobody can predict the future…. It is must less likely to work with all those big heavyweight UFC guys with wrestling backgrounds. There is YEARS of UFC history to prove this correct….
Fedor submits Lesnar, knocks out Velasquez and Carwin. The better question is, do any of them make it to the 2nd round like Rogers did?
No. Nuff said.
And people complain about me? This is Fedor nuthuggery at it’s finest….
It will be nice when he loses and all the hype finally dies down. Sadly, I don’t see that happening for a while as he positioned himself away from all his real threats…. Now that’s a REAL fighter!!
Off to bed….
Wait, so is the consensus here that Rogers > Lesnar, Carwin and Velasquez on the ground?
Fedor couldn’t sub Rogers with numerous attempts, but he’s going to do it against guys bigger, stronger, in better shape and with better grappling backgrounds? Like, no question in your minds?
Because what I saw told me that a guy like Lesnar has all the tools to beat Fedor. Compared to Rogers, Lesnar is bigger, stronger and has better cardio. And unlike Rogers, who was able to use brute force with good results, Lesnar is actually really good on the ground. After one round, Fedor’s face would look like hamburger.
I’m much more interested in Fedor-Velasquez than Fedor-Lesnar. I really am not going to be super impressed if a guy outweighing Fedor by 60 lbs mauls him and beats him. I realize that’s the nature of the absurd heavyweight division in MMA, but there’s a part of me that hopes that fight never happens.
Meanwhile Fedor is going to go 3-0 on CBS before we get another round of “Fedor sweepstakes” next fall.
Fedor probably has the most powerful punch in MMA.
As I said before, he has trouble with athletic fighters. He struggled against Cro Cop early and Arlovski. I don’t think he’d sweep Lesnar, Carwin and Velasquez. I also think Mir has a real good shot against him. I know the consensus here is that Fedor is untouchable and the guys in the UFC suck. But I’d like to see Fedor in the UFC heavweight division.
Flipping back and forth the CBS production was much better than the UFC. Better lighting, better camera angles, but the director needs more experience with MMA, lots of shots of referee’s backs. Mauro and Shamrock are actually worse than Goldy and Rogan. Which is incredible. MMA needs some competent announcers.
I enjoyed the first 3 rounds of Shields/Mayhem. 4 and 5 were awful. Werdum/Silva had a few fun moments, otherwise mediocre. I think Soko took some of the shine off Mousassi. I agree w/ whoever said Hendo would beat Mousassi above.
The only standing KO’s I can remember from Fedor are the last two fights. He’s not known as a KO artist. He put his entire body into that Rogers punch and hit the chin perfectly.
I think Carwin hits harder. Plus, I think Carwin has more one-hitter quitters, despite having a much shorter career.
But it’s Fedor, he’s the best everywhere forever, so I don’t know what I’m thinking.
Its funny to know the discussion has turned toward Fedor vs UFC fighters.
Who cares — that was fight of the year right there.
They should be fighting in a ring, the fanny pak – ref shots have to go, and I know it might be difficult please try to get some other sponsors —
The EA game looked great, but the local news teasers were nasty and grotesque — also go the “Hey watch the news, some dude fell down a hole again.”
I had friends over that had and had not ever seen Fedor fight — everyone left happy not having to pay per view.
It was a lot of fun and even my girlfriend had a good time.
Brock, enjoy your turkey and Christmas and get well, Cain work on your boxing, and Mr. Carwin, please don’t quit your day job.
As far as I’m concerned — Fedor will always be #1 –
USA! USA!
Kevin Iole, earning that paycheck: “The ratings won’t be known until sometime in the middle of the week, but CBS did around 6 million viewers for its fights with Kimbo Slice as the headliner in 2008, and it should do at least as well with Emelianenko.”
Ignoring all of this ridiculous shrill (even in written form) 45 Hyperbole (Everybody sucks! Shields gassed but still took down Miller at will amazingly! Fedor is a fat coward!), it was a really good show and exactly what Strikeforce needed.
Werdum-Silva could have been a dud but they came through for a enjoyable fight, Sokoudjou and Mousasi was highly entertaining but went the way everybody expected (Sokoudjou gassing out after 1 round), Miller had a questionable gameplan but made Shields work for it, and Fedor’s fight made Rogers look like a credible threat (when the worry was he was going to get manhandled by Fedor and the “Fedor doesn’t fight real competition” chorus will continue) but he still got the highlight reel KO which is exactly what needed to happen for his debut in the big spotlight.
Word is Fedor damaged his hand again, which is what I immediately thought after that big punch so I wonder if NYE in Japan is going to be called off?
“Kevin Iole, earning that paycheck”
Huh?
Sounds like Iole was being positive in that particular blurb. Saying Fedor will get at least the same ratings as Kimbo is pretty damn optimistic.
Kimbo may not be much of a fighter, but he is a pop culture icon who brings a lot of eyeballs with him. Just look at EliteXC’s ratings with and without him, or TUFs ratings with him versus what they have been pulling the last six seasons.
Ir’s that he said “we won’t know what it is for days but here’s what it is” that is the issue. He said that before the most preliminary of network rating information is known.
At this point I’d much rather see Fedor/Overeem than Fedor/Cain or Fedor/Carwin.
Its a better style match up and would be exciting. Overeem is a world class kickboxer, a better striker than any of the other names in the mix, and has a better submission game than any except maybe Werdum, but I think Werdum sucks anyway.
