Strikeforce Recap: Overeem and Barnett win in Dallas

Live from the NBA championship city of Dallas was the 2nd half of the Strikeforce Heavyweight World Grand Prix. So much has changed since the first half of the tournament. The upset of Fedor and the sale of Strikeforce to the UFC’s parent company ZUFFA have changed the landscape of the MMA world drastically, but finally fans got to witness the continuation of the WGP. Saturday night featured two grand prix fights headlined by the main event of Alistair Overeem vs. Fabricio Werdum.

Alistair Overeem went into this bout being the favorite. There was much controversy and hype surrounding the Golden Glory product with a few journalists and MMA fans questioning how legit Overeem’s skills were. The Reem was riding a wave of momentum going into his bout after winning the K-1 WGP back in October and of course you can’t forget Werdum’s triangle choke submission that gave Fedor his first legitimate loss.

It was clear where the two fighters wanted to take this bout. Overeem wanted to keep this fight on the feet and Werdum wanted to bring the fight to the ground to show off his BJJ. At the end of the night Fabricio Werdum couldn’t fully bring his fight to the ground, but surprisingly Overeem didn’t dominate on the feet like we expected him to. Werdum tried to go for numerous takedowns during the fight, but Reem was able to use his power to deny the attempts. On the feet Reem landed some pretty big knees and body shot punches, but Werdum was able to throw more and even land more. At the end of the night “The Demolition Man” did more than enough to win over the judges and will now face Antonio Silva in the 2nd round of the Grand Prix.

Questions after seeing Overeem vs. Werdum:

-What does Alistair Overeem need to improve on going into his bout with Antonio Silva?

-Should Fabricio Werdum drop down to Light Heavyweight?

Notes from Strikeforce – Overeem vs. Werdum:

–Josh Barnett made easy work of Brett Rogers like most of us expected, but could have his hands full against Sergei Kharitonov who has a well-rounded skill set that could keep the fight standing.

-KJ Noons and Jorge Masivdal had a hell of a fight with Masivdal coming out on top. However, I feel it is too early to tell if he is a legitimate threat to Gilbert Melendez‘ title belt. Let’s see how he would do against the likes of Shinya Aoki.

–Daniel Cormier showed us why he is one of the top Heavyweight prospects in MMA, but I think it’ll take him a while to truly consider himself part of the elite in the division.

-I think Valentjin Overeem may want to consider retirement after tapping to strikes on the ground by Chad Griggs. Griggs seems to be continuing to prove people wrong and getting better with every fight, but how far could he take his run?

Lowkick.com Main Card Awards for Strikeforce – Overeem vs. Werdum:

Fight of the Night – KJ Noons and Jorge Masvidal showcased awesome stand up and left it all on the line tonight for a potential shot at Gilbert Melendez‘ Lightweight title.

Performance of the Night – Jorge Masvidal not only had superior grappling abilities against KJ Noons but was also able to out box the boxer leaving him with a crimson mask.

Finish of the Night – Chad Griggs may not have been in the game as long as Valentjin Overeem but he managed to ground and pound his way to victory in dominate fashion.

Disapointment of the Night – Jeff Monson, one of the most decorated grapplers to ever go into MMA didn’t look very good against heavyweight prospect and Olympic caliber wrestler Daniel Cormier. Jeff was outclassed in all aspects of the game during his fight.