By Elton "Hobbie" Hobson
Watching the Strikeforce card tonight will probably feel like eating at a steakhouse run by a vegan - chances are you’re in for a strange experience.
Consider the card, which manages to be intriguing at the same time that it is mystifying (something Strikeforce pulls off regularly). Opening the show is a clash of proven Lightweight veterans that should answer some big questions and that has, of course, received not a lick of promotional and PR attention. Then, a marquee 145lbs Women’s title fight that will to most fans look like they picked a girl out of the crowd to fight Wanderlei Silva. Then Cung Le and Scott Smith throw down in the rematch no one asked for, and everyone will likely not want to miss.
And then Fedor. And for what feels like the millionth time, we are looking at the exact same story with the emotionless Russian juggernaut.
Making his bi-annual trip to the cage or ring, Fedor is once again shouldering all the promotional burden and focus for a promotion hoping to challenge the UFC‘s #1 spot. He’s also carrying what many consider to be the lineal Heavyweight title in MMA, his old PRIDE and RINGS heavyweight straps (which he was never defeated for), something called a “Wamma” title, and the hopes of hardcore fans and supporters the world over.
Opposite him is a fighter who legions of fans have proclaimed a worthy, top 10 challenger for the heavyweight king - and who an equally large legion of critics have dismissed as another UFC washout Fedor can pad his record with. The truth, as always, being somewhere in between.
Here are the five biggest questions for when the lights go down at the HP Pavillion in San Jose tonight. This piece is co-promoted today with our friends at M-1 Global, meaning that legally 2.5 of the questions are actually theirs, as well as the comments section, and all of my inbox for the next week. Crazy Russians, indeed.
Is Fedor Still the Man?
I know, it’s hard to get any more obvious then that as a first question.
Still, that question is THE question of the Strikeforce card tonight. It is THE question, in fact, that has driven pretty much all of Fedor’s exciting if somewhat questionable run in the post-PRIDE era. This question is THE reason you have for watching Showtime on a Saturday night - other then a chance lesbian scene in “The L Word”.
Anyone who knows MMA knows the name Fedor Emelianenko. His record reads like a who’s who of top Heavyweight fighters, all who failed to unseat the master. A decade spent on top of the sport, and Fedor still has yet to be actually beaten in a fight (his one loss coming via cut stoppage in a tournament). He has shown flashes of brilliance and moments of weakness in his fights in almost equal measure, but in the end it just doesn’t matter. He finds a way to win. Somehow. Always.
However, his career trajectory since leaving the demise of the PRIDE organization has been a big disappointment to me, and I’d be lying if I said it any other way.
Is it that I want him to fight in the UFC and nowhere else? No, though I’d love to see him in the sport’s biggest promotion. All I want is for him to show some inkling that he cares about his career and his legacy - which it is quite clear to see he no longer does. Having surrendered control of his career to M-1 Global, he’s happy to fight whatever comes and profit by M-1’s exorbitant contracts, hardball negotiating tactics, and “co-promotion“.
Is that such a bad thing? Fedor comes from a very poor background, growing up in the collapsing Soviet Union, and has always fought first and foremost to provide a better life for he and his family. Can you really blame him for seeking out the biggest pay cheque possible? It’s not a long list of guys who spend ten years in the formative era of this sport and make “set for life” kind of money. That’s all Fedor cares about, and he’s happy to do it with or without the UFC’s help.
It’s just a shame that he doesn’t care about really cementing his legacy or establishing his place in the sport anymore - if ever he really did. That is why, mystifyingly, he is fighting Fabricio Werdum in this fight instead of Strikeforce Heavyweight champion Alastair Overeem, who had a fight in the ancient era known as last month, against a guy Fedor just beat. Oh Strikeforce, you so crazy.
Is Fabricio Werdum the Heavyweight Matt Serra?
If you think about it, it’s not the world’s worst comparison. Both guys have world class BJJ backgrounds, both have solid if not spectacular skills on the feet, both have a record of coming up just short against the sport’s best, and oh yeah - both were given title shots that were widely considered suicide missions.
Matt Serra proved everyone wrong, of course. Now Fabricio Werdum will look to replicate that success, if not exactly that gameplan, against the invincible, all-mighty Fedor. The key defference between Serra and Werdum is that while Serra is a small welterweight, Werdum is both taller and heavier then Emelianenko. Not that size disadvantage has really mattered for Fedor, who has fought at 230-240 for most of his career.
Still, against Emelianenko you need every advantage you can get. Does Fabricio Werdum have a way to “Matt Serra” the sport’s top heavyweight? Honestly, I don’t think so. Serra’s victory came as a shocking moment in an otherwise slow fight to that point. If Werdum wants to win this fight, he’s going to have to work. Staying on the feet and looking to flash KO Fedor will only send you the way of Brett Rogers, Andrei Arlovski, Tim Sylvia etc. And Werdum isn’t any better on the feet then any of those guys (ok, maybe Sylvia, but not in his prime).
Werdum is a two time ADCC Heavyweight champion, and his skills on the ground are beyond legit. To my mind, that is his best route to victory - get on top of Emelianenko and look to pass, then sub. He stands a better chance defending the submission on the ground then he does the overhand right on the feet.
