Strikeforce Challengers: Kaufman vs. Hashi - Post-Hangover Thoughts
by Brent Brookhouse on Feb 27, 2010 3:14 PM EST
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- To start off, I just want to say once more what I was harping on during the live results last night: The referees assigned to last night's fights were embarrassingly bad. There were mistakes made by the third man in basically every fight that was on the broadcast. From standing up fighters who are actively working in someone's half guard to separating fighters who are working for position as well as throwing strikes against the fence to the completely disgusting display where Yancy Medeiros was kneed in the groin and the ref forced him to continue after only a few seconds rest. I sincerely hope the CSAC reviews referee performance and that these men lose their jobs. They're clearly incapable of enforcing established rules and I'd rather not see fighter safety rest in the hands of the incompetent.
- Speaking of Yancy Medeiros, he was a nice surprise. Raul Castillo is a really well respected submission wrestler and was 6-0 with no fight going to the judges. Medeiros was undefeated coming in but without the same credentials as Castillo and this was his first fight outside Hawaii. Rather than being overwhelmed or willing to simply play "the opponent" to Castillo, he fought like a veteran with good use of his size and striking. The lack of power on his shots was a little troubling, but he spent the fight looking like the more modern fighter to Castillo's wooden stand-up and weak shots.
- Tarec Saffiedine was very impressive. For all the striking that he showed yesterday, he actually possesses a very solid ground game which should make him reasonably formidable in the Strikeforce welterweight division. James Terry is not a bad fighter by any means, but he was outclassed standing and just couldn't get the fight to the ground to save his life. The fight was over once it was clear that the more versatile Saffiedine would be able to dictate where the bout took place.
- I don't ever want to see Luke Rockhold on a Challengers show again. The guy has good charisma and a ton of skill. The promotion should take advantage of these chances to create homegrown stars rather than recycling the same featured fighters on the Showtime and CBS shows. If his next fight is on a Challengers show I will give up believing that they have the ability to create stars, which is a vital part of the promotional game.
- Women's MMA came out as a big loser last night. The fight was totally one sided and very uninteresting. It was clear in the first round that Hashi had nothing to offer Kaufman and the fact that Sarah didn't ever go for the finish just meant that fans were left with no motivation to continue watching. This was supposed to be a high level fight between the top two females at 135 pounds and rather than feeling like high level MMA it felt like watching a sparring session.
Strikeforce Challengers: Kaufman vs. Hashi coverage
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I have to agree.
I was pretty pleased with the event but the co-main event and main event playing out like they did left a bad taste in my, and probably most others’, mouth.
And yes, the reffing was absolutely atrocious. It was like the ref in the Medeiros fight had never taken one in the pills! Ya need more time to recover, bro.
by Tap or Snap Radio on Feb 27, 2010 12:54 PM EST reply actions
I wish this card took place in New Mexico or something that way I can continue questioning the effects of rapid MMA expansion.
This is an odd and silly statement. If you’re looking for reasons to question the growth of the sport so much so that you wish for bad scenarios, then perhaps you shouldn’t be a fan.
by Worldisart on Feb 27, 2010 1:16 PM EST up reply actions 2 recs
Referees
Could you imagine if these guys were reffing a UFC event? Dana White would have lost his mind cage side. Where’s Steve Mazzagatti when you need him? Even he wouldn’t have forced an immediate restart after a low blow.
by FragglesHateKos on Feb 27, 2010 1:20 PM EST reply actions
Where’s Steve Mazzagatti when you need him?
You are the first person in history to use this sentence.
In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.
by FragglesHateKos on Feb 27, 2010 3:39 PM EST up reply actions
Tim Kennedy and Tyron Woodley are two Challenger fighters that Strikeforce has said will only fight on their regular, non-challengers cards, so maybe they’ll say the same thing about Luke.
Of course, Tim and Tyron have yet to fight since they said that, so…
by John Nash on Feb 27, 2010 1:40 PM EST via mobile reply actions
Brent forgot something:
Prangley looked like a beast with an iron chin.
I'm just a dude who's trying to put it together.
