Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Werdum Live Coverage

So, I’m live at HP Pavilion, and the gates are officially open. I’ll be posting live updates as the event gets underway. The undercard fights start at 5 PM, so the live coverage will begin officially then.

The spoilers are below the fold, just in case they do air prelims.

Bobby Stack (6-1 MMA) vs. Derrick Burnsed (5-0 MMA)

The first fight of the night is a lightweight bout between San Jose’s Bobby Stack and Sacramento’s Derrick Burnsed. Both have fans in the crowd, the Stack’s are a little more vocal.

The fight opens and Stack takes the center of the cage. The two mix it up and Burnsed lands a good left. The two continue to move as Burnsed whiffs a leg kick, but lands a nice jab. Stack, the shorter fighter, continues to bob and weave, but misses the jab. Stack lands a hard punch and is taken down, but immediately stands back and gets to the back of Burnsed standing up. He puts Burnsed’s back against hte cage and starts to work slow from the clinch. The two exchange poor shots. Burnsed lands a weak knee and the two stagnate. Stack lands a nice knee, but the two are broken up against the cage. The two get into an exchange after the break, and Stack lands a takedown. The referee stands the fight up and Stack gets another takedown. The round ends standing up. I scored it 10-9 for Bobby Stack.

Stack throws a left head kick, but misses and eats a hard right from Burnsed that puts him on his back. He recovers his wits quickly and gets a shot, putting Burnsed up against the cage, but can’t pass Burnsed’s guard as he works the guard up against the cage. Burnsed scrambles to his feet as Stack reshoots. Burnsed backs up against the cage, but Stack pulls him off and slams him to the mat. Stack sits in his guard for a while. Burnsed gets back to his feet, but Stack pushes him against the cage and lands a hard knee. Burnsed reverses the position against the cage, but Stack trips him the mat, landing in a loose half-guard as Burnsed tries to scramble out. Burnsed gets the scramble and gets a deep sprawl, rolling Stack offer and getting the mount. Burnsed gets an arm-triangle attempt, but can’t sink it in. Burnsed postures and ground and pounds before going back to the arm triangle. I gave that one to Burnsed 10-9, which puts us even going into the third.

Stack takes the center of the cage again to start the third. He whiffs a head kick and Burnsed misses an overhand right. Stack throws up a weak spinning backkick attempt. Burnsed is backpedaling. Stack shoots but Burnsed ends up on top and works to pass the half-guard. Stack puts up a weak bucking defense but can’t get his hips out. Burnsed mounts but Stack rolls over. Burnsed can’t get the hooks in and Stack comes out on top. Burnsed attempts an armbar, but can’t quite get it. Stack scrambles but can’t get the legs. The fight comes back to the feet, but Stack quickly pins Burnsed up against the cage. Stack attempts a shot, but can’t get anywhere when Burnsed sprawls and goes to his back. Stack gets on top when Burnsed attempts a sloppy guard pass. Stack is clearly burned out, but Burnsed can’t work his submission attempts effectively. Stack shoots and comes out on top when Burnsed misses a guillotine attempt, and Stack shows a weak ground and pound to end the round.

I have the cards 29-28 for Derrick Burnsed, on the basis that Stack did nothing in the third round, but he spent a good deal of time on top in the third round as Burnsed missed submission attempts. It’s possible that a judge scored the third round for Stack.

The scores are 29-28, 27-30 and 29-28 for Bobby Stack. I’m not sure how the second judge justifies giving the first round to Burnsed, but it happens. And the final scores are not unexpected. Stack looks exhausted, and probably should work on his cardio for his next bout.

Yancy Medeiros (8-0 MMA) vs. Valdir Araujo (4-1 MMA)

Medeiros is a heavy favorite, but Araujo opens up with a heavy legkick. Medeiros takes the center of the cage, but Araujo throws a right hand feint that backs him up. Medeiros steps in which his hands, but doesn’t land anything too heavy. There’s another exchange and Medeiros lands a left hook, then the two tie up. The two are in a neutral clinch until Araujo pushes Medeiros against the cage. The two separate. Medeiros throws a right followed by a left hook, but they’re not even close to his opponent. The two continue to move around the cage. Araujo and Medeiros exchange, with Medeiros getting the better. Medeiros lands big with a jab to the body and a right to the head. Medeiros is bringing a huge right cross, occassionally looping it out like an overhand. Medeiros lands a snapping body kick, but backs off as Araujo charges forward. Araujo lands another hard leg kick. Medeiros whiffs with a capoeira kick. Medeiros continues to move forward, occassionally backed off by a flurry by Araujo that hits nothing. Araujo with another hard leg kick. Medeiros throws a push kick, but his heart isn’t in it. Araujo shoots, but gets nowhere as the bell rings.

