Strikeforce Heavyweights Have Big Weekend Outside MMA
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9/27/2009 4:34 PM ET By Michael David Smith
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- Michael David Smith
- Michael David Smith is FanHouse's Lead Blogger
It was a very good weekend for Strikeforce, and I'm not talking about the Challengers card they put on Friday night.
No, I'm talking about the success that two Strikeforce heavyweights -- Alistair Overeem and Fabricio Werdum -- had in a couple of competitions outside mixed martial arts.
Overeem beat Peter Aerts at the K-1 World Grand Prix 2009 in Seoul, advancing to the Final 8 of the world's foremost kickboxing organization. Werdum won the heavyweight title at ADCC 2009, the biggest no-gi grappling competition in the world.
That doesn't mean much of anything for Overeem's or Werdum's rankings in the MMA heavyweight landscape, because kickboxing and grappling aren't MMA. But it does mean something for Strikeforce: It means that in addition to being able to say they have the best heavyweight fighter in MMA in Fedor Emelianenko, they can also credibly say they have the best heavyweight striker in MMA and the best heavyweight grappler in MMA.
Am I overstating the significance of that to Strikeforce? Maybe: I realize that a win in K-1 and a win in ADCC don't mean a whole lot to the average fan.
But if Strikeforce does a good job marketing itself, these wins can be part of a larger effort to promote its heavyweight division as the truly elite heavyweight division in MMA. If all goes well for Strikeforce, both Overeem and Werdum will fight Fedor in 2010. The victories Overeem and Werdum earned this weekend are the kinds of things they can use to sell those fights down the road.
Read More: Strikeforce Alistair+Overeem, AlistairOvereem, Fabricio+Werdum, FabricioWerdum, Fedor+Emelianenko, FedorEmelianenko
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Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Completely agreed, and to take it a bit further. They have Roger Gracie competing in their Nov 20th card, who is the best grappler in the world period, mixed with Andres Galvao, Cyborg, Werdum, and Jacare, who ALL did extremely well this weekend.
So, to put it in perspective, Strikeforce has the best grapplers in MMA as well as the best Striker in MMA.
cyborg???
she barely beat carano.....lol.
just kidding, although he really is just another tomato can at hw.
as far as werdum, it is a great accomplishment to win adcc. but again, really means squat as far as mma.
my fav, kerr, dominated adcc for a long time, all the while getting beat by vovchanchin and herring.
lastly your claim sf has the best grapplers in mma is highly debateable. you do realize wrestling is grappling too and as far as that goes
the ufc totally dominates them.
Wrestling isn't grappling.
uhh excuse me johnny,
wrestling is indeed grappling.
where is richardbickle to help on this one.
would you like to take a poll on that one?
anyone, feel free to chime in.
No, wrestling isn't the same as competitive grappling. It's a completely different sport and you would know that if you had ever taken martial arts. Wrestling and grappling aren't the same thing anymore than boxing and kickboxing are the same sport.
johnny, unlike jui jitsu, sambo and some others - wrestling is exclusively grappling.
Overeem looked like he was in a higher weight class than Aerts.
After what he did to Hari last year I'd have a hard time picking against Overeem in a rematch.
The guy is a monster at heavyweight and I can't weight until he and Fedor fight sometime next year.
I'm not certain that Alistair will come back to defend his Strikeforce title. If he does, he'll need time for his system to flush out the anabolics he is taking.
yeah, he is definately one of those dudes that gets a big kick from juice.
fedor should still have no prob with him, after all, how old is aerts now...84?
Yeah because he's failed so many drug tests in the past right?
RJ - Alistair has only fought once in the US at heavyweight, and that was 2 years ago! Being that all of his other fights have been in Japan, when would he have been tested?? When Alistair made the move to heavyweight 2.5 yrs ago, he put on 30-40 lbs of muscle immediately ... HELLO!! It doesn't take a failed test to see what's going on.
OK I'll say it again he's failed a lot of drug tests right?
Let me tell you something when you're 6 ft. 5 and lift weights, work out and don't have to watch what you eat constantly for fear of putting on an extra pound it's very reasonable to put on 30lbs. over the course of a year or two.
