Daniel Cormier & Josh Barnett

Kimurawear went 4 for 5 with its main card pics. Not to shabby but the two heavyweight bouts weren’t really up for discussion as to who the winner would be. Cormier and Barnett easily dispatched there over matched opponents and ended there Strikeforce careers with victories. Cormier will next fight in the UFC, possibly against Frank MIr, who he was supposed to fight on this card. Then theres the WarMaster. The outspoken Barnett has a rocky relationship with the Zuffa brass, which makes his future uncertain. Should he be in the UFC fighting the best heavyweights in the world? Yes. Will he? Who knows. Dana’s ego doesn’t always play nice, perhaps its time for Lorenzo to step in for those negotiations.

Tarec Saffiedine

The upset of the night was the main event as Tarec Saffiedine battered Nate Marquardt to become the first Belgian MMA champion in a distinguished promotion. Saffiedine used his superior technique and speed to out strike the UFC veteran, and cruised to a unanimous decision after 5 rounds. Marquardt will need plenty of ice and some bed rest for a few days, as his lead leg looked like something out of a horror movie by the end of the night. Does Saffiedine get an immediate title shot at the winner of GSP and Diaz? Perhaps. He is a dangerous match up for both fighters, and after he’s last performance he looks ready. Where does Nate the Great go? To the UFC no doubt. He hit a road block and will be back for sure. He is still a powerful beast at welterweight and will a tough matchup for anyone in the UFCs top 10.

Gegard Mousasi

After taking a year off, Mousasi didn’t miss a beat and was able to dispatch Mike Kyle with ease. Once the fight was on the ground, in typical Mike Kyle fashion he was a fish out of water, and Gegard was able to sink in the choke. It perplexes me as to why Mike Kyle cant develop a ground game, while training at one of the best camps in the world. Such an athlete, such a natural fighter, and now retired. I guess its for the best. Mousasi, will enter the UFC with a lot of momentum, and with his skill set could contend for the title with a only one or two wins. The Jon Jones riddle may be his to figure out, and his striking could see jones take someone to the mats for the first time in a while.

Ronaldo Souza

Jacare was way to much for Ed Herman in the opening bout on Showtime. Hermans herky-jerky stand up didn’t offer much for Souza as he took the wrestler down early and was able to impose his will on the ultimate fighter alumni. Ronaldo is an amazing athlete with an amazing skill set that will see him steam roll many of the UFCs top middleweights. The problem arises when you get to the top of the division, where the greatest fighter in the world resides. Anderson Silva is a fellow country man, friend and training partner. It has already been stated that the two will not fight. Its good for Anderson in a way. Souza would be a very dangerous opponent. Not to say Anderson couldn’t dazzle and defeat Jacare, but there are few challengers at middleweight who can actually contend with Anderson.

Strikeforce is dead, and Zuffa can add another name to there tombstone of defunct promotions. Is it good for MMA? Is it bad for MMA? Yes and No. Its bad that the Strikeforce product is no more. It was a high quality product with world class fighters putting on world class fights. But Strikeforces achilles heel has always been its lock of depth in any division and having a hard time match making for titles and such. With the merger there will be some great match ups in the UFC and each division is going to get a few fighters that could be UFC champions down the road. Stay tuned as I think I might have to write a blog about that.

Rob “the blog” Keller

Kimurawear.com

It’s still early in the year, but we’ve got some serious things to talk about and yet more on the horizon. First I’m going to offer my take on the predicted ‘ugly’ battle between Bellator and the UFC for Eddie Alvarez’ signature, then some thoughts on, and the results of Saturday’s Strikeforce finale. After that, ill clue you in to what we’ve got coming later in the week. Lets go.

Should I Stay Or Should I Go – The Eddie Alvarez Story

Without being privy to the specific contract details, it appears to me that the grey area in the Alvarez’ contract situation stems from the very different business models ran by Bellator and the UFC.

Several years ago, Alvarez entered into a long term deal with Bellator and became a mainstay of that promotion, even being offered main event opportunities and not being compelled to re-enter their trademark tournaments following his title loss to Michale Chandler.

In that contract was a provision that once Alvarez’ deal had expired, Bellator had to right to match any contract offered to him by a competitor and if they did so, Alvarez would be obliged to remain with Bellator. Sounds fair, doesn’t it?

Predictably, the UFC made an offer for Alvarez, who remains one of the few top ranking Lightweights outside of their grasp. Bellator then say that they have EQUALLED that offer and as such, Alvarez remaining with them should be a legal formality.

Eddie disagrees, despite Bjorn Rebney saying they basically copied the UFC deal.

It’s my belief that two verifiable things and a few unverifiable things have caused this.

Firstly, the UFC contract likely includes a cut of pay per view revenue should Alvarez compete in the top matches of such a card (which he would if the rumoured condition that he receive an immediate title shot is included) and that is something that Bellator, as a solely televised (hence not on PPV) promotion cannot match.

They can say they’ll give Eddie a cut of any PPV revenue, but unless their business model warps overnight – and I can’t imagine SPIKE TV would be too happy about them holding back big matches for PPV at this stage – everyone knows there simply won’t BE any Bellator PPVs in the near future. Advantage UFC.

Secondly, no matter how far Bellator have come or how much difference their expanded viewer base on SPIKE TV makes, they simply do not have a quarter of the brand recognition that the UFC have. UFC athletes have mainstream sponsorship deals with the likes of Nike, Under Armour, Microsoft etc. and have MMA lifestyle brands competing to have their athletes as part of their ‘signature’ stable.

I look at my favourite MMA retailers and I don’t see any Bellator fighters on posters pushing supplements or with their own range of Affliction t-shirts.
Thus, Bellator can offer the same nickel and dime deal per match that the UFC do, but can at this time simply not match the extra curricular endorsement and sponsorship opportunities offered by being in the UFC. 2-0 UFC.

The final intangible factors include the UFC’s habit of making undisclosed locker room bonuses for fun fights and guys stepping up (especially pertinent given that Alvarez is seemingly allergic to dull fights), their relatively comprehensive fighter health insurance and the factor that’s the pink elephant in the room – Eddie wants to fight in the UFC because IT’S THE UFC, he wants to face the best, he wants to challenge for the most prestigious belt in the business and Bellator can’t match that.

The bottom line is that Bellator can’t match the UFC for profile, for business model and for sheer earning power thanks to their stage of development, business model and reach. Their attempt to say they’ve matched the UFC term for term is a power play designed to announce their arrival at the top table – coinciding neatly with their debut on SPIKE.

Of course, a contract law legal expert might read the situation differently and Eddie may well have to return to Bellator, which would be a signal coup for the promotion, ‘proving’ in a court of law that they are now boxing on the same level as the UFC.

I still expect to see Alvarez in the Octagon before the end of the year though.

Strikeforce: Marquardt vs. Saffiedine
Sat, 12 Jan 2013
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

So we have a wrap on the seven year run of Strikeforce and in truth, it was a fun card. Despite being plagued with injuries and loaded with seemingly one sided matches, the card didn’t lack entertainment or surprises.

The top story has to be the cool performance of Tarec Saffiedine in leg kicking his way to a clear cut decision victory over Nate Marquardt to become the last ever Strikeforce champion. With Marquardt already apparently assured of a UFC spot, you have to expect that Saffiedine has earned himself a contract.

He’ll, have you ever seen someone leave Nate “the Great” needing crutches to get around and looking like THIS the day after?

Exactly, and I’d love to see Saffiedine face someone like Martin Kampmann or Thiago Alves in the UFC this summer.

Our Grand Prix winner Daniel Cormier barely left second gear as he disposed of 20-1 outsider Dion Staring via second round TKO. After the match, Cormier extended a challenge to his originally scheduled opponent Frank Mir and his intention to drop to 205 lbs and challenge champion Jon Jones at the end of the year. Sounds good to me.