10-9 Medeiros for aggression and control of the ring. The two are even on damage, roughly, but Medeiros was moving forward, and that counts for a lot.

Medeiros takes the center of the cage again to start the second round. Araujo keeps leaning back and feinting counter punches, but Medeiros isn’t buying it. Medeiros lands a leg kick. The two are throwing hands, periodically, but are far from hitting each other, often stopping well short. Medeiros lands a hard shot, but Araujo recovers. Medeiros back Araujo up against the cage and lands a straight right that puts him down and brings in the referee stoppage.They didn’t give an official time on the stoppage.

Vagner Rocha (5-0 MMA) vs. Brett Bergmark (5-1-1 MMA)

Vagner Rocha is one of the fighters on this card I’m really interested to see. I know that he has a good jiu-jitsu game and a BJJ blackbelt from ADCC champion Pablo Popovitch. I don’t know much about his opponent, but it’s hard to picture this guy beating out Rocha on the ground.

Bergmark takes the center of the cage, but Rocha lands a good straight left and right. The two seem just fine standing up as Bergmark throws a solid leg kick. Rocha shoots, but Bergmark gets a freakishly deep sprawl. Rocha sits through to guard and then stands out and gets a slick takedown. It’s a popular maneuver for the pure grapplers, and so it’s cool to see it in MMA. Rocha works from inside the guard, and starts to stand up looking to pass. Rocha drops punching down on Bergmark and then goes back into the closed guard. Rocha lifts Bergmark off of the mat a little and then slams him down, but Bergmark scrambles out and the two go back to standing. Bergmark lands another good leg kick, and then follows with a decent jab. Rocha shoots, puts Bergmark against the cage and then takes him easily to the mat. Again, Rocha works to pass the guard, but hasn’t been making much progress. Vagner drops some short punches from inside the guard, and then stands out to Bergmark’s open guard to drop some big punches before going back into the closed guard.

10-9 for Rocha, easily. He spent the whole round on top and did the only real damage of the round.

Bergmark charges forward but Rocha spins off. Bergmark lands another hard leg kick, but Rocha lands a solid left hand, then gets a shot, sitting back to guard again. Bergmark stands up and they’re both on the feet again. They’re moving slowly until Rocha throws a left hook then takes a long shot in. He doesn’t get the shot, but ends up in the clinch with Bergmark. Rocha’s back is against he cage, but he continues to be the aggressor, throwing knees. Bergmark throws a good knee to the head and then scores a takedown, landing in the half guard. Bergmark stands out, but stays over Rocha in the open guard, looking to pass. Slick guard pass by Bergmark, but Rocha gets to his knees before Bergmark can secure side-control. Rocha shoots, but Bergmark lands on top. Rocha turtles and secures half-guard, before Bergmark stands up. Bergmark still looks fresh while Rocha is looking exhausted and staying on his heels. The blocks hit the mat and Bergmark lands some solid punches, but can’t finish it.

Gotta give that round to Bergmark, 10-9. That puts it tied going into the third.

Rocha takes a tumble and lands on his back, but comes back to standing. Rocha lands a few good jabs as Bergmark works the inside leg kick. The jab isn’t doing much, but the punch landing is still more than Bergmark is getting in. Rocha seems to be getting his rhythm back, throwing good shots and loosening up against a tight opponent who’s not throwing many punches. Bergmark opens up with a combination, but hits nothing but air. Rocha shoots, but ends up in an anaconda choke. Bergmark doesn’t seem to have an angle on the choke, but keeps the position. Rocha shoots for half-guard, but Bergmark drops the anaconda and they go back to standing. Bergmark is bringing the pace again. Rocha lands a short right, but Bergmark doesn’t seem to notice. Bergmark tees off with a leg kick and then follows it up with a solid left hook and straight right. He drops punches on Rocha, who falls to his back, but Bergmark seems tentative about finishing him as Rocha offers the guard. Rocha’s back is against the cage and as he circles out, Bergmark lands a huge right hand. The straight right punishes Rocha as he drops to the mat in a desperate attempt to lock a submission, but gets nothing.