The knockout was great. BUT…
…Once again, Fedor fights a sub par fighter who only had size/power going for him. Plus the fact that Rogers gave him problems in the first round and took that flurry in the second, shows me why Fedor’s management would not sign him with UFC. The large, powerful wrestlers with good stamina in the UFC have a better than 50% chance of beating Fedor.
Fedor is a machine, but as every day, and every fight passes, is becoming a predictable machine. That flurry he threw in the second that rogers took/covered up was very telling and very robotic (plus, him dropping his hands right after, and looking dumb struck, blinking, not good).
The sooner he gets thru these Strikeforce cans and fights in the UFC, the better.
@IamANT. You´re dreaming. So everybody is a can, unless they fight in the UFC? Give me a break. Cain got dropped by Kongo, and if Kongo had just a “little bit” of ground game, he would have beaten Cain. Carwin is a nobody, he´s got good KO´s, but what has he done that Rogers hasn´t? Nog has already gotten his life taken away from Fedor three times. CC hasn´t been the same since he lost to Fedor. Mir is so overrated, who has Mir beaten? Nobody. Couture is like 50 and Rothwell, Barry or Hardonk aren´t better than Bigfoot, Werdum or Overeem.
Rogers, Overeem, Bigfoot or Werdum are just as good as anybody else from the UFC´s HW division, with the exception of Nog, Couture and Brock. Since Fedor has already destroyed Nog, who´s left? Brock and Couture. Let´s be honest, Couture has no chance against Fedor, so it comes down to Brock. There is only one fight in the UFC for Fedor and that is Brock. So I ask you UFC nuthuggers, why doesn the most dominant HW MMA fighter of all time have to chase down 4-1 Pro Wrestling stars? Fedor is not only better than everybody in the UFC, he´s also smarter than the UFC. He is co-owner of M1,who just put on a show with Strikforce on a major broadcast channel. He does what he wants, where he wants, with who he wants and he´s earned it. When Brock is 31-1, he might have the right to tell Fedor to come to him, right now, people need to come to Fedor.
Oh man this is so tired and it hasn’t even been 24 hours yet. Yes, Rogers gave him so many problems that he came back after having his nose broken to rock him and survived the ground n pound to start going for armbars.
It’s just so tired, no matter what he does his haters find something to downgrade the performance: he quickly takes out Tim Sylvia and it doesn’t count because Sylvia was a subpar fighter. He knocks out Arlovski but it doesn’t count because Arlovski made a dumb mistake with the knee and got caught. And now an impressive KO against a much larger fighter doesn’t count because the larger fighter caught him with some shots.
What the hell do you people want, for Fedor to develop Scanners-like mind powers to telepathically defeat his opponents before the bell? If he went to UFC and beat their top HWs it wouldn’t be good enough for any of you either. “Oh, well, Kongo dropped Velasquez so he wasn’t that good anyway.” “Well, Dos Santos only beat Cro Cop when he was washed up so he wasn’t really elite”, “Well, Brock’s submission defense was questionable so it’s no wonder Fedor caught him.” So tired.
The Strikeforce HWs would be mid-tier UFC HWs.
I think Kongo could beat Rogers handily and expose him for the sloppy brawler he is. Watch the Rogers vs Abongo fight and tell me differently. It’s nothing short of amazing how everybody thinks Rogers is actually a really good striker.
Werdum, that’s the guy against whom JDS landed an uppercut that knocked him clear out of the UFC right? Anyone that puts him above where they have JDS is being dishonest.
Overeem, iirc, is the guy that has like 5 losses to current UFC LHWs, but is roided to the gills right now and is highly ranked despite not fighting MMA.
So, I have Lesnar, Nog, Carwin, Cain, JDS, and Mir as a step above all the Strikeforce guys. Guys like GG, Kongo, Rothwell, Nelson and Duffee might give the Strikeforce guys a run for their money.
Hey, I’ve been saying a while that the Rogers win wouldn’t mean anything. It was a product of chain hype. AA wrongly gets ranked as high as #2 for beating guys in the bottom half of the top 20. Then, Rogers knocks him out, which I though would expose the fact that AA isn’t that great since Rogers isn’t a very good striker (seriously, watch the Abongo fight) and was taken down James Thompson of all people, but instead it turns Rogers into a hype machine.
You know when I’ll be happy? When the top fighter in the HW division takes on as many contenders as the other top fighters. It’s the weakest division in MMA, and Fedor has cleaned it out less than guys like Anderson and GSP cleaned out their divisions. He’s got 2 wins over current top 10 fighters, only one of whom is in the top 5 and that was from like 3 years ago.
I’m also sick of listening to members of the cult of Fedor talk about how Fedor has nothing to prove and then give him wins over fighters he’s never fought by saying “He’ll beat them easily, what’s the point of even fighting? Fedor can fight inferior competition forever. He has nothing to prove.”
The numbers are in. Strikeforce did 3.79 million viewers.
http://tvbythenumbers.com/2009/11/08/tv-ratings-saturday-strikeforce-fedor-vs-rogers-averages-3-79-million-in-prime-time-on-cbs/32941
I didn’t say that Rogers was some grandmaster jujitsu artist, I said that I didn’t think Lesnar currently was as good on the ground as what Rogers pulled off last night.
Rogers did a remarkable job of working position even though Fedor often was still able to control one leg. He got the back a couple times, and got into mount a couple times. That’s not bad, that’s pretty good. It may not be reflective of his actual ability, maybe it was just luck, I don’t know. Maybe Fedor isn’t as great on the ground as advertised (he still seemed damn good to me, he was pulling off a lot given the likely broken nose).