Strikeforce: St. Louis

[jmt225]

MAIN CARD

• Light Heavyweight bout: Dan Henderson vs. Renato Sobral
• Middleweight bout: Robbie Lawler vs. Matt Lindland
• Welterweight bout: Paul Daley vs. Scott Smith
• Heavyweight bout: Antonio Silva vs. Mike Kyle
• Light Heavyweight bout: Benji Radach vs. Ovince St. Preux

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Very fun show. Saturday night is just going to be a great, great night of fights.

Babalu vs. Hendo is very interesting. In my opinion, Hendo is at his absolute best at Light Heavyweight. At 40-years-old, that weight cut to 185 is just too much for him, and extremely draining. There's just too much athleticism in and around that weight class for him to compete. However, at LHW, he should have the athleticism advantage in nearly every fight, while also have the strength and size to match anyone in the division. Like I said, he fits right in, and could easily work his way back up to the top 10 Rankings in no time.

His first fight though is no easy task in Babalu, one of the more underrated fighters in the sport. However, Babalu chokes on the big stage, and has a very suspect chin. But, if he shows up in top form, then Hendo will be in for one hell of a war.

At the end of the day though, I have to go with Hendo no matter what. The guy is just too well-rounded. He'll dictate where the fight will take place, and all it will take is one of those devastating overhand rights for this one to be over.

Robbie Lawler will knockout Matt Lindland. Guarantee it.

Paul Daley will knock out Scott Smith. Guarantee it. (Though, I'm hoping Smith can somehow pull the upset)

And I think Mike Kyle will pull off one of the biggest upsets of the year against Big Foot Silva. I think Big Foot Silva is a great, well-rounded fight, but in his last few fights he's been thinking of himself as a kickboxer, and if he makes that same mistake against Mike Kyle, Big Foot is getting knocked the fuck out. Big Foot would easily win this fight if he brought it to the ground, but I don't see him even trying. He'll keep it standing, and Kyle will take every bit of advantage of it. Mark my words.

 

[Buffalo Dave]

I think Strikeforce messed up by going head to head with the UFC during a TUF Finale especially cause UFC's event is free. They should've pushed it back two more weeks so a lot more people will tune in.

Henderson vs. Babalu should be entertaining as hell. I think Hendo will win by KO or TKO somewhere in the second round. Babalu looked good against Lawler, but Hendo will be to strong for him to handle. I'll be looking forward to Hendo vs. Cavalcante.

Silva vs. Kyle - JMT might be right with him predicting that Kyle might pull off the upset. The guy does have some power in his punches. The only problem is the size difference as Kyle is a lot smaller than Silva. When Kyle fights at Heavyweight he does usually fight the smaller Heavyweights. If the Silva that fought the past two fights against Werdum and Arlovski shows up then yeah Kyle should win this or Silva will squeak away with a decision.

I think Lawler might knock out Lindland right into retirement in no time at all. I see this as nothing more than a confidence booster for Lawler as he pursues the Middleweight title from Jacare.

If Scott Smith is smart he has watched Paul Daley's last few fights, and see the key to beating the asshole is to take it right to the ground. Hopefully the cut in weight for Smith won't be a problem for him and his conditioning during the fight. The only way I want Daley to win is so Diaz can whoop his ass, as it is fairly easy to get a title shot in Strikeforce so if Daley does win the he will probably be the next one to fight Nick Diaz.

Radach vs. St. Preux - This will be Radach first fight in almost two years, so hopefully he doesn't have to much ring rust. Either way it should be a nice little slugfest as both guys have some power in their strikes.

 

[ITurnGirlsGay]

Do you still think the messed up going head to head?

I watched Strikeforce and recorded TUF. Strikeforce EASILY was better than TUF. The best fights on the TUF card were unaired. Everything Strikeforce aired was absolutely entertaining.

Phan vs. Garcia was the best fight TUF had to offer.

I, for one, feel sorry for anyone that watched TUF Finale instead of Strikeforce.

EDIT: Both events were free, kind of. It just depends on whether or not you have Showtime.