10-9 Bergmark, giving a him  29-28 win. The second and third rounds were pretty decisive, and it’s an impressive performance for Bergmark. Bergmark is an inconsistent fighter in terms of appearing in the cage (this is only his second performance since 2005) but he looked good tonight. A good win for Bergmark.

The scores for the fight are 29-28, 30-27 and 30-26 for Brett Bergmark, who’s nickname, it turns out, is “the Angry Hick.” He looked great tonight, and though I don’t agree with the three round wins, he definitely deserved the win. Both fighters look beat to hell, but only Bergmark looks happy about it.

Chris Cope (3-1 MMA) vs. Ron Keslar (5-1 MMA)

Chris Cope is a late replacement for Magomed Shikhshabekov (6-0 MMA), whose name is still in my program. Keslar is the hometown boy and, at this point, definitely the favorite.

Keslar drops for a leg early and gets the single, quickly passing the basically non-existent guard of Chris Cope and getting to mount. Cope is trying to buck off of the cage, but Keslar controls the mount before letting Cope roll to give up his back. Keslar locks up a body triangle and starts throwing punches to the side of the head. Cope tries to punch Keslar. Keslar looks for a rear naked choke, but loses it. Cope has no idea how to free himself from this position. Cope tries to slip out again, but Keslar just holds him. The round is boring, and basically ends with Keslar on his back.

10-9 Keslar.

Keslar jumps immediately to the back and locks the figure-four in. Looks like we’re in for more of the same. Cope finally escapes, but Cope landed a groin kick and there was a break in the action. Cope throws a spinning backkick that almost lands on Keslar’s head, but the two tie up on the cage again. Cope lands a spinning kick to the face of Keslar, who shoots in immediately. Cope gets the sprawl in deep and Keslar just sits there. Keslar is hanging on to one leg, but has nothing on it. The referee stops the fight from that position as Keslar is not defnding himself. The stoppage is pretty reasonable, given that Keslar wasn’t even trying to reshoot. It’s hard to let a guy just sit there and take short punches while he does absolutely nothing. People are annoyed by the stoppage, but it’s legitimate.

The referee stopped the contest due to TKO at 4:32 of the second round. There’s going to be some discussion of the stoppage, as it was made by Kim Winslow, (the first female referee of note) but it looked like a good stoppage to me. I can talk about my interpretation of “not intelligently defending” later if anybody cares, but I think that’s really a sufficient justification.

Time for the main card. The Belarussians sitting in front of me are awesome. They’re on their fourth beer and have their flags out and Fedor t-shirts on. It’s clearly getting closer to the main event. They were sitting in front of me the last time I saw Fedor fight, too, at Affliction, and they’re just as entertaining now as they were then.

Pat Healy (23-15 MMA) vs. Josh Thomson (16-3 MMA)

The crowd is supportive of the San Francisco fighter Thomson. Gotta be the bay area pride. Thomson looks shredded, but the Healy support from Team Quest is in force.

The fighters step out and Healy takes the middle of the cage. Thomson brings some quick punches, but lands nothing. Thomson shoots, but can’t score on Healy. Healy pushes Thomson up against the cage, but Thomson pushes him down to the point where Healy is attempting a very low single and Thomson slips to the back. As Thomson starts sliding back to guard, he latches on an armbar. Healy rolls out and comes out on top, but Thomson fishes for a triangle. It’s not tight, but Thomson has control of the arm and is starting to look for an armbar as Healy stalls and starts looking to step over. Healy frees his arm and comes out on top, but Thomson walks up the cage and starts looking to stand out. Healy hangs on his back and lands a suplex, but without any power. Healy sinks his hooks in and is on the back of Thomson. Healy and Thomson scramble and Thomson grabs a leg, but loses it and Healy stands back up. The two clinch against the cage, with Healy leaning on Thomson. Healy looks for a throw, but doesn’t get it. Thomson ends up on top in a weak half guard, but Healy is successful in stalling out the round.

That round was very close, but Healy finished strong and stayed on top. I’m calling that 10-9 Healy, but it could easily have been a draw or gone to Thomson.