Similarly, finalist Josh Barnett made even faster work of his jobber… sorry, less illustrious opponent and while he was his usual verbose self after the match, it’s evident that he’s not been given any assurances about a move to the UFC and he wasn’t about to beg for the chance. Despite his past misdemeanours, I’d love to see Barnett in the Octagon and can’t get the prospect of a TUF season coached by him and Frank Mir out of my head. That would be GREAT.

The two matches opening the main broadcast were supposed to be some of the most competitive on the card, but instead we had Gegard Mousasi and Ronaldo Souza running roughshod over veterans Mike Kyle and Ed Herman to secure first round submissions.

Sure those were the expected results, but few of us expected them to be so dominant. Those two guys have a very bright future on the big show, I guarantee it.

In the prelims we had a bundle of apparent mismatches that resulted in the usual suspects Tim Kennedy, Pat Healy and Roger Gracie picking up wins and probably rubber stamping their moves to the UFC.

The last big story of the night was Ryan Couture’s mildly controversial split decision victory over KJ Noons to claim the biggest scalp of his young career. I didn’t see the match myself so I can’t comment on the controversy, but in any case I think we’ll definitely see Couture and probably see Noons lace up in the UFC before long.

So the curtain falls on Strikeforce with an event that felt a little bit like a wake or a formality, but did everyone involved in the promotion proud and ended with a compelling underdog story, well worthy of the little kickboxing organisation from San Jose that could.

Results

MAIN (Showtime, 10 p.m. ET)
• Tarec Saffiedine def. Nate Marquardt via unanimous decision (48-47, 49-46, 49-46) – becomes new welterweight champ
• Daniel Cormier def. Dion Staring via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 4:02
• Josh Barnett def. Nandor Guelmino via submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 1, 2:11
• Gegard Mousasi def. Mike Kyle via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 4:09
• Ronaldo Souza def. Ed Herman via submission (kimura) – Round 1, 3:10

PRELIMINARY (Showtime Extreme, 8 p.m. ET)
• Ryan Couture def. KJ Noons via split decision (29-28, 27-30, 29-28)
• Tim Kennedy def. Trevor Smith via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 3, 1:36
• Pat Healy def. Kurt Holobaugh via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
• Roger Gracie def. Anthony Smith via submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 2, 3:16

PRELIMINARY (Untelevised, 7 p.m. ET)
• Adriano Martins def. Jorge Gurgel via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Estevan Payan def. Michael Bravo via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 4:01

Incoming

Well, we have incoming previews for this weeks stacked UFC and Bellator cards as well as articles on Weight Cutting, Fantasy Booking and the beginnings of a series looking to pose as a Beginner’s Guide to MMA as well as anything else that seems worth talking about. I hope you’ll come back and check some of it out.

Slainte,
Chris Napier

-I haven’t really given Tarec Saffiedine the respect he deserves, and it’s about time I give him that respect. There’s something to be said for a fighter who is skilled in all areas of MMA, and is an active enough striker to out-point any opponent he’s matched up with. Saffiedine is tough defensively everywhere – he’s hard to hit cleanly, and hard to take down. He’s still not as much of a finisher as I would like, but he’ll prove a tough opponent for most welterweights in the UFC.

-I did allow for the possibility that Saffiedine would out-point Nate Marquardt if Marquardt fought at a slower pace. That’s exactly what happened – the first two rounds featured a lot of staring from Marquardt, and not a lot of action. By the time Marquardt picked up the pace, he was tired and hurt, and Saffiedine just kept pouring it on with those chopping leg kicks. To be sure, a lot of this is a credit to Saffiedine’s kickboxing ability, but Marquardt did himself no favors. Marquardt is on the decline, and I don’t expect him to be a title contender at 170 pounds in the UFC.

-Daniel Cormier fought an extremely safe fight against Dion Staring, to the point that I would say he was “fighting not to lose,” instead of fighting to win. He would generally wait for Staring to engage with strikes, and immediately clinch. When Cormier opened up, and engaged with offense, Staring couldn’t stop anything he did. I’ll say a couple things about Cormier: one, this was only his 11th professional MMA fight. There is still some potential for growth in his game. And of the heavyweights brought in to lose, Staring is easily less bad than Nandor Guelmino. Still, elite fighters typically put over-matched opponents away in the first round. I’d love to side with Cormier in a potential fight with Jon Jones, but I can’t say Cormier is ready for that fight yet.

-The only thing surprising about Josh Barnett’s fight against Nandor Guelmino was that Barnett needed two takedowns to finish instead of one. While I can see Dion Staring succeeding at a low level in the UFC heavyweight division (against the Oli Thompsons of the world), I don’t see that in Guelmino.

-We all know that Dana White can be vindictive, but it would be awfully stupid of him not to offer Barnett a reasonable contract to fight in the UFC. The UFC badly needs talented heavyweights, and Barnett would give them one. Yes, Barnett has baggage with three positive drug tests. Yes, it’s painful to listen to Barnett on the microphone when he wins. But top ten heavyweights don’t grow on trees…

-Speaking of talented fighters, there are few in the world who are more talented than Gegard Mousasi. I remain convinced that if Mousasi decided to stand and trade with Mike Kyle, that Mousasi would have proven to be the much better striker. Instead, as I predicted, Mousasi passed on the striking match altogether, and instead took Kyle down, passed his guard, and submitted him. Mousasi should easily be a top ten light-heavyweight in the UFC, and possibly top five.

-Let’s not get too hyped up about Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza yet. I know we want to, and Souza’s looked fantastic in his last couple fights, but keep in mind that this is the same fighter who lost to Luke Rockhold, and perhaps should have lost to Tim Kennedy. It’s good that Souza looked impressive in wins over Bristol Marunde, Derek Brunson, and now Ed Herman, but Souza has yet to prove that he can beat a top 15 opponent in the middleweight division.

-I respect Ed Herman for being the one UFC fighter to move over and fight in Strikeforce, but he put himself in a no-win situation by doing so (and that’s why we saw Cormier and Barnett fighting obscure opponents). Herman’s stock rose higher than it should have been with wins over Tim Credeur, Kyle Noke and Clifford Starks. Really, Herman is a “C” middleweight, a fighter who is good enough to beat opponents on prelims, but not good enough to take out ranked opponents and main card guys.

-Ryan Couture had a good chance to upset K.J. Noons, but to do so, he needed to avoid the striking game. By deciding to stand at distance with Noons, Couture played to his opponent’s strengths instead of his own. I have no doubt the UFC will push Couture, as he’s a natural fan favorite waiting to happen, but… wait, what? The judges gave that fight to Couture?? Oh…

-I was not blown away by Tim Kennedy’s performance against Trevor Smith. Smith was noticeably bigger than Kennedy, and proved tough to hold down, but an aspiring contender should be able to take him out without too much difficulty. Kennedy won by submission, but only after an ugly first two rounds. Kennedy is going to struggle in the UFC, and I think dropping to welterweight would be a very good idea for him.

-It’s not hard to figure out why Pat Healy keeps getting buried on prelim fights against lower-level opponents like Kurt Holobaugh: as good as Healy is, his fights simply aren’t that exciting to watch. Healy is now 9-1 in his last ten fights, against a series of underrated opponents, like Mizuto Hirota, Caros Fodor, and Maximo Blanco. The result is that Healy is going to be ranked in the top ten at lightweight, when I produce my ELO rankings on this blog. Not helping matters is that Healy rarely dominates a fight, more often barely skating by. His luck will run out eventually.

-While Ronaldo Souza is a mixed martial artist with world-class Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Roger Gracie is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu master fighting in mixed martial arts. Gracie doesn’t have much in the way of striking or wrestling, and he clearly lost the first round of his fight against Anthony Smith before finally landing a takedown in the second round. Against opponents like Smith and a shot Keith Jardine, Gracie can win, but the moment he faces a UFC fighter with striking, takedown defense, and discipline, he’s done.

