Strikeforce Semi-Finals Results: Barnett Meets Cormier & "King Mo" Crowns Gracie

Dominique Steele defeats Chris Mierzwiak by Unanimous Decision. She/he proved Chris had no business being here tonight. One sided beatdown.

Alexis Davis bests Amanda Nunes by TKO for a 2nd round impressive win! I was really high on the "Lioness" making a run at Champion "Femborg," but Davis brought that crashing to Earth.

Jordan Mein recovers from vicious leg kicks to TKO Evangelista Santos in the last round. "Cyborg" came out strong (as he always does) delivering those vicious leg kicks made famous against the squirrely Nick Diaz. "Femborg's" wife (yes I said wife) had the young Canadian confused and bewildered in the beginning with zero answers for the snapping leg kicks. Mein's corner laid into the kid between rounds and woke him up for the 2nd. Jordan came out attacking and Santos responded in kind. In the last round you just knew Evangelista would fade and he did as the "Young Gun" just turned things up short circuiting "Cyborg" with standing elbows as if they were punches. Just deadly and pinpoint, Mein found his range and unloaded against the fence as Santos covered up and become bloody eating the beautiful standing elbows. I cannot express enough how fighters in MMA need to utilize elbows in this fashion today! Very impressive for the Canadian compared to Rory MacDonald who is compared to Georges St. Pierre.

Why did Mauro Ranallo shave his head? He looks positively cancer ridden with that glaring dome. I'd rather he bring back the awful spiked Jordan Breen 90's hair.

Rafael Cavalcante KO's an undeservedly confident Yoel Romero Palacio just before the end of the 2nd round in a weird bout. WFT was that about as if said by the best living comedian today Marc Maron? Romero literally threw zero strikes in the 1st round which I'm sure has happened before though I cannot remember an example. "Feijao" and the crowd were baffled at Yoel as he seemed content and dare I say impressed with himself for running away for the 1st five minutes. In the 2nd, the Black House crew told Rafael to unload and he did. Palacio showed his freshman status in MMA as Cavalcante dropped him with a brutal punch and followed up with unnecessary strikes as if to teach the cocky child a lesson. A deserved ass kicking for the rookie and Cavalcante would like you to remember he is one fight removed from the Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Title he once owned.

Mike Kyle defeats Rogerio de Lima by Unanimous Decision. The cocky de Lima showed me very little as the veteran biter picked him apart for 15 minutes and never found himself in any trouble. Always listen to Flavor Flav and "Don't believe the hype." on Lima.

Anyone else notice Ricardo Almedia judging the Kyle/de Lima fight? Awesome!

Pat Healy Upsets Maximo Blanco with the classic RNC in the 2nd round. I'm not cool with "Maxi" continuing to break the rules. I thought he would come over here and shock some people but the cheating cannot be overlooked. Maximo is having no trouble abusing Healy with strikes when he kicks kinda hammer foots Pat in the face while down and looking for a toe hold. The referee rightfully deducted a point as Healy is given time to recover. The shots weren’t hard but illegal and Pat milked it which is within his rights. Max decides to get to work with reverse kicks but “Bam Bam” takes him down to control the pace. Even Ray Charles could see Blanco shot his wad as he began to fade and Pat got confident. "Bam Bam" misplayed a RNC attempt earlier but this time secured it under the jaw as Maximo quickly tapped out. Just a case of superior conditioning and somebody needs to sit down and go over rules for Blanco.

Shane Carwin is sponsoring "Good4U" drink for “recovery.” He would know after the ass kicking he took from Junior Dos Santos and Brock Lesnar in his last few outings though I have yet to see him recover from anything.