The two fighters stand at range and its clear that Thomson is the better boxer, but Healy gets control of Josh’s legs and slams him to the mat with authority. Thomson turns away from Healy and Healy takes the back. Thomson gets him back to half guard, then moves him back to full, but Healy gets back to half, looking for an arm triangle. Instead, Healy postures and throws punches. Thomson hops out, but Healy gets a takedown. Thomson works for a loose armbar, then a weak leglock.  Healy goes back into half guard, but Thomson latches on a tight armbar. He’s gotten it straighten out, but Healy slips out.

That round is an easy 10-9 for Healy. He stayed on top and while Thomson got good submission attempts, wrestling and good submission escapes made Pat look better.

Healy lands a jab as Thomson gets wild with a left hook. Healy shoots, but Thomson shrugs it off. The two seem comfortable standing for now. Thomson lands a hard right. Thomson throws a kick and Healy grabs a leg and closes the distance. The two are in the clinch, but neither land a big strike. Healy looks like he’s getting tired, but Thomson’s fatigue seems pretty minimal. Healy chases Thomson down and pins him up against the cage. Thomson spins off, but doesn’t throw anything back and Healy pins him against the cage again, this time grabbing control of the legs. Healy lifts Thomson off of the cage and gets the takedown, but after a scramble, Thomson finds his way to north-south, then takes the back of Healy as he stands out. Thomson locks on a body triangle as Healy stands up, and starts working for the rear naked choke, sinking it in. Healy is holding out, but is holding on as the clock crosses the 50 second mark. Thomson continues adjusting his angle until he finally gets the choke with under 45 seconds left in the round.

Josh Thomson wins by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 4:27 of the third round. Impressive win by Thomson, though he definitely struggled with the wrestling of Healy. Looks like a third fight with Melendez is probably on the way.

Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos (9-1 MMA, #1 IWMMAR) vs. Jan “Cuddles” Finney (8-7 MMA)

Just like the world cup, we know that the Brazilian is just more skilled than the American, as well as more physically powerful, in this matchup. The Strikeforce women’s “middleweight” title will be on the line in this bout. The crowd is hugely supportive of the massive favorite, introduce only as “Cris Cyborg.” Kim Winslow is our referee.

The two step out to the middle of the cage and start trading. Cyborg lands the heavier shots and immediately pins Finney up against one of the posts, bringing knees to the thighs of Finney. The two separate and Finney leads with a jab. Cyborg lands a hard three punch combination that forces Finney to shoot, but she pops up out of the sprawl. She eats a knee from Cyborg, but fighters her way into the clinch. Three times Finney has taken shots that could have stopped the fight, but she’s recovered. She still looks out of it as they separate and Cyborg lands a hard right, but Finney grabs a single. Cyborg starts poing away and eventually puts Finney on her back. Winslow stands the fight up to the applause of the fans. Cyborg presses forward landing hard shots. Finney can’t grab the leg and eats too brutal knees to the body as she tries. Winslow stops the fight after issuing her second warning to Santos not to strike the back of the head. She takes a point away from Santos, but it looks like it will be irrelevant, as Santos has issued a serious beating to Finney, who is bleeding under the left eye. A replay of the action leading up to the fight shows that Finney landed a number of illegal upkicks, and that Santos did, in fact, land some clearly illegal strikes to the back of the head. Good stop by Winslow. Cyborg pins Finney up against the cage as the action restarts. They separate and Santos lands some vicious shots, but Finney moves foward, until finally shooting for a knee. Santos lands in a half-passed, half guard position until deciding to stand out of it. When Winslow doesn’t stand Finney up, Cyborg steps back in to the full guard, choosing her shots carefully. Finney turtles as Cyborg works slowly. The crowd is booing Finney, but bursts into applause for the defending champion as the round comes to an end.

9-8 Cyborg, maybe even steeper. Finney did essentially nothing, and while it’s possible that the deduction could make this tied, that seems unlikely.

Cyborg lands hard straight punches on Finney, bringing the jab hard as the two stand at range. Cyborg starts teeing off and Finney shoots. Cyborg decides to throw her punches to the body. Finney gives up on the shot and when she sits back, Cyborg lands a punch to the face. The two scramble as Cyborg continues to strike, and Cyborg lands in side control, though she stands up out of that position as well. Winslow stands Finney up.  The two exchange again and this time its Cyborg who locks up the clinch, pinning a bruised and bloodied Finney up against the cage. The two separate and Cyborg tees off with a hard straight right-left combination before going back tot he clinch. It looks like the champion is patiently working, but Winslow separates the two. Finney paws with the jab, but Cyborg circles out and drops her to the mat with a hard series of punches.

