This has never been an issue for him previously. At the end of the day father time makes us all tap out. In Fedor's case there is nothing that has happened that can diminish his legacy, but he has now lost back-to-back to heavyweights that in relative terms are simply above-average. Frankly I was seeing big holes in him in the Arlovski fight, but as Andrei has a chin of cut glass the outcome of that fight was in little doubt. Rogers showed even further how the mask was slipping and then Werdum & Bigfoot confirmed it. Was an awareness of time catching up a reason why he did not go to UFC? Who knows. But That will forever be a question mark over him now, which is a shame because Fedor IS a warrior....M1 Global on the other hand are leeches No shame in stepping down for him - he has nothing left to prove and should be a shoe-in for MMA HoF status
Well now that Zuffa owns SF it may be possible again for Fedor to prove himself in the UFC but as I've said in many other threads I think he's going to retire.
Round 2 of the Grand Prix Going straight into the GP Josh Barnett vs Brett Rogers Spoiler OK I was proved wrong. I knew Barnett had obvious sky high superiority difference in the grappling, but he is known to strike against strikers (Pedro Rizzo). I'm not a big follower of Brett Rogers, apart from having a big punch power I'm not sure how is wrestling is. Round 1. Barnett takes it down as soon as possible and essentially just sits on the full mount for 5 minutes. Boring to watch, maybe, but strategically sound. Squeezing all the air out of Rogers' lungs who is known to not have a large gas tank anyway. Rogers doesnt just sit there though, he does try to get out, kicking off the cage, shrimping out, Barnett just just rolls around over and busy just enough to keep it down on the ground. Round 2, Straight away they clinch and suprisingly Rogers tries to take Barnett down! Barnett counters with a big spinning hip toss and lands straight into full mount again. This time though with a visibly heavy breathing Rogers, Barnett jumps straight into a arm triangle choke and Rogers taps. Barnett via Submission Barnett takes the mic and does his awesome proresu style promo Alastair Overeem vs Fabricio Werdum Spoiler This fight I was interested in the most. Everyone knows the striking calibre of Ubereem, Werdum not so much but he's been in the game long enough to know how to deal with big strikers. I thought Werdum's key stratedgy was to at least possibly trade and keep it up against the cage and takedowns when able. What we get though is 3 rounds of Werdum pulling guard, Overeem stands up. Werdum gets a few good combos in, tries to pull guard, Overeem stands up. It was very weird to judge. Overeem has essentially counter punched, and Werdum pulling guard is not considered an attack/advantageous position. Overeem by Decision. Spoiler So the Semi-Finals are now Kharitonov vs Barnett Overeem vs Big Foot Silva .........hopefully sometime before 2013...
We're 4 days post fight now, do we need spoiler tags. What I will say though, unless you've crossed your ankles or secured an overhook, you've not pulled guard, you've sat down. He should really have had his purse cut.
I was thinking that, but I talked to quite a few people who actually have yet to see it! I'll take em off after a couple of days. The other fights made the card, I'll have to watch em again though to review em, unless Sifu Ben, you remember them to have a chat about. They shouldnt be overlooked. I'm currently concentrating on another event and everything is getting mixed in together
Spoiler I didn't think the other fights were that great TBH. Overeem just didn't show up against Griggs. He was way too tentative in the standup, which is where he should have been pushing it, and just casual in the clinch and on the ground. He was just inviting Griggs to wail on him. The Monson fight was a total snoozefest, he's too one dimensional for the modern game, but has a stunning chin, so he just walks around getting hit for 3 rounds. The Noons fight was odd, Noons seemed very one dimensional in the standup, maybe as a result of that head kick. His tie-ups on the ground were very good, but he didn't work. The Barnett fight was probably the most exciting, two great takedowns and a slick submission. I thought it was disappointing that the audience started booing when Barnett was mounted and working. It's not like he was camping out in guard. Werdum was shocking. He clearly had no interest in standing with Overeem, but when it went to ground often made no real effort to keep it there. It seems his entire gameplan was "don't get knocked out". I ,loved the contemptuous way Overeem shrugged off his punches and takedowns. I was puzzled by the commentators though, they were going "Overeem's only throwing power punches". What did they expect? Everytime he touched him he sat down!