Tarec Saffiedine def. Nate Marquardt: I was high on Saffiedine prior to this fight, and even though I thought Marquardt was a bad match-up for him, he showed everyone why he’s a high caliber fighter. He used leg kicks to slow down Marquardt and never let him get off. It was actually a little surprising that Marquardt, a longtime veteran of the sport, couldn’t check a single leg kick. As talented as Marquardt is, it’s time to give up on him in big fights. How many times does the guy have to let us down before we realize that he’s not mentally strong? Losing to Anderson Silva, and even Chael Sonnen, is one thing, but Yushin Okami and Saffiedine were good match ups for him and he failed. Not only thing but he’s a caught cheater, which is a sign of mental weakness. If he goes to the UFC, he’ll have success against some guys and probably look good in the process, but when something important is on the line, bet on him to shit the bed. As for Saffiedine, his stock definitely went up, but I don’t know how he’d fare against some of the better welterweights in the UFC, especially those with elite wrestling. Working in his favor is that fact that he pushes a good pace and is very though to finish, meaning he’d be a tough out in a five round fight, but in a 15-minute bout, he could drop the first two rounds and need a finish in the third, which could be tough considering the fact that he’s not much of a finisher and the top guys at 170 are hard to put away. I still look forward to seeing him compete at a higher level though and think he’ll continue to surprise people.

Daniel Cormier def. Dion Staring: Cormier fought like he just wanted to get in some cage time and not get hurt. So in that sense, mission accomplished. He didn’t look overly impressive, but after the fight he announced that he’ll be fighting Frank Mir in April, so I can understand him taking it easy in order to avoid injury. In hindsight, Staring should be ashamed of his performance as he played right into Cormier’s hands by clinching up, allowing himself to be easily put on his back, where he had no clue how to defend. Cormier had his way with Staring, which was to be expected, although people seem down on him after this performance. Of course a domination of Mir can quickly change those opinions. After Mir, Cormier wants to fight Jon Jones, which would be a nice fight if Cormier can make 205, which is still a big question. How a win over Mir earns you a title shot at light heavyweight is beyond me, but I guess that makes more sense than losing a fight at middleweight and getting a title shot.

Josh Barnett def. Nandor Guelmino: Barnett wasted no time in this fight. He got Guelmino down, went for a leg lock, and when that failed, just decided to mount and easily choke out Guelmino, who had no clue how to defend an arm triangle. Barnett was apparently really sick during training camp but that doesn’t really matter when you’re fighting a bottom of the barrel heavyweight who looked like he belonged at light heavyweight. Barnett did his pro wrestling shtick after the fight and didn’t really answer the question about whether or not he’ll be headed to the UFC. My guess is that he’ll end up in Bellator where he can continue to crush cans but also wrestle for TNA, where he’ll probably be pretty effective since he’s a solid pro wrestler.

Gegard Mousasi def. Mike Kyle: Mousasi started slow and then he remembered that he’s a top 10 fighter and Kyle sucks on the ground. So he took him down, easily passed to mount, and beat the hell out of Kyle before submitting him three different times with a rear naked choke. Mousasi can hang with a lot of guys at 205 and I look forward to seeing him in the UFC. His wrestling defense may cause him trouble, but, to his credit, he does a lot of damage from the bottom position and has a good ground game. Plus, according to him, he’s finally taking MMA seriously so I assume that he’ll be working more on his takedown defense in the future.

Ronaldo Souza def. Ed Herman: Souza is legit. Not that beating Herman is much of an accomplishment, but he made it look easy, which is what you want out of a guy like Souza against inferior competition. He out-struck him on the feet, showed some good clinch work, and made short work of him on the ground. The most impressive thing about Souza were his takedowns. He took Herman, a competent wrestler, down with ease twice. The second takedown was a thing of beauty as he landed right into side control, which led to the fight ending kimura. I can’t wait to see Souza in the UFC because he has the skills to hang with anyone, is very athletic, and is constantly improving. It wouldn’t shock me if Souza is in a #1 contenders fight for the UFC title by the end of the year. The middleweight division is rather shallow and Souza matches up well against any fighter.

Main Card

• Tarec Saffiedine def. Nate Marquardt via Unanimous Decision 
• Daniel Cormier def. Dion Staring via TKO (Punches) – Round 2, 4:02
• Josh Barnett def. Nandor Guelmino via Arm-Triangle Choke – Round 1, 2:11
• Gegard Mousasi def. Mike Kyle via Rear Naked Choke – Round 1, 4:09
• Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza def. Ed Herman via Kimura – Round 1, 3:10

Preliminary Card

• Ryan Couture def. KJ Noons via Split Decision
• Tim Kennedy def. Trevor Smith via Guillotine Coke – Round 3, 1:36
• Pat Healy def. Kurt Holobaugh via Unanimous Decision
• Roger Gracie def. Anthony Smith via Arm-Triangle Choke – Round 2, 3:16
• Adriano Martins def. Jorge Gurgel via Unanimous Decision
• Estevan Payan def. Michael Bravo via TKO (Strikes) – Round 2, 4:01

http://www.themmanews.com

Sorry all, I was away on vacation but I made it back in time for Strikeforce’s last hoo-ray card. It’s probably one of the most lopsided cards. But, it just means expect finishes like usual! I’m not going to break this one down but point out that most of these guys are and are not fighting for a UFC contract. I have my eyes on a few fighters such as KJ Noons, Anthony Smith, Pat Healy, and Jorge Gurgel who will likely need a stand out performance to get the UFC brass to give them a call. I really expect all the main event favorites to role, with the exception of Gegard Mousasi, and Nate Marquardt. Mousasi hasn’t fought in awhile, and Mike Kyle packs a punch. I think the threat of his hands gives him a shot, hell he dropped Antonio Silva at heavyweight, but couldn’t finish the job. I think Mousasi wins but, it might be a closer fight than imagined especially with the stakes of a UFC contract possibly on the line. As for Marquardt, he should win as well but Tarec Saffiedine is a tough kid, and won’t go away easily. I just don’t think he ready for someone like Marquardt that is dangerous in every scenario, but we will see. Daniel Cormier, and Josh Barnett should roll early in the first round, and Ronaldo Souza should take Ed Herman pretty easily as well. Granted Herman is a UFC veteran, Souza is just better in everything that Herman is. Anyways, I expect fireworks!

The company has endured some well documented troubles that has resulted in much of its roster defecting to the UFC.

It should be remembered however that Strikeforce, under the direction of Scott Coker, has provided many pivotal moments in MMA and was one of the first to champion women’s MMA.

It resulted in one of the greatest MMA fights of all time in Gina Carano and Christine “Cyborg”Santos, a match still talked about today.

Fighters like Ronda Rousey, Miesha Tate, Sarah Kaufman, Jake Shields and others made their stay in Strikeforce memorable ones.

Some Strikeforce moments?

Fedor Emelianenko and Dan Henderson battling to a thrilling finish in the summer of 2011 that resulted in Hendo finishing the The Last Emperor.

Jake Shields and Henderson battling on CBS prime-time TV at Strikeforce: Nashville and the riot that ensued afterwards between Shields and Jason Miller – live.

IT should prove to be an interesting night of fights, particuarly for Strikeforce welterweight champion Nate Marquardt.

Welcome back to The Crossfire.

MMA Crossfire – The hard-hitting blog that features expert MMA commentary.

MMA Crossfire Expert Cassie Wiseman checks in with her picks on the main event matchips:

Cassie is a mixed martial artist with over five years of study. Training primarily in South Korea, she has black belts in Taekwondo, Hapkido, and Muay Thai kickboxing. A proud Canadian from Roberts Arm, Newfoundland, she files for The Crossfire having recently returned from South Korea. She also blogs for Postmedia Networks’ Womens Fight Club website.. Image courtesy Steve Bartlett

STRIKEFORCE: MARQUARDT VS SAFFIEDINE

Ed “Short Fuse” Herman (20-7-0, 1 NC) vs. Ronaldo ”Jacare” Souza (16-3-1)

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – JANUARY 11: (L-R) Opponents Ronaldo ”Jacare” Souza and Ed Herman face off during the Strikeforce weigh-in event on January 11, 2013 at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. (Photo by Esther Lin/Forza LLC/Forza LLC via Getty Images)

Wiseman:  Nice timing for Herman’s debut to Strikeforce. I’m kidding, of course. He will be going against an opponent who will be looking to continue his strong run at middleweight. Both Herman and Souza have black belts in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ), but it will be Souza who has the advantage on the ground. Herman will want to use his good technical power striking to try for an advantage, but he will have a tough time dealing with Souza’s speed and defense. In addition to the superior skill level of Souza, he also has the experience advantage, having fought some of the toughest fighters in the world. The most probable way for Souza to win is by submission since Herman has 5 out of 8 career losses there, but even if it goes to the judges this fight will be an easy win for Souza.