Muhammed Lawal KO's Roger Gracie in the initial round to continue the talk about the Gracie's chin or lack there of. I could not believe all of the people on Roger's jock just because he as the Gracie name. He hasn't had enough MMA experience and "King Mo" (& I) knew it. Lawal bided his time ignoring the boo birds as he timed out Roger. It sounded like the annoying hype man from Rucker Park was leading the call and response "King-Mo" chants over and over again in the crowd. "King Mo" then delivered a right hand to the back of the ear of the Gracie who crumbled in a heap. Lawal followed up with "club punches" and this fight is done.

* I stand by my assessment that Roger Gracie is overrated with a weak chin and "King Mo" with AKA is a dangerous combination. Muhammed calls out Rafael Cavalcante (who took his Light Heavyweight title) for a rematch. Makes sense on all levels.

Nice to see hometown heroes Rich Franklin and Jorge Gurgel in the house.

Luke Rockhold Upsets Ronaldo Souza by Unanimous Decision to earn the Strikeforce Middleweight Championship! Luke displays amazing takedown defense early against a grounding machine. "Jacare" is winning the stand up though struggling with takedowns. Ranallo freaks out about Luke’s switch kick but it was easily and obviously blocked. 10-9 Souza

In the 2nd, a short right hand staggers Luke but he recovers. It's a close round but the champ hurt Luke more and check out Frank Shamrock using the replay like John Madden. 10-9 Souza
In the 3rd Souza gets drilled in the pills and Pat Miletich is rooting for Rockhold so blatently that it distracts from the fight and reminds me of the blinded Kenny Florian mis-calling the last Ross Pearson bout. The "Croation Sensation" is normally great announcer but his calls are so one sided I wonder if the two have started dating. "Jacare" gets a trip takedown but Luke is getting stronger as Souza begins to fade. 10-9 Rockhold
Souza is disappearing from the fight fast while Luke seems to have cardio for days. Still great takedown defense for Rockhold who wins on volume of strikes and activity. 10-9 Rockhold
In the final round, "Jacare" finally, and I mean FINALLY, gets a solid takedown not that it would do him any good. Cardio reared its ugly head again for Ronaldo who was either overconfident or struggles with endurance training.

It goes 48-47, 48-47, & 50-45 (WTF!) for Rockhold who deserved the win.

* The judge who scored this 50-45 should be gang raped by Joe Son and Pat needs to hide his affiliations better.

WOW! Sergei Kharitonov's translator is smoking hot! Fedor Emelianenko should pay attention to this!

Daniel Cormier KO's the giant chin of Antonio Silva in the very 1st round to advance to the finals. The confident Daniel stands his ground as the giant approaches and drops "Bigfoot" with a big right hand under a minute in the fight! Silva is then staggered with a left hand but recovers. "Bigfoot" throws a kick which Dan catches and trips Silva to the mat. Cormier then toys with him using easy leg kicks. DC lets Silva back up and he attacks but Cormier laughs and drops Antonio with a big left hook and right uppercut on the chin but how could you miss it? The Sasquatch is finished and Dan looked very impressive though he has hurt his right hand. Here's hoping it's not broken and can heal by the time Zuffa allows this tournament to end in 2025.

* Daniel Cormier wants (/deserves) some respect now and advances to the finals in a classic tournament filled with injuries, upsets, and defections.

Josh Barnett submits Sergei Kharitonov with an Arm-Triangle Choke in the very 1st round. The Russian actually landed some strikes but once the "War Master" had enough he took the fight to the floor and immediately got full mount. Barnett then begins to soften up Kharitonov with strikes causing him to turtle up and give his back. "War Master" decides on the Arm-Triangle Choke and ends the night with a tapout. Mauro refuses to give up his microphone but Josh cuts a decent promo anyway.

* "Catch as catch can is the violent art!" Beautifully said my friend! Josh goes on to say about the finals, "I'm gonna take down an Olympic wrestler."

At this time I’d like to take a moment to tell all the troops serving around the world that you have wasted your life on pointless missions becoming mindless sheep. Happy 9/11 morons and say, “Yes Sir!”

AKA goes 4-0 tonight while I go 6-4 on the night.