Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Rogers

[Guest Mr. Potato Head]

Tomorrow night on CBS in North America, and Bravo in the UK (9 PM EST, tape-delayed to 9 PM PST on the west coast, not sure if it's live in the UK).

There's some similarities to the hype for the first Kimbo show on CBS last year, but the difference is that here it's justified. Fedor is legitimately the best heavyweight in MMA (with the POSSIBLE exception of Lesnar).

Brett Rogers is being talked up as a legitimate threat, but really he's just got the so-called "puncher's chance". Fedor's not unbeatable, but Rogers is still too green to be the guy to beat him - his only major win was over a glass-jawed Andrei Arlovski.

The undercard isn't getting much hype, but should be equally fantastic. Jake Shields is the best welterweight not in UFC, and he's moving up to 185 to fight Jason Miller in what might be fight of the night. Gegard Mousasi is the best 205-pounder not in UFC, and he's fighting Sokoudjou - who is pretty much impossible to figure out, he has wins over people you wouldn't expect him to beat and losses to people you wouldn't expect him to lose to. And Bigfoot Silva vs. Fabricio Werdum could determine Fedor's next challenger.

I won't be on here during the show - and I have my doubts that the bar I'll be at will show Strikeforce over hockey, so I might not be watching it until Sunday morning. Still, use this thread to talk about the show while it's going on if you wish.

[ACCBiggz]

Jake Shields is the best welterweight not in UFC, and he's moving up to 185 to fight Jason Miller in what might be fight of the night.

Shields has already moved up to 185. Victory over Robbie Lawler, and already calling out Frank Shamrock for his next fight. Mayhem should be tougher test, and possible victor. This is the fight I'm looking forward to. Mayhem is better striker, Shields doesn't have the explosive takedowns, and his BJJ isn't as good as Jacare (who got Mayhem). Mayhem wants to fight Jacare again, who fights Lindland in December - so there is equal motivation for him.

[Fitzy]

Jake Shields is the best welterweight not in UFC, and he's moving up to 185 to fight Jason Miller in what might be fight of the night.

Shields has already moved up to 185. Victory over Robbie Lawler.

Well no, it was 182.

[Thrilla]

Show is shown a day late in England, Sunday, 9pm, Bravo.

This is a very decent show, not having to worry about having more than four televised fights has let them load up the card. Fedor, Shields and Mousasi should win their fights but their opponents at least have a puncher's chance, Werdum/Silva is a tossup for me as I haven't seen much of Silva lately.

[ACCBiggz]

Jake Shields is the best welterweight not in UFC, and he's moving up to 185 to fight Jason Miller in what might be fight of the night.

Shields has already moved up to 185. Victory over Robbie Lawler.

Well no, it was 182.

Regardless of if they called it a catchweight, that qualifies as Middleweight... 171-185

Fedor, Shields and Mousasi should win their fights but their opponents at least have a puncher's chance, Werdum/Silva is a tossup for me as I haven't seen much of Silva lately.

Mayhem has a lot more than a punchers chance vs. Shields.

[Thrilla]

Shields will bully him in submission...

[blaze1992]

I see what you did there!! ^^^

But I actually see the opposite happening, Shields will come in wayyyy smaller. Miller has fan-dabi-dozi sub defense if Jacare couldn't sub him what makes you think Jake Shields could. I predict a miller TKO in the later rounds.

Fedor by Armbar.

[Gene Kiniski]

Rogers by armbar like I called it in the podcast.

Seriously, I'm going to have to hijack a t.v. during my family event tomorrow night to watch this. Mayhem over Shields.

[IzzyX]

Show is shown a day late in England, Sunday, 9pm, Bravo.

This is a very decent show, not having to worry about having more than four televised fights has let them load up the card. Fedor, Shields and Mousasi should win their fights but their opponents at least have a puncher's chance, Werdum/Silva is a tossup for me as I haven't seen much of Silva lately.

The day I don't have Bravo -- this comes on. I hate Virgin Media.

[IDOL]

This guy is the best pound for pound fighter in the world? Seriously? Better than Mir? Lesnar? Couture? Nog? Nah...

[Fitzy]

He's beaten Nog twice and he would beat Couture and Mir. Lesnar who knows.

Why did they decide to keep the WAMMA title? At least they spent money on making a real professional looking belt though.

[Thrilla]

Boom!

Also, look at that, Shields taking the victory over Miller

[Gabriel]

Can we all agree that Brett Rogers proved to be more of a threat to Fedor than anyone in recent memory? Guy had a good game plan, but should have thrown his hands more. Clinch against the cage was good, his ground game was good, and the punches he landed were all good strikes.

