Strikeforce: Feijao vs. Henderson

[INDYjon22]

Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Championship
Rafael Cavalcante (No. 9 LHW) vs. Dan Henderson

Strikeforce Womens Welterweight Championship
Marloes Coenen vs. Miesha Tate

Melvin Manhoef vs. Tim Kennedy
Billy Evangelista vs. Jorge Masvidal
Jorge Gurgel vs. Tyle Combs​

Strikeforce has been on fire as of late and this card should be no different. All of the announced fights should be wars and yes I do include the womens title fight in that as well. While this card may lack a lot of big name fighters it definitely has a ton of fire power in terms of guys who just like to throw down and put on entertaining fights.

It wasn't to long ago that Hendo was on that nice run in the UFC until everything seemed to fall apart. He had a fairly nasty fallout with the UFC and lost his debut in Strikeforce to Jake Shields. However, he has bounced back with an awesome KO victory over a tough Babalu Sobral and was named the next challenger for the incredibly hot Feijao Cavalcante.

Cavalcante has been on a great role as of late including three consecutive finishes by way of strikes, including a victory over King Mo in which he won the SF Light Heavyweight title. He has definitely made a run worthy of being listed in the top 10 LHW's in the world and a win over Hendo would do wonders for his career and a run at the top spot.

Both men have some great striking, so expect a stand up war. While Hendo has great wrestling he has been more than content with just standing and trading in his last couple of fights. Whereas Feijao is known for his tremendous stand up. Hendo's best bet is to take the fight down, but he can win the fight by strikes seeing as Feijao has been KO'ed before.

Also, on the card is a title fight between Marloes Coenen and Miesha Tate. Coenen is probably the second best womens fighter in the world and would be the best if there was no Cyborg. Unfortunately, there is a woman named Cyborg and she has defeated Coenen. However, that has not stopped Coenen from winning the Welterweight womens championship. Her opponent, Miesha Tate, has been very dominate as of late and is on a 5 fight win streak including 2 submissions, a KO, and two decisions. Either woman could win and it should make for an interesting chess match.

Tim Kennedy vs. Melvin Manhoef should be an absolute slugfest. Manhoef is known for his brutal KO power, but Kennedy is no slouch either. Kennedy has been more then content to slug it out, as evidenced in his fight with Souza. That said, Kennedy would be smart to take the fight to the ground where he will have a definate advantage.

Evangelista vs. Masvidal will be an interesting fight. Masvidal has a lot of power, as does Evangelista but Evangelista hasn't really shown that power in his last few fights. If Evangelista decides to trade with Masvidal, expect someone to get knocked the fuck out, which hopefully is the way this fight will go.

The final announced fight will see Jorge Gurgel fight Tyler Combs. I don't know much about Combs, but I do know that Gurgel always puts on an entertaining fight. I may not be a fan of the guy but I have also never seen him fight a boring fight. Expect this one to be awesome and maybe even Fight of the Night, which seems to be Gurgel's perogative as of late.

 

[ITurnGirlsGay]

Meisha Tate is off her bout with Marloes Coenen due to an knee injury. She's being replaced by Liz Carmouche.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/news?slug=mmaweekly-ca6d4d433150b07d8967337ba942eaca

Everyone truly loses because of this. She has the greatest ass in all of MMA.

 

[jmt225]

Was very disappointed by Miesha Tate pulling out. I was looking forward to being mesmerized by her ass for a few minutes during the fight before Marloes Coenen knocked her the fuck out. But oh well; guess we'll just have to wait a few more months to witness that. No biggie.

Anyways, great little show Strikeforce is putting on here.

The main event is very intriguing. On one hand you have the REAL Captain America (fuck Couture) Dan Henderson trying to show everybody that he's still one of the best Light Heavyweights in the World, and on the other you have Rafael Cavalcante, who in my opinion, still has a lot to prove. Personally, I'm not a big believer in Feijao. I know he's very well-rounded and has all the tools to become a huge name in the Light Heavyweight Division, but this fight against Henderson is his true chance to make a believer out of me and everyone watching. A lot is on stake for both fighters, and I know both will be bring their A-Game. I cannot wait to see what happens. War Hendo.

