All the big stories coming out of Saturday night's big night of fights are about the winners: Fedor Emelianenko showed once again that he's the best in the world, Jake Shields won the Strikeforce middleweight belt, Gegard Mousasi took another step toward elite status and Fabricio Werdum made his case that he should get Fedor next.But I'd like to take a moment to praise the losers of the four fights.
If fans had any complaint heading into Saturday night's Strikeforce/M-1 Global CBS card, it was that the four televised fights were mismatches: Fedor, Shields and Mousasi were enormous betting favorites, and Werdum was a pretty solid favorite, too. But even though there were no upsets, I was impressed with the way the four losers handled themselves.
Antonio Silva: I loved the way Silva came out in the first round and took the fight to Werdum. He was obviously extremely concerned about Werdum's submission skills -- to the point that he probably missed a couple of opportunities to capitalize when he hurt Werdum with his powerful strikes -- but I'm glad to see Silva back fighting in the United States. I'd love to see Silva vs. Brett Rogers next year.
Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou: Sokoudjou really isn't in Mousasi's league as a fighter, but he came into this fight with exactly the right game plan, using his judo throws and fighting Mousasi very competitively in the first round. Mousasi is far and away the best light heavyweight fighting in Strikeforce, but Sokoudjou might be the second best, and I'll be excited about seeing whatever he does next.
Jason Mayhem Miller: Heading into this fight, Shields had finished eight straight opponents, usually needing just a few minutes to win, and the longest anyone had lasted with Shields in the last three years was Paul Daley, who got submitted in the second round. So for Miller to make it 25 minutes for Shields was an accomplishment in itself. But Miller didn't just survive, he actually won two rounds on my card and had Shields in a rear-naked choke before Shields was saved by the bell at the end of the third. Miller can fight.
Brett Rogers: Rogers lasted 6 minutes, 48 seconds with Fedor, the longest anyone has gone against him since Mark Hunt in 2006. Rogers bloodied Fedor with a hard jab to the nose in the fight's opening seconds, and briefly had him in trouble on the ground. Rogers fought Fedor far more competitively than most observers thought he could, and was probably Fedor's toughest challenge since Mirko Cro Cop in 2005. Rogers put up a good fight on a night when none of the losers should hang their heads.
Comments (Page 1 of 1)
I think this was great for Strikeforce.
1. They now have a popular heavyweight(Fedor) signed for at least 2 more fights. He had the sold out 15,000 crowd in Chicago cheering for him and I am sure millions at home were as well. I think Fedor is marketable now, but we will have to wait and see the ratings to be sure.
2. Brett Rogers is probably a more well known and marketable fighter now as well. Yes, he lost, but he put on an amazing fight and I think he would have easily won against anyone else. I think we will definitely see Rogers headlining Strikeforce cards in the future.
Just to add to that; It seems like the main criticism of Strikeforce in the past is that they had no recognizable fighters, and now they do.
i want to thank cbs for showing the fight for free
Losers are Fedor fans who still think he is the greatest, even though a guy with NO ground game stopped his sub attempts and almost stopped him in that first round.
Fedor was good though. Of course, when you pick favorable match ups all the time, you look good too. I wonder how Fedor would fare against Velasquez, Carwin, and Dos Santos. Anderson Silva? He would kill Fedor in a cage.
New to the boards and I see this drool. Is this a serious forum or do the mentally ill have free reign? There ought to be an age limit or at least a minimum IQ score of 50.
exp your slip--I mean ignorance--is showing loud and clear once again. Rogers is trained by Mike Reilly, and if you know squat about Reilly and the history of Team Bison you'd know he's one of the best grappling coaches in the game. Oh, but because Rogers has almost never had to go to the ground in a fight, so YOU haven't SEEN it, you assume he has no ground game. What a joke. Spend a bit less time trolling forums and a bit more doing your homework.
So you are telling me Rogers is a blackbelt grappler who you didn't pick to get subbed in the first round? Give me a break. Everybody that Fedor beats becomes this giant of a mountain that Fedor has conquered. Stupid. Fedor is afraid of UFC fighter so he faces buck Rogers (who was too nervous) and next is Werdum who got KTFO by Dos Santos. Has beens or never beens.
Stop hating already Sheeplebuster.
EXP = SheepleBuster
same guy
Didn't john say I was David or somebody else too. Believe it or not, we are in the majority and you'll jump off Fedor bandwagon once he faces a legit opponent. Why am I a coward? First you accuse me of being like 10 people on this site. Then you say I am a coward. I have not insulted you once.
your stupidity insults me...fair enough?
exp just stop with this whole fedor sucks thing. rodgers broke fedor's nose and still lost so what does that tell you.the mans a warrior and the fact that u would want to see dos santos get rapped,cain wouldn't be able to stand with him but would be a good fight but really who has cain beaten besides chieck kongo...carwin would have the best chance out of all of them both standing wise and ground work and by the way with that said ur spider king would get crushed at 205 vs fedor oooooooooooh and he would also lose to mousasi {that spider guy i mean]
You obviously know nothing about MMA. Soko almost beat Mousasi. Give me a break. The guy is so overrated. He can't even touch Rua or Machida, let alone Spider. The spider will knock Fedor out in under 3 minutes. Trust me. His punch accuracy and head movement is too much for Fedor's lousy loopy punches. And Fedor couldn't even submit Rogers. How is he going to submit a blackbelt Jujitsu master. Please man. Go troll somewhere else. Better yet, why not move to Russia and join the traitors there.
Exp, just stop already with the Fedor grand conspiracy theories. If you don't like Fedor, that's fine, but it seems to me that you are looking for any little excuse to try and degrade him. Sokoudjou had a better performance in the U.S. than I have seen in his last fight in the UFC and Affliction. He did have Mousasi in a couple of dominant positions but never really dealt any significant damage whatsoever. As far as Anderson Silva goes, as great of a fighter he is, he himself said that Fedor would beat him. Why don't you try to look at things as to how they are a little more.
people who degrade somoene for doing something they themselves can't do are just a bunch of jokes. this was a great fight with an astonding knock out, and even if he fights has beens or never were, the fact is he is fighting, instead of being a never will be. fedor emilianenko showed a lot of poise and skill in timing that punch to perfection against a bigger opponent. even when he was hurt he never showed any kind of faltering, instead he stood up and gave his all. and when he won he showed a lot of class, unlike the ufc's heavyweight champion, brock lesner, you wanna put someone down knock that guy, he showed he is nothing but an idiot after his fight . either way the man steps into a match where the people here degrading him will likely never see the cage up close. Facts are facts, he fights and he wins. as for anderson silva, the man is a great fighter, but with the size difference I am not sure he could take the punches if they were to land like they did on rogers, not taking anythign away from silva, the man can beat people like no other in the history of the sport ok maybe gracie, but it would not be a match I would want to see.
Exp says that "Soko almost beat Mousasi" ... Does anyone know what he's talking about? Soko has great Judo so it's not surprising that he put Mousasi on his back once or twice, but what did he do to win the fight? Did he land any hard punches or attempt any threatening submissions? If you mention the choke, you'll only prove your ignorance ... it wasn't threatening.
My thoughts exactly.
fedor would make the ufc heavyweight division look weak, real weak. that is why he is the best in the world that is why he is the last emperor.