Santos brings the fight to an end, brutalizing Finney, who clearly wasn’t up for standing with Cyborg and didn’t have the wrestling to put the bigger, stronger woman on the mat and keep her there. At 2:56 of round two, Cristiane Santos is declared the winner by TKO.

I’ll talk more about this number tomorrow, I think, but it’s worth noting that compustrike has Cyborg landing 141 strikes to Finney’s 23, and a total of six knockdowns for the champ.

Special Announcement

Frank Shamrock, five time UFC lightheavyweight champion, just announced his retirement from MMA. He thanked Scott Coker, and he’s going to continue working with Strikeforce. He’s a wonderful guy and a great story in MMA, and he will be missed. He is deserving of enormous respect, and received it from this crowd tonight.

Cung Le (6-1 MMA) vs. Scott Smith (18-6 MMA, 1-3 UFC)

The crowd seems supportive of Le, but they aren’t booing Smith. Smith has a sizable cheering section, and as with all fights between powerful strikers, it should be a barn burner.

Smith charges forward and lands a right. It looks like Smith is looking for the takedown as he pins Le up against the cage. He may just be looking for that close range striking, as he lands a short right to the head of Le. The chants of “Cung Le” errupt as the San Shou fighter is pinned against the cage. Smith works slowly until Le pushes him off. Le misses a straight right, but Smith doesn’t counter. Smith comes forward with the jab followed by a huge overhand right. Le throws a fast jab-cross-hook combo that falls short. The two circle in the middle of the ring. Le throws a kick, but catches nothing, then lands a punch, and Smith backs off, and then shoots. Le sprawls out and throws knees to the shoulder of Smith, then punches to the ribs. Le is incredibly efficient at working to the body, and forces Smith back to his knees from the sprawl as Smith tries to stand out of the front headlock. Smith reshoots, but grabs nothing. He pins Le up against the cage, and starts bringing the hands. Le lands a straight right, then a kick. Le throws a big head kick that deflects off of Smiths hands, then lands some good punches followed by two knees that drop Smith to his knees. Smith is hanging on to the knee of Le, looking for a takedown as the ten second mark passes. Le lands one more hard shot to the ribs as the round ends.

The round ends with a resounding 10-9 for Le, who seemed to really ring Smith’s bell at the end of the fight.

Le opens strong, but Smith is pressing forward. Smith blocks another head kick before eating a hard punch. Smith turtles up and covers against the cage as Le lays into Smith, going after the ribs and shoulder with punches and knees. Smith stands with Le behind him. The two separate and Smith continues to press forward. A spinning back kick to the body drops Scott Smith, who curls up, eating shots against the cage, as Jason Herzog stops the fight.

Winner by KO, Cung Le.

Fedor Emelianenko (32-1-0-1 MMA, #1 IWMMAR) vs. Fabricio “Vai Cavalo” Werdum (13-4-1 MMA, 2-2 UFC, #9 IWMMAR)

I can’t see any of the cage, as the crazy Russians are standing on chairs and waving flags. Fedor makes his way to the cage and no one is sitting. The sound of the entrance music is almost surreal, something out of a movie montage, and his facial expression is, as always, blank. I have to say, I don’t think of MMA as a particularly gladiatorial sport anymore, but it does occur to me know, if for other reason than the unbridled enthusiasm of the crowd. Werdum is met with ferocious boos and the champion, Fedor, is met with deafening applause. Big John at the center of the cage, the emperor returns to meet another challenger.

The two step out to the center of the cage and Fedor takes the center of the ring. The larger man, Werdum, is showing respect for the hands of Fedor, and effectively using his lateral movement. He is immediately dropped, but looks for an armbar, then a triangle, and the triangle sticks tight. Fedor taps as Werdum straightens the arm. It’s all over. Werdum by submission.

Well, this is the story. Everyone knows what’s going to be talked about tomorrow. The crowd is still in awe. People have their camera’s out, taking picture and video of the screen. There are very few moments when the world stands still. This is one of those moments. Beautiful submission for Werdum, and the camera flashes to Alistair Overeem, who smiles.

This is what MMA is about, these are the moments that remind us there are no gods in this sport, no one perfect, only those who are great, who, in time, stumble. That is this moment for Fedor Emelianenko.