Melvin Manhoef is ALWAYS a pleasure to watch, so of course I'm looking forward to his bout with Tim Kennedy. Hopefully Kennedy is stupid enough to stand and strike with Manhoef, so Manhoef can then knock him the fuck out and get his career back on track. However, if Kennedy takes the fight to the ground, then my man Manhoef will be in serious trouble.

And I'm also a fan of Jorge Masvidal, so I'm definitely looking forward to his fight as well. Masvidal is perhaps the most underrated fighter in MMA today, and tonight he finally has a large platform to showcase his awesomeness. Hopefully he's able to show the World what I and people who've seen him fight already know, which is that he is one of the most entertaining and talented Lightweights not in the UFC. Billy Evangelista is a tough test for him to do that though, but I firmly believe Masvidal can pull it off.

 

[Buffalo Dave]

Well that sucked, I was just about finished, when I was closing out another tab, and my finger slipped and closed everything, had to rewrite it. Hate when that shit happens.

Strikeforce has been on fire as of late and this card should be no different.

This right here!! Strikeforce has put on some great cards recently. Even our resident SF hater (Fizzy) can't deny that. Seems Coker is finally getting his shit together.


What a war we should see between Hendo and Feijao. I think Hendo will end up taking this fight if he can withstand Feijao's power for the first couple rounds. As most of us know, Hendo has one of the strongest chins if not the strongest chin in all of MMA, having never been TKO'd or KO'd, having fought some of the best knock out specialists in all of MMA. I'm with JMT, not really 100% sold on Feijao yet either, beating King MO did nothing for me, although he did look fantastic in their fight. But Mo was just getting a hype train riding, Feijao exposed him, in having a lot to learn still. Hendo experience will carry him through this fight. Hendo is more rounded of a fighter with his wrestling background.

Sucks Miesha Tate is out of the fight with Coenen. It turns out to be a blessing in disguise for her though, as Coenen is probably the 2nd best woman in the world. Hell, she went the is the 2nd longest to last with Cyborg, that alone tells you she is one tough lady. Carmouche seems to be pretty good winning 3 of her 5 fights by TKO. Coenen I think will will be way to much for her to handle and will definitely pick up the win here.

Kennedy vs. Manhoef should be another exciting fight. If Kennedy is smart he takes this to the ground, Manhoef is a powerful striker. Melvin has 24 wins and 23 of those come by way of TKO,KO. Kennedy is tough, but Manhoef will knock him out if he isn't on top of his game.

Masvidal/Evangelista is a great fight to open the show. I didn't know much about Masvidal until I seen the Daley fight. I liked what I saw, dude is definitely tough, and almost had that fight won, if he would've been a little more smarter. Evangelista is another tough guy. I think this might be the first lost of Billy's career though.

 

[The Crock]

This is a nice little card, certainly, but I'm personally only pumped for one thing: HENDO! I love Hendo, and he's been fairly good as of late. I'd love for him to win this fight, but regardless it oughtta be a war between the two men. Hendo needs to be careful in the first round, but not too timid, he needs to get Feijao to the ground probably and just work his game. If Hendo can out-punch Feijao, then I see no reason why he won't win this, I mean... there's no way he DOESN'T win.

I'm also feeling a Tim Kennedy win. I think he's probably not good enough to keep it on his feet, like Buffalo Dave said, but if he can really work it on the ground he'll be good to go. That's the theme for the event, either take it to the ground, or get knocked the fuck out.

 

[ITurnGirlsGay]

And I'm also a fan of Jorge Masvidal, so I'm definitely looking forward to his fight as well. Masvidal is perhaps the most underrated fighter in MMA today, and tonight he finally has a large platform to showcase his awesomeness. Hopefully he's able to show the World what I and people who've seen him fight already know, which is that he is one of the most entertaining and talented Lightweights not in the UFC. Billy Evangelista is a tough test for him to do that though, but I firmly believe Masvidal can pull it off.

Yeah, I'm a huge fan of Jorge Masvidal, too.

He looked excellent passed out to a choke that has never been seen before in MMA. I believe that won submission of the year, too. Too bad he was on the receiving end of it.

