Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Masvidal

[INDYjon22]

Main Card (Showtime)

• Lightweight Championship Bout: Gilbert Melendez vs. Jorge Masvidal
• Women's Featherweight Championship Bout: Cristiane Santos vs. Hiroko Yamanaka
• Light Heavyweight Bout: Gegard Mousasi vs. Ovince St. Preux
• Lightweight Bout: KJ Noons vs. Billy Evangelista

Preliminary Card

• Welterweight Bout: Jerron Peoples vs. Roger Bowling
• Lightweight Bout: Caros Fodor vs. Justin Wilcox
• Heavyweight Bout: Devin Cole vs. Gabriel Salinas-Jones
• Light Heavyweight Bout: Fernando Gonzalez vs. Eddie Mendez
• Welterweight Bout: Herman Terrado vs. Chris Brown

Strikeforce finally returns just before 2011 comes to an end, and they will be showcasing some of the best fighters they have on their roster. With a lot of the top guys jumping ship to the UFC it is hard to remember that Strikeforce still has some very talented fighters left, including Cyborg and Gilbert Melendez.

Melendez vs. Masvidal will likely mark the final time we see Gil fight under the Strikeforce banner. He will most likely jump to the UFC after this fight and make a B-line for the championship. However, as talented as he is he needs to not overlook Masvidal. Masvidal isn't the greatest fighter in Strikeforce but he has strung together two impressive wins in a row. Wins over Evangelista and Noons. I fully expect Gil to finish Masvidal, but Jorge is the kind of fighter who finds ways of upsetting guys he should lose to.

Cyborg finally returns to the cage to defend her women's championship. Yamanaka is no push over, but no one has been able to stand up to Cyborg so far. Yamanaka has some good submission skills, which Cyborg will have to watch out for, but in the end I think Cyborg will be just too much.

Gegard Mousasi returns to SF for the first time since his draw with Keith Jardine. He will be facing the rapidly rising prospect known as Ovince St. Preux. Mousasi is a very talented fighter and this is definitely a step up in competition for OSP. As much as I love OSP, I think Mousasi will end up being too much for him at this stage in his career. That said, if Mousasi fights like he did in the Jardine fight then OSP could easily steal this one away.

The main card is rounded out with a scrap between Noons and Evangelista. Both men are looking to bounce back from losses in their last fights. This match up is perfect for them both. I think Noons and his striking will be the downfall of Evangelista. Noons is just so good on his feet, but if Evangelista can get this thing to the ground, he definitely has a shot at winning.

The undercard is alright, but nothing really worth talking about.

 

[jmt225]

Gilbert Melendez vs. Jorge Masvidal is going to be a LOT of fun. Melendez, in my opinion, is the best Lightweight fighter in MMA, while Masvidal, once again in my opinion, is the most underrated Lightweight fighter in MMA. Hell of a match-up.

Masvidal's boxing is incredible, and he has great TDD and can scramble with the best of them. That said, I've always felt he's not aggressive enough to beat the top talent in the division. And I feel that will be the case against Gil. Gil himself has great hands, plus his wrestling is top notch. And if Masvidal fights this fight cautiously, Gil is going to take it to him. You need to match Gil's aggression with your own if you want to catch him with something, and I just don't think Masvidal just doesn't have it in him. And even if he does, while I think he'd then give Melendez his toughest fight in a long time, Gil is still too well-rounded to lose a 5 Round fight against someone like him.

Cyborg is a juiced pig who will dominate another no name. Who cares? I sure as fuck don't.

Gegard Mousasi vs. OSP is a fight that worries me as a huge fan of Mousasi.

OSP is a fantastic wrestler and is incredibly aggressive and explosive. Mousasi biggest weakness is his takedown defense. On the feet, Mousasi is perhaps the best stand-up fighter in all of the Light Heavyweight division, but he's extremely gullible to takedowns and as long as you have competent
submission defense, most wrestlers should have no problem holding him down.

Hopefully though Mousasi has been working on his TDD and has an answer for OSP's wrestling. If he doesn't, it's going to be a long night for Mousasi and the fans, since this will no doubt end up being a lay and pray snooze fest.

And KJ Noons vs. Billy Evangelista should be a fun little scrap. I'm rooting for Noons to box Billy up and get the eventual knockout, but you never know.

 

[INDYjon22]

Decent show. Evangelista vs. Noons was a solid battle between two good fighters. It really could have gone either way, but I agreed with Noons getting the nod in the end. Mousasi looked great against OSP, until the third round. He fought very stupidly in that final round, but was lucky OSP didn't capitalize on any of the mistakes made. Cyborg is a scary woman, enough said. Gil vs. Masvidal lasted way longer then I thought it would, but Gil looked great. Not a fan of the guy, but he is a great fighter.