Slightly unrelated, but why on earth can’t the women’s weight classes have the same names as the men’s?
I was thinking the same thing. It seems like having the same names for the weight classes is the least confusing option—indeed, the only option that stands basically no chance of confusing anyone.
Strikeforce makes a lot of puzzling decisions.
Actually all they’re doing is complying with the way the Unified Rules labels the women’s weight classes, which alot of ppl have been calling for them to do. The Unified Rules do NOT label the men’s and women’s weight classes the same. I personally think that they should be labeled the same, but faulting Strikeforce for doing otherwise makes little sense in this case.
- I don’t ever want to see Luke Rockhold on a Challengers show again. The guy has good charisma and a ton of skill. The promotion should take advantage of these chances to create homegrown stars rather than recycling the same featured fighters on the Showtime and CBS shows. If his next fight is on a Challengers show I will give up believing that they have the ability to create stars, which is a vital part of the promotional game.
This is a very cynical way of looking at it. Rockhold has been building buzz since 2008, but he still only has 8 pro fights. Fighting on a Challengers card isn’t below him at this point; in fact, it is probably just right considering he could still use some testing before jumping in with the established SF middleweights. If they really want to push him as a title challenger in the near future, it is better to give Rockhold some reps on smaller cards first, and then move him up when they’re confident he can take out someone like Trevor Prangley or Joey Villasenor.
Anyway, I thought Medeiros, Saffiedine and Rockhold all looked great. The last two fights were disappointments, but you can’t do much about eyepoke stoppages. Hopefully the FCF tournament will produce a challenger for Kaufman that can hang with her on a physical level. Jennifer Tate may fit the bill.
The problem is, they could put Rockhold vs. ANYONE on a showtime regular SF card that will draw more eyeballs than these 11pm Challengers shows. Honestly, beating top level competition is not important in building hype for a fighter. It helps, but Rockhold drubbing the same guys he could beat on a Challengers show on a “real” show is going to help make him an attraction.
I’m just wanting to see them follow the Roger Huerta formula with him. He doesn’t have to beat the top end of the division right now, he just needs people to see and like him.
Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.
MMA Editor - SBNation.com
by Brent Brookhouse on Feb 27, 2010 4:56 PM EST up reply actions
My point is, they are better off in the long run if they build him up patiently rather than putting all efforts into “hyping” his career before he is ready to meet expectations. Especially when they already have 10-12 really good middleweights established. I’d prefer they put him in appropriate fights on Challengers cards like they’ve been doing as opposed to Rockhold vs. Floyd Sword as the curtain jerker on a CBS or Showtime card. I don’t think they need to be in any rush, especially when they’ve done a great job building him up so far. Expectations for young fighters with good records are huge these days, but Luke is still a work in progress.
That being said, it would be nice if there was a “Strikeforce Unleashed”-type show where they could replay some of Rockhold’s highlights.
What happened to their late-night clip show that used to air on NBC?
IIRC, that show often drew around a million viewers even at 2am. Surely they could talk CBS into giving them a similar late-late-night timeslot on Saturdays at a reasonable price.
Damn. Forgot to include the quote ...
it would be nice if there was a "Strikeforce Unleashed"-type show
I’d be happy with that kind of show just running as a companion piece before Strikeforce or boxing events on Showtime. But yeah, something like the NBC show… only without the overdubbed commentary. I like Lon McEachern, but any time they are dubbing in commentary tracks after the fact, it is way too obvious.
Can someone explain to me why they have 11pm...
shows? Considering Showtime is pretty much nothing but movies, a few shows, and events like these you’d think they’d get a better time slot.
Associate Writer - WindyCityGridiron.com
Because the Challengers shows are almost always on the west coast. It would be hard to start much earlier than 8PM PST
Just wish they’d show the events live for those of us on the west coast!
by Michael Hatamoto on Feb 27, 2010 8:41 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
I agree about the reffing
Very annoying to have some morbidly obese guy yell at the fighters “let’s see some action”, and “Work!”, especially when they are trying to grapple.
The refs should call fouls and nothing else, and most importantly STFU. This standing up fighters is getting stupid.
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