UFC 110 Aftermath!

Alright, UFC 110 definitely did not fail to disappoint. Personally, I have been pumped for this card from back when it was suppose to be Akiyama vs Silva (die hard Wanderlei Fan/Card is on the bday). All and all, very entertaining card with many things to think about in regards to the future of many fighters involved in the main card.

Cain Velasquez

Definitely surprised me in this one. Not to say that I did not think he could win but never thought he would knockout Nogueira the way he did. It was great to see him utilize the stand up game in such a dominating fashion (the work at AKA is clearly showing its reward) without any use of his wrestling. He really shut up many people that felt he had little knockout power  from his fight with Rothwell and wasn’t experienced enough for Nogueira. Mark my words when I say this...if there is a heavyweight in the UFC, presently speaking of course, that has the ability to take the belt from Lesnar, IT IS CAIN!.. Time will tell if he will get the first crack or wait for the winner of Mir/Carwin vs Lesnar. Maybe Dos Santos?

Nogueira

Was disappointed not to see the “Pride Treble” tonight but what can you do. Thought Nogueira’s boxing would have posed more difficulty for Cain but I felt he did not respect Cain’s stand up gain. Constantly left his hands down in between punches and left himself open for that deadly knockout. Was constantly finishing second in his exchanges with Cain and the result was inevitable. Will expect to see him take a crack at the loser of Mir/Carwin. Its win-win as we would see ether Mir vs Nogueira 2 or an interesting matchup between Nog and Carwin. At the end of the day, will determine where Nog will stand in the weight class in the long run.

Wanderlei Silva

Huge win for Wanderlei. Think Wanderlei has finally been able to find the best rhythm in his training and fighting. In the Franklin fight, he showed he can close up his game and be more conservative after the Rampage fight but failed to close in on potential situation when Franklin was rocked. He finished every round strong, almost finishing the fight in both the second and third round. As much as he didn’t want the fight to go to decision, this aspect was key in giving him the second and third round. I really think that the Ax Murderer of old is on his way back. I had a good laugh when he had to stop himself from soccer kicking Bisping in the third. Think his next fight will be based on UFC’s attempt to host a card in the land of the rising sun. Things are most likely leaning toward a clash with Akyama, however, cant see this fight being wasted in America if theres hope of a card in Japan. Maybe the winner of Okami vs Linhares or a new signing. Would love to see it but cant see Silva being rushed into Sonnen until he grabs one more win at 185

Michael Bisping

Very tough result. Honestly was worried about this one seeing the Wolfslair trained Rampage and Bisping is a technical enough striker to time out his strikes to find openings much like Rampage did. He seemed reluctant to be aggressive against Silva...cant blame him because most guys that get aggressive with Silva, fall into his game of a brawl when he could give you one good crack and its over. Still feel Bisping is of relevance to the division and would love to see him clash heads with Nate the Great.

Mirko Cro Cop

Good to see him pick up a W but failing to knockout a finish a fighter that took the match on Monday really makes you question him. Especially one that is more known for grappling with little striking and an unknown in the mainstream mma world doesn’t help. I feel this match hasn’t changed much in regards to where he stands in the weight class. Definitely feel he will have a place in the UFC considering he would be a huge grab for Strikeforce (popularity and status only). Very interesting to see who will get in the next fight with Cro Cop. Really up in the air right now.  Maybe try and put him up against Rothwell, Struve or Buentello.

George Sotiropoulos

Definitely didn’t see that one coming. Huge results beating Joe Stevenson the way he did. Would have loved to see him finish it but he clearly showed dominance with many opportunities to finish. Cant see him making it into the title mix anytime soon . Would like to see Sotiropoulos clash with someone like Sam Stout , Lauzon or another status LW.

General Observations

Bader: Good W . This TUF graduate looks ready for bigger name LHW

Jardine: Another fight proving that he is a gate keeper in the weight class. Gotta give him credit though because everyone he has fought in the UFC shows how strong and how deep LHW is....never gets easy fights.

Could go in more detail but preferred to just keep focus on the majors. For full results on the event, check out UFC.com , Sherdog or any other MMA. Still available for purchasing the replay at ufc.com. Below is a highlight i found on youtube

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Does Strikeforce have the potential to be a serious competitor to the UFC?

Alright, it is a proven fact that the first thing people think about when they hear the term mixed martial arts is UFC or a UFC fighter..trust me, try it out.  UFC is probably the biggest MMA association in the world with events and coverage all over the world. Many organizations have tried to compete with UFC in North America and failed..even Donald Trump tried to get involved with MMA to little success with Affliction. There is only one other organization in the US that is close to the UFC and that is Strikeforce.

The California- based Strikeforce was able to develop much recognition after being able to sign the number 1 heavyweight in the world, Fedor Emelianenko, and Dan Henderson after negotiations failed with the UFC. After 27 events, one being this past Saturday, it is clear that there are many elements with this organization that can work well into this organization favour to compete with the UFC. First, the roster... as is, Strikeforce had a good roster of fighters but it was sometime last year when Strikeforce announced to have a co promotion partnerships with Japanese based association Dream and Europe’s M-1 to improve its efforts against the UFC.  This has allowed Strikeforce to improve their fight cards by being able to bring in fighters from these two organizations.  Trust me when I say, these fights so far have not been anything less than entertaining. For example, on Saturday, Nick Diaz vs. Marius Zaromskis for the welterweight title....both guys came out swinging from the opening bell until one dropped.  Even Melvin Manhoef vs. Robbie Lawlor....ended in a brutal knockout that came out of nowhere!  Some other fighters Strikeforce have been able to bring into the mix are Gegard Mousasi, King Mo, Kj Noons, Bobby Lashley ..just to name a few , with rumours circulating around Hayato Sakurai and Shinya Aoki being next to fight in a Strikeforce cage. Second, EA MMA....imagine EA Sport’s Fight Night .....MMA style! Game which features both Dream and Strikeforce fighters is set to come out this summer and will be huge in increasing Strikeforce’s exposure and if this game is a hit, improve the perception and interest in the company. Even though UFC was first to market with a video game, EA MMA can still be a huge for Strikeforce considering EA’s reputation for producing amazing sports games.

However, what kind of a person would I be to leave out the negatives about this company. Strikeforce’s biggest problem by far........television exposure. Although the company has some events that are hosted on CBS, the majority of their events are shown on Showtime and Super Channel. Now let me ask, don’t raise your hands all at once but how many of you have these channels?... How can one compete if there’s a good possibility your potential viewers don’t have the channel your event is airing on and isn’t even easy to access like Pay Per View ?  Maybe Showtime is huge in the states but Super Channel is not in Canada!! As it is , it’s difficult as is for any company to try and compete with the UFC because let’s face it, they are the originator that has already established their presence . Another problem is financial backing...it is very costly to try and have monthly cards with top talent. Strikeforce has created the Strikeforce Challengers series which showcases up and coming prospects  to try and have monthly events but to compete with the UFC, fans need to see the top dogs fighting more often than the next card, which is April. There are some other observations and criticisms that can be made but are minor compared to these two so don’t want to get into it.

Trust me when I say, Strikeforce has a long way to go to be at UFC level but I am happy to see what they have done as of late to try and improve their stance as a potential competitor to the UFC.

For more information on Strikeforce, please check out their website at http://strikeforce.com.