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And so it happened…

Strikeforce, a Northern California promotion that began promoting kickboxing, inherited and continued the race where EliteXC collapsed and handed over the torch. The primary thing above all in-depth analysis anyone will share is whether or not the maiden voyage on Showtime Sports was a success or the next MMA Titanic.

So, before I delve into thoughts on the card and the action it provided, allow me to say MMA 2.0 did appear to be a success. Production value was solid, typical of Showtime Sports. The broadcast team most certainly benefitted by adding Pat Miletich to the mix. And, I believe Gus Johnson, who is a great broadcaster, will eventually find his way on the MMA stage, owning the vernacular and sounding less like he is repeating phrases he’s only just heard. Mauro Ranallo is as always, knowledgeable, sharp and occasionally cartoony.

Brett ‘Grim’ Rogers vs. Abongo Humphrey

Brett Rogers would down his time at EliteXC talking a big game. He wanted Kimbo, he wanted top fights with top level fighters and said that he, not Kimbo, had earned such status. So many times in combat sports that kind of talk is left at the altar of commitment, being stood up by any trace of follow-up action. I found it a refreshing change of pace to see Brett Rogers was not one of those big men who lacked follow through. He was leaner, at least as mean and displayed added skills to his offense. The Muay Thai knees and clinches were most certainly new and sure did pay off, as he pummeled a very tough and game Humphrey. It did also appear the dreadlock hair pulling was circumstantial and not a tactic Rogers was attempting to utilize. Brett ‘Grim’ Rogers should remain a difficult and perhaps undefeated heavyweight for a while. This banger is also a solid wrestler so the ground game he appears to avoid he merely likes a lot less. And why not? He packs power in both hands.

Cris "Cyborg" Santos vs. Hitomi Akano

Cris Cyborg did what she does when she fights. She presses forward at a pace that makes any fan wonder how soon she will run out of gas IF the opponent can elude excessive abuse and weather that onslaught early on. So why do we continue to wonder that each time she fights? Because none of her opponents seem to be able to stop the landslide into a loss that Cyborg afflicts them with. And while Akano is a skilled fighter, evidenced by her record and Josh Barnett’s presence in her corner, she did not show any killer instinct or application of a strategy at any point in the fight. Hitomi Akano seemed to just be flailing and falling into clinches with Cyborg, coming forward behind no technical strikes or attack whatsoever. It bore a disappointing similarity to a child on a mission to bust open a piñata. Am I suggesting Akano ‘could not’ beat Cyborg, ever? No. I am suggesting Akano showed us all that she ‘would not’. Gina Carano will not let Cris Cyborg march in throwing reckless barrages of punches and kicks without making her pay dearly for each attempt, landed or not. And if Gina isn’t the next fight we see Cyborg in, Strikeforce would be wise to put someone in front of her who has studied her on tape and is prepared to deal with her aggression instead of being taken out of the fight by it, as if it’s unexpected.

Scott Smith vs. Benji Radach

Smith said these two would steal the spotlight on the fight card. Smith was absolutely right.

Who doesn’t love two heavy-handed strikers who will trade all night long? Smith and Radach both showed heart, toughness and simply took shots and marched through them. It was a resilient ‘Hands of Steel’ Smith who came back from the brink of destruction and then produced the payoff both men could’ve produced, the KO.

Throughout the bout, Smith did not show enough head movement which was maximized by the fluid and diverse boxing skills of Benji Radach. Scott also ate a portion and a half of stiff jabs that Benji happily served up as a result of that still skull factor. A second reason Smith got beat to the punch until he closed the show was due to his walking Radach down, but without the pressure and consistent attack one should employ when moving forward and backing the other man up. This could be because Scott Smith is more of a counter puncher than a shoot first kind of guy. He did display poise and smarts when he held onto an otherwise useless single leg in order to clear the cobwebs that Radach had been making for him all night. I found odd that the broadcast team made no mention of the cautionary fact that the last thing ANY punchers loses, even when being beaten and broken down all fight, is his own punching power. Smith made that fact abundantly clear when he iced Radach at 3:24 of round 3.

Rodrigo Damm vs. Gilbert Melendez

Rodrigo Damm, as we all know, took the fight on a lot less notice than anyone taking on a guy like Melendez would have liked. That is surely commendable. Gilbert Melendez simply outclassed and outworked Damm. The end came at 2:02 of round 2, when Damm found out what happens when you are at the absolute end of a powerful punchers full extension. Gilbert used a beautiful one-two combination to do two very crucial things…win and stay in title contention with an interim title and make us see why a rematch with Josh ‘The Punk’ Thompson would actually be compelling. The first fight with Josh was so one-sided that the immediate rematch felt like a movie sequel that a film studio was trying to convince us that we wanted to see. Melendez shined so brightly last night that his saying he would be so much better in a rematch, gained credibility.

Frank Shamrock vs. Nick Diaz

This fight, while the main event, will take a lot less detail to sum up. Nick Diaz was 100% there and ready to fight. His reach and unorthodox boxing style kept Frank Shamrock from ever finding a rhythm to strike, be it with hands or feet. The range and how Diaz fought tall was simply too much for Shamrock, something that even I was surprised to see. The second round knockout of Shamrock by Diaz was impressive and showed Diaz was still growing as an elite fighter. The thing about Shamrock that was disturbing was that he once again, did not seem to adapt. If you’re stymied by the man in front of you and already taking abuse, why not take something else…a chance. Shoot in or try a new approach to getting to the target instead of staying where it has already proven to be unsuccessful. Frank Shamrock is still great and a super-athlete. It just may be that this brilliant man’s mind has found a more intelligent thing to focus on and that’s business out of the cage. The killer instinct many top fighters have, fades with age, success and other factors of the like. Perhaps Frank Shamrock can be the best but his survival mode no longer kicks in to fuel it. He does, as he says, take on tough fighters and that is usually when a great warrior who no longer goes for blood, starts to mount a string of losses. Roy Jones Jr. continues to win in boxing, but when he rises to top level opponents now, like Joe Calzaghe, he falls short. Frank will need to show a few fights where he wins when we feel he likely will not. Then, he’ll be at the top of his game and class again.