Wiseman Prediction: Ronaldo ”Jacare” Souza via submission.

Gegard Mousasi (32-3-2) vs. Mike “Mak” Kyle (19-8-1, 1 NC)

Wiseman: Kyle is a power puncher with a lot of heart, but Mousasi has the striking advantage with almost the same amount of power and a better chin. While Kyle is typically overpowers his opponents, that won’t be the case against Mousasi regardless of where the fight takes place. Kyle’s game plan will be to keep things standing since he feels more comfortable there. However, just like how Kyle is aware of Mousasi’s quick submission attempts, Mousasi is aware of Kyle’s discomfort on the ground. Mousasi will be able to catch Kyle with a punch or a knee and finish him off with either strikes or a submission.

Wiseman Prediction:  Gegard Mousasi via TKO.

“The War Master” Josh Barnett (31-6) vs. Nandor ”Hun” Guelmino (11-3-1)

Wiseman: For those who don’t know Guelmino, he’s currently on a seven fight win streak, but Barnett is one of the most experienced heavyweights in the world of MMA on the feet and on the ground. Barnett has fought experienced opponents in both the striking and ground game. Where Barnett has lost it has been to Pedro Rizzo, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Daniel Cormier and Cro Cop, some fights of which he was able to avenge in rematches. Guelmino will give Barnett a challenge since he is good on his feet and on the ground, but Barnett is much tougher and he will be able to stay out of submissions for an easy decision victory.

Wiseman Prediction: “The War Master” Josh Barnett.

Daniel “DC” Cormier (10-0-0) vs. Dion “Soldier” Staring (28-7-0)

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – JANUARY 11: (L-R) Opponents Daniel Cormier and Dion Staring face off during the Strikeforce weigh-in event on January 11, 2013 at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. (Photo by Esther Lin/Forza LLC/Forza LLC via Getty Images)

Wiseman: Simply put, Staring is a formidable fighter who poses a threat on his feet, but also has shown a great submission game in his past six fights. Cormier is one of the most predictable fighters in MMA: Push forward with strikes, score a takedown then unload with nasty ground-and-pound. At the start of the fight Staring will be trying to circle Cormier and avoid a takedown. The problem with that plan is that his takedown defense isn’t close to the level needed to stop Cormier.

Wiseman Prediction: Daniel “DC” Cormier via TKO.

MAIN EVENT:

Nate “The Great” Marquardt (35-10-2) vs. Tarec ”Sponge” Saffiedine (13-3-0)

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – JANUARY 11: (L-R) Opponents Nate Marquardt and Tarec Saffiedine face off during the Strikeforce weigh-in event on January 11, 2013 at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. (Photo by Esther Lin/Forza LLC/Forza LLC via Getty Images)

Wiseman: It’s no secret that Marquardt wants back in the UFC, especially after the show he put on against Tyron Woodley. Saffiedine also fought Woodley back in 2011 but lost via unanimous decision. The positives about Saffiedine is that he has great punches, kicks, takedown defense, grappling and submissions but so does Marquardt with the additional power. Marquardt will have an advantage wherever the fight goes, but he’ll still have to be careful fighting against a fighter who has never been finished and has good cardio.

Wiseman Prediction: Nate “The Great” Marquardt via decision.

MMA CROSSFIRE RELATED LINKS:

MA Crossfire – Top-10 fights of 2012

MMA Crossfire – Top-5 conversations of 2012

MMA Crossfire – Noel Clubb’s 2012 boxing year-in review

MMA Crossfire Conversations

kandrews@postmedia.com

Kenai Andrews on Twitter

cwmmacrossfire@gmail.com

Cassie Wiseman on Twitter

Contact Noel Clubb

These are my top ten picks for the Strikeforce fighters who should be picked up by the UFC and possess the skills and marketability to thrive in the worlds most visible promotion.

10 – Alexis Davis (13-5) – Bantamweight

While never yet really touted as a potential challenger to Ronda Rousey, Alexis Davis is in my eyes one of the most complete and compelling fighters in the WMMA 135lb division. She’s currently sitting on a 5-1 run including wins over some of the biggest names in WMMA including Shayna Baszler, Amanda Nunes and Julie Kedzie. Her only blip over that time is a majority decision loss to top ranked Sarah Kaufman which is nothing to be ashamed of.

Given that she’s never yet faced (and thus, not lost to) Rousey, I think Davis has to be on the UFC’s short list of girls to bring in. I’m also pretty convinced that Davis’ likeable and soft spoken Canadian character makes a compelling promotional dissonance with Rousey’s status as the unofficial Diaz sister.

Oh, she’s also never been submitted in the cage. Just saying.

9 – Tyron Woodley (10-1) – Welterweight

The man with the least imaginative nickname in MMA, ‘T-Wood’ has already secured his passage to the UFC as he is set to face veteran Jay Hieron at UFC 156.

How Woodley will succeed in the UFC remains to be seen, but he possesses one of the key skills to thrive in the 170lb division – the ability to grind out an insanely dull decision against almost anyone. Of course, that’s no rare thing in the UFC 170lb ranks and well see exactly how good Woodley is against fellow grinder Hieron.

8 – Josh “the Punk” Thomson (19-5) – Lightweight

Thomson may only have a record of 1-2 in his last three, but given that one loss was to Tatsuya Kawajiri IN JAPAN and the other was a split decision loss (which I think he won) against Gilbert Melendez, it’s not as if he’s dropping bad losses to cans.

Long one of the most charismatic and compelling submission artists at 155lbs, Thomson also bears the accolade of being the last person to officially defeat Melendez as well as wins over the likes of Pat Healy, Gesias Cavalcante and Duane Ludwig.

It may be that Thomson needs to look at cutting to Featherweight (if that’s possible) to secure a UFC contract but I really think “the Punk” deserves a chance.

7 – Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza (16-3) – Middleweight

One of the slickest BJJ artists in MMA, ‘Jacare’ was the man to pick up the baton of SF Middleweight champion following Jake Shields move to the UFC. Despite losing that strap to Luke Rockhold he has rebounded with two stoppage wins to add to his career tally, including victories over Alexander Shlemenko, Tim Kennedy, Jason Miller and Robbie Lawler.

In fact, given that Rousimar Palhares has gone and earned himself a drugs suspension there is a slot opened up in the UFC 185lb division for a submission happy Brazilian that Souza could step right into.

6 – Nate Marquardt (32-10-2) – Welterweight Champion

Nate “the Great” has been there before. He’s challenged for the UFC belt, headlined pay per views and even been King of Pancrase. He’s also felt the sharp end of Dana White’s tongue following his TRT mishap that saw him drop out of a UFC main event the day before the fight.

Marquardt has already been assured of a UFC contract by White, all sins apparently forgiven since his renaissance at Welterweight and it will be very interesting to see if Nate can mount a title challenge as EASILY one of the biggest 170lbers out there.

5 – Miesha Tate (13-3) – Bantamweight

“Cupcake” may already have felt the pain of a Ronda Rousey armbar but she remains one of the most well rounded, charismatic and marketable talents in the division.

The fact that she lasted longer against Rousey than all her professional opponents to date, combined with her willingness to speak her mind and the fact she hails from one of the UFC’s favoured camps (Team Alpha Male) make her an ideal gatekeeper for Rousey and with another win or two, by no means out of the running for a rematch.

4 – Gegard Mousasi (32-3-2) – Light Heavyweight

A 37 fight veteran at only 27 years old Mousasi has won most of his fights via stoppage and held gold over two weight classes in three promotions (Strikeforce Light Heavyweight, DREAM Middleweight & Light Heavyweight and Cage Warriors Middleweight) which makes him easily one of the most compelling targets for a UFC Light Heavyweight division which is in the midst of a generational shift.

