Strikeforce: Heavy Artillery

[jmt225]

Main card

• Heavyweight Championship bout: Alistair Overeem (c) vs. Brett Rogers
• Heavyweight bout: Andrei Arlovski vs. Antonio Silva
• Middleweight bout: Ronaldo Souza vs. Joey Villaseñor
• Light Heavyweight bout: Roger Gracie vs. Kevin Randleman
• Light Heavyweight bout: Rafael Cavalcante vs. Antwain Britt

Preliminary card

• Welterweight bout: Jesse Finney vs. Justin DeMoney
• Lightweight bout: Vitor Riberio vs. Lyle Beerbohm
• Light Heavyweight bout: Francisco France vs. Lee Brousseau
• Welterweight bout: Mike Chandler vs. Sal Woods
• Lightweight bout: Pat Benson vs. Erik Steenberg
• Lightweight bout: Matt Ricehouse vs. Tom Aaron
• Light Heavyweight bout: Booker DeRousse vs. Darryl Cobb

......................................................................................​

This card airs in a couple of weeks on Showtime. So, if you have Showtime it'll be free of charge. Make sure to check your calender, as this is a pretty damn good free show.

Anyways, the main event Alistair Overeem vs. Brett Rogers for the Strikeforce Heavyweight Championship. Is it ridiculous that this could be a Heavyweight Title fight? Yes, absolutely. Brett Rogers is coming off a loss, so why does he get a shot at the Heavyweight Championship? And then there's Alistair Overeem, who hasn't defended the Strikeforce Heavyweight Title since November of 2007 when he first won the belt (also the last time he fought in the states). So, yes... absolutely ridiculous that one person gets a title shot, and that the other is still champion.

Regardless of all that, it should still be a great fight, with someone getting knocked severely the fuck out. Brett Rogers of course is a bit of a street fighter, with heavy, heavy hands. And then there's Overeem, who's one of the best, most powerful kickboxers in the sport, so yes... someone's definitely getting knocked out in this one. No doubt about it.

Personally, I see Overeem knocking Rogers out in the 1st Round. The guy is just too well rounded and too experienced for someone like Rogers to handle. Should be an incredible knockout though. I cannot wait to see it.

Andrei Arlovski makes his return to the ring after a year lay off, when he lost to Brett Rogers in just 20 seconds. I've always said that if Arlovski had a chin, he'd be the best Heavyweight in MMA... but whether he has a chin or not, he should make easy work of Big Silva. Silva's a decent fighter, but no where near the caliber of Arlovski. Sure, all Silva has to do is land one good shot, but I don't see it happening. Arlovski will put him away in the 2nd or 3rd, and hopefully then go on to get a shot at the winner of Overeem/Rogers (I don't think we'll see Fedor in Strikeforce again, unfortunately, so don't expect him to face either of those two any time soon).

We get to see Jacare's second fight in the states against Joey Villasenor. Very, very excited about that one. Villasenor has been on a roll lately, but Jacare should make quick work of him and then move on to tougher competition. Jacare vs. Nick Diaz and/or Jacare/Mayhem 3 is something I'd really love to see sometime in the near future.

Roger Gracie vs. Kevin Randleman.... should be interesting. Another Gracie trying to make a name for himself in MMA. He's 2-0 so far, but Randleman is undoubtedly his toughest opponent yet. Gracie should be able to catch Randleman in a submission if he's able to get it to the ground; if not, then Gracie is going to get KTFO.

Rafael Cavalcante vs. Antwain Britt... meh, don't care. Squash fight for Rafael Cavalcante, who I guess they're trying to build up as a challenger for King Mo.

And the prelims have nothing except KID Yamamoto making his debut in the U.S. Now, this would have been a HUGE deal back 2008, but KID has lost his last two fights and thus lost all his steam. All 2008 everybody was salivating at the thought of KID vs. Faber, but unfortunately... a deal was never made, and now both have fallen off from glory. Such a shame, but maybe this can be the start of Kid's comeback trail. You never know...

EDIT: Since making the original post, Kid Yamamoto has been pulled off this show so he could fight for the next DREAM card, and Kevin Randleman has had to drop out of his fight against Roger Gracie due to a staph infection. Randleman's replacement is to be determined at this point.

