RECAP, SON

     Above is some fans flipping off Champion Nick Diaz moments after his title defense Saturday night on Stirkeforce, Diaz vs Cyborg.  The fights for the most part were chalk wins, but fairly entertaining none the less.  A few people had predicted a few fights and the results are as follows.  Myself went 2-1, while Adam and Goose went 2-1 as well with slightly different picks.  Anonymous Went 4-2, and predicted a funny KO but the wrong winner for the Moore-Coy bout. Now I can discuss Saturdays promotion, and a quick recap of my thoughts on the fights.

                                               STOP STOP STOP

     There are multiple things Strikeforce messed up Saturday night and the biggest thing I believe was how many times the camera clipped to Chris Cyborg.  I get that her husband is the main event, and I get she is your female Champion, but it's really really unnecessary and unprofessional to show her that many times, and to show her bawling post fight and giving a manly war cry during the fight.  I want to see as little of her as possible in my mma fanboy career.   Aside from the shots of Christine, Strikeforce was able to flaw many more times, mostly on words.  Thank goodness for good fights or people might have focused on things such as the commentators telling the viewers to go check out such and such fight on youtube.  I LOVE youtube and I encourage people seeing as many past fights as possible to build mma knowledge through archives, but from promotions standpoints that is very unprofessional as youtube is frowned upon when it comes to showing copyrighted fights for free, losing companies a lot of money.  You also get a sense that the commentators are there a lot more for their voice than their eye and mind of mma.  The audio play by play is garbage and could really confuse someone that didn't actually know what was going on in the grappling game.  Also during a post fight interview it was asked 'Do you think it's too late to call him 'Showtime'?!'  and the other guys just sort of stray from that statement because they or any other casual fan know that nickname is firm to Anthony Pettis.  Lets talk about the reason Strikeforce is still in good buisness, and it isn't the broadcast team, it's the fighters.

                  Stop kicking my leg, and gimme your arm, bro


     Nick Diaz(bottom left) submitted Evangelista Santos at the end of the second round on Saturday.  When I first heard about this fight, clear up until the opening bell, I wasn't too excited for the match up.  I was mainly interested in seeing how Diaz was going to perform or what antics he would do pre and post fight.  Then to my surprise Cyborg came out of the gates and had a SOLID game plan.  The same game plan that saw underdog Forrest Griffin dethrone Rampage for the UFC light heavyweight title, and the same game plan that led to Jose Aldos 5 round destruction of Urijah Faber.  Cyborg chopped at the lead leg of Diaz for the first round landing 7 or 8 very heavy kicks.  Diaz stuck to his game plan as well, standing in the line of fire, talking during the fight, and jabbing his way in to viscous combos.  Very hard to call the first round but I would say because of the last efforts it was Diaz 10-9.  The second round came and no surprise, more thunderous leg kicks that had me sore at home.  Diaz kept forward, kept standing, kept striking, kept talking.  Some very hard shots from Diaz and moments later, Cyborg dropped the game plan.  Cyborg soon after got a quick take down and it was over from there.  Diaz raised his hips quick and his legs to Cyborgs shoulders within a second.  Some smooth technique, a flip of Cyborgs body, and a little tug and Diaz was victorious via arm bar with only ten seconds remaining in the second round.  The training camp rushed in along with Gilbert Melendez and I half expected Jason Miller to come from the ceiling Sting style and get a revenge brawl.

                                              GATOR STYLE


     Jacare(top) vs Lawler was another fight that lasted a little longer then I predicted.  This was my most anticipated fight because I knew Lawler was a world class striker with knock out power, and Jacare is arguably top five in the world when it comes to grapplers.  As expected Lawler landed some big shots, and not quite as expected Jacare tried standing with Lawler for a little while.  Once Jacare realized the myths of Lawlers concrete fists were true he got back to his confort zone.  The end of the second round is worth watching about 75 more times.  Lawler does some beautiful, and fortunate escapes back to back to back.  What makes it so much more impressive is who he did it against, just think about it.  The inevitable happened two minutes into the third round as Jacare had his way in the scrambles and wound up with Lawlers back with all hooks sunk in.  The end result was a rear naked choke and Jacare retaining the middleweight belt.

                                                      THE FREAK


     I picked Herchel Walker to show his age(48) and lose his first(out of 2 so far) mma bout.  Boy was I wrong.  He was pitted against Scott Carson, who may not be a household name, but believe me when I say that any B-A level promotions have rosters full of guys that come to seriously compete for big checks and to keep their jobs.  Herschel however made this guy look like he just came out of his high school gym class and tried boxing the coach.  Quick work was made and Walker got the TKO victory before Carson could ever see a second round.  I'm on board, do your thing Herschel.






      Tomorrow...   I'll be doing a piece on The Phenom.  If you have ever counted anyone out of a fight because they were a 2-1 underdog, make sure it isn't next weekend.  Keep your money safe and enjoy the fight because it is going to be a firework show.  You all know and have seen Andersons otherworldly skills and stand up, but Vitors tape has been lost and his career overlooked.  I'm personally a big Anderson fan, but I will show you why he is severely threatened coming into this fight.  Click back tomorrow for the hook-up.