But it's much easier for people to assume he's a drug abuser than actually working hard.
When there's proof go ahead and ridicule the man until then it's all slanderous assumptions.
RJ - Do your research. He didn't put it on over a year or 2. He fought Shogun @ 205 lbs on 2/24 2007 and was HUGE later IN THE SAME YEAR when he fought Knaap, Kharitonov, & Buentello. I'm 6'4", very athletic, and have extensive experience in weight training ... sorry, but he's juicing.
Personally I don't even care what he does, but I don't see why I should ignore the obvious?!?
Listen this is my last comment on the subject I'm not even a big fan of Overeem but you're the one who should do some research he missed weight for a few fights at 205 because he was cutting a lot of weight.
That Nov. he weighed 230 when he beat the hell out of Buentello.
20 to 25 lbs. is nothing in the fight game guys cut that much in water weight sometimes.
You act as if the guy was a scrawny weakling then shows up a couple fights later as some muscle bound monster.
Seriously just because his built like a tank doesn't mean his got to be a "juicer".
Kiril Sidelnikov failed a test and Tim Sylvia failed a couple times and they're both soft bodies.
Until random drug testing is the norm across the board run by legitimate athletic commissions you or no one knows who is using what and I'm not about to act like an ass and accuse someone for being a drug user with no proof at all.
It's a waste of time and please don't tell me or anyone else how big, athletic or how much experience you have as an athlete or in weight training because I don't care you're not the only person in the world with an educated opinion.
This has nothing to do with Sylvia or Sidelnikov ... they took steroids for different reasons, and if you were educated you'd know that.
While your ranting about me not being "the only person in the world with an educated opinion" you should take a second and realize that you're the one commenting on MY post. I stated an educated opinion based on facts. I have no problem with you making comments, but don't start a conversation then back out with your "Listen this is my last comment on the subject" crap. That's just lame.
sorry rj,
my eyes and common sense tell me otherwise, the dude is a juicer. and if that is slanderous then you are quite sensitive all of a sudden.
paulo filho i don't think has ever failed a test either, but it is common knowledge that he is also a juice monster. and that's not coming from me personally, rather, some of the dudes he trains with at att. i live about 10 minutes away from there (coconut creek).
barry bonds and roger clemens also have not unequivically failed a test either.
look, we've been through this before, not that anyone really cares who's juicing and who is not.
just so long as they pass the test when given.
all we are doing is stating the obvious.
You people aren't stating the obvious.
It's rumor mongering.
And for "Eric" when I said that it was my last comment on the subject I wasn't trying to back out or be lame as you put it.
I hate arguing back and forth on these subjects that aren't important that's all.
Even if Overeem has used HGH or a steroid I don't really care honestly. I don't have this high moral ground for a level playing field because there's no such thing.
I just like watching him fight and I want to see him fight Fedor.
"I don't have this high moral ground" - I said above that I don't care about the steroid use either. You felt it necessary to come to Alistair's defense and that's why the conversation started.
I too want to see the best fighters in the world compete, regardless of organization or (possible) drug compounds. On that we can agree.
Neozoo just wants to discredit anyone that doesn't compete in the UFC. If Overeem were in the UFC he would be singing a different tune. Thats why you don't see him questioning Lesnar and his obvious steroid abuse as well as many other UFC fighters like Carwin, St. Pierre, Couture, Kongo, Hughes, Brown, Faber etc all get the benefit of the doubt from Neozoo because they are in the UFC or under control by Zuffa. Guys like Sherk and Leben that have been suspended for steroid violations then come back and struggle without the juice don't get criticized yet Overeem gets thrown under the bus because he isn't in the UFC. Classy.
in all fairness, most of the guys that fought in japan took it, they dont test. When ya guy uses it his recovery is in seconds as opposed to getting ko'd and being out for a couple minutes. most guys cant compete with guys that use unless they use too.
i'm not pointing fingers, i've thought about it myself; but - just look at the guys that came from japan and dropped 20-30 lb.s & 2/3 weight classes. Its because thay test here.