Strikeforce: Evolution Fight Card
by Nick Thomas on Dec 7, 2009 6:53 PM EST
in MMA News
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PrintHere's how the last Strikeforce card of 2009 breaks down:
Main Bouts (Dec 19th at 10pm on Showtime):
Cung Le (6-0) vs. Scott Smith (16-6)
Josh Thomson (16-2) vs. Gilbert Melendez (16-2)
Matt Lindland (21-6) vs. Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza (10-2)
Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal (5-0) vs. Mike Whitehead (24-6)
Robbie Lawler vs. Trevor Prangley (22-5) [still unconfirmed]
Preliminary Bouts:
Scott Lighty (5-0) vs. Antwain Britt (9-3)
Bryan Travers (13-1) vs. Daisuke Nakamura (20-11)
Luis Mendoza (2-0) vs. Juan Nunez (1-1)
Alex Trevino (4-1) vs. Bobby Stack (6-1)
Alex Crispim (3-2) vs. AJ Fonseca (4-1)
HT: strikeforce.com, MMASuPreMaCy
Strikeforce: Evolution coverage
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Really cool! SF comin up baby!
Mauricio Shogun Rua #1 LHW in the World. The TRUE Champion.
Mike Goldberg: "You know Joe, When Matt and his brother Mark Hughes were growing up, they would pound each other behind the barn."
by xFenixKnightx on Dec 7, 2009 10:34 PM EST up reply actions
While the best fighters are obviously in the UFC, I have to wonder how some MMA fans perceive fighters that are not signed to the UFC. From the looks of it, I would personally say that a Scott Smith or Robbie Lawler (these are just two arbitrary fighters, it could be most anyone else in Strikeforce) would be two solid fighters (they would be mid-tiers in the UFC, but that is beside the point), but it seems that since they are not signed to the UFC that they are seen as below average by some.
Its called marketing, and believing that someone who is trying to sell you something is always telling the truth.
Ricky Hatton came closer to beating Manny Pacquiao than Marquez did to beating Floyd.
-SC
by The Lethal Haze on Dec 8, 2009 12:17 PM EST up reply actions
Didn’t mean that as a dis to you. It just gets me riled up that some people believe something because DW said it.
I say this as a fan of the UFC. Having recently got HDNet and watching shows put on by DREAM, Sengoku, and MFC, I have a new found appreciation for the fact that the UFC does indeed have the majority of the best fighters in MMA. That doesn’t mean there aren’t good fighters in other orgs.
And it completely baffles me that some people get boners off of predicting the downfall of UFC competitors or the “missteps” that the competing orgs make (as defined by DW of course). Its just… weird.
Ricky Hatton came closer to beating Manny Pacquiao than Marquez did to beating Floyd.
-SC
by The Lethal Haze on Dec 8, 2009 12:41 PM EST up reply actions
To add to that:
My favorite thing is that people can talk all they want about how Strikeforce will fail and is doing everything wrong and a real argument/discussion pops up about each issue that gets raised. If you say the same sort of thing about the UFC, you’re derisively mocked for jumping on a ridiculous “oh noes, UFC gon die LOLZ!” bandwagon. Everyone, including unbiased fans have this reaction. I know I did until I realized that it was a huge double standard, and I loves me some Strikeforce and DREAM.
by pdl on Dec 8, 2009 3:15 PM EST up reply actions
Oh no, I did not take that as a dis whatsoever.
My response was actually a joke that continues off of what you wrote.
i am just not excited about this… seems like so many of these guys are so overrated it makes me not care… even though a few of these fights could be good…
meh
Im very excited for these fights… seems like many of these guys have something to prove it makes me care… even though some of these fights could be boring..
woo hoo!
by pandaboy99 on Dec 7, 2009 7:24 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
A top of the line Sansou fighter against an iron chinned brawler?
Two solid lightweights in a five rounder?
Olympic level Greco wrestler against one of the best BJJ practitioners of the generation and current ADCC Superfight champ?
A blue chip prospect with huge personality getting tested in a tough style matchup?
Robbie fucking Lawler?
I don’t understand how any MMA fan could be less than pleased with this event.
by pdl on Dec 7, 2009 7:35 PM EST up reply actions 3 recs
You can make any event sound good or shitty.
I chose good because I legitimately believe this is a good card. Now, TUF 10 on the other hand:
Football player totally overmatched against an MMA vet (also, wtf fat guy)
Obvious builder fight, feeding a mid-tier fighter to build a dude’s cred
Two unqualified ‘fighters’ with a huge size mismatch to appeal to just bleeders.
A supposed top fighter getting a squash match
Old football player with no striking and bad gas against another football player. Not pro fighters.
I don’t believe any of that, I was excited to see almost every fight before I saw them. But go ahead. Be negative about Strikeforce if you want. We have a great night of fights coming up with a WEC card on the same night. You’re totally welcome to piss and moan.
by pdl on Dec 7, 2009 9:56 PM EST up reply actions
Should be an entertaining night of fights, even if they don't mean anything in the larger picture.
Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better. -Samuel Beckett
by Scott C. Broussard on Dec 7, 2009 7:05 PM EST reply actions
They mean a great deal for future shows.
Jacare, King Mo, Cung Le, plus the LW champion will have HUGE fights lined up if they can all look good winning here.