This is a win/win for Strikeforce. Fedor IS The Man, and Brett Rogers put in an admirable showing against the top fighter in the world. If Rogers picks up 2 or 3 big wins, I can see him and Fedor duking it out for a second time... and to be honest, I see the potential of that fight being enough to keep Fedor and M-1 partnered up with Strikeforce beyond this initial contract.

But just think about this for a second... Fedor, Overeem, Rogers, Werdum, Silva, Arlovski, Del Rosario, the possibility of Josh Barnett coming in and Bobby Lashley. Scott Coker is doing a very good job of building a legitimate Heavyweight division with what the UFC has left on the table.

Shields didn't win any fans with that performance. Awesome fight though. I picked Shields to win, and I'm glad I was right, because I generally like him... but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't pumping my fist when Mayhem caught him with that Rear Naked Choke, or later in the fight when he tried his standup. Good on Shields for doing whatever it takes to win, but Mayhem showed tonight that Jake Shields is not going to be an undefeated Kingpin of this 185 pound division. It's only a matter of time before someone has enough wrestling, or learns enough wrestling, to prevent him from being in control like that.

Silva/Werdum was just an awesome fight, and I was shocked to see Werdum trade with Bigfoot. Those two guys put in awesome performances.

Sokoudjou gave Mousasi more trouble than I expected. I don't know whether Gegard didn't take him seriously, or maybe he just wanted the workout. Either way, Mousasi wins by pure destruction.

Too bad they didn't have enough time to show Marloes Coenen/Roxanne Modafferi, especially since Coenen is supposed to be the next big challenger for Cyborg's belt.

[SRN]

Wow. Just wow on Brett Rogers. Also, fuck Jake Shields.

[Guest Mr. Potato Head]

Good show. My hunch is that Fedor was thrown by his nose being broken more so than Rogers really being that good, but Rogers did show that he's definitely not a pushover, so who knows.

[IzzyX]

Can we all agree that Brett Rogers proved to be more of a threat to Fedor than anyone in recent memory? Guy had a good game plan, but should have thrown his hands more.

I believe he wasn't throwing as much because he was afraid that he'd get caught out. Though I too wished Brett threw a bit more; the result may of ended up different.

On another note; I believe Stormfront has something to shout about now

[ACCBiggz]

Also, look at that, Shields taking the victory over Miller

Nor the least bit shocking, but I only made reference to your "punchers chance" that you gave Mayhem when he is a legit challenger to Shields. Shields' striking is robotic at best, is ground game is very tight but has little to no ground and pound, and as we saw with Miller - someone with solid defense will stop him from applying the sub, and also shown by Miller, Shields is able to be submitted. Jacare coming to Strikeforce, and possibly getting the next shot with a win over Lindland, makes for a nice Jacare vs. Shields fight. Jacare's striking is probably even better than Shields' and his BJJ is at another level than Jake's. The wrestling portion is what makes this an interesting fight, however, after Jake's performance I'd be shocked to see him back on CBS in Primetime.

But just think about this for a second... Fedor, Overeem, Rogers, Werdum, Silva, Arlovski, Del Rosario, the possibility of Josh Barnett coming in and Bobby Lashley. Scott Coker is doing a very good job of building a legitimate Heavyweight division with what the UFC has left on the table.

Overeem has to come back to the USA and pass a drug test first and foremost, until he steps back on soil it's all talk from him in my opinion. Werdum got embarrased by JDS, then looked poor against someone not anywhere near his level against Pyle, and Bigfoot let the win slip from his last night, Werdum looked alright, but he is of no challenge to Fedor in the slightest. Arlovski has been obliterated in his last two fights in the main event and on television - not the ideal situation. Del Rosario is someone who is open about only fighting MMA because of the money, not exactly who you'd want representing you - and he got dropped by Cash on Friday night.

Josh Barnett? Talk about your all-time high PR nightmare. Lashley isn't a huge draw, very green, and hasn't really shown that much in the line of being at a high level. Is Coker doing a good job of building a division? Not really, he just has who he can get. The ONLY legit fight for Fedor next is Overeem who may not even be fighting here in the states again regardless of what he says. After that, there is no one. They have some fighters who can offer some decent style fights, but no contenders. Even with Rogers there is a danger of putting him in there against someone where he gets beat again, like a Werdum who can get him down and sub him.

Edited November 9, 2009 by ACCBiggz

[Guest Mr. Potato Head]

For once I agree with Biggz. There are a lot of interesting names out there in Strikeforce's HW division, but UFC is far and away the superior group in all weight classes now. From what we saw last night, I think Rogers might be the #2 (or #3 behind Overeem) HW not in UFC.

[Fitzy]

Del Rosario is someone who is open about only fighting MMA because of the money, not exactly who you'd want representing you - and he got dropped by Cash on Friday night.

Fedor is the guy representing them and he said the exact same thing on Fight 360.