A light heavyweight contest between debuting Brazilian Marcos Rogerio de Lima and veteran Mike Kyle headlined the HDNet portion of the Strikeforce Grand Prix card. De Lima amassed a 9-0 record in his native Brazil. Kyle looked to bounce bac…
A light heavyweight contest between debuting Brazilian Marcos Rogerio de Lima and veteran Mike Kyle headlined the HDNet portion of the Strikeforce Grand Prix card. De Lima amassed a 9-0 record in his native Brazil. Kyle looked to bounce back from a loss to heavyweight Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva in his last outing.
Kyle opened aggressively. De Lima landed a low kick early. Stiff jab connected from Kyle and backed up De Lima against the cage. A right kick-left hook combo from De Lima landed. Kyle continued to jab and back up the Brazilian half way through the stanza. De Lima looked to be injured, but delivered a big punch when Kyle rushed in. More shots landed from Kyle as the round closed.
Big kicks from De Lima opened the second round. Flurry from De Lima landed as Kyle moved forward. Kyle continued to attack with his jab through the middle of the round. De Lima pushed the action, delivering a number of low kicks. Kyle scored with a takedown with a minute left in the round. De Lima used the cage to stand, but Kyle again took the fight to the mat at the end of the round.
In the final round, De Lima again opened with a big kick. Kyle connected with a big left that backed up the Brazilian. Jab-cross combo landed from De Lima. Kyle scored with a takedown at the three minute mark, landing in the half guard. Kyle worked to pass, but De Lima tied him up. A big elbow from Kyle opened up a cut on the Brazilian as the fight goes the distance.
The judges gave the fight to Kyle for his effective use of his jab and mixing in the takedowns. De Lima suffered the first loss of his career. Kyle acknowledged the Brazilian’s power in his post fight interview, paying respect to his opponent even in victory.
Official result: Mike Kyle def.Marcos Rogerio de Lima via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Rob Tatum is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report MMA. You can also find Rob’s work at TheMMACorner.com. For anything related to MMA, you can follow Rob on Twitter @RobTatumMMA.
Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante vs. Yoel Romero is a fight in the light heavyweight division.This will be Cavalcante’s first fight since he lost his light-heavyweight title to Dan Henderson. He won the title in August, 2010 but wasn’t able to defend it ag…
Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante vs. Yoel Romero is a fight in the light heavyweight division.
This will be Cavalcante’s first fight since he lost his light-heavyweight title to Dan Henderson. He won the title in August, 2010 but wasn’t able to defend it against Henderson in March of 2011.
Romero comes from the German fight circuit and this will be his first fight for Strikeforce. Romero is an Olympic silver medalist and has won his last four fights by KO.
Round 1- The fight started slowly with both guys feeling each other out and the crowd getting restless. Romero ran and bounced about ten miles in round 1 but did very little else. The crowd started to rain boos on the fighters pretty early on. An extremely boring first round goes to Cavalcante based on the fact that he is the only one who landed a strike. The round ends with Romero taunting Feijao, not sure why considering he hasn’t done anything. Here come the boos.
Round 2- Romero landed his first strike in round 2, unfortunately for Cavalcante it was to his nuts. That shot seemed to wake Romero up as he came with a flurry of knees and punches, landing some nice blows against the cage. Cavalcante unexpectedly took the silver medal wrestler down but couldn’t keep him there, as he is clearly tired.
So much for being tired! Feijao landed a vicious back fist and then jumped on Romero and hit him with some elbows. Romero was able to escape, but not for long, Cavalcante nailed him with a few more punches and knees and was able to finish by KO with 9 seconds to go in Round 2. Romero never knew what hit him.
After controlling much of round 2, Romero got a little cocky and Feijao made him pay. Cavalcante is probably back in the mix for a title shot after this impressive KO.
