Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Silva

[INDYjon22]

Main Card
Fedor Emelianenko vs. Antonio Silva
Andrei Arlovski vs. Sergei Kharitonov

Reserve Bouts
Shane del Rosario vs. Lavar Johnson
Valentijn Overeem vs. Ray Sefo
Gian Villante vs. Chad Griggs

Undercard
Marc Stevens vs. John Cholish
Igor Gracie vs. John Salgado
Anthony Leone vs. Josh LaBerge
Jason McLean vs. Kevin Roddy​

Yes, the time has finally come for the Strikeforce: Grand Prix to finally begin and I cannot wait. All of the fights look to be great on paper and should be a blast to watch. The most exciting and unpredictable fight is on the very first show and in addition to that one of the most talked about Heavyweights will be fighting as well.

Fedor vs. Silva seems pretty academic, however Silva looked very good in his fight against Arlovski. Silvas best bet is to use his long reach. That said, Fedor has tremendous striking and amazing ground skills. I can't see him losing this fight, unless he doesn't take it seriously. Fedor has tapped out bigger opponents and with ease.

My most anticipated fight of the first round is Arlovski vs. Kharitonov. Both men love to throw bombs. Naturally I will be supporting AA, but I also truly believe he can win this fight. Kharitonov has slowed down in recent years, and while he is still a very dangerous fighter I don't believe he is as good as he was when he was in PRIDE. However, this fight could go either way. AA has a very suspect chin and it would only take one good shot to put him away, something Kharitonov could very easily do. It all depends on how well Greg Jackson has prepared AA for this fight. Hopefully we will get to see the old Pitbull return and get a win.

The reserve bouts are fairly intriguing. Lavar Johnson is a decent enough fighter, Valentijn has had an up and down career, and Chad Griggs is coming off of his very impressive victory over Lashley. In addition, SDR is an undefeated prospect, and Villante has only one loss. None of these guys are exactly ready to step into the main tournament but their fights should be interesting to watch and see if maybe they show any glimpses of being future stars.

One final note, Marc Stevens from TUF: Kos vs. GSP will finally have his first fight since the show. We all know how well he did on there. I look forward to seeing if he had finally learned how to defend the guillotine or not.

Next Thursday, February 10, tune in for the first two fights in the Strikeforce: Grand Prix. Even if you don't agree with SF holding a tournament just look at it from a casual fight fans perspectives. These fights look great and should be awesome to watch.

 

[Buffalo Dave]

Hell yes, I'm pumped this is only a week and half away.

I don't think there will be any question on if Fedor will take this fight seriously as he did sign with SF for 4 more after this one. It's just good to see him fighting again period! I think he will win this fight without a doubt. Silva has looked pretty good as of late, but he is fighting Fedor now, after Kyle dropped him in his last fight, there is no doubt Fedor will do the same, except instead of using GnP to finish the fight he will take off Bigfoot's arm.

The Arlovski/Kharitonov fight I'm very interested in as well. Both of the fighters have very similar backgrounds with their fighting styles. Arlovski's chin has been called out do to him being KO'd by Fedor and Rogers but, in his last fight he showed he can still take a shot to the chin, as Bigfoot peppered him a few times and he was fine. The thing Arlovski has to do is engage in some striking and not be hesitant to do so. I'm very much rooting for him in this fight, I wanna see this guy get a win and like Jon want to see the Pitbull of old.

Johnson vs. del Rosairo should be an entertaining fight. Both fighters finish most of their fights by putting someone to sleep and not going past the first round very often in doing so. I expect the same thing to happen when they fight. It's a good way to get these guys noticed as they both have only fought for SF on the Challenger Series. This fight can go either way, one thing for sure is someone will be getting woken up after getting KO'd.

Griggs is fighting an unknown fighter in Villante who does have a 7-1 record but has fought unknowns himself. His only loss came by his arm being broken. As most Heavyweights he seems to finish his fights by KO or TKO, just like Griggs. So again like Johnson/Rosario anything can happen in this one. I'm pulling for Griggs and his awesome mutton chops to get the win.

Like Jon said, Overeem has had a up and down career. But he does have to big wins in it as he beat Randy Couture and Babalu. He is on a two fight winning streak and won 4 out of his last 6. His opponent Ray Sefo isn't really well known as a mixed martial artist having only fought twice in 5 years with both of his fights combined haven't eclipsed 60 seconds. But is an accomplished Kickboxer and even had a couple pro boxing fights. I think I still have to go with the older Overeem brother to get the win here as he has the more experience as a mma fighter. Although Sefo winning wouldn't surprise me either.

Fuck Marc Stephens, I liked him when TUF first started. As the show went on he turned into a douche bag. I loved when English subbed him by a Guillotine. So needless to say I hope his opponent wins.