Anyhow, yeah, I was truly sad about Tate, but then I realized something, I don't think I could watch someone that fucking sexy get her ass beat and be okay with it. So, I'm sort of glad that Liz Carmouche's ugly ass stepped in and will be on the receiving end of that beating.

I think StrikeForce should be superb tonight and I'm super fucking excited that Bellator is on right after. UFC on Versus on Thursday, a quick break last night, and TWO MMA extravaganza's tonight.

What a great fucking weekend.

 

[jmt225]

I actually became a fan of Jorge Masvidal when I saw his street fighting with Kimbo's crew. Those were most the technical street fights I've ever seen, and they were entertaining as shit, lol.

Anyways, Jorge looked great last night. He displayed some absolutely beautiful boxing, completely picking apart Billy Evangelista from the sound of the bell. I agreed with Mauro though that Jorge needs to get a little kill in him. There were plenty of moments last night I thought he could have exploded on Evangelista, but instead he remained cautious and gave Evangelista all the time he needed to recover whenever Jorge stumbled him. Regardless, still a great win for Jorge Masvidal, and I definitely look forward to seeing what he does in the future. A fight against KJ Noons would be fucking awesome, thinking about it.

Melvin Manhoef vs. Tim Kennedy pretty much went as expected, although I did have some blind hope that Manhoef would be able to stop the takedown and knock Kennedy's ass out, but alas... it just wasn't meant to be. If Manhoef had some good sub-defense, the man would be pretty much unstoppable, but unfortunately, every time he gets put in there with someone who has an ounce of talent in BJJ, Manhoef is going to get tapped-out. Damn shame...

Marloes Coenen vs. Liz Carmouche contained one of the greatest comebacks in MMA history, when Coenen was able to lock Liz up in a triangle after being DOMINATED for 2 and a half rounds. I was shocked at how good this Liz Carmouche turned out to be, but Marloes Coene has the heart of a warrior and never gave up on herself. She kept looking for an opening, even while getting pounded, and she finally got one. It was awesome to witness. Props to both ladies though for putting on a spectacular fight.

And Dan Henderson showed last night that he is indeed still one of the best Light Heavyweights in the World. Sure, he got rocked in the first, but fuck, other than that mishap, he looked absolutely SPECTACULAR. Even after getting rocked he was able to take Rafael immediately down and regain his composure. The fact that Dan Henderson was able to control Rafael with such ease in the grappling department was incredible considering the weight difference between the two. Rafael looked to have 3 inches of height on Hendo, plus around 15-20 pounds on him too, yet Hendo was able to pin him against the cage and take him down at will. It just goes to show how spectacular Hendo's wrestling game is (which, in turn, shows how awesome Jake Shields' wrestling is, ITTG ).

But, it didn't come down to wrestling, it came down to that fucking overhand right once again. Man, if that sucker just touches your chin, you're going down, and Rafael Cavalcante found out just that last night. Jesus is that a bomb Hendo carries in his right fist. Incredible...

All in all, great show last night filled with fun, exciting fights. Strikeforce delivers once again, and now they're giving us the card of the year on April 9th. I cannot fucking wait for that one.

 

[INDYjon22]

Another very solid show put on by Strikeforce. I would actually say that SF has been more entertaining then the UFC as of late, but a statement like that can change at any time.

Masvidal vs. Evangelista didn't interest me all that much, but it was still a very solid fight. Masvial looked excellent in his stand up and if he can keep it up I can certainly see Gilbert Melendez in his future. That said, he needs to get that killer instinct. Last nights fight went far to long because Masvidal let it go to long. Masvidal should put have put that fight away by the end of the second, beginning of the first.

Manhoef looked great in the beginning. His takedown defense was superb, but we all knew if the fight went long enough then Manhoef would end up on the ground, and on the ground he looks like a turtle on its back. Kennedy got a very impressive win, but it wasn't all that surprising because Manhoef is a one trick pony. I would really enjoy seeing Kennedy vs. Lawler now.

