Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey

[INDYjon22]

Main Card (Showtime)

• Women's Bantamweight Championship Bout: Miesha Tate vs. Ronda Rousey
• Lightweight Bout: K.J. Noons vs. Josh Thomson
• Welterweight Bout: Paul Daley vs. Kazuo Misaki
• Middleweight Bout: Ronaldo Souza vs. Bristol Marunde
• Middleweight Bout: Scott Smith vs. Lumumba Sayers

Preliminary Card (Showtime Extreme)

• Women's Bantamweight Bout: Sarah Kaufman vs. Alexis Davis
• Lightweight Bout: Caros Fodor vs. Pat Healy
• Lightweight Bout: Ryan Couture vs. Conor Heun
• Welterweight Bout: Roger Bowling vs. Brandon Saling

Strikeforce returns tonight with a pretty solid card, anchored, of course, by the ladies of the Bantamweight division. Tate and Rousey have ill will for one another and that should make their fight a lot of fun to watch.

The fight I am most looking forward to is KJ Noons vs. Josh Thomson. Thomson has been one of my all time favorite fighters for years and I always love watching him fight. He is rarely in a boring scrap. Noons is the same way, he loves to bang, which should make this fight awesome.

Paul Daley hits hard and Kazuo Misaki is a fish out of water, aka an Asian fighter in America. However, Misaki is undefeated in Strikeforce at an outstanding 1-0 and does have the credentials to stand and bang with Daley, his wars with Jorge Santiago are testament to that. This should be another good fight.

Jacare returns to the cage and is looking for the win in what is essentially a squash match. Bristol is nothing special, whereas Jacare should be able to submit this dude at will. Good build up fight for Jacare.

And the always tough as nails Scott Smith takes on Lumumba Sayers. I don't know anything about Sayers, but I wouldn't count him out. As tough as Smith is, he isn't a great fighter and he loses a lot. This one could get interesting.

The undercard features some solid prospects. Kaufman vs. Davis is essentially a title eliminator fight, the winner will face the winner of the main event. Caros Fodor is a beast in the making, but Pat Healy is a very underrated fighter. Fodor should win though. Ryan Couture looks to make it two wins in a row against Conor Heun, who is talented but is being treated like a stepping stone. Could be an upset. And Roger Bowling looks to keep his career back on track.

 

[BaconBits]

We're going to be disappointed by the Rousey/Tate tilt. For all the noise they've talked, neither has much pop and rely totally on ground games. Yeah, Meisha's wrestling and Ronda's jitz are on point, but it still has a very high likelihood of being a bore fest.

I think Noons beats Thomson. I like watching both guys fight, though, so If I'm wrong, I don't care.

Paul Daley is going to stomp a mudhole in yet another hyped Japanese prospect.

Jacare is fighting a jobber, and it will be a one sided ass-whooping the likes of which Strikeforce used to be known for.

Scott Smith will be lumping Sayers up, then get caught and get KO'd. It's been a running pattern of his lately. If I am correct and he loses, it's time to consider retirement. He's always fun to watch, but I'm concerned about his long term health.

I think Kaufman smokes Davis.

Pat Healy will probably beat Caros Fodor. He has way of derailing prospects. He's a mid level gatekeeper and does his job amazingly.

Ryan Couture is probably being set up ofr the L here. Conor Heun is a little much for him at this point. I feel bad for Ryan because of his last name. Everybody expects him to be like his dad, and sadly, he appears to be your everyday card filler type of fighter. Even if he forges a pretty decent career, the likelihood of him being called anything other than a disappointment is really, really low.

Brandon Saling is going to suprise you. He's got scary knockout power and after 13 professional fights, is just now starting to take fight game seriously. He was never even in a training camp until a couple months ago. There is a really, really good chance Roger Bowling is going to get murked here.

 

[JWGunslinger]

That was a heck of a card for one being headlined by a women's title fight, they really did pull that son of a bitch off. Let's get started shall we?

Ryan Couture, I'm lovin this guy. As I was saying in the GSD he's really inherited his dad's knack for wrestling and he's got a great unique style, I can't get over how much I love his constant attempts to gain better position or go for the finish. He took on his toughest opponent yet and dominated him with a great all around game, with time this guy can make his father proud though I doubt he'll fill his shoes.

Roger Bowling takes another one, Sailing was game but he's probably not gonna be around much longer thanks to his stupidity and ugly ass tats, good riddance.

Pat Healy continues to impress me, if Strikeforce wasn't gonna go with the Melendez-Tompson rubber match then Healy would be the most deserving man for a title shot. Hopefully he gets that next shot and doesn't lose between now and then.

Scott Smith lost to a guy named Lamumba.....nuff said.

Sarah Kaufman had a great brawl with Davis, Kaufman fights Rousey for the title as Tate gets Davis now. If Rousey can do to Kaufman what she just did to Tate then I'll be very impressed, but I'm picking her to take back her title.

Jacare looked good, sure it wasn't exactly a top level opponent but he looked good none the less.

Daley got beat, the guy needs to stop shit talking if he's gonna go out there and keep looking like crap.

Tompson won as I expected but not how I did, I wasn't one of the ones booing because I was confused. It was so unlike him to fight like that I was just confused, but I enjoyed his post fight speech and am just glad he's going to fight Melendez like the real "Punk", it's gonna be a hell of a rubber match.

Ronda Rousey is legit, Tate had the better of the striking but there wasn't much time for that when every chance she got Rousey was hitting a Judo throw like a boss, and he ground game was as spectacular as expected, I'd hoped Meisha could avoid being subbed but Ronda is on another level. Insane fight, major respect for both women and I'm officially invested in womens fights now. Great card.

 

[INDYjon22]

Very fun card. Here's my quick rundown. Scott Smith needs to retire. He looks unmotivated and out of shape and he is going to get himself hurt. Lumumba has some potential, can't wait to see him fight again. Jacare looked great, but he should have finished Marunde in the first. That's more a testament to Marunde being a tough dude. Daley vs. Misaki was a fun fight. Misaki looked very good, and Dalye showed a different side of him by using his wrestling. Can't wait to see Misaki back in action. Thomson is one of my favorite fighters of all time, but he fought an uncharacteristic fight. It was a safe fight and it worked, but I really hope he lives up to his word and goes back to his exciting fight. Tate vs. Rousey was an excellent one round fight, full of action. Rousey may have taken the place as the scariest female in the world, considering Cyborg is done for awhile. She runs her mouth to much, but she is an excellent fighter. Good show all around.