 | |||
| New Strikeforce Welterweight champion Nate Marquardt picture belongs to http://lowkick.blitzcorner.com |
I had a lot of trouble going to sleep last night I was actually was up until 7:00 am because I was watching Strikeforce until 6:30.
Never did I really have the opportunity to catch a full show, I have to say I was pulled in from the first moment of watching it.
I guess it shouldn't surprise me since I love MMA, but built with the reputation of being the minor leagues to the UFC, Strikeforce is very entertaining.
The first thing I want to talk about is what a great night it ended up being for former UFC fighter Nate Marquardt {33-10-2} capturing gold after a lot of tough breaks in the UFC.
What got me is how Dana White released him after he won his last fight, usually you see Dana ready to let fighters go after they get demolished.
If you look at what he did in the UFC it wasn't exactly a bad run, were talking about a guy who went to distance with Chael Sonnen, were also talking about a guy who went in there against UFC's Middleweight champion Anderson Silva.
Some people were doubting if this man could still put on a show, the doubters were silenced when Nate Marquardt basically ran through Tyron Wooley {10-1}.
Tyron came out fired up but you have to keep in mind he was going against a fighter who's been in some big fights in his career, there was nothing new about the position Nate found himself in.
N. Marquardt is in there to fight, he loves to mix it up and doesn't have a problem taking the fight anywhere on the mat.
There really doesn't seem to be a lot that can throw these guy off, Nate just looked to be a lot more skilled than his opponent.
I will give Tyron Wooley one thing I mean the guy has heart, he wasn't afraid of Nate and at times in the fight he made a point of trying to trade with him.
I actually applaud Tyron for making it to the 4th round but there was no way he was going to hurt his opponent, from the moment they came out I knew it would be a tough road for T. Wooley.
Since even being an amateur fighter it was the first loss ever in Tyron Wooley's MMA life, I'm sure there is many things he will take from that fight to make him a better fighter.
Either way Nate Marquardt was able to pull it off in his Strikeforce debut, you have to wonder if Dana White will ever ask him back to the UFC.
The main event to me was a major disappointment, it was probably the one fight I saw where I wasn't impressed at all.
Luke Rockhold {10-1} retained the Strikeforce Middleweight championship after winning a five round decision over challenger war hero Tim Kennedy {14-4}
I was really hoping Tim Kennedy being a great American soldier would shock the world and take the title home, unfortunately I was wrong.
Tim Kennedy fought one of the most gutless fights a challenger can fight, I mean there was no sense of urgency from him at all.
You could see the moment they started fighting Luke Rockhold was the better striker, so why are you just backing up make something happen.
If you know your opponent is much more skilled then backing up the whole fight will not win on the scorecards, you have to find a way to break his will.
I don't blame Luke Rockhold at all the man kept charging at the timid Tim Kennedy for almost a total of 25 minutes, people don't realize how tiring it is to be chasing an opponent who clearly doesn't want to engage in an actual fight.
Tim Kennedy to me fought a very laid back fight, I was waiting for him to do something for the last 3 rounds, I gave him the first two rounds thinking he was trying to feel L. Rockhold out.
I really didn't understand Tim's strategy, it almost seemed as if he actually thought he was ahead, honestly that could be the only explanation for why he drifted through five rounds of another title fight.
The thing that bothers me about Tim Kennedy was this was the 2nd time he fought a title fight like this, your never going to win the big win if you cannot drive yourself to want to be in those all out wars.
It was obvious Tim Kennedy was content on just trying to tie Luke up, it was probably to me it was the only fight I saw that night where I was just really disappointed .
Looking at fights earlier in the card, I was able to see the young Roger Gracie {5-1} of the famous Gracie family, he was in there making his Middleweight debut against a former UFC fighter Keith Jardine {17-11-2}.
I expected Keith Jardine and Roger Gracie to go toe to toe, but Roger was just looking to keep Keith grounded throughout.
The thing I liked about Roger Gracie is the fighters who take who to the ground will just sit there, Roger was actually bringing down some serious strikes from the top.
Roger was able to cut Keith Jardine open after a devastating elbow to the head, you really have to hand it to Keith Jardine that guy is tough.
You could see K. Jardine just wanted to hang out for his life, every time they wound up in the clinch Roger was able to take him down.
The one chance Keith Jardine had was if he kept the fight standing, but Roger Gracie wasn't having none of that, he completely controlled the fight.
After dropping down from the Light Heavyweight to the Middleweight division Roger Grace scored with a 3 round decision win.
Keith Jardine's best days are probably behind him now, I think it would be fair to say that he at least is finished as far as the UFC goes.
Either Roger's skills were that good or Keith Jardine's skills are just that bad, watching Keith I found it really hard to believe he ever beat great fighters like Chuck Liddell or Forrest Griffin.
I'm shocked fighters didn't expose his ground game more over the years, he is really good at escaping submissions but once you get on top of him you can just bury your fist in his face at ease.
All in all it was a great show, I wasn't expecting to be as entertained as I was. I always hear about the UFC well Strikeforce is pretty good too.
No comments:
Post a Comment