He’s also 19-1-1 since 2006, beating Jacare Souza, Mark Hunt and Hector Lombard along the way. Bottom line, “the Dreamcatcher” is a top line talent and I can’t wait to see him tangling with the likes of Alexander Gustafsson and Jon Jones.

3 – Daniel Cormier (10-0) – Heavyweight Grand Prix Winner

Until 2011, DC was one of the hottest prospects in MMA but wins over Devin Cole and Jeff Monson led to him becoming Alistair Overeem’s replacement in the Heavyweight Grand Prix and Cormier followed up with victories over Antonio Silva and Josh Barnett to win the Grand Prix and announce his arrival at the top of the heavyweight division.

There are only two things I can see stunting Cormier’s opportunities in the UFC. The first is that his teammate Cain Velasquez has regained the UFC Heavyweight title and the pair aren’t keen to fight. Thus, Cormier has to fight his friend, accept a role as gatekeeper and wait for someone else to dethrone Cain or try a cut to Light Heavyweight.

That cut to LHW is compelling as he fought at that weight during his wrestling career (where he was so highly regarded he captained the US Olympic team in 2008) and has already had a war of words with Light Heavyweight champion Jon Jones.

While it would be very compelling for Jones to face someone he couldn’t out wrestle, didn’t outweigh and also possesses knockout power, it’s worth remembering that when Cormier tried to cut weight for the 2008 Olympics, his kidneys shut down. From the standpoint of being concerned for Cormier’s long term health, do we really want him to try and cut to Light Heavy?

2 – Gilbert Melendez (21-2) – Lightweight Champion

“El Niño” has long been regarded as the top lightweight not contracted to the UFC and must have felt like the spare tool in the box when almost every other Strikeforce champion was transferred to Vegas in 2011.

Riding a seven fight win streak, in which he avenged both of his career losses (to Josh Thomson and Mitsuhiro Ishida), Melendez is pretty much regarded as worthy of an automatic shot at the UFC 155lb belt. I think that he should have a tune up fight in the UFC (it’s not like Jake Shields, Nick Diaz, Dan Henderson, Alistair Overeem or Hector Lombard have been given title shots off the bat after signing) especially considering that his win streak hasn’t exactly come against any top five rated opposition but he’s definitely in the conversation.

1- Luke Rockhold (10-1) – Middleweight Champion

Rockhold may seem a strange choice as my #1 pick, ahead of Cormier and Melendez but I think he’s got the biggest chance of massive success in the UFC, partly because the obstacles in his way are more surmountable. Cormier has to contend with his training partner as the champion and Melendez goes into the deepest division in combat sports.

Of course, Rockhold’s ultimate target is a certain guy called Anderson Silva who is likely to be around for a while yet as he’s just signed a 10 fight deal. That said, I think Rockhold has the skills to earn a shot at the Spider and as good a chance as anyone of unseating him.

A natural and exciting kickboxer, Rockhold actually has more wins by submission than TKO and combines a phobia of decisions with a tendency to speak his mind. He’s already entered into a war of words with Michael Bisping, Lorenz Larkin and the whole of Jackson’s MMA so he should have no problem slipping into the most ‘I’m calling you out, boy’ division in the sport.

While I think Rockhold needs a win or two to be in line for a shot against Silva, I can’t wait to see him face off with Chris Weidman, Hector Lombard and all the other sharks circling for a shot at the Spider.

That’s it for my picks as to which Strikeforce talent could and should make it in the UFC. It’s now time to stop picking over the bones of this promotion and look to the future. One more for the road, and then were done…

-I’m very close to finishing ELO ratings. At this point, it just needs some finishing touches. Expect top 25 rankings to be posted here next week.

-Since the next season of The Ultimate Fighter will be starting soon, I’ve started seriously crunching numbers. My attempts to predict who would do well on the show have been terrible the last couple seasons, and it’s about time I change that. I’m not sure there’s a single data point that would have rated Colton Smith well last season, but I think I can at least do a better job for season 17. We’ll see.

-A longer-term project I’m working on is a new fighter rating system that uses win/loss data for a fighter and his opponents (featuring both ELO ratings and a variant on an early version of SILVA scores), and uses Fight Metric data as well. For this one, I’m not playing around… I want all the data. If it is at all possible to have a GOOD rating system for fighters based on data, this one will be it.

Here are my abbreviated picks for tomorrow’s Strikeforce event. For the last Strikeforce event ever, there is some very good talent from top to bottom on the card. Unfortunately, much of that talent is facing over-matched opponents. As a result, I’m not going to spend too much time breaking these fights down, but I will provide some thoughts on the main card fights.

By the way, I’ve joined the Sherdog fantasy picks contest this year, to put my picks to the test. My screen name there is “dwilliamsmma” if you want to see where I rank on the leaderboard.

-From what I see, the one advantage that Tarec Saffiedine has over Nate Marquardt is that he’s a more active striker. Saffiedine is a fighter who doesn’t have any obvious weaknesses, but also doesn’t have overwhelming talent in any one facet of the MMA game. He’s a pretty good technical striker, but doesn’t have much knockout power behind his strikes. Saffiedine’s takedown game is pretty solid, particularly his takedown defense, but his tendency is to stand and strike. There are a couple problems. One is that Saffiedine has been facing a relatively low level of competition – he looked decent against Roger Bowling, Tyler Stinson, Scott Smith, and Nate Moore, but none of those fighters are anywhere near Nate Marquardt’s level. The other problem is that, against that level of competition, Saffiedine only did fairly well. Only against Scott Smith did Saffiedine turn in a dominating performance, and let’s be honest – Smith is pretty much a punching bag at this point.

There have been fights in which Marquardt looks lethargic. I’ll set Marquardt’s reasons for this aside for now. In Marquardt’s fight against Tyron Woodley, he looked anything but lethargic, eventually stopping Woodley by fourth-round KO. If Marquardt reverts to the slower pace that he showed against fighters like Yushin Okami, that opens the door for Saffiedine to win on points. I don’t think that’s going to happen – I see Marquardt being aggressive, landing the more powerful strikes, and if he doesn’t win by knockout, taking a decision. I’ll go out on a limb a little bit, and say that Marquardt wins by KO in this one.

-Heavyweight squash match #1 features Daniel Cormier, one of this blog’s favorite fighters, taking on an opponent in Dion Staring who at least enters with a 28-7 overall record. Besides the record, there aren’t many good things I can say about Staring, at least in the context of this fight. Staring has won nine of his last ten fights, but the only good fighter he faced in that time was Damian Grabowski, who submitted him. When Staring fought Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, he was out-struck, out-grappled, and just plain out-fought. If Staring struggles against good competition, what is he going to do against an elite heavyweight in Cormier? Cormier is a very smart fighter who knows that Staring’s only realistic chance is to catch him with a strike and knock him out. Look for Cormier to easily take Staring down and win by first-round TKO.

-Heavyweight squash match #2 features Josh Barnett taking on Austrian heavyweight Nandor Guelmino. Unlike Staring, I had never heard of Guelmino before he was announced as Barnett’s opponent. So I decided to do some YouTube scouting, and the first Guelmino fight I watched was this one…

That’s all I needed to see. Guelmino’s opponent, Aljin Ahmic, took him down, mounted him, blasted him with punches, and probably could have submitted him. When Guelmino went for what looked like a desperate guillotine choke, Ahmic tapped out so quickly that it was suspicious. In this fight, look for Barnett to throw Guelmino around the cage, possibly with a suplex, before either choking him or nearly ripping off one of his limbs. Barnett by first-round submission.