-YACMAN

- MUST: Pronunciation- [muhst] –auxiliary verb

*to be or feel urged to; ought to: I must watch the first Strikeforce MMA event on Showtime.

A few key reasons why any MMA fan would and should watch Strikeforce on Showtime, April 11th, 2009.

I. Bravado – There is no way either man, Frank ‘The Legend’ Shamrock or Nick Diaz, will pull punches, lay and pray or attempt to win on the scorecards. Official judges at this bout will be like life insurance…there if you absolutely need it, but you really don’t want to have to use it. This facet of the match does lend itself to creating some extremely intense stand up exchanges in the cage. And as most are aware, both Shamrock and Diaz can box and they can box well. So, if it does turn into rock’em-sock’em robots in there, who holds the advantage, even if it is only a minor one?

II. Who Throws The Upper Hands – Now, the only way this should be an itemized reason to watch this fight is if it can almost be guaranteed to take place. Well, guess what – It can be. At the very least, Frank Shamrock and Nick Diaz would love to watch the other collapse like wicker chair under Jared “before” he found salvation with Subway sandwiches. The potential to knock each other out is like a perk that comes with the job for these two men. Of course they will look to claim the KO victory if and when they can. And, regardless of who pulls it off, a knock by either man will satisfy the viewers everywhere. One thing that may tell the tale of how a stand up war ‘could’ shape up between these two is the infamous EliteXC Lightweight title match between Nick Diaz and KJ Noons. There was no question that Diaz was the heavy favorite going into the fight. And despite Noons having shown excellent take down defense against Edson Berto he surprised many onlookers as he cranked it up a notch for the more challenging Diaz. The end result was a war of hands, and some kicks, which left Diaz bloodied and seemingly outclassed. If Frank Shamrock can box Nick Diaz’s ears off, showing the precision striking he displayed against the heavy handed New York Bad Ass, Phil Baroni, then he can win this type of war and win it big. The head movement, the jab and combination punching with impressive hand speed will enable Shamrock to negate the height and reach advantage that Nick Diaz has going in. However, should Diaz dominate the stand up battle, Frank Shamrock needs to do what he has said he will do…win and not worry about merely putting on a great show. Frank would need to adapt, use his experience and complete skill set to turn the tables on Diaz, instead of staying in the trenches like he had against Cung Le, just to show he can.

III. Weak Areas – Honestly, I see none. One of the most compelling things about this fight is the fact that you cannot say take so and so to the ground, or make so and so stand and bang, it’s their weak spot. Both Frank and Nick can stand and throw hands; they can both roll on the ground, even if their styles there aren’t quite so similar. This main event fight truly pits one well-rounded fighter against another. One gets the feeling that this type of matchmaking is what will ultimately build Strikeforce as a respected MMA brand with staying power.

IV. Styles: Submission Wrestling vs. Gracie Jiu-Jitsu – Despite the recent fights both Shamrock and Diaz have had in EliteXC, both choosing to box and kickbox their opponents almost entirely, these two MMA bad boys made their names with their ground game. Oftentimes, when two fighters in combat sports who tout similar strengths clash, it becomes an intangible factor or alternate game plan that leads one of them to victory. In this fight a ground battle would be very exciting to see. Nick Diaz’s BJJ is rock solid. And like Jake Shields, it is my belief that if you allow a guy like Nick (or Jake) to continue to work on the ground, they will submit you. You just can’t stay there too long. On the other hand, Frank Shamrock, whose career reaches back to 1994, has 33 total fights with only 9 losses. And, of those 9 losses Shamrock has only been submitted one time (3/10/1995 Loss to Masakatsu Funaki at Pancrase-Eyes Of Beast 2; by Submission). So as talented as Diaz is on the ground, he may find himself attempting to do what only one man has ever done to Frank, throughout his entire career, win by making him tap out.

V. Support – The sport of MMA is like one of those weeds or small tress that seem to be defying some law of nature by growing straight out of concrete roads and sidewalks all over New York City. Mixed Martial Arts became the fastest growing sport in the world and now continues to grow in a suppressed economic climate, sprouting new branches, sustaining life on existing ones and replacing others (EliteXC/IFL) that could not endure. And while the UFC remains the premier MMA promotion, it is not a plus for the fighters and the sport’s overall talent pool if they are the ‘only’ MMA promotion. The athletes in MMA make some money to fight. They make more and often the largest chunk of change from sponsors. Now regardless of the economy, which can only enforce this more, the sponsors only pay decent, if at all, when the fighter they sponsor will be on TV. So if you take away the outlets that EliteXC carved out that Strikeforce has inherited, with Showtime and CBS, you leave only Spike TV and PPV. Those alone are not enough and the net result will be more and more fighters being forced to train alongside of a day job versus fighting full-time. This would have a negative effect on the up and coming talent pool, which feeds the UFC as much as any promotion. Of course some other promotions such as King of the Cage and regional one’s do make it onto the airwaves, but the real stardom as a ticket selling fighter and the maximum exposure for income potential is on mainstream TV.

-YACMAN

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