Well depends on which site you look at Overeem's status in the tournament is in question. Sherdog states he is out completely. Fighters Only (at time of writing) states that still in dispute. This is over the actual date of the fight, Overeem wants to fight in October, but the company wants him to compete in mid-September and has apparently 'threatened' Overeem to fight on that date. add link http://www.sherdog.com/news/news/Overeem-Pulled-from-Strikeforce-Heavyweight-GP-34054
It's a huge shame, as he was one of the big draws, and I don't think Silva really has what it takes to beat either Barnett or Kharitanov. Hopefully it's just hardball negotiation. TBF to Overeem, 3 months is the industry standard, and Silva would have gone into his camp already fully recovered from February.
We're 4 days post fight now, so I won't be using spoiler tags, so be warned King Mo Vs Roger Gracie. Shocking refereeing, the shot that dropped him and the shot that knocked him out were both CLEARLY to the back of his head. Rockhold Vs Jacare. Some excellent wrestling from both sides, shame Rockhold didn't quite have the power in the standup or Jacare couldn't have kept it on the ground for longer than 10 seconds, would have made the fight more interesting. Healy Vs Blanco. GREAT example of wrestling for MMA, those arm traps with the legs were just gold. Cormier Vs Silva. Said it before, Silva's head movement is non existent, and he's just not athletic enough. Cormier was too busy and too accurate with his punches for him. Barnett Vs Kharitonov. about as one sided as it gets. In complete contrast to Silva, Barnett's head movement and footwork meant he was competitive in the standup, but once he took it to the ground it was textbook CSW 101, much more active on top than against Rogers, but then Kharitonov really wasn't trying hard enough to get him off. Great submission to finish of course, and the look on Cormier's face was priceless.
Apparently a belt has been made just for this tournament, Barnett however has been pushing it to be for the HW title. I personally agree, as who else is there? Overeem's left so there is no Champion at the moment, it wouldve been weird anyway of Overeem stayed and lost the tournament, it wouldve meant that the winner would end up fighting Overeem for the title anyway. Barnett/Cormier - Interesting, Cormier has big hands and Barnett was visibily seen having trouble with Kharitonov's standup and needing to shoot down. Cormier is an Olympian wrestler so taking him down to execute a sub is slim to none, but you never know Feel bad for Roger Gracie, he was proper chopped down to the ground with those hits.
TBF, that's a bit of an overstatement. The plan was always going to be to take him down, and Kharitonov is one of the most dangerous strikers out there, with KOs of Overeem, Rizzo and Ninja amongst others. Yes Kharitonov was doing better in the very brief bit of standup, but Josh was hardly getting tooled, and was getting shots of his own in. Cormier is certainly nowhere near as dangerous as Kharitonov on the feet, and let's not forget that Josh has gone the distance against Crocop. The issue as you've correctly pointed out is will he be able to get Cormier to the ground? Of course the other question is will he need to?
Thats fair enough, but he did say he took a hard shot in the middle of the eyes and he went down where he was more comfortable. He's also known to stand-up to make a point, granted this was years ago (especially with Pedro Rizzo). Cormier is a typical wrestler with big hands though not as clean...maybe experience alone will get Barnett through, we've seen wrestler's get rushed and taken down. Maybe a few hard shots will do it. I am hoping this would be soon though, the final. But wont be till early January apparently, Cormier broke his hand when he hit a giant head. I am liking this tournament a lot....(digging through for old Pride Grand Prix DVDs)
Interesting the RG knockout. I can see where you might think this is a rabbit punch SB but TBH it possibly looks like that because RG was bending forward to avoid getting clunked in the side of his head. Didn't look intentional as much as accidental. http://vimeo.com/28911746 Check at about 425/500 and you can see RG put his head forward to avoid the hook. Unfortunate move on his part. Amazing to see two grappling guys working so hard to avoid going to ground ;' ) LFD
And if Cormier gets him down will he be able to handle the CACC Josh brings to the table? This is a very exciting matchup all round
Yeah, but if he'd accidentally knee'd him in the groin and he couldn't continue it would have been an NC.
The headbutt right before the overhand right was the start of the end. Take that out and the KO may not have happened at that point?
I think it won't matter, as Strikeforce's TV deal will probably expire the minute the Grand Prix ends and it will be absorbed into the UFC.