-Gegard Mousasi versus Mike Kyle is far from a squash match, but it’s still a fairly lopsided fight. Mousasi is a very talented fighter, with a good submission game to go along with excellent striking. Mousasi is a good enough striker that he has twice competed in kickboxing matches on K-1 Dynamite!! shows, and defeated both Musashi and Kyotaro, both very high level kickboxers. By contrast, Mike Kyle is a slugger whose career has mostly consisted of overwhelming inferior strikers. To Kyle’s credit, he does have a TKO win over Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante on his record, but he’s in over his head here. If Mousasi chooses to strike with Kyle, he should prove to be the much better technical striker, and will probably win by knockout. I think Mousasi will skip the striking game altogether, take Kyle down, and submit him.

-When I saw the betting lines for Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza and Ed Herman, my initial instinct was to think that Herman wasn’t getting enough respect from the betting public – Souza is currently a 4-1 favorite to win. But the more I look into this fight, the more I think the steep line is justified. Herman’s strength as a fighter is his wrestling, and he almost always goes to it. He also has good submission offense, but that’s irrelevant against “Jacare.” What is relevant is that Herman has five losses by submission in his career, and four of them were against fighters who aren’t nearly as good on the ground as Souza is (the other was Demian Maia, who IS as good as Souza on the ground). I would like to think that Herman’s smart enough not to take this fight to the ground, but he didn’t show much urgency to keep his fight against Jake Shields standing. And even if this does become a striking match, Souza could well prove to be better at it. I have to pick Souza to win by submission in this fight.

Here are my picks for the preliminary fights… I’d love to say I’m picking an underdog somewhere, but I’m being a weenie and going with all chalk:

-Pat Healy over Kurt Holobaugh by decision
-Roger Gracie over Anthony Smith by submission
-Tim Kennedy over Trevor Smith by decision
-K.J. Noons over Ryan Couture by decision
-Adriano Martins over Jorge Gurgel by decision (please Jorge… for once in your life, take the fight to the ground)
-Estevan Payan over Michael Bravo by decision

As always, thanks for reading, and enjoy the fights.

Nate Marquardt vs. Tarec Saffiedine: I like Saffiedine and think he’s better than a lot of people give him credit for, but this is a bad match up for him. Marquardt is a well-rounded fighter who can mess a lot of people up when he decides to turn on the aggression. His problem is that he doesn’t turn on the aggression enough. Despite that flaw, he’s still a better fighter than Saffiedine, and unless Saffiedine can keep things at a distance and out-strike Marquardt, I don’t see how he wins this fight. Saffiedine is an underrated wrestler, but his best takedowns come from the clinch, and even if I thought he could put Marquardt down, he doesn’t want to clinch up with Marquardt were he runs the risk of getting beat up with dirty boxing. It’s also possible that Marquardt, an underrated wrestler and strong grappler, decides to turn the tables and put Saffiedine on his back. If Marquardt fights cautious, then he could lose this fight. But given the fact that he has 25-minutes, sooner or later he’ll press the action, overwhelm Saffiedine, and head back to the UFC.

Prediction: Marquardt, TKO, Round 3

Daniel Cormier vs. Dion Staring: All I know about Staring is that he trains with the Blackzilians and gets beat up by Alistair Overeem in practice. Unless he catches Cormier with the perfect punch, which is very possible, especially at heavyweight, he’s screwed in this fight. Cormier is a good striker in his own right and I wouldn’t be shocked if he decides to use this fight to continue to sharpen his striking. Of course if things don’t go well on the feet, Cormier can just revert to his world-class wrestling, put Staring on his back, and beat him up. I figure that’s going to happen anyway, as Staring will throw a leg kick, end up on the ground, and get pounded out rather quickly.

Prediction: Cormier, TKO, Round 1

Josh Barnett vs. Nandor Guelmino: I don’t know anything about Guelmino other than he sounds like a drug that Barnett has probably taken in the past. Barnett should easily win this fight, but because he is who he is, he’ll probably look rather unimpressive in doing so or he’ll take way too long to do so. Sooner or later though, Barnett will lock on some type of submission and then do his pro wrestling act in victory.

Prediction: Barnett, Submission, Round 2

Gegard Mousasi vs. Mike Kyle: Honestly, this is the best fight in the main card, which really says something. I’m not that high on Kyle, but he has improved a lot of recent years and does have KO power. It’s possible that Kyle catches Mousasi with a power punch and ends his night or, more likely, of Kyle is going to win, he’ll need to use whatever wrestling he has to get Mousasi down. Of course, even if he does that, he still runs the risk of getting beat up or submitted as Mousasi is very active off his back with his striking and submissions. If it stays standing, Mousasi should be able to pick Kyle apart. And don’t be shocked of Mousasi gets Kyle down as he has some sick ground and pound. Kyle has a good chance early, but he’ll fade as the fight goes on and that’s when Mousasi will take over.

Prediction: Mousasi, TKO, Round 2

Ronaldo Souza vs. Ed Herman: We all know that the prediction for this fight is Herman by submission. Obligatory Dustin James joke aside, Souza should easily win this fight. Herman’s entire game is getting inside and clinching up. That’s not going to work well against Souza, who has very good takedowns from the clinch and will destroy Herman on the ground with his grappling. It’ll be interesting to see whether or not Souza wants to keep the fight standing in order to showcase his ever improving boxing, but if Herman decides to clinch up, Souza likely won’t mess around too much and he’ll get the fight to ground where he’ll make short work of Herman.

Prediction: Souza, Submission, Round 2

For a card which has borne the vainglorious monikers of both ‘Champions’ and ‘Finale’ this last chapter in the long, slow death of Strikeforce personifies all those feelings which have personified Strikeforce over the last few years of its existence. Disappointment, frustration and anticlimax mixed with an appreciation that there is still no lack of talent under this banner.

I’ve dealt with the prolonged demise of the Showtime-airing promotion since its purchase by Zuffa elsewhere and will likewise deal with what the future holds for the various Strikeforce talents in a future article. This is the time and place for dealing with the card that we have in front of us, so lets jump in…

The main event is the sole title match from the three or four originally intended for this card and like most of the remaining Strikeforce belts, the lineage of the strap on the line is questionable at best.

The Welterweight champion, Nate Marquardt (32-10-2) won the belt (vacated by Nick Diaz being moved to the UFC roster) in his debut at 170lbs, handing Tyron Woodley his first ever loss via fourth round stoppage.

So, our main event champion going into this event didn’t beat the previous champion, won the belt in his first bout at that weight division and before that was fired from the UFC for testosterone based issues. Great.

At least Marquardt, as a long time UFC veteran and title contender had some cache for casual fans – not something that can really be said about his challenger.

Tarec Saffiedine (13-3) earned his title shot by amassing a 3-0 run in Strikeforce dating back to a decision loss to Tyron Woodley in January 2011. His career highlights are gaining decision victories over the likes of Scott Smith and Roger Bowling and he’s in this position almost as much by process of elimination as any great achievement on his own part.

I’m not saying Saffiedine is a bad fighter or undeserving, just that he’s not exactly exciting. However, that lack of excitingness and the impressive fact that he’s never been stopped in 16 pro fights might stand him in good stead against Marquardt who tends to suffer against grinders as his losses to Chael Sonnen and Yushin Okami show.

Marquardt has been assured of a return to the UFC and you have to think the only way for Tarec to ensure he gets a look in at the UFC’s stacked 170lb division would be to beat Marquardt. That said, my money is on Nate to show his quality.

The co-headliner sees Daniel Cormier (10-0), the undefeated, Heavyweight Grand Prix winner, former captain of the US Olympic wrestling team, who is coming off wins over Jeff Monson, Antonio Silva and Josh Barnett facing off against a heavyweight on six fight win streak.

That heavyweight opponent is Dion Staring (28-7), a career journeyman who is making his Strikeforce debut in this match.

Looking down Staring’s list of opponents, I recognise virtually none of the guys he’s beaten (apart from Akira Corassani who is a FEATHERWEIGHT) – but I do recognise the names of some of the folks who’ve beaten him, including Rogerio Nogueira, Denis Stojnic and Damian Grabowski. It seems that Staring has lost every time he’s faced elite quality that’s even approaching his own size, and that is reflected in the fact that he opens as a 20-1 outsider to upset Cormier.

