The UFC may have the popularity, the production and the large stable of top fighters, but Strikeforce has a few stars of its own.
Those stars were on full display Saturday night -- and on a primetime network TV to boot.
Gegard Mousasi, Jake Shields and Fedor Emelianenko, champions in three different divisions (and now one of them not even in his normal weight class) all competed in the "hexagon" outside Chicago. Each of them faced some very tough competition. In only one of them was a Strikeforce belt up for grabs, but reputations were on the line in each. All three fighters delivered, even if they had to work a little harder than they had been used to of late.
After the televised card opened with an entertaining three-round battle between heavyweights Fabricio Werdum and Antonio Silva (a couple of decent fighters in their own rights), Mousasi took on Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou.
Mousasi was in trouble on several occasions and it was clear late in the first round he wasn’t going to be able to handle The African Assassin as easily as he did Renato (Babalu) Sobral in his last official fight. That fight saw him KO the former light-heavyweight champion to snatch the belt.
Sokoudjou was able to use his weight along with some solid boxing to push Mousasi around. His judo skills also help his cause tremendously. But Mousasi showed how elusive he can be, pulling out of some dominant positions and avoiding a few submission attempts. In the second round, Mousasi employed a full arsenal of strikes, including knees from the mat, and eventually the speed with which Mousasi unleashed his shots was too much and the 205-pound champion, whose title was not on the line, emerged victorious.
Shields was next. The former EliteXC welterweight champion -- a guy I would love to see take on GSP, if he could ever be signed by the UFC -- was fighting up a weight class and for the Strikeforce belt against Jason (Mayhem) Miller. The latter, who is as entertaining in his ring entrances as he is talented inside the cage, was an underdog to Shields, who entered the bout on a 12-fight win streak, but the gap was not big as it was Miller’s natural weight.
It had quite some time since we saw Shields get pushed around in a fight. By the third round, it showed. Shields was actually seconds away from being choked out at the end of the third frame. But he survived, showing stamina and smarts, knowing he only needed to withstand a few seconds before he would be saved by the bell. He also used the fact that Miller had to expend that extra energy to try to finish the fight, and pushed the action in the final two rounds. He eventually earned the unanimous decision, taking four of five rounds (according to two judges).
Finally, of course, was the main event, the main attraction, the main guy, Fedor.
A three-round fight against rising powerhouse Brett Rogers was not going to be a gimme. I personally didn’t expect too much from Rogers since he didn’t possess enough skills beyond his striking to really have more than a puncher’s chance against Emelianenko, the WAMMA heavyweight champion. But certainly it would be Fedor’s toughest test to date since coming over to North America, considering how easily he took care of Tim Sylvia and Andrei Arlovski in his previous two.
Rogers tried his best to prove me wrong Saturday night, and one quick left jab in the first few seconds had Fedor seeing red -- as in, blood. This coming from a cut sustained on the bridge of his nose. Within minutes, it was dripping all over his face, the mat and his opponent’s body.
Rogers was able to score some strikes from the standup and even use his strength to reverse things on the mat and gain top position where he unloaded more punches. For the first time in recent memory, the seemingly invincible Emelianenko was in trouble, not just from his opponent’s aggression but also with his breathing and the possibility of the referee stopping the fight because of the injury to his nose.
Fedor’s only career loss was a TKO due to a cut in 2000. Could we see another loss because of a cut?
Nope. Emelianenko survived the first -- actually, he did enough damage of his own to earn the round -- and in the second he showed why he’s the best.
Three words: power, precision and timing. All exemplified in one big right hand. With both fighters stalking and looking for opportunities to score, Rogers threw an arm that Emelianenko dodged while countering with one perfect right to the chin that put Rogers down. He wasn’t out cold, but had to cover his head as Fedor closed in and threw a few more punches before the ref stopped it.
Fight over, Fedor’s still the man.
Three champions all showed their resiliency and versatility Saturday night. And all three stars are still intact and ready for Strikeforce to showcase in some great cards to come.
