Strikeforce Overeem Vs. Werdum: Wrap-Up And Quick Results
Added on Jun 19, 2011 by John Petit in
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The Strikeforce Heavyweight Gran Prix took place last night in Dallas, Texas in front of a relatively small crowd. The event featured part 2 of the the first round of the grand prix, and it left people with a lot of questions about the integrity of the tournament as a whole. Below are the results, and the breakdown of the main card.
Main Card
Heavyweight Grand Prix Quarterfinal bout:
Alistair Overeem (256) vs. Fabricio Werdum (246)
In the main event, people were expecting to see the top shelf striking of Overeem, and the BJJ that submitted Fedor from Werdum. Sadly, this isn’t what we got. We saw very little of the “top shelf k-1 striking” from Overeem, and even when Werdum pulled guard he sometimes didn’t even bother to close his legs and trap Overeem in full guard. This allowed Overeem to just stand back up. We saw a lot of Werdum playing possum and pretending to be hurt in order to try to get Overeem to jump in his guard.
The most shocking part of the fight is that Werdum out struck Overeem in the fight, and although Overeem landed the more solid of shots, it was Werdum who landed more consistently. This even prompted some analysts to score the fight for Werdum. I felt it was Overeem who was more aggressive in the fight and deserved the win. I do want to point out that once Werdum figured out he could stand and trade with Overeem, he was clearly winning the round. I think Werdum would fight a much different fight after the third round. Remember, this fight was originally supposed to be 5 rounds.
Overeem defeated Werdum via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Heavyweight Grand Prix Quarterfinal bout:
Josh Barnett (256) vs. Brett Rogers (258)
This fight went how many expected it to go. I was just shocked that Rogers had absolutely nothing standing up with Barnett as he was much to concerned about the take downs. In hind site, he should have just let loose because as it turned out, he couldn’t do anything about the takedowns anyways. When ever Josh clinched with him, it was easy for him to inside trip him and pull him to the ground.
Once on the ground, Barnett moved effortlessly to pass the ground and move into mount when he wanted too. I was hoping Barnett would land some shots from the top position, but he was only really concerned with the submitting Rogers.
Barnett defeated Rogers via submission (arm triangle choke) at 1:17 of round 2
Lightweight bout:
K.J. Noons (156) vs. Jorge Masvidal (155)
Masvidal opened a lot of eyes, and earned a lot of fans last night. He was aggressive from pillar to post, and he was able to really batter KJ through out the fight. Many felt KJ was a safe pick in this fight, but it proved to be false as it seemed like Noons never got comfortable with the timing of Masvidal. Masvidal wasn’t interested in just standing in front of him and trading, and really put pressure on KJ, and he never really let him set anything up. Masvidal landed a huge knee in the second round, and it cut open KJ on the forehead which you could tel was bothering him. Solid fight by Masvidal, and we could see him getting the next shot at Melendez.
Masvidal defeated Noons via unanimous decision (30–27, 30–27, 30–27)
Heavyweight bout:
Daniel Cormier (239) vs. Jeff Monson (234)
Daniel Cormier surprised me the most on Saturday night. Everyone thought this was too big of step for Cormier as Monson has 4 times the experience he has. However, it was Cormier who confused and rattled Monson. For a guy only really fighting for 20 or so months you could tell he fought a perfect fight against Monson. As the fight wore on, the frustration of Jeff Monson was apparent and you could tell he prepared for a different kind of fight than what he got. Cormier’s striking is really what impressed me, as we already know about his wrestling accolades, but it was exponentially better than his last fight.
Cormier defeated Monson via unanimous decision (30–27, 30–27, 30–27)
Heavyweight bout:
Valentijn Overeem (234) vs. Chad Griggs (234)
If I had to pick a fight that wasn’t going to get finished on this card I would have picked this one. Valentijn finds himself living in the shadow of his brother, and I guess people expect him to be as good standing and to have the heart he has. Griggs overwhelmed him early, and before Overeem knew it was going on he was turtled up and eating uppercuts with Griggs in his back mount. As the punches continued to land, Overeem tapped to the strikes. The fight was ruled a TKO, but when you watch the tape he clearly tapped to the punches. Great showing by Griggs.
Griggs defeated Overeem via TKO (strikes) at 2:08 of round 1
Preliminary Card
Lightweight bout:
Gesias Cavalcante (155) vs. Justin Wilcox (156)
Wilcox and Cavalcante fought to a no decision following an accidental eye poke at 0:31 in round 2
Lightweight bout:
Conor Heun (155) vs. Magno Almeida (155)
Heun defeated Almeida via unanimous decision (29–28, 29–28, 29–28)
Catchweight bout (180lbs):
Nah-Shon Burrell (179) vs. Joe Ray (180)
Burrell defeated Ray via unanimous decision (29–28, 29–28, 29–28)
Welterweight bout:
Todd Moore (169) vs. Mike Bronzoulis (170)
Moore defeated Bronzoulis via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Welterweight bout:
*Brian Melancon (175) vs. Isaac Vallie-Flagg (170)
Vallie-Flagg defeated Melancon via split decision (28–29, 29–28, 29–28)
*Melancon weight +4 pounds over, the Texas commission is currently deciding how/if the fight will move forward.