As to how he gets it to the ground, well, I haven’t a clue. His takedowns have never been spectacular. If he tries clinching with Emelianenko, he’ll get Sambo’d to death. I recommend prayer, or slipping an LSB tab into Fedor’s pre-match ice cream cone. Hell, that might not even work. The man who can survive Kevin Randleman slamming him on his head laughs at something called “acid”.
Did Cung Le vs. Scott Smith 1 Never Happen?
Seriously, what’s the deal with the matchmaking in this fight?
Ok, I get what the deal is. The first fight was an absolute barnburner. For two rounds, Le teed off on the durable Smith with a wide array of San Shou kicks, sweeps, and takedowns. Smith spent two rounds as Le’s sparring dummy to the crowds delight. Then Le seemed to fade in the third, while the man come human meat golem Smith was as unyielding as ever. One well timed combination later, and Le was looking up at the lights.
For Le, it was a devastating defeat. For Smith, it was another signature fight - take an inhuman beating, survive said beating, and TKO a tiring opponent in turn. Call it the Homer Simpson gameplan.
Except now Strikeforce wants to pretend it never happened. I think that’s the only reason this fight was made - because Le is a Strikeforce cash cow, and having a KO loss on his record to Scott Smith holds him back from bigger and better things. After the loss, Le blamed his long time off making movies and ring rust for the 3rd round fade, asked for a rematch with Smith, and was granted it. An immediate rematch in this situation is almost unheard of, as there was no belt on the line. Having an immediate rematch is usually reserved for matches with a controversial finish - and there was nothing controversial about Smith cleaning Le’s clock.
There are stories circulating that Smith and his manager are pretty steamed at the matchmaking, and it’s hard to say I blame them. Now, it’s like the first fight never really happened. THIS is the one that counts now in the minds of fans. In essence, in order to move up the ladder, Smith must defeat the exact same man he just beat. What was the point of that first win, exactly?
Oh well, at the end of the day you can’t complain (unless you’re Scott Smith, and rumour has it his manager lobbied for a contract that included an automatic rubber match should Smith lose this fight. Smart move). This fight will be another rock-em-sock-em robots contest, with Smith likely the punching bag once again for Le’s badass arsenal of San Shou kicks sure to have the hometown San Jose crowd roaring. Whether or not Smith can survive that assault once again is the key question of this fight.
Can Strikeforce put Together a Credible Women’s Division at 145 lbs?
Jan who?
Seriously, that was my first thought when I heard who was going to be “Cyborg” Santos’s next title challenger. I don’t say that to slander Ms. Finney, a six year vet who’s been in with the biggest names in the sport. Still, the fact remains that she is 8-7, traditionally fights at 135 lbs, and is making her debut in the organization with this fight, a title bout. She is about as close to a red carpet as we are ever to see laid out in a title fight.
Wow, I’m being brutal to Jan Finney here, aren’t I? Or maybe just realistic. Opposite Finney is the most dominant woman in MMA right now, the only one who seems able to inspire fear and respect beyond just curious fascination. Put more simply, there are a lot of male fighters I would rather fight then “Cyborg”. If you say she doesn’t scare you, then you’re lying.
She’s been so head and shoulders above the competition over the last year or so that finding legitimate challengers might prove difficult. Still, Strikeforce didn’t even try, really. A girl making her debut gets put in with the She-Hulk? Really? With your Challenger’s Series cards, you could build up a stable of women fights and at least attempt to establish a title picture for the belt.
In fact, maybe that’s what your doing right now, meaning this fight is nothing more then the planned blowout you expect it to be. I guess it’s good to beef up the “Cyborg” highlight reel, but this fight is a waste of time in Santos’s career and a distraction to a women who could be the best in the world. Get it out of the way and then, please, give “Cyborg” a real fight. I recommend Sarah Kaufman cause, you know, Canada represent and all that.
Will Anyone Care About Thompson vs. Healy?
They should.
Josh “The Punk” Thompson is the former Strikeforce Lightweight champion who only recently lost his belt to reigning champ Gilbert Melendez. He hold notable wins over Duane “Bang” Ludwig, Hermes Franca, “Razor” Rob McCullough, and Melendez in their first fight. Opposite him is Team Quest standout Pat Healy, a nine year veteran with some serious wins of his own over the likes of Ryan Ford, Carlos Condit, Paul Daley and Dan Hardy. Together, these two men combine for quite an impressive resume, indeed.
So of course, no one cares about this fight. When I say that, I don’t mean to imply that ACTUALLY no one cares about this fight. Only that as far as Strikeforce’s promotional efforts are concerned, this fight has gone by almost unnoticed. Again, I think this is a mistake for the San Jose promotion, who should be trying to build up their own stable of fighters rather then push UFC castoffs and stars from other promotions. Sure, their biggest successes - Fedor, Gina Carano, Nick Diaz - have come from other organizations, to say nothing of Herschel Walker. Still, they have had some success building up their own fighters (Cyborg, anyone?) and it remains, to my mind, the only viable option for challenging the UFC.
Attention Scott Coker: I know selling the leftovers of other organizations works for short term gain, but the reason the UFC eventually moved beyond the one-off “freakshow” appeal (remember any of the Tito/Shamrock “fights”?) is because they groomed their own group of fighters who fans knew and could get behind. Strikeforce has all the tools to repeat this process and introduce their own stable of people fans can relate to, or at least recognize when they come on the screen.
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