STRIKEFORCE: APRIL 11 ON SHOWTIME location: HP Pavilion in San Jose, California Main Card Bouts: -Frank Shamrock (23-9-2) vs. Nick Diaz (18-7) -Gilbert Melendez (14-2) vs. Rodrigo Damm (8-2) -Brett Rogers (8-0) vs. Ron "Abongo" Humphrey (5-0) -Christiane "Cyborg" Santos (6-1) vs. Hitomi Akano (14-5) -Benji Radach (19-4) vs. Scott Smith (14-5) Preliminary Card Bouts: -Eric Lawson (8-2) vs. Waylon Kennell (4-1) -Luke Rockhold (3-1) vs. Buck Meredith (3-2) -James Terry (5-1) vs. Zak Bucia (1-1) -Raul Castillo (5-0) vs. Brandon Michaels (1-2) -Shingo Kohara (0-0) vs. Jeremy Tavares (0-3) Main card airs live on Showtime in the United States at 10:00 PM (ET/PT) Should be a fun night of fights. TFK
Diaz won 2nd round ko. That announcer is on crack saying Diaz has the boxing skills of an elite boxer. Shamrock look like shit.
Man, I am a Scott Smith fan. That dude is just a warrior. He looked like he had brain damage between the 2nd and 3rd round. To come out in the 3rd and push the action was unreal. Frank is shot.
Shamrock looked terrible. It was his athleticism that I thought would win him this fight, but he had none of it. He's used up. It still doesn't change my opinion of Diaz though. His hands are slow, his takedowns are shit and he's not athletic enough to win against top tier competition. He's tough and he likes to fight, but I just can't buy him being considered a top fighter in any division he's in.
I agree. Diaz is still garbage. A win over a shot to hell, 103 year old Frank Shamrock proves nothing. TFK
Smith is something else. He got his bell rung, and for the longest time, he looked like he was out on his feet. But then about midway through the 3rd, his whole look changed. You could see it in his eyes that his head was clear, and that he knew he needed a KO to win. He just had this look of determination in him, and he wasn't gonna let anything stop him. Then just a few seconds later, the fight was over. TFK
The guy now owns two of the absolute best comeback knockouts in MMA history. To me this one ranks ahead of the Sell knockout simply because Smith took a prolonged beating and was battered so badly. He'll likely never be champion but not because of desire or heart.
Curious about everyone's thoughts about Cristiane Cyborg weighing in heavy and then the promoter making a deal with Akano's gym to fight anyway. The weight difference was sickening. There is no way in the world this fight should have happened. Santos wasn't even close at the weigh in. I realize she is one of the marquee names at Strikeforce but she not have been allowed to fight.
Yeah, that was ugly. It was a beatdown that should've never happened. She looked like Joey Gamache out there. I don't know what weight class they plan on having Carano\Cyborg at, but they might as well make it a weight class higher. Carano always has problems making weight, and now Cyborg has joined the club. All in all, the whole presentation was better than what EliteXC used to do, in spite of all the similarities. I thought Miletech did an excellent job announcing, his subdued but knowledgable demeaner is a welcome change in MMA, especially on a team that includes Mauro Renallo, who is so over the top and annoying he makes Joe Rogan seem like Joe Franklin. Thankfully, Renallo was regulated to the background most of the broadcast. But it's nice that there were no moonlighting strippers dancing, no terrible rap music, no gushing over Kimbo Slice, etc. If Strike Force can keep putting on shows like this, and learn from their mistakes (the Cyborg match), they have a real future. TFK
Fun night of fights. I was at the event. The Cyborg fight was ridiculous. I can't believe that fight was even allowed. Scott Smith is the man, that was an awesome fight. The Brett Rogers fight was fun while it lasted too. Shamrock is done, I cannot believe he went out like such a bitch to pillow fisted Diaz. (Diaz vs Cung Le anyone?) Frank had no answer for Nick's reach advantage. He just picked him apart and easily. After the fights there were a bunch of idiots running around the street screaming "Diaz baby, Stockton 209!" Never seen so many white "thugs" before at a strikeforce event. Stockton really brings em out. ::
The last Strikeforce event I went to was when Kim Couture was fighting. Very similar situation in the match making there. Not the weight issue, but the opponent not having a chance in hell issue. Just a complete mismatch that should have never happened.
Great night of fights for Strikeforce. The Cyborg fight was a black eye for sure. It showed the pure greed of a promoter, that girl just fought at 128 in Japan not too long ago(thats what the commentators said anyway) I don't care who this Cyborg is to the organization, you have to have principals. Smith is the man, that was definitely FOTY so far. I might be a softy, but seeing him in there at the end with his boys made me a fan for sure. Brett Rogers is coming along nicely, I used to think of him only as a fatass bomb thrower, but he looked good. Takedown defense, knees, and his punching wasn't so wild. Nice. It should make a fan friendly fight with him and Overeem. I wouldn't go so far as to say Diaz is garbage. He has wins over some bad dudes out there. I would say Shamrock is passed it, but no farther passed it than when Cung Le fought him. I like Diaz/Le even though I think 185 is way to high for Diaz to be fighting. I laughed the same time RJJP4P did when Pat said Diaz has the boxing skills of an elite boxer:doh: I like Pat, but that was crazy:: The one thing Diaz does that hardly any MMA fighters do is use a jab. You could say that jab is what won the fight for him against Shamrock, it did as well against Robbie Lawler. I just think Gilbert Melendez will get ate up again by Josh Thompson.
I think Shields and Lawler will put on a good fight, but does anyone know what weight this is at? I thought Jake was a 170'er and Lawler was @ 185? I would have thought the natural fight would have been Lawler/Le.
I'm pretty sure it's going to be at 185. Did you see Jake Shields on that Bully Beatdown show? He is great on the ground, but he's the only guy so far who had any trouble what so ever with the "bully". His stand up is uh not so good. Sure he beat the guy up, but it wasn't what you'd expect a world class fighter to do to a nobody.
I have never seen this Bully beatdown show. What channel or program is it on? I just watched an interview with Jake at Sherdog about declining Joe Riggs to take the Lawler fight. It sounds like he will most likely stay at 170, but is taking the Lawler fight for the challenge. From the interview, it doesn't sound like he wants to stand and trade with Lawler:: I'd say that's a good gameplan for Jake.
He will get KO'd if he stands with Lawler. BUT, this is Jake Shields we are talking about here, he will take it to the ground where he will safely win. Bully Beatdown is on MTV. Not sure which day it actually comes on I always just catch reruns. It's a pretty funny show.
Diaz is improving as a fighter, and I am confident that Sherk, Riggs and Sanchez would have a much harder time with Nick now. A much improved standup and his ground skills were there from the start. Nick Diaz beats Cung Le imo.
As much as I hate Diaz, I agree that he has a good chance to beat Le. But that's because I don't think Le's heart is really into fighting anymore. TFK
I agree with you TFK. He didn't even look a bit interested in fighting in the interview he had on the Strikeforce show. I know it won't happen, but I'd love to see Nick and Jake fight at 170artie:
Now that is a fight I would like to see. Nick's stand up as sloppy as it may be is better than Shields. They are both great on the ground, I really couldn't see either guy getting submitted. Good fight, I hope Strikeforce is thinking the same thing.
I'm sure Strikeforce would love the fight, do you think they would fight each other being out of the same camp?:dunno:
