First off, watching two guys with the same exact Warrior Wear half-camo, half black fight shorts made me want to stand and scream “hey guys, same team!”, but then I realized that I wasn’t watching a normal sport - this was fighting. Not that I couldn’t already tell by the second fight of the night. The first fight took the classic striker vs. grappler to the next level with some of the most nonchalant guard passes and mounts since Sean Sherk danced around Hermes Franca during UFC 73. Too bad the grappler was nearly dead from being rocked nearly a dozen times during the second and third rounds. But a lot more happened tonight. Let’s break down Strikeforce at the Dome! But wait, Bob Sapp is back on the screen laughing. He did this about 10 times randomly throughout the broadcast before his cage debut. Ok, now let’s take a quick look at the bouts.
Some of the fighters were local guys who were still only a few fights past their MMA debuts, but looking to prove themselves on live television. One of these local guys was none other the 145 pound bandtamweight grappler in the first fight, Zach “Skindog” Skinner. Even with his questionable nickname, Skinner did a nice job of eating a lot of shots to the face and the body in his attempts to submit another local fighter, Scott Shaffer. Skinner went on to win a very good back and forth fight that had a few slow points. This would be a great fight to show aspiring grapplers how important the ground game really is as Skinner was able to stop Shaffer from doing much damage for most of the bout. Both fighters were very one dimensional, unfortunately, and they both paid for it. Shaffer walked away with the loss even though he completely destroyed Skinner during the second round while Skinner did nothing by go for takedowns.
The second fight took two big heavyweights who wasted no time throwing a lot of leather for the entire 15 minutes. Another bout with two local fights with a a combined record of 1-0, the fight went the distance with both men doing a great job for their hometown crowd. Mike Hayes made his debut and came away with a decision win over his opponent, Matt Kovacs. Not only were they both local, they were both wearing the same shorts which caused a little bit of confusion while watching the fight. I wasn’t a big fan of this fight, but nothing bad could be said of these two guys who really put it all out there for the fans.
Lyle Beerbohm and Ray Pareles put on a show as Beerbohm wore some very bright early 90’s style fight shorts. These must have been lucky fight shorts as he began his domination over Pareles early in the first round and ended it in the 3rd round with a guillotine choke. Pareles came into the fight with a 9-13 record and although you should never judge a fighter by his record, Pareles clearly showed that his gameplan needs improvement. Beerbohm showed his well-rounded fighting style through some nice punches, kicks, and effective takedowns and mounts before ending the fight on the ground. These welterweights did a nice job of keeping things moving through most of the 11+ minutes.
More heavyweights, Josh Bennett (no, not Barnett) and Mychal Clark, are up next. Bennett is much wider, coming in 35 pounds heavier than Clark, at a whopping 259 pounds. While headlining fighter Bob Sapp can make 300+ pounds look good, other guys can’t quite pull it off. Clark rocked Bennett early, but couldn’t finish him off. The first round was filled with Clark unloading punches and the occasional kick. Round two showed some more swinging action that actually resulted in a doctor stoppage due to a nasty cut and bruise over Bennett’s left eye before the final round. Not everyone’s favorite finishing move, but Bennett was asking for it. Clark, however, didn’t look like he was hit once by the end of the fight.
Two young and talented fighters, Ryan Healy and Jorge Masvidal, took their combined record of 21-4-1 to give the crowd a great fight. Masvidal took the win via decision.
Steve Berger and Eddy Ellis also took the fight through the entire three rounds as Ellis took the win via decision. Yep, another decision. Not many exciting outcomes for the crowd so far tonight.
The kickboxing came next as Rick Roofus squared off against Maurice Smith in what we all expected to be a great fight filled with many high kicks. Nope, Smith won via armbar within two minutes. I wonder if Roofus even thought that Smith would want to take this fight to the ground instead of dueling it out the traditional kickboxing way.
Cory Devala and Joe Riggs were up next in a short and painful middleweight battle. Devala tossed Riggs which immediately hurt the experienced fighter and sent him tapping. He was taken away on a stretcher. Ouch.
Finally, the big guys in a super heavyweight showdown. Bob “backpedal” Sapp couldn’t take Jan Nortje’s size and power as he was knocked out before the first minute ended.
The fights didn’t have the same action as the EliteXC card we saw last week, but the cheerleaders, rappers, and annoying commentating was minimal. I felt bad for the people watching live as they had to suffer through decision after decision after doctor stoppage after decision only to watch the kickboxers go to the ground while Joe Riggs and Bob Sapp got beat less than three minutes combined. Unfortunately you cant predict fights and Strikeforce did a good job of integrating local talent with bigger names in MMA to provide a diverse card in hopes of some good cage action.
To change for the better, Strikeforce needs to get a couple more bigger names on the card. I wasn’t listening to the commentating this time around so I can’t comment, but with no Goldberg, I can safely assume that it was better than the EliteXC event. I can’t complain, but I wasn’t really impresed by anything in particular and I think it just had to do with the action inside the cage. The event gets a 6/10 from me.
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I do still love MMA and have...
February 24th, 2008 at 1:18 pm
It wasn’t a bad night. It’s getting a lot of unwarranted criticism (not from you) but from the opinions of those who watched it. People need to realize that this was Strikeforce, not UFC 82, and should not expect the same quality show. You can argue that Strikeforce is at best the 4th top org here in the states alone.
When I first saw Clark, I wondered how he had three losses. After watching him fight, it was clear he had a brain dynfunction. Instead of staying at distance a picking Bennett apart with strikes, he continued to get into Bennett. Plus, he was more gassed than the top-shape Bennett.
Bob Sapp is pathetic and needs to re-think his fighting career; it is obvious it isn’t top on his list.
The commentating was better than EliteXC. The play-by-play guy had a good voice and announced the action well, and Trigg did a very good job on the color side by offering insightful commentary. Good article.
February 24th, 2008 at 2:57 pm
Sapp showed last night why he is more popular in Japan…
February 24th, 2008 at 5:02 pm
Chris, I think you got Clark and Bennett mixed up. Bennett was the guy whose eye was all messed up.
February 25th, 2008 at 1:45 pm
I actually threw a small party for this live event as it provided some good entertainment without having to pay $60 for PPV. Everyone that criticizes this event needs to realize the amount of entertainment being offered on a basic station. HDNet is now my favorite channel since they have included fighting and live concerts. This is just the beginning for Strikeforce and HDNet, so I’m excited to see what comes.
Overall, I was disappointed in the Sapp fight, but thought Devela put on a good (but short) fight against Riggs. I’ll take an average Strikeforce or MMA event over professional boxing anyday…… At least if you don’t like particular fighters, you don’t have to sit through 12 rounds before the next fight. Only 3 and most of the time, it’s less.
February 25th, 2008 at 2:55 pm
Certainly wasn’t a bad event, just disapointing in how the fights actually went. Strikeforce did a great job of providing a free show, but was just a little on the boring side…Can’t complain too much!
February 25th, 2008 at 4:55 pm
Brandt, I was being a bit sarcastic