Official Result: Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante wins by knockout 4:51 into Round 2
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(Dan Cormier does a dead-on impression of how his face is going to look after he gets hit with one of those fists. / Photo via MMAFighting.com)
Tonight, four big-ass dudes become two, and we mean that in the straightest way possible. Strikeforce’s lovably meaningless heavyweight tournament reaches its semi-final phase tonight at the U.S. Bank Arena in Cicinnati, Ohio, supported by a middleweight title fight and a compelling light-heavyweight feature between Muhammad “King Mo” Lawal and Roger Gracie.
Round-by-round results for the “Barnett vs. Kharitonov” Showtime main card will be piling up after the jump starting at 10:30 p.m. ET. CagePotato liveblog-mercenary Matt Kaplan will be handling business tonight, so please make him feel welcome, and refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest.
(Dan Cormier does a dead-on impression of how his face is going to look after he gets hit with one of those fists. / Photo via MMAFighting.com)
Tonight, four big-ass dudes become two, and we mean that in the straightest way possible. Strikeforce’s lovably meaningless heavyweight tournament reaches its semi-final phase tonight at the U.S. Bank Arena in Cicinnati, Ohio, supported by a middleweight title fight and a compelling light-heavyweight feature between Muhammad “King Mo” Lawal and Roger Gracie.
Round-by-round results for the “Barnett vs. Kharitonov” Showtime main card will be piling up after the jump starting at 10:30 p.m. ET. CagePotato liveblog-mercenary Matt Kaplan will be handling business tonight, so please make him feel welcome, and refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest.
……………..
I’ll take “liveblog-mercenary” over “Shemp Howard” any time, thank you very much.
Here we go. During the opening montage, the four remaining heavies are standing in what looks like a mini glacier forest. In their shorts. Barefoot. Hmm…
Frank Shamrock’s not sweating yet, so that’s good. Miletich says Cormier is a tougher match-up for Bigfoot than Overeem would have been. Interesting enough.
Maximo Blanco vs. Pat Healy: Mauro called Jimmy Lennon, Jr. the “maestro of the microphone.” He loves alliteration. Rd. 1: Healy is a big dude, but Blanco kicks out his back leg and is in half guard. Some short right hands and elbows from Blanco. Action gets back to a stand up, and Blanco connects with a right uppercut. Left head kick, knees and uppercuts from Blanco. Healy is down again and Blanco works from Healy’s open guard. Healy wants an armbar on Blanco’s right arm. Now he angles for a…what the f? Blanco just bitch slapped Healy with his toes. Healy is bleeding and the ref has stopped things for the doctors to take a look. Blanco lost a point. Rd 2: Healy pumps the jab, but Blanco moves his head well and stays safe. Blanco lands a spinning back fist, but Healy connects with harder counter punches. More Healy jabs. Healy slams Blanco to tha mat and works for the RNC, but to no avail. Healy falls, Blanco lands a right, Healy clinches and knees. Healy has Blanco’s back against the cage and looks for wrist control. Healy slams Blanco again, but Blanco is up. And back down once more. healy still wants that rear naked choke, but isn’t in position. Wait, yup he is. Dunzo. Healy wins via submission.
Big Black is sitting behind Rich Franklin ringside, in case anyone’s curious.
King Mo Lawal vs Roger Gracie: King Mo still wears the crown, huh? Oh well. Gracie seems ot be in better shape. Rd 1: I like Gracie’s all black trunks. Very early 90s of him. Mo looks loose and poised. Gracie holds his hands high as both men feel things out with very little action. Mo throws a lead left hook. Gracie jabs. MO hits with a short left as Gracie moves in. The crowd is booing a little already. Mo catches a kick and connects with a right. A push kick from Gracie is followed up by a Gracie flying knee. Gracie jabs. Mo misses a snapping left hook from Mo. More feeling out. Big right from Mo drops Gracie, who doesn’t get back up after two more shots on the ground (that didn’t land clean). Mo put some stank on that right hand! Gracie is out of it.