EDIT 2: Kevin Randleman is now back on the show and his fight with Roger Gracie will happen as originally planned.

 

[Buffalo Dave]

Finally a break from our pockets in a month full of boxing and mma with this show. Pretty pumped there is something to watch everyweekend in May.

Definitely a decent card to say the least. Start with the main event. Overeem vs. Rodgers. Total crap it is a title fight since Overeem hasn't defended it at all and has had it for almost 3 years, he should've been striped of the belt after a year like most other promotions will do, especailly since he wasn't even injured just fighting over in Japan and Netherlands. The only way I see them for letting him keep the belt the whole time is because they wanted to promote their brand with him over there. Now for Rodgers getting a chance at the belt is pretty dumb since hes coming off the loss to Fedor, not like he lost a conterversial fight either, so him getting the first crack at Overeem is a bit lame. Gonna agree with you JMT and say Overeem wins by KO but not till the 2nd like the Fedor fight. I feel Werdum should've been Overeem's opp. since his Fedor match is in limbo.

Arlovski vs. Silva should be another good fight. I personally think that Silva is the only one in the world that makes Tito's head look small. Now that I got that out of the way I think Arlovski is gonna TKO that big ass head. Lets just hope Arlovski can last a little longer this time around, hes been working on his boxing like crazy, lets hope he polished up on his defense.

Souza vs. Villasenor, looking forward to this also. With the almost certain departure of Sheilds this fight means a lot to Strikeforce with the winner probably getting a shot at the MW belt. Im still undecided on who I like in this one. Will make up my mind a little bit later.

Gracie vs. Randelman I dont have that much intrest, plus how serious is Gracie about being a mma fighter the guy has fought once every two years? Plus Randelman is a bum 3 wins in his past 12 fights. Gracie should have no problem submitting him since the majority of Randelman's losses have came via submission, But he might shock us and catch Gracie.

For the rest of the card nothing really jumps out at me worth while discussing.

 

[Buffalo Dave]

And the prelims have nothing except KID Yamamoto making his debut in the U.S. Now, this would have been a HUGE deal back 2008, but KID has lost his last two fights and thus lost all his steam. All 2008 everybody was salivating at the thought of KID vs. Faber, but unfortunately... a deal was never made, and now both have fallen off from glory. Such a shame, but maybe this can be the start of Kid's comeback trail. You never know...

Just saw this while browsing over at Sheardog

Japanese superstar Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto will not face King of the Cage veteran Federico Lopez in a preliminary matchup at Strikeforce “Heavy Artillery” on May 15 at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, the promotion’s CEO Scott Coker said on Thursday.
“I know that we’d received a request from Dream to put ‘Kid’ on the (May 15) card and at that time we felt we should oblige,” said Coker during a conference call for the May 15 event. “I think they had some changes in Japan with their format for May 29 and so I think he’ll be fighting in Japan on the 29th.”

So I guess he will have to wait a little longer for his debut in the U.S., its not really a big deal since it was on the prelims and would've been a filler during breaks from the main card.

 

[Slim Pickns]

I love Brett Rodgers. He worked at the Tires Plus out here in MN and is just a great person. I always cheer for him and was super pumped to see him get a chance to fight Fedor. However, I simply cannot get excited for this, or any other Strikeforce card.

Everyone has already pointed out that Rodgers last fight was a loss so he shouldn't get a title shot. This is similar to when Andre Arlovski was UFC Heavyweight Champion and fought Justin Eilers. Eilers had just been KOed by Paul Bentello. When Bentello went down with injury Eilers received the shot to much outcry. The UFC's heavyweight division was in shambles then which should speak to the state of Strikeforce now being in the same situation. They wanted Fedor vs Overeem, when Fedor couldn't reach a deal they should have had a solid back up who just won a fight. Right now, if Shane Carwin had to pull out against Brock Lesnar the UFC would have two equally solid matchups without having to reach for a replacement coming off of a loss. Junior Dos Santos and Cain Velasquez would both be suitable. Strikeforce doesn't even have one.

Bobby Lashley is the only thing saving this company, but like Jake Shields, once he reaches a certain level of skill and drawing power he's headed to the UFC. Strikeforce can market themselves all they want but they are the UFC's minor league circuit.