Another thing to note about the prelims is that another Gracie is fighting for Strikeforce and that is Igor Gracie brother of Rolles Jr. and Gregor who their father was Rolls Sr. His opponent is pretty much a can, so I thing Gracie will be able to pick up the win.

 

[jmt225]

I just don't see how Big Foot Silva stands any chance of beating Fedor. Fedor is better at pretty much every aspect of MMA, and rumor has been that Fedor's more determined and motivated than ever. I completely expect him to put Big Foot Silva away in the 1st Round. And that's no disrespect to Big Foot Silva. I think overall talent wise that Big Foot is a top 10 Heavyweight in the World, but Fedor is just that damn good. He's the GOAT of MMA, and Saturday he will show the World why he's been lauded as such for so long. I cannot wait.

Andrei Arlovski vs. Sergei Kharitonov should be epic, especially if Arlovski's chin comes in intact. If it does, then this should be a stand-up battle for the ages. Though, I think Arlovski should heavily consider taking the fight to the ground. While Arlovski's a very good boxer, his head movement is absolute shit and Sergei will absolutely pick his ass apart on the feet. Arlovski definitely stands more of a chance if he moves the fight to the ground, where Sergei isn't nearly experienced as he is on the feet. Arlovski has a fantastic Sambo background and was able to hang with the likes of Werdum on the ground, so I know he has the definitive advantage grappling wise. Hopefully he's smart enough to realize that come fight time.

I really have nothing to say about the rest of the card, other than I'm very much looking forward to seeing Overeem's brother fight and that I hope he does well. Other than that though... I don't care about any of the other fighters on the undercard.

However, even with that being the case, I cannot wait for this show. There's just something about a Fedor fight. The man has the biggest presence in MMA, bar none. You just know whenever he fights, something special is going to happen.

 

[INDYjon22]

....What a depressing night of fights. Don't get me wrong, all of the fights on the main card were exciting as hell and a lot of fun to watch but we may have just seen the final fights of two legends of the MMA world. Not to mention my favorite fighter of all time got his head knocked the fuck off and I had to listen to Mauro Ranallo spew his bias anti-Arlovski bullshit for a solid 10 minutes. That man has got to be the absolute worst commentator in the entire world bar none.

Fedor vs. Silva. Fedor started out well but the size and reach advantage of Silva was just something that Fedor could not figure out. Silva seemed to be getting off the better punches and winning the exchanges between the two in the first. If there was any doubt that Silva took that first round I firmly believe his takedown at the end of the round won him it, how two of the judges scored it for Fedor I do not know. The second round was all Silva. He took Fedor down and just dominated him. He had some great ground and pound and some nice submission attempts. I commend Fedor for gutting through the beating he was taking and the submission attempts. He showed a ton of heart but I do think the stoppage was good. His eyes was really messed up. Very sad to see a legend like Fedor lose in that fashion but it was the right call. As for Silva, well he just got the biggest win of his career no doubt and has definitely solidified himself as a real threat in this tournament.

The most depressing fight of the night was Arlovski vs. Kharitonov. AA started out well, he was aggressive and landing some good punches. However, after the first minute and a half I don't know what happened in AA's head. Why the hell he decided to put his back against the cage, drop his hands, and not use any head movement of any kind is beyond me. Sergei absolutely picked him apart. The KO was brutal and really hard for me to watch. Sergei should make for an interesting match up with either Barnett or Rogers. I love AA but I think it is time for him to hang up the gloves. He just cannot compete with the top guys anymore and I really do not want to see him fight, and possibly lose, to cans like Tim Sylvia is doing currently. A very heartbreaking moment for me as I had to watch the man who got me into MMA possibly fight for the final time.

The reserve bouts were all awesome to watch. All of these men came to fight tonight and it was a real pleasure to see them do so. SDR and Lavar Johnson had a nice little back and forth fight but SDR showed why he is the top alternate for the Grand Prix. Griggs vs. Villante was probably the most exciting fight of the night. These two had an absolute war with both men showing a ton of heart. How Griggs took that head kick and not even back up was awesome. Great win for a rejuvenated Griggs. And it was cool to finally see Lil' Overeem in action. He looked very solid.

It is also interesting to note that Marc Stevens has still not learned how to defend any submission attempts. I love Koscheck but man oh man did he fuck up by picking Stevens first on that show.

Overall the show was great and very entertaining. The three reserve bouts were exciting as hell to watch. However, it was really sad to see Arlovski and Fedor both go down in defeat once again. Part of me wants to see them fight again, however it may be for the best for both to retire. I can't wait to see the second half of the quarterfinals. Barnett vs. Rogers and Werdum vs. Overeem should all be great and I personally feel like this tournament is off to a fantastic start.

