In terms of winners and losers, Scott Coker and the Strikeforce family could not of asked for a better result from Saturday’s show. Two champions maintained their momentum in entertaining fights. Herschel Walker physically dominated another underwealming heavyweight. And Roger Gracie demonstrated his exceptional grappling gifts on his way to a submission victory. Everything went pretty much according to plan. None of the fights on the main card went the distance, all ending relatively quickly. In turn, they all pack a lot of bang for the buck as it were in learning about the fighters involved.
Roger Gracie vs Trevor Prangley
Roger Gracie (pictured) is a big but unassuming fighter. He looks lumbering and awkward as he stalks around using his serviceable and surprisingly technical stand-up to set up his bread and butter grappling game. Once this fight got to the ground it was all over as Gracie completely controlled his opponent slowly working his way into better position. Prangley thought he was out the back door near the end of the fight but this is where we really got to see Gracie work his magic. He used his hips to shift Prangley in the middle of his scramble up, took his back, slapped on a beautiful body triangle, and began to work on a rear naked choke. The choke came just seconds later, putting an exclamation point on the end of this showcase performance. As stated before, Prangley is not the most daunting test available at 205 pounds but Gracie’s performance warrants applause nonetheless. Let’s hope Strikeforce gives this young prospect ample time to develop his skills and maximize his potential.
Herschel Walker vs Scott Carson
I said before the card that I know nothing about Scott Carson and pretty much nothing has changed. I do however know now that Carson is not nearly as strong or athletic as Herschel Walker, a fact that was merely speculation before the fight. This fight is simple. Walker took a head-kick that he was frustrated by, got angry with himself, and then took it out on Carson. Pretty much a microcosm of Walker’s niche in MMA, he is athletically gifted enough to do damage to opponents but he is still a rookie in his late 40s. Check out the fight all the same, if nothing else to see just how strong Walker really is.
Ronaldo Souza vs Robbie Lawler
The style clash promoted in this fight came to full actualization as Souza (pictured) and Lawler jockied for postion and struggled to put the fight where they wanted it. Souza had the fight in his back yard the majority of the time though, attempting a multitude of submissions. To Lawler’s credit and the fans entertainment he would not be put away or even kept down easily, popping back up and landing a few punches that staggered the champion. However, Souza’s relentless and exceptionally proficient ground attack was too much for Lawler. This fight raised both fighters’ stock in my opinion and was a good case study for what each brings to the table in a fight, particularly the top 5 ranked champion in Souza.
Nick Diaz vs Evangelista Santos
If anyone surprised me from this event it was Cyborg Santos, kicking off the fight with crisp, fast hands and relentless leg-kicks. Unfortunately for the challenger his old demons reared their ugly heads as he ran out of gas early in the fight. Diaz doesn’t have devastating knockout power in his hands but he hits you and he hits you a lot. Santos found that out first hand as he got hit repeatedly through the end of the first round and duration of the second. Fans didn’t get to just see Diaz’s stand-up skills though. Santos made a fatal tactical error in taking Diaz down at the end of the second, assuming he could weather the storm for less than a minute… he could not. Diaz needed just seconds to lock on a brutal arm-bar and put this fight in the history books. The champion got a chance to demonstrate all the strengths of his game against a very tough but ultimately outmatched challenger. The fight, like all the aforementioned fights, is worth a retroactive look, particularly if you are not terribly familiar with Diaz’s work. Being the most important welterweight not in the UFC, he is someone fans should familiarize themselves with.
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