 

[INDYjon22]

God, I am excited for this card. Not only is Allistair Overeem finally defending his belt once again, but we will see the return of "The Pitbull" Andrei Arlovski. And as most know I am a dye hard AA fan.

Overeem/Rogers- Both men have strong striking but Rogers lacks a ground game and a submission game. That will be the crack in the armor that will ultimately lead to the defeat of Brett Rogers. I actually think Overeem will catch Rogers with some knees and that will be what leads to the end of the fight, but I can't decide if it will only be a set up for a submission or if Overeem will knock Rogers our with said knees. Regardless, this fight has knockout of the night written all over it.

Arlovski/Silva- I fucking love Andrei Arlovski. I have been waiting far to long to see this man fight once again and am giddy with excitement. Antonio Silva is a big man with some heavy hands and decent ground game but AA has great hands and a very solid ground game. I think AA's speed will be the key to victory. If Arlovski picks Silva apart for the first round then I think he will be able to put Silva out by the second or third.

Souza/Villasenor- Souza has been on fire as of late. I don't think that changes on Saturday. Jacare should be able to pick Joey apart in route to a quick submission.

Gracie/Randleman- Randleman is a legend of the sport but has been on the decline in recent years. Roger Gracie on the other hand is 2-0 in his career thus far and while that may not be all that special yet, he has been able to submit his first two opponents. Gracie has a ton of potential and Randleman could be a great name to add to his perfect record. Gracie via submission.

Cavalcante/Britt-To put it simply, I like Cavalcante more. I have been impressed by what I have seen from Cavalcante thus far. I have never seen Britt fight so I cannot really say anything about his style, but Cavalcante has looked good from everything I have seen. This fight is very tough to call but I will back Cavalcante.

This Saturday should be a great night of fights. Strikeforce has to be hoping it turns out better then Nashville seeing as this is the first show since. I wouldn't expect any cheap shots or brawls, but I would expect some brawls and some blood.

 

[Slyfox696]

I would love to go to this show as I've never been to a MMA show before, but I just don't have the money. Factor in that most of the people I watch MMA shows with don't know these people, and the fact I find it absolutely stupid Brett Rogers is getting a title shot, and it's a little easier to swallow the fact I just can't afford this show. Plus I hate driving through downtown St. Lous.

As far as the show goes, it's a decent card, but not one I'd pay for, and since I don't have Showtime, I'd have to pay for this. I'm not sure what kind of ratings or what kind of a deal Strikeforce has with Showtime and CBS, but it seems to me the more CBS specials they could put on, the better they could build a fanbase. And with this card being DECENT, I don't think they'll convince people to buy the show, even for the cost of adding a Showtime subscription.

 

[Buffalo Dave]

Not a bad card for Strikeforce at all, the main card was pretty entertaining. The only thing that was pissing me off was the announcers. Gus Johnson is just horrible. Your gonna quote Ric Flair, then do the patented Flair WOOOOOOOO with a OWWWWWW C'mon man get with it. And Im so sick of every time they mention Rodgers someone has to remind us that he worked at Sam's Club changing tires, I think we all know that by now. Now I got that out of the way on to the fights,

Brit vs. Cavalcante - Pretty quick fight, Brit came out with with a flurry of punches nothing lands, trys again and Cavalcante blocks them all again, end up getting into a clinch, the ref breaks them up Cavalcante ends up catching him with a hook, Brit buckles, Cavalcante moves in moves in with more punches and a uppercut that made the ref step in to call the fight. Not a bad way to start the night.

Gracie vs. Randleman - Another decent fight. Was a no brainer on what Gracie's game plan would be, take it to the ground and get a submission. Randleman was successful on fighting it off in the 1st. So Gracie did the smart thing and started to jab to keep Randleman away. Gracie was also smart in using his reach advantage with his legs by going for knees, there were two that landed nicely. We get into the 2nd round and this is more on the ground, Gracie was able to get him to the ground with that second knee I mentioned, he goes for a side choke but Randleman is able to get out. Gracie then moves to the back slaps on the rear naked choke and just as Randleman is about to fade out he was able to still tap. Im looking forward to Gracie's next match now lets just hope its not gonna be another two years!