 

[Buffalo Dave]

I feel for Jon and Armbar, never fun to watch your favorite fighters lose. Aside from that not a bad card for featuring just Heavyweights on it.

Silva beating Fedor is a bigger shock to me than when Werdum did it. With the Werdum fight that was just a mistake made by Fedor. Silva took it to Fedor for 2 rounds. Like Jon said Fedor had a problem finding his reach, when he did land some shots, they didn't seem to faze Bigfoot at all. Bigfoot when landing strikes in the first round had Fedor's head snapped back a few times. Then the takedown at the end of the round by Bigfoot is what won him that round. That second round was jaw dropping, never would I expect to see Silva dominate Fedor like that. Once he gained the mount on Fedor he just started to go crazy throwing punches, his first barrage of punches looked like they didn't land that much, after he attempted the RNC, that Fedor got out of, Silva landed some huge shots that tore up Fedor's face. Fedor tried his hardest to break free, almost succeeded in doing so. Right before the round ended we saw the two exchange in leg locks. The bell rang, and the fight was called because of Fedor's eye was swollen shut. Definitely the right call to make. Silva just put on the performance of his career. The commentators were calling Sergei Kharitonov the dark horse to win the tourney all night, but I think that title now belongs to Silva.

Arlovski started out so good in his fight with Kharitonov. It was nice to see him come swinging and throwing kicks. He was landed decent strikes, but any punches he landed to seem to bother Sergei. The leg kicks seemed to do more damage. Arlovski's problem was he allowed himself to get backed into the cage where Kharitonov won the exchange, for some reason AA dropped his hands, Kharitonov landed a huge shot that put AA on his back, followed up with two more huge shots with the second won putting AA to sleep. Like I said in the LD, it reminded of the Liddell's last fight. That's 4 losses in a row for Andrei, 3 coming by devastating KO's, it's a career for him unless he wants to fight in the smaller promotions.

Johnson/Del Rosario was a nice war until Del got the fight to the ground, once he gained mount it was over. He just threw punches softening up Johnson until he was able to grab his arm and put it into an Armbar forcing Johnson to tap. With that performance Del Rosario should be the top reserve of the tourney.

Griggs/Villante might have not been the most technical fight, but it was entertaining. I swear those mutton chops give Griggs his power . I'm not trying to hate on Griggs, but put him in there with a Heavyweight that was the good technical striking and he will get picked apart.

Overeem executed his game plan, get the kickboxer to the ground. I don't see Sefo having much of a MMA career the guy is pushing 40 and this was his only third fight. Unless he can learn takedown defense, any smart fighter will use that against him to do what Overeem just did.

Props to Choolish for beating that turd Marc Stevens. Of all the talent released the past 6 months by the UFC, Strikeforce gives Stevens a shot, they messed up there. Also, Igor Gracie picked up a win by subbing his opponent in the second.

 

[jmt225]

This was a really great and exciting show, even if it contained one of the most heartbreaking losses in MMA history.

Watching Big Foot Silva dominate Fedor was painful. But, once it was done, even though I was deeply sadden with the loss, I was still really proud to be a fan of Fedor Emelianenko. I guarantee any other Heavyweight in MMA would have given up with the beating that man was taking, but Fedor hung in there for nearly 5 whole minutes, and STILL tried to win the fight at the very end of it. That's the heart of a fucking warrior, my friends. Say what you want about Fedor aging or his skills diminishing, but he stilled proved he has the biggest heart in MMA last night. The guy has nothing to be ashamed of.

Props to Big Foot Silva, though. Perfect game plan on his part. I still say size was a major reason why he won, but regardless... you cannot take anything away from the man.

Anyways, Andrei Arlovski vs. Sergei Kharitonov was also sad to see, but I think deep down we were all expecting that outcome. Arlovski looked damn good at first, but as Frank Shamrock said, you just cannot back away with your hands down. It will get you every time against a devastating striker as Sergei.

But major props to Sergei Kharitonov; he looked as good as ever and there's no doubt he's now the favorite to make it to the finals in his bracket. However, I won't start thinking that until I see how Josh Barnett looks against Brett Rogers.

Shane del Rosario vs. Lavar Johnson was a great showcase fight for del Rosario. That guy is going to be really fucking good. I think he might ought to consider dropping to 205, but regardless he should definitely have a great future in MMA as long as he continues to do as he has been.

Gian Villante vs. Chad Griggs was a LOT of fun to watch. That's all that needs to be said.

And Valentijn Overeem vs. Ray Sefo was meh, but I was still happy for Overeem. He did the smart thing and took the kickboxer down and submitted him. Cannot fault the man for that in the least bit.

All in all, a GREAT show, and one that could actually go down in history as the last time Fedor stepped into a cage or ring.