Think Larger
SF is it’s own isolated entity. Shields & Mousasi are really the only fighters who have an impact beyond SF in rankings & org politics. Lawler could be interesting, but his extreme lack of a ground game has exposed him – I’m sure Jacare could finish him if the undersized Shields could. Le would be a nice catch if he wasn’t so flaky with his movie career. Thompson/Melendez could be interesting.
If SF was happy being the #2 org, then this would be a great card. However, since it’s apparently trying to compete with the UFC now, it isn’t enough to put on fights so you can put on more fights. It has to establish the fighters as legitimate threats to UFC fighters. Had they kept grooming the org itself, I’d say they’d have a chance, but prematurely scooping up Mousasi, Fedor, and now Hendo has put them squarely in Dana & Co.‘s crosshairs. I’m still looking forward to it, but I’m not inflating it’s importance.
Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better. -Samuel Beckett
by Scott C. Broussard on Dec 7, 2009 7:42 PM EST up reply actions
Don’t need to. This post was about the Dec. 19th show, and they mean something.
=)
P.S. Strikeforce is putting the best shows they can. Whether people want to say they are competing or not with the UFC is irrelevant.
I’m aware they’re putting on the best shows they can, and they’re also often damn fine fights. I just don’t see how they can sign Fedor & CBS and claim not to be competing with the UFC. If they continue this path, I’ll be sorry to see them go.
Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better. -Samuel Beckett
by Scott C. Broussard on Dec 7, 2009 8:03 PM EST up reply actions
Do you feel that there is a possibility that Coker and the rest of Strikeforce management know that they will never beat the UFC, and therefore just try to be the best number 2 promotion and still be profitable (I’m honestly just asking. I’m not trying to be pretentious or sarcastic)? While a fight like Smith vs Le fits your argument that “it isn’t enough to put on fights so you can put on more fights,” the other fights on the main card do have future implications for Strikeforce and their respective divisions. Also, I personally don’t understand how Strikeforce could “establish the fighters as legitimate threats to UFC fighters” without cards like this. I mean, how do non-UFC fighters become threats to UFC fighters when they cannot fight currnet UFC fighters? I thought a card like this is the answer in that a fighter like Jacare is going to have to fight a Matt Lindland and then someone like a Lawler and then someone higher than that, or a King Mo would have to fight someone like Mike Whitehead and move up from there.
Why is strikeforce turning into Affliction?
"Frank Mir had a horseshoe up his ass. I told him a year ago. I pulled it out of him and I beat him over the head with it." Brock Lesnar
This is a very card for the very reason that they fights are compelling:
1) We get to see Cung Le against better competition and see if he’s for real or not
2) We have a title on the line
3) If Jacare wins we probably have a #1 contender confirmed (unless Hendo moves ahead of him)
4) We get to see Mo Lawal step up and see if he’s for real
5) we get to see if Robbie Lawal can get back in the MW mix
More compelling than UFC 108 (107 kicks ass though).
Side note: where can I watch this in Minneapolis? I’m visiting my family for the Holidays and I know they don’t have showtime and I hate watching things over the net.
I don’t know if I’d call Scott Smith better competition than Frank Shamrock, even at this stage in Shamrock’s career.
by JRN on Dec 7, 2009 7:34 PM EST up reply actions
Isn't there a PPV option in some areas?
Would you be willing to pay to watch the card?
If Jacare Kos linland does that mean hes only one fight away from fighting anderson silva?
by pandaboy99 on Dec 7, 2009 7:34 PM EST reply actions 1 recs
Can't wait for this one
floor seats 7 row seats 1,2,3 and 8th row seats 1,2 pretty pumped….. a rather nice card for the end of the year…
"Its a cliche that boxing is the sweet science, man we're astro physics..." ~ Mayhem Miller speaking about MMA
Looks like a good card to me. Plus its free if you have Showtime…so…its really hard to complain about it.
Im also hoping Jacare chokes Lindland unconscious.
"He will lie between resentment and regret. He shed his grace. As certain as a snake sheds its skin. Laid waste to a wealth of talent--his curse being blessed with treasures that just were not gold enough"
This weekend and next will finally bring us some much needed high level MMA back to us since the Shogun/Machida PPV. I’m very pumped for this and Penn/Sanchez this weekend. Everything else has been just meh, except Nelson and Edgar this past Sat.
Mauricio Shogun Rua #1 LHW in the World. The TRUE Champion.
Mike Goldberg: "You know Joe, When Matt and his brother Mark Hughes were growing up, they would pound each other behind the barn."
This card is better than a lot I have seen from the UFC lately.
UFC 107 finally has Diego/Penn fight and Flo/Guida, and even Mir/Kongo, but those are the only fights that I’ve been interested in a while.
With UFC being problematic and the recent signing of Dan Henderson, if Strikeforce keeps making better cards like this, there may result in a legit competition for UFC.
…Prepare for Dana’s trashtalk to level up.
Considering this card isn’t even on the level of the TUF finale, I’m not worried about SF being any sort of competition for the UFC.
Considering this card isn’t even on the level of the TUF finale,
Everyone stopped listening after this…
by The_Gaijin on Dec 8, 2009 11:13 AM EST up reply actions 1 recs
He must have been trolling with that comment because that’s not even a comment a loyal UFC mark would make knowing they’d just sound completely clueless.
The better part is the I’m not worried about Strikeforce being any sort of comp. for the UFC as if he’s personally involved in the UFC’s mission to destroy all comp.
by scrambledeggs on Dec 8, 2009 12:37 PM EST up reply actions
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