Jacare vs. Villasenor - Good fight between the two. I was surprised in Jacare's striking. The 1st round was all Jacare, Joey was unable to do anything offensively from all the pressure. 2nd round was much like the first except Joey was doing starting to throw a little bit but never really landing anything to take Jacare off his game. Jacare is pretty much dominating at this point with all the take downs and striking. To start the 3rd round Joey lands a nice right that gets Jacre's attention then another shot to open up Jacre's nose. Jacare goes for a takedown down but gets stuffed, Joey then gets a nice double jab in, but Jacare lands a nice hook and gets a takedown and just works him over in half guard and takes the momentum back. Jacare ends up taking the fight by unanimous decision. Gotta give it to Villasenor for hanging in there he made some nice moves to get Jacare off of him he just couldn't get anything going. Jacare has to be in serious contention now for the MW belt after his performance.

Arlovski vs. Silva - This fight got pretty boring. One thing for sure is that Arlovski managed to take punches to the chin without going to sleep. I dont know whether Arlovski was a little scared to actually try and exchange with Silva or not, but his boxing just seemed a little off. I have no idea why he stopped going for the leg kicks he was throwing and landing in the first coulpe minutes they were working well for him. Silva was doing good at countering Arlovski's punches and landing some big shots throughout the fight. One of my big problems with the fight was the ref Big John McCarthy, everytime they would clinch against the cage it seemed like he was waiting to long to tell them to work and as soon as they started to he would then break them. I wasnt getting that. The taunting by Silva at the end was a little tasteless for me too, why wait to the last 10 seconds if your gonna do it, he had to know he was way ahead before that point. Im not against taunting at all but do it way before the last 10 secs. of a fight to make it intresting. So Silva takes the the unanimous decision. Hopefully this was more of a confidence booster for Arlovski knowing he can take some big shots to the face and keep going.

Overeem vs. Rodgers - Gotta say that Rodgers looked a little hesitant to wanna throw with Overeem and I thinked Overeem smelled it. When Overeem just tossed Rodgers to the ground like Brett was a LW I was like holy shit, this is ending very soon!! Rodgers just covered up like he didnt want no part of the fight anymore. Overeem just dominated from there untill McCarthy called it. I was expecting a little more out of Rodgers but Overeem just exposed that he has no ground game once he's on his back. I wish they would've interviewed Rodgers after the fight, I wanted to hear how he should've won again like he was saying after the Fedor fight. After Fedor's fight with Werdum and if he makes out with the win which he should, Strikeforce needs to get the Overeem vs. Fedor for the fall.

 

[INDYjon22]

Not a bad card but a very disappointing night nonetheless for me. I will get to that shortly. However, most of the card was decent and their were some nice finishes that may be looked upon come end of the year awards.

Lets start off with Cavalcante vs. Britt. Cavalcante is a product of Anderson Silva and Britt is a big fucking dude who once weighed 300ibs. Britt gave Cavalcante all sorts of hell in the early parts but Cavalcante kept posed and made a come back. His knockout of Britt was pretty vicious in my eyes and reminded me of when Rashad got knocked out by Machida. It could be a possible knockout of the year come the end of the year, but that is still a long ways off.

Roger Gracie vs. Kevin Randleman wasn't a terribly impressive fight but Gracie showed that he has some talent. Randleman is a big guy and Gracie caught him with a nice knee that lead to the finish. Gracie needs to learn to use his reach and his jab better though or else he will get crushed by the bigger name fighters. He started using his jab in the second and that's when he really started to take control of the fight. Also, his rear naked choke was a thing of beauty.

Jacare vs. Villasenor was a good fight. Villasenor showed off his tremendous submission defense all fight long. Good thing he had a good submission defense or he would have gotten spanked. Jacare is no joke and I really believe he should be in contention for the Strikeforce Middleweight championship. He has all the tools that should be required for a good champion, especially if and when Shields leaves the company. The next fight should be Mayhem Miller vs. Jacare.

Arlovski vs. Silva was a major disappointment for me last night. Silva fought a great fight and Arlovski just could not figure out the reach problem. AA looked better at the end of the fight but obviously it was to late. The good thing is that AA did not get knocked out and he did take some big fucking shots to his chin. Hopefully that will shut some of the critics who say he has a glass jaw the fuck up. Antonio Silva on the other hand has put his name back in with the bigger names. Very impressive win for Big Foot and a very sad night as a fan of Team Pitbull.

