Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum Afterthoughts

The opening round of the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix is complete, and the semi final match ups are set.  It was a solid, yet somewhat bizarre night of fights in Dallas.  I've got a lot on my mind following this show, so let's get started with my post fight afterthoughts.

The first fight was Valentijn Overeem taking on Chad Griggs.  Griggs, known for his brawling style, showed some nice technique in this fight.  Griggs had a great takedown, using Overeem's forward momentum to flip him over as they fell to the ground.  Overeem immediately found himself in trouble with Griggs pounding away at his head.  Overeem eventually rolled over to his stomach, covered up, and tapped by way of strikes.  I know fighters get a lot of heat for tapping to strikes but sometimes I feel it's justified (GSP tapping to Serra).  Overeem just looked like a fighter without any heart.  He did very little to scramble and to me it didn't seem like Griggs's attack was doing all that much damage.  I'm not taking anything away from Griggs's performance, first round finishes are always nice to have on the record.  It just seemed like Overeem lacked desire, whereas Griggs came to win.

In the next fight, up and coming talent and undefeated Daniel Cormier defeated veteran Jeff Monson.  Both fighters are very much undersized for the heavyweight division.  I thought Cormier would come in with a size advantage when actually height wise I think he was slightly shorter than Monson which was surprising.  Anyways, I wasn't all that impressed with Cormier in his last fight against Devin Cole; however, he stepped up his game against Monson.  Cormier's striking looked very much improved.  He landed several combos that had Monson stumbling.  Cormier reminds me a lot Rashad Evans.  Both started out as undersized heavyweights with strictly wrestling backgrounds.  Rashad made huge strides in his striking which eventually led to his success in becoming a UFC Champion.  If Cormier wants to be successful in MMA, he must continue to improve his striking but also make the cut to light heavyweight much like Rashad did.  Cormier has huge potential, but would struggle against the larger heavyweight talent.  Overall, this was a great showcase fight for Cormier and solidified his status as a dangerous up and coming prospect.

In one of the more surprising fights, at least for me, Jorge Masvidal delivered a beating to former EliteXC Lightweight Champion K.J. Noons.  I thought Noons would have the experience advantage coming off his recent five round battle with Nick Diaz.  However, Noons was hit early and often.  Blood poured from Noons's forehead throught the entire fight.  I think it might have been a knee that caught Noons early in the first rounded that cut him.  Masvidal nearly had the fight finished in the first, but Noons's heart willed him through.  Noons never seemed to fully recover from the first round beating.  With that being said, it was an impressive performance by Masvidal.  The fight had title implications and I think Masvidal did enough to earn a shot at Gilbert Melendez.  

In the co-main event of the evening Josh Barnett took on Brett Rogers in a first round Grand Prix match up.  I said in my predictions that this was a major mismatch in terms of style and skill and it was.  Josh Barnett showed no ring rust and dominated Brett Rogers.  Barnett controlled Rogers with his wrestling, never giving Rogers the chance to land a power punch.  Barnett also had two highlight takedowns.  The first was somewhat padded by Rogers grabbing the cage on his way down, but the second was a big one as Barnett rolled Rogers over with their momentum sending the two sliding halfway across the mat.  Barnett easily controlled Rogers on the ground getting mount position in both the first and second round and eventually forcing Rogers to tap by way of arm triangle.  I was very impressed with Barnett's return and I think with his wrestling and grappling skills he has a great shot at winning the tournament.  

In a somewhat disappointing and bizarre main event, Alistair Overeem won a very close and to some a controversial unanimous decision victory over Fabricio Werdum (all three judges scored the fight 29-28 for Overeem).  It was evident from the start that Werdum wanted nothing to do with standing and striking with Overeem.  It was also evident from the start that Overeem wanted nothing to with going to the ground and grappling with Werdum.  This is where things started to get weird.  Werdum was pulling guard as much as possible and would then proceed to beg, literally hands together begging, Overeem to come to the ground with him.  This fight was tough to call because even though Werdum appeared to be knockdown several times by Overeem's strikes, I think Werdum was almost pro-wrestling style "selling" shots to try and bate Overeem to pounce on him on the ground.  I was also not impressed by Overeems stand up last night.  In fact, it's possible Werdum actually got the better of Overeem.  Werdum was landing some big knees from the clinch and had Overeem covering up and backing up against the cage several times.  Nonetheless, Overeem pulled off the win and advances to take on Antonio Silva in the semi finals of the tournament.  

Overall, it was a solid night of fights.  My quick prediction for the rest of the Strikeforce Grand Prix is Overeem vs Barnett in the finals with Barnett defeating Overeem to take the crown.  Thanks for tuning in, PEACE!