Given that Cormier is notionally the Strikeforce Heavyweight champion and had been set to face former two-time UFC champion Frank Mir in November, it’s a tad baffling as to why he now has such an unheralded opponent.

Of course, the whole of Strikeforce’s heavyweight division had already been transferred to the UFC and perhaps with the death of Strikeforce confirmed, perhaps no UFC or potential UFC prospect was willing to take the match against Cormier in the secondary league. For shame…

In any case, I can’t see past Daniel taking this by however he pleases, whenever he pleases.

The other Grand Prix finalist, Josh “Warmaster” Barnett (31-6) is in a similar position, facing a relative unknown in the shape of Nandor “The Hun” Guelmino (11-3-1).

Of course, Barnett is not remotely as assured of his UFC contract after this event as Cormier and Marquardt are. His history with the UFC is contentious as he was stripped of the Heavyweight title following a failed drug test and failed another test years later which effectively sank the Affliction promotion.

However, his record speaks for itself and his clean tests and wins over Brett Rogers and Sergei Kharitonov in Strikeforce have reasserted his top ten credentials following years facing third rate opposition.

Guelmino has a decent record, but losses to the likes of Andreas Kraniotakis are telling and I sincerely doubt if Guelmino has the beating if Barnett in any area. With Josh looking to make a point and tie up that UFC contract, I wouldn’t expect any other result than a Barnett stoppage victory.

A much more competitive bout is likely to break out in the Light Heavyweight contest between Mike Kyle (19-8-1) and Gegard Mousasi (32-3-2).

Kyle has largely lost when fighting heavyweights and enjoys a significant size advantage over sometime Middleweight Mousasi. However, Mousasi is the more rounded, complete mixed martial artist as shown by his high number of submission AND knockout victories.

Indeed Mousasi is 19-1-1 since 2005 and has defeated the likes of Hector Lombard, Jacare de Souza and Mark Hunt over that time.

I have to say, with no disrespect to Mike Kyle that Gegard Mousasi, coming into his 38th pro fight at the age of only 27 is the guy I want to see moving into the UFC on a win as he’s a guy I think could really make some waves. More about that tomorrow.

Rounding off the main card we have former Strikeforce Middleweight champion Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ de Souza (16-3) facing off with UFC veteran Ed Herman (20-8) in what promises to be a compelling battle of submission specialists. While Jacare may be the more slick submission artists, Herman is more well rounded and you can’t ever count out someone with a winning record in thirteen UFC fights.

It’s a testament to Herman’s heart that as a contracted UFC fighter, he agreed to take a fight on Strikeforce when it’s clear that more than a few UFC heavyweights refused the same chance. Hopefully his loyalty to Zuffa will be rewarded, win or lose here.

The undercard has a curious selection of Strikeforce regulars like Pat Healy, Roger Gracie and Tim Kennedy facing off against less prestigious opposition and all should walk away victorious before being given their first UFC assignments.

The most interesting bout on the prelims for me sees former pro boxer and sometime title challenger KJ Noons (11-5) giving Ryan Couture (5-1) his highest profile opponent to date. Noons is rarely in a dull match and Couture is proving to be a promising talent but you have to think that Zuffa would much prefer the son of ‘Captain America’ to cross over to the UFC with a four fight win streak.

This is a bizarre card, full of mismatches and both full and devoid of meaning at the same time. It’s like a wake, or that week at work between being told your department is being moved to India and actually being asked to leave.

As far as I’m aware, there’s no official broadcast to the United Kingdom so it looks like ill be watching the fights on my usual websites on Sunday morning.

I certainly have an intellectual interest to see what happens at Strikeforce’s final event, but unlike most cards by major promotions, I can’t really bring myself to care…

MAIN (Showtime, 10 p.m. ET)
Nate Marquardt vs. Tarec Saffiedine – Strikeforce Welterweight Title
Daniel Cormier vs. Dion Staring
Josh Barnett vs. Nandor Guelmino
Mike Kyle vs. Gegard Mousasi
Ed Herman vs. Ronaldo Souza

PRELIMINARY (Showtime Extreme, 8 p.m. ET)
Pat Healy vs. Kurt Holobaugh
Roger Gracie vs. Anthony Smith
Tim Kennedy vs. Trevor Smith
Ryan Couture vs. KJ Noons

PRELIMINARY (Untelevised, 7 p.m. ET)
Jorge Gurgel vs. Adriano Martins
Michael Bravo vs. Estevan Payan

Despite the upcoming fight with Kyle, Mousasi is already thinking ahead to what he considers an eventual step into the UFC. “UFC is the biggest organization,” Mousasi told Full Contact Fighter. “So everyone’s goal is to be in the UFC. The best thing is for me to go to the UFC as soon as possible. The UFC is the biggest and, if you can make your name there, that is the goal.”

As far as who he’d like to fight…how about former UFC champ Mauricio “Shogun” Rua? “That would be a good fight,” Mousasi said. “That would be an exciting fight. He’s the kind of guy who likes to fight. I like to fight guys like him who come to fight instead of fight to win.”

A fight with Shogun would obviously be inserting Mousasi into the upper echelon of the UFC 205 pound division immediately. And quite frankly, that division needs a makeover—or at the very least some new blood at the top of the class. Mousasi’s record and background indicate he’s that type of fighter. But does his level of competition?

Before his injury, Mousasi had two flaws on his résumé—a loss to King Mo in April 2010, and an inexplicable draw to Keith Jardine a year later. While Mo is certainly no joke, Mousasi can expect to fight much greater competition than Jake O’Brien, Ovince St. Preux and Gary Goodridge to be considered a contender in the UFC.

Gegard Mousasi

• 32-3-2 MMA / 3-1-1 Strikeforce Record
• 2 Fight Win Streak
• Notable Wins: Ronaldo Souza, Renato Sobral, Ovince St Preux

Mike Kyle

• 19-8-1 MMA / 3-3-1 Strikeforce Record
• Won 6 of Last 7 Fights
• Notable Wins: Rafael Cavalcante, Tony Lopez, Marcos Rogerio de Lima

——————————————————————–

Strikeforce: Champions

January 12th, 2013

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Chesapeake Energy Arena

——————————————————————–

Gegard Mousasi returns from a yearlong lay off, carrying a two-fight win streak with him in his final fight under Strikeforce. Last time out, Mousasi earnead a clear-cut unanimous decision over rising star Ovince St Preux at Strikeforce: Melendez vs Masvidal. The former Strikeforce and DREAM champion had another two-fight win streak snapped in April of last year after a highly controversial majority draw decision against Keith Jardine.

Last time out, Mike Kyle suffered a 33-second knockout loss to Rafael ‘Feijao’ Cavalcante, but the result was later overturned by the California State Athletic Commission after Feijao tested positive for a banned substance. Before that, he defeated highly-touted prospect, Marcos Rogerio de Lima by unanimous decision.

MMA Light Heavyweight Division Rankings Top 25 

1. Jon Jones (17-1, 11-1 UFC) *Next Fight: Chael Sonnen #2 at MW

2. Dan Henderson (28-8, 6-2 UFC) *Next Fight: Lyoto Machida #5

3. Alexander Gustafsson (15-1, 7-1 UFC)

4. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua (22-6, 6-4 UFC) 

5. Lyoto Machida (18-3, 10-3 UFC) *Next Fight: Dan Henderson #2

6. Rashad Evans (16-2-1, 11-2-1 UFC) *Next Fight: Antonio Rogerio Nogueira #14 

7. Ryan Bader (14-3, 7-3 UFC) *Next Fight: Vladimir Matyushenko #21

8. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (32-10, 7-4 UFC) *Next Fight: Glover Teixeira #15

9. Gegard Mousasi (32-3-2, 3-1-1 Strikeforce) *Next Fight: Mike Kyle #20

10. Forrest Griffin (19-7, 10-5 UFC)  

11. Rafael Cavalcante (11-3, 4-2 Strikeforce) *Suspended a Year*

12. Phil Davis (10-1, 6-1 UFC)

13. Muhammad Lawal (8-1-1, 0-0 BFC)   

14. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (20-5, 3-2 UFC) *Next Fight: Rashad Evans #5

