Strikeforce on CBS: Fedor Wins
No one gave Brett Rogers a chance, and maybe rightly so, but after his performance against Fedor Emelianenko on Strikeforce’s “Fedor vs. Rogers” event on CBS, Rogers surely earned some respect. Using his big punching talents to near-perfection, the Minnesotan met the “Last Emperor” head on, bloodying and breaking Fedor’s nose with a straight jab in one of the first exchanges. The punishment continued despite the Russian’s efforts to get and keep Rogers on the ground, as the man with the Mohawk hairstyle escaped an armbar attempt and dropped fists from above; when time expired in the first round there was no denying he was ahead. Legends do what legends do, of course, and all it took was for one lightning-quick right hand nearly two minutes into the second round for Fedor to turn the tide and crumple Rogers to the canvas. But for a while there the fighter who reigned in Pride FC and dominated in Affliction looked human, and Rogers – who some critics had decried as unworthy – proved himself to be an exceedingly capable adversary.
There was no questioning Jake Shields’ grappling prowess before, but after their epic battle at Strikeforce’s “Fedor vs. Rogers”, now the entire world knows Jason “Mayhem” Miller is no one to be trifled with either in that department. For all five rounds Shields used his edge in wrestling to get his opponent down almost whenever he wanted, and he used his top-level jiu-jitsu to find dominant position time and time again. Yet Mayhem avoided every submission attempt and found escapes and reversals like a gleeful child on an Easter egg hunt. The host of MTV’s “Bully Beatdown” had his shining moment in the last 30 or so seconds of Round 3, when he wound up on Shields’ back and cinched on a tight rear naked choke. The phrase “saved by the bell” doesn’t even begin to describe it, for if not for the bell Shields would have needed reviving. Shields took the unanimous decision when time ran out, and though it was the farthest thing from a crowd-pleaser, he played his game and snagged himself the Strikeforce middleweight belt.
Remarkably, Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou made superstar Gegard Mousasi work for his victory, fully engaging with the Strikeforce Light-Heavyweight Champ in this non-title bout and employing a wide range of judo skills to make the first round competitive. Despite being stalked around the cage, the UFC veteran threw kicks and punches with enough frequency to prevent the superior striker Mousasi from unloading, and when Mousasi came too close Sokoudjou threw him down expertly. Sadly, the wheels came of the bus in the second round, when Mousasi – by now warmed up and eager to hit the free food spread backstage – waded in and blasted Sokoudjou with a buffet of fists. The onslaught continued on the ground, and when the judoka from Cameroon went fetal the referee stepped in. Yes, the seemingly unstoppable Mousasi won, but it was a solid showing by both men.
The Brazilian brawl between Fabricio Werdum and Antonio Silva began with Silva flexing his striking muscle on the feet and getting the better of Werdum throughout the opening round. But the tide began to shift in the second, where the Abu Dhabi winner managed to get the fight to the ground and work his magic. Silva, a jiu-jitsu black belt himself, avoided trouble for the most part, yet the effort took its toll, and by Round 3 Werdum was repeatedly peppering him with knees while standing and scoring more and more when Silva was flat on his back. For weathering the bigger man’s storm in the first round and coming back hard, Werdum looked impressive. He took the well-earned unanimous decision when time ran out.
Related Videos:
Comments