Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum recap and analysis
I didn’t buy the idea that Fabricio Werdum was as good as his win over Fedor Emelianenko made people think he was.
That showed on Saturday when he lost a decision to Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion, Alistair Overeem, in the first round of the Heavyweight Grand Prix (Photo courtesy of Tracy Lee at Yahoo! Sports)
While Overeem wasn’t that impressive either, I never enjoy watching a guy flop to his back and beg his opponent to come to the ground.
This is MMA, not a grappling tournament. If you can’t get your opponent to the ground, then you better find a way to beat him on your feet.
Do you ever think you would see Cain Velasquez begging his opponent to do anything? I don’t. It is pretty clear that Werdum doesn’t have a ton of confidence in his striking, and to truly be considered one of the best in the heavyweight division, he needs to be more well-rounded and be willing to exchange.
In the other featured bout, Josh Barnett used his experience and grappling to beat another one-dimensional fighter, Brett Rogers. It was clear that Rogers couldn’t hang with Barnett and his grappling and it seemed to be only a matter of time before Barnett got the submission, which he eventually did in the second round.
Barnett will now face Sergei Kharitonov in the second round of the Grand Prix while Overeem will face Antonio Silva. These fights should hopefully take place before the end of 2011.
On a side note, Saturday was a nice coming out party for heavyweight Daniel Cormier and lightweight Jorge Masvidal, as both men had dominant wins over prominent opponents.
Cormier won a unanimous decision over former UFC No. 1 contender, Jeff Monson. Monson was never able to get the fight on the ground like he wanted it and Cormier peppered him with strikes for 15 minutes and even threw in some takedowns of his own.
For Masvidal, he bloodied and beat K.J. Noons in a decisive unanimous decision. While all three judges saw it 30-27, many thought it could have been scored 30-26. Masvidal now is the No. 1 contender to Gilbert Melendez’ lightweight title, and after his performance on Saturday, it would seem that this could be quite the explosive fight.