I was so happy when Coenen locked that triangle on. I am a huge Coenen fan. She is a class act and just a really nice person. It was great to see her fight through that beating and get the win. Definitely one of the most impressive victories I have ever seen. Carmouche on the other hand has a great upside. I definitely see big things in her future. She is like a smaller version of Cyborg and that will only help her in the future.

Dan Henderson is one of the greatest of all time and last night proved it. He took an early shot that almost put him away and came back to win the fight and a world title. I don't agree with Ranallo on anything, but that right hand of Hendo's is definitely an H-Bomb. Feijao on the other hand looked very good. His striking is incredible and he will definitely continue to be a very dangerous LHW. But Hendo is the man of the hour and hopefully he will break the SF LHW title curse and actually successfully defend it.

Another great show from Strikeforce and it just gets better. The Aprile show will be off the charts and is absolutely stacked right now. Strikeforce has been excellent so far and is off to a great 2011.

 

[Buffalo Dave]

Strikeforce coming through yet again. I'm trying to remember the last time I wasn't happy with a Strikeforce card, and currently drawing a blank, that's how good and entertaining the cards have been as of late.

Masvidal/Evangelista opened the main card, and was quite a show by Masvidal. Evangelista had a real tough time finding his range throughout the whole fight, only because Masvidal displayed some nice boxing skills. Between his striking, foot and head movement he just picked apart Billy throughout the fight. Now I disagree that Masvidal needed to go in for the kill. Billy was getting worked over, but didn't appear to be badly hurt, so it was a risk if he did. Instead he just kept up with the game plan he was using. scoring points by just picking him apart. Had the fight been like the recent Diabate/Cantwell or Falcao/Harris fights, then yeah, I'd say he should've went for the kill. Either way, great performance by Masvidal, looking forward to seeing him in the cage again soon.

If only Manhoef can learn to stay with his TDD. He started out great, with a punch that sent Kennedy flying back into the cage, followed by a leg kick that crippled Kennedy also, stuffing like 3 takedowns. Kennedy was able to get right up from the leg kick that put him down and continued to look for a takedown, finally securing one, and within a minute secure a RNC to tap Manhoef.

Holy shit, what fight between Coenen and Carmouche. The fight was very reminiscent of Silva/Sonnen besides lasting to the 5th round. Coenen was dominated for 2 1/2 rounds before securing a triangle choke, getting Carmouche to tap. I never seen Carmouche fight before tonight, but did check her stats out. Like I said in the preview of the fights she seemed like she can throw down winning most of her fights by TKO. She showed that last night. Carmouche was easily winning the stand up game and dominated the ground game. Coenen just stayed calm and kept looking for an opening from her back, until finally getting it in the 3rd. I still wanna know how many strikes Carmouche did land from the mount she through 100's but it seemed that Coenen blocked 3/4 of them. Most of the damage she took was from the stand up. Those Dutch fighters are for real!!

Dan Henderson just backed up my statement I made in the preview of the card, saying that he has that iron chin. He was rocked from that shot from Feijao, fell down, and within 2 seconds was already up securing a takedown. Hendo pushed the pace throughout the fight, backing up Feijao to the fence to setup the H-bomb. He caught Feijao a few times with it, nothing to flush, but definitely got his attention with it. While pushing the pace and getting Feijao along the fence it also let Hendo gain the clinch and wrestle Feijao to the ground a few times, something that Feijao coudn't stop. Early in the thrid, Hendo ducked, loaded up the H-bomb and boom Feijao was flattened out on his stomach, Hendo jumped on his back, delivered some more shots until the Mirg. stopped the fight. Just an amazing performance by Hendo. I'm hoping that Mousasi beats Kyle decisively so we can get Hendo/Mousasi for the LHW belt in the early summer.

 

[ITurnGirlsGay]

Rafael looked to have 3 inches of height on Hendo, plus around 15-20 pounds on him too, yet Hendo was able to pin him against the cage and take him down at will. It just goes to show how spectacular Hendo's wrestling game is (which, in turn, shows how awesome Jake Shields' wrestling is, ITTG ).

Or that Hendo had ring rust. If you truly believe that Shields has better wrestling than Hendo, I'd like to introduce you to Narcotics Anonymous.