15. Glover Teixeira (18-2, 2-0 UFC) *Next Fight: Quinton “Rampage” Jackson #8

16. Thiago Silva (14-3, 5-3 UFC) *Suspended*

17. Renato Sobral (37-9, 1-0 One FC) 

18. Matt Hamil (11-4, 10-4 UFC) 

19. Anthony Johnson (14-4, 1-0 WSOF)

20. Mike Kyle (19-9-1, 3-4-1 Strikeforce) *Next Fight: Gegard Mousasi #9

21. Vladimir Matyushenko (26-6, 7-4 UFC) *Next Fight: Ryan Bader #7

22. Ryan Jimmo (17-1, 1-0 UFC) 

23. James Te-Huna (15-5, 4-1 UFC) 

24. Stanislav Nedkov (12-0, 1-0 UFC)

25. Vinny Magalhaes (10-5-1, 1-2 UFC)

*NR = Not Ranked*

*The legend Chuck Liddell (21-8, 16-7 UFC) removed from the list due to Retirement*

*The legend Randy Couture (19-11, 16-8 UFC) removed from the list due to Retirement* 

*The legend Tito Ortiz (16-11-1, 15-11-1 UFC) removed from the list due to Retirement*

TOKYO, Japan (Oct. 25, 2012) – TOKYO, Japan (Sept. 24, 2012) – Glory Sports International (GSI), owner and operator of the Glory World Series, announced today that it will be responsible for presenting ‘DREAM 18 – Special NYE 2012’, a New Year’s Eve MMA mega-event taking place at the Saitama Super Arena on December 31.

“We are very fond of the DREAM brand and the company’s world-class production team. The GSI team is passionate about Japanese MMA and is intent on restoring it to prominence. The DREAM 18 event on New Year’s Eve is a first step towards this goal,” states Pierre Andurand, chairman of Glory Sports International.

“New Year’s Eve is traditionally the high point of the martial arts calendar in Japan,” continues Andurand, “and DREAM has staged superb events at Saitama for the past four years. This year, GLORY will be taking over presentation of the event and you will see a better production than ever before. Fans worldwide can expect a spectacular show.”

New Year’s Eve shows at Saitama Arena have traditionally involved both MMA and kickboxing bouts and that will continue with this year’s event, entitled ‘GSI presents DREAM 18 – Special NYE 2012’. Fedor Emelianenko, Gegard Mousasi, Shinya Aoki and Joachim Hansen are a few of the MMA stars that have featured on previous New Year’s Eve shows and fans can expect a similar level from this year’s event.

A press conference was staged in Tokyo today, during which further details of the event were revealed. Mr Andurand explained that GSI is taking over and presenting the New Year’s Eve show rather than partnering with DREAM and thus the one-off event can essentially be considered part of the GSI portfolio via the company’s Japanese sub-division Glory Sports KK.

Present at today’s conference call were three Japanese fighters confirmed for New Year’s Eve. They are DREAM featherweight champion Hiroyuki Takaya, the ‘Crusher’ Tatsuya Kawajiri and the lightweight contender Satoru Kitaoka. Announcements regarding participating international fighters are expected in the coming weeks.

There will be ten MMA fights and three kickboxing matches. GSI vice-president of business development Bas Boon told the press conference that the tradition of having kickboxers fighting under MMA rules and MMA fighters competing under kickboxing rules would likely continue on this event, although participating fighters were not specified.

A media conference call is also to be held this week and will be announced separately. It will feature GSI Chairman Pierre Andurand and Managing Director Marcus Luer plus participants in the New Year’s Eve event.

New Year’s Eve will be GSI’s second visit to Japan in December.

The first will be December 2 when ‘GLORY 4 TOKYO: Heavyweight Grand Slam’ takes place at the Makuhari Messe, Chiba, Greater Tokyo. The revolutionary 16-man one-night tournament features the world’s top kickboxing heavyweights fighting through a four-stage elimination tournament for a purse of $600,000 and a grand prize of US$400,000.

Among the entrants to the tournament are World No.1 ranked heavyweight Semmy Schilt and the legendary icons Remy Bonjasky, Peter Aerts and Jerome LeBanner. Top contenders Daniel Ghita and Gokhan Saki have confirmed participation and so have knockout artists Sergei Kharitonov and Errol Zimmerman. Other entrants include rising stars such as Filip Verlinden, Anderson ‘Braddock’ Silva, Brice Guidon, Rico Verhoeven and Jamal Ben Saddik.

For more information, visit www.gloryworldseries.com.

About DREAM:

Japan’s premier MMA organisation, DREAM has staged 23 top-class events in the course of its four-year history. Fighters that have stepped into the DREAM ring include Fedor Emelianenko, Gegard Mousasi, Shinya Aoki, Joachim Hansen, Melvin Manhoef, Tatsuya Kawajiri, Eddie Alvarez, Todd Duffee, Gesias Calvancante, Marius Zaromskis.

About GLORY:

The GLORY World Series (www.gloryworldseries.com) is the world’s premier stand-up fighting league, staging events across the globe. It offers up to $1,000,000 in prize money to successful fighters via individual matches and participation in the 16- and 8-man tournaments, which are open to only the very best fighters in each weight class.

With television deals spanning every continent plus a groundbreaking online video streaming system and the world’s largest online martial arts library, GLORY is one of the world’s most widely-broadcast sporting organizations already.

Owned and operated by Glory Sports International (GSI), the organization has offices in Holland, the UK, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. Its personnel include prominent hedge-fund investors, the pioneering sports marketing agency Total Sport Asia and several executives from the Golden Glory and It’s Showtime team.

MMA Light Heavyweight Division Rankings Top 25 

1. Jon Jones (17-1, 11-1 UFC) *Next Fight: Chael Sonnen #2 at MW

2. Dan Henderson (28-8, 6-2 UFC) 

3. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua (22-5, 6-3 UFC) *Next Fight: Alexander Gustafsson #6

4. Lyoto Machida (18-3, 10-3 UFC)

5. Rashad Evans (16-2-1, 11-2-1 UFC)  

6. Alexander Gustafsson (14-1, 6-1 UFC) *Next Fight: “Shogun” Rua #3

7. Ryan Bader (14-3, 7-3 UFC) 

8. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (32-10, 7-4 UFC) 

9. Gegard Mousasi (32-3-2, 3-1-1 Strikeforce)

10. Forrest Griffin (19-7, 10-5 UFC) *Next Fight: Phil Davis #12 

11. Rafael Cavalcante (11-3, 4-2 Strikeforce) *Suspended a Year*

12. Phil Davis (10-1, 6-1 UFC) *Next Fight: Forrest Griffin #10

13. Muhammad Lawal (8-1-1, 0-0 Bellator)   

14. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (20-5, 3-2 UFC) 

15. Glover Teixeira (18-2, 2-0 UFC) 

16. Thiago Silva (14-3, 5-3 UFC) *Next Fight: Stanislav Nedkov #21

17. Renato Sobral (37-9, 1-0 One FC) 

18. Matt Hamil (11-4, 10-4 UFC) 

19. Mike Kyle (19-9-1, 3-4-1 Strikeforce) *Next Fight: Dion Starling #NR

20. Vladimir Matyushenko (26-6, 7-4 UFC) 

21. Stanislav Nedkov (12-0, 1-0 UFC) *Next Fight: Thiago Silva #16

22. Ryan Jimmo (17-1, 1-0 UFC) 

23. Stephan Bonnar (14-8, 8-7 UFC)

24. James Te-Huna (15-5, 4-1 UFC) 

25. Vinny Magalhaes (10-5-1, 1-2 UFC)

*NR = Not Ranked*

*The legend Chuck Liddell (21-8, 16-7 UFC) removed from the list due to Retirement*

*The legend Randy Couture (19-11, 16-8 UFC) removed from the list due to Retirement* 

*The legend Tito Ortiz (16-11-1, 15-11-1 UFC) removed from the list due to Retirement*