Daniel Cormier defeats Josh Barnett by dominant Unanimous Decision (49-46, 50-45, 50-45) to become the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix Champion! Yes the "tournament" was a bit of a joke but what was impressive was "DC's" performance as he dominated the "Warmaster" in every facet of the fight! Daniel came out immediately landing combinations and getting inside Josh's lengthy reach advantage. Barnett could not takedown Cormier and just continued to eat punches instead of trying to avoid them which would tattoo his face red with blood as the evening continued. Barnett landed but one important punch that hurt Dan at the end of the 1st round which Josh claims broke his hand. Barnett was more aggressive in the 2nd but "DC" couldn't care less continuing to put together amazing combinations showcasing his hand speed and accuracy. Cormier even slammed Barnett to the canvas and just won every aspect of the bout presenting stalwart confidence and savvy game planning. Its just amazing how good "DC" is only 10 fights into his career and how fast he is advancing with the tutelage of AKA. Now we wait to see if Barnett gets a chance at the UFC after he sees the doctors for stitches and gets a cast on his hand.
Gilbert Melendez retains his Lightweight Championship defeating Josh Thomson by Split-Decision (48-47, 47-48, 48-47) which would become the theme of the evening. "El Nino" started strong enough but never brought the storm we are accustomed to seeing. Things were slow early but a growingly aggressive Melendez obviously won the 1st 3 rounds though they were competitive. For the final 2 rounds Josh turned up his striking and touched up Gil getting the pro AKA crowd on his side. The idiots in the stands boo'd the decision but they are morons who apparently feel winning 2 rounds adds up to more than 3. Stupid and silly. What we do know is we don't need a 4th fight as suggested by Mauro Ranallo and its a good thing fans don't get to judge fights. Not the greatest day for Melendez but he did retain and he goes home to a gorgeous fiancee that Showtime was hip to put on camera over and over much to my delight.
Rafael Cavalcante tapped Mike Kyle in their rematch by Guillotine Choke only 0:33 into the 1st round. "Feijao" came out with a right hand and a knee to "Mak's" dome rocking the AKA fighter and springing into his arms locking on the guillotine choke. The submission was tight and Kyle tapped while falling to the mat and Cavalcante awaits the return of Gegard Mousasi to determine the Light Heavyweight Champion for Strikeforce later this year. "Submission Of The Night"
Chris Spang TKO's Nah-Shon Burrell 1:55 into the 1st round. Sprang's ridiculous size advantage did him well as he rocked Nah-Shon with a strike early and then abused him with knees as Burrell staggered around the cage out on his feet. Chris put him down and went in for the kill but the referee mercifully stopped the fight. Burrell complained but he was getting destroyed and the stoppage was correct. Impressive for Spang who I'll be happy to see again soon. "(T)KO Of The Night"
Isaac Vallie-Flagg Upsets Gesias Cavalcante by Split-Decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28). "JZ" started strong and looked like a new man until the Jackson/Winkeljohn product refused to stop coming and you could almost see Gesias quit before your eyes. It was nothing special but constant pressure and coming foward as Flagg just broke his opponent which is something we have seen before but I thought Cavalcante was past. Once again a great game plan wins the day and "JZ" sees his dreams of being relevant fade into the nothing. There is also no reason a judge should have awarded the bout to "JZ."
Guto Inocente defeats Virgil Zwicker by Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27) in a highly entertaining fight. Guto just brought the striking bombs with spinning backfists and kicks and devastating attacks that hurt the iron chinned Virgil though the proud American Indian refused to go down. Inocente shot his wad just punishing Zwicker for 15 minutes throwing a sick amount of pain to Virgil who continued to take it though he never gave much back. Totally one sided but the crowd and I appreciated Zwicker never say die attitude and I'd watch both guys fight again. "Fight Of The Night"
Gian Villante bests Derrick Mehmen via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27) in a one sided glacially moving bout. Gian never got in trouble and just beat up Mehmen but I was less impressed in Villante. This was a showcase fight but the endurance wasn't there nor was the relentless attack needed to become an elite fighter. I expect more from Gian and am starting to doubt that he'll become a real player. A one sided win yet still unimpressive.
Quinn Mulhern defeats Yuri Villefort by Split-Decision (30-27, 28-29, 29-28). I feel like I keep saying this but Yuri started strong and just faded to a more aggressive attacking fighter. This was a great tactical ground game early but then Villefort just ran out of gas and Quinn took over. This also should have been a pretty cut and clean obvious bout to judge yet one blind man got it wrong. Jeez the judging tonight.
Bobby Green defeats James Terry via Split-Decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28). 4 bouts tonight out of 9 ended in Splits and were blatantly for the man that won. At least the 3 judges worked tonight as the right overruled the wrong. This fight happened too.
5-4 on the picks which sucks.
No comments:
Post a Comment