Overeem vs. Rogers was a fun fight. It felt like people kept praising Rogers for his hands but forgot that Overeem was just as good on his feet which he showed last night. I found it hilarious that Overeem really showed to the world how one dimensional Rogers really is by actually tossing him on his ass and then putting the beating to him. Overeem vs. Fedor needs to happen next, end of story.

 

[jmt225]

Alistair Overeem is fucking unbelievable. The guy simply pushed Brett Rogers down, and it wasn't even a hard push as you would expect. It looked like it took Overeem ZERO effort rag doll Rogers. And Rogers was well over the 265 pound weight limit by fight time, too, which was much bigger than Overeem. Seriously, for Overeem to put the guy down like he did, that was EXTREMELY impressive and this guy definitely gives Brock a run for his money as far as the strongest fighter in MMA is concerned.

But, yeah man... Overeem looked fantastic. He showed yesterday that he is indeed forreal and one of the absolute best Heavyweights in the World. In fact, I'd put him in the top 3, personally. That's how much he has me believing in him right now. That performance just blew me away. Another thing, Overeem is an awesome, awesome striker, yet he doesn't even need it to win fights. Most Kickboxers of Overeem's caliber who decides to try their hand at MMA end up being one-dimensional, but as Overeem showed last night... the guy is FANTASTIC on the ground, and he can get anyone there any time he wants to.

Hopefully we get Fedor vs. Overeem in the near future. I don't think there's a fight I want to see more right now than that one.

As far as Brett Rogers... meh, maybe he'll bounce back, maybe not. I don't really care about the guy, so I don't give a shit how his career ends up.

Moving on... I've been saying for a long ass time that if Andrei Arlovski had a chin, he would be the best Heavyweight in the World. Boy, last night I was proven wrong. Not only did Arlovski's chin actually show up to the fight, but we saw last night that the guy really isn't that special striking wise as we've all been led to believe. He got completely outboxed, by a mediocre striker. I could not believe what I was seeing. Arlovski's head movement is absolutely terrible, and all he was doing was throwing that lame ass right jab, which was countered every time by Bigfoot. Plus, another thing that was frustrating, the leg kicks were there for the taking for Arlovski, but he refused to throw them. WTF?

Absolutely pathetic showing from Arlovski, and I could not be more disappointed in him. A part of me still wants to believe that AA is much better than he showed last night, but maybe I just need to come to the realization that the guy just isn't that good.

Jacare dominated as expected, but unfortunately he couldn't finish. Still though... great showing for Jacare. Hopefully he can keep some tough competition for his next fight. The dude is no doubt an elite Middleweight.

Kevin Randleman probably has the worst Submission Defense in MMA. He should have won that fight last night, but the guy couldn't be worse on the ground. As far as Roger Gracie... this will probably end up being the biggest win of his career.

And Rafael Cavalcante had a nice showing... nothing more to really say.

All in all, decent show, but it was Alistair Overeem's night. He couldn't have had a better showing, and man... I cannot wait to see him fight again.

 

[Minor League Brian]

This is just something I wanted to chime in on, as I did not watch the card (forgot about it...honestly).

Moving on... I've been saying for a long ass time that if Andrei Arlovski had a chin, he would be the best Heavyweight in the World. Boy, last night I was proven wrong. Not only did Arlovski's chin actually show up to the fight, but we saw last night that the guy really isn't that special striking wise as we've all been led to believe. He got completely outboxed, by a mediocre striker. I could not believe what I was seeing. Arlovski's head movement is absolutely terrible, and all he was doing was throwing that lame ass right jab, which was countered every time by Bigfoot. Plus, another thing that was frustrating, the leg kicks were there for the taking for Arlovski, but he refused to throw them. WTF?

Absolutely pathetic showing from Arlovski, and I could not be more disappointed in him. A part of me still wants to believe that AA is much better than he showed last night, but maybe I just need to come to the realization that the guy just isn't that good.

Confidence, Confidence, Confidence. I'm betting Arlovski has lost all of his over the last few years, why? The losses and the whole glass jaw stigma. The fact is, without confidence, even the best in the world is going to look terrible. Could it just be rust and a lack of confidence in himself? I think its like when a Football player comes back from injury, their not the same for the first year. They need a season to get their confidence back up, but once they do they normally go right back to how they use too be.