Buffalo, pretty much a good call on all fights minus Kyle.

 

[Reddannihilation]

Incredibly entertaining card for SF, so many finishes. Daley's knockout was incredible. Hendo, Silva and Lawler all did a really great job, SF was a much more enjoyable card then the TUF finale.

 

[INDYjon22]

Yeah, this card was awesome. I actually watched it twice just so I could see the four big main card fights again. Such a great night for Strikeforce and for the guys who won their bouts.

Kyle vs. Silva was the tale of two halves. Mike Kyle absolutely dominated Antonio Silva in the first round and it looked like he was on his way to a victory over a much larger opponent. However, Silva showed his heart and his size and managed to reverse the odds on Kyle in the second period. Silva's superior size won him this fight because once he was on top he completely controlled Kyle until he could finish him.

I don't know what anyone was expecting from the Lawler/Lindland fight. Lindland has a tendency of getting knocked out early by good opponents and that is exactly what I expected would happen here. The fact of the matter is that Matt Lindland has a terrible chin and Robbie Lawler has some of the best striking in MMA, plus a sweet beard. Awesome win for Lawler, which might get him a title shot sooner then later.

Daley vs. Smith was a war. Smith has loads of heart and a very tough chin, but the problem is Paul Daley is quiet possibly the hardest hitting Welterweight in the world today. This knockout was awesome, the way he pegged Smith on the Chin and Smith just fell face first to the mat. It was nasty, yet beautiful. I also am interested by the possible match up of KJ Noons vs. Paul Daley next, but Daley should win.

The main event between Babalu and Henderson was something I was really looking forward to. I have always been a massive fan of Renato Sobral, don't really know why. However, I did not think Babalu would beat Hendo, which he did not. The pure brutality in which Hendo put Babalu away was hard to watch, especially in slow motion. Very impressive win for Dan Henderson.

Strikeforce: St. Louise was an awesome card to end the year on and if you have not seen it yet then you should at least try to find it because it is really fun to watch.

 

[ITurnGirlsGay]

Indy, Lindland has a problem with Southpaws. They always seem to find his button. I don't know why Lindland has this problem. I'm guessing it's the same reason that Chuck gets caught with the overhand right.

 

[jmt225]

Great, great, GREAT showing from Strikeforce Saturday. Very entertaining show.

Benji Radach vs. OSP was just complete domination by OSP. That dude is going to be a beast, especially when he learns how to finish a guy like Radach off. But man... I expected this one to be close, but Radach didn't stand a chance once that bell rung. Highly impressed by OSP; I don't care what kind of notice either fighter was on. Terrific showing for the young man.

Big Foot vs. Mike Kyle ALMOST went exactly as I predicted. I knew Silva was going to stand-up with Kyle, and I knew he was going to live to regret it. But, unfortunately for Kyle, he knocked the big man down, but he didn't put the man out. And I knew when Silva recovered, that he was going to take Kyle down at the beginning of the 2nd, and put him right away. Props to both men though. Kyle for his tremendous striking, and Silva for his chin and intelligence (though it was stupid for him to try and stand with Kyle in the first place, he at least knew better not to try again).

Paul Daley vs. Scott Smith contained a Knockout of the Year candidate. Man, I knew beforehand that's how the fight would go down, but holy fuck did Smith get his lights turned completely off. The way Smith landed face first was just absolutely SICK. Regardless, I'm still not high on Daley. He challenged KJ Noons and Nick Diaz after the fight, and personally... I think both of them could beat Daley. But hopefully the Noons fight gets set-up first. That would end up being one hell of a war.

Lawler/Lindland went exactly as I thought it would. No surprise there.

And Hendo vs. Babalu... I mean, what can you say? Great showing from Dan Henderson. The guy can make all the excuses he wants for the Jake Shields fight, but the fact of the matter is that he belongs at 205 pounds, period. He will dominate the division, especially being outside of the UFC. The only person who I think could defeat him at LHW is Mousasi, but that's definitely nowhere close to being a sure thing.