In a pre-recorded interview, Barnett says he plans to rank Kharitonv amongst the dead and rip his flesh and drink his blood. The poor interviewer is incredibly uncomfortable right now. Her career plans for broadcast journalism are clearly not working out. Kharitonov’s translator is pretty hot.
Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza vs. Luke Rockhold: Mauro says this fight is “pedigree vs. potential.” Rd 1: Rockhold kicks at the lead leg of the champ. Jacare shoots, but Rockhold sprawls. Big overhand right from Jacare, who drags Rockhold to floor and presses Rockhold’s hips down. Jacare is landing hard ground shots. Rockhold is up. But back down after a second. And back up we are. each man has an underhook. Jacare lands a knee against the fence. Push kick from Rockhold is answered with a right from Jacare. Another body kick from Rockhold and another right from Jacare. Rockhold catches Jacare coming in. Two good kicks from Rockhold! Jacare gets the takedown after two punches from Rockhold, but Rockhold gets right back up. Tough round to score. Rd 2: Spinning back kick and a lead leg kick from Roockhold. He just misses the head kick. More kicks and Jacare looks stymied. Jacare drops Rockhold with a right! Rockhold is back up, though. Here comes Jacare, pressing Rockhold against the fence again. Rockhold lands a straight left through Jacare’s hands. A lead right hook from Jacare lands. Knee from Rockhold in the clinch against the cage. Knee from Jacare. Knees to the thigh from Rockhold. They’re trading putting one another against the fence. And they break. Left from Rockhold. Right from Jacare. Jacare hits with another big overhand right. Rockhold ends the round with a kick. Rd 3: Front kick from Rockhold, who then lands a sharp left. Jacare switches up the stance. Body kick from Luke misses. Jacare’s kicks land. Luke kicks for real now. Jacare is kicked “in the peninsula south of the equator,” as bald Mauro says. After a break, Jacare snatches a single and dumps Luke onto the floor. Jacare is working furiously to finish, but Luke gets back to his feet. Punch-kick combo from Luke. Puch kick from Luke. Jacare blocks a left head kick. Luke kicks the lead leg once more. Jacare needs to get going. Luke is scoring with kicks and fists, high and low. Jacare cracks luke with a short right hook. Luke comes with a straight left and keeps mixing up his punches with kicks (and vice versa). Rd. 4: Three good rights from Jacare early are answered with a left from Luke. Luke charges in with kicks, but Jacare counters with that lead right hook. Jacare presses against the fence and takes some knees from Luke, who’s not got Jacare against the cage. Right hands and a right kick from Jacare have Luke backing up. Jacare drops for a double; Luke stuffs it with his back against the cage. A knee from Jacare; right hook from Luke as they break from the clinch. Good body kick from Luke, who stuffs another takedown and lands a left as Jacare stands back up. Knee from Luke as he muscles Jacare against the fence. Rd. 5: Front kick from Jacare and a body kick from Luke. Luke lands that straight left. Another front body kick from Jacare. Uppercut-left cross combo from Luke connects. Jacare swings and kicks and misses . Luke kicks low. Jacare hits a body kick and a low leg kick. Body shot from Luke is countered with a lead right hand against the cage. Jacare trips Luke and blankets him on the floor. Luke wants to sit up and slips away. They’re up. Left from Luke…and two good rights. Front kick from Jacare, but Luke keeps coming ahead. Jacare clinches but Luke escapes and lands a cool body kick, Right from Jacare. 1-2 from Luke. Left from Luke. Right from the champ. And another as he presses Luke against the fence. That was a good fight. And the winner is… Luke Rockhold by unanimous decision.
Mauro just quoted the WKRP in Cincinnati theme song. Gus Johnson who?
Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva vs. Daniel Cormier: Bigfoot is a BJJ blackbelt “phenom”? We call that hyperbole. Miletich thinks Bigfoot Silva should be called “Giant Reach” Silva. (Because he has a big reach advantage, y’see.) Rd. 1: Rich Franklin’s bro is the ref? Head kick from Silva is blocked. Silva rushes in with punches and backs Cormier against the fence. They separate and Cormier lands a big right! Wow. Silva is down, and Cormier is in Silva’s guard. He’s out and lets the big fella back to his feet. Cormier lands a crisp left that stuns the Brazilian. And another. Silva shoots; nope. He’s pulling a Werdum and baiting Cormier into his guard. Silva’s up. Cormier sweeps him down and stays out of the guard. The crowd is restless as Silva remains down for a bit. 1-2 from Silva. Cormier drops Silva with a left jab and a right uppercut, and Silva is done! Cormier is in the finals.
Josh Barnett vs. Sergei Kharitonov:This is the one fight on this card I’m really excited for. Mauro just called Josh “Captain Catch Wrestling.”
Josh Barnett vs. Sergei Kharitonov: This is the one fight on this card I’m really excited for. Mauro just called Josh “Captain Catch Wrestling.” Rd. 1: Punches fly early from both men…and land, for the most part, Josh trips Sergei and is in the mounted position. Elbows, hammer fist. Sergei tries to buck, but in vain. And again. Josh is heavy on top. More gnp from Josh. Sergei strikes from his back. Heavy elbows from Josh. Damn. Josh fires down as Sergei punches up. Josh gets back control as Sergei covers up. Josh throws short uppercuts and hammer fists. Sergei is flattened, pounded some more, and choked out from the side! Josh vs. Cormier in the finals.
Two Ohio-based middleweights making their Strikeforce debuts opened the HDNet preliminary card, as the undefeated Chris Mierzwiak battled with Dominique Steele. Steele started aggressively. Mierzwiak looked for takedown early, but ended up on his…
Two Ohio-based middleweights making their Strikeforce debuts opened the HDNet preliminary card, as the undefeated Chris Mierzwiak battled with Dominique Steele.
Steele started aggressively. Mierzwiak looked for takedown early, but ended up on his back. He quickly reversed and ended up on top. Mierzwiak locked in a reverse triangle, Steele escaped. The pair scrambled for position against the fence. Steele scored with a jumping knee. Mierzwiak looked fro another takedown, but Steele defended with a guillotine attempt. Mierzwiak landed a number of big shots that wobbled Steele midway through the round. Mierzwiak brought the fight down to the ground and took Steele’s back. Using a body triangle, Mierzwiak worked for a rear-naked choke, but Steele managed to spin into guard. Back on the feet, the fighters traded big shots as the round came to a close.
The second round started similarly to the first, as Steele pressed forward and Mierzwiak looked for a takedown. Steele landed his first takedown of the fight. Mierzwiak looked for a triangle from the bottom and then an armbar. Steele pounded away from the top position. Another triangle from Mierzwiak was broken up with a slam from Steele. The fighters again returned to their feet and traded shots against the cage. A short right hand from Steele dropped Mierzwiak. Steele pounced and put Mierzwiak in the crucifix, but could not finish the fight as the fight headed to the third round.
The final round began with both fighters both showing fatigue. Mierzwiak looked for a takedown against the fence, but Steele pushed him away. Mierzwiak threw a kick that was caught by Steele and the pair ended up on the ground. Steele laid in the full guard. Mierzwiak looked an omoplata, but Steele easily escaped. Steele scored with a double leg takedown half way through the round. Another triangle attempt, then armbar from Mierzwiak. Steele escaped, but gave up his back. Mierzwiak again locked in a body triangle and looked for a choke. Steele spun back into the full guard with seconds left in the fight.
The judges rewarded for Steele for his performance, handing Mierzwiak his first defeat.
Official result: Dominique Steele def. Chris Mierzwiak via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-27 x2)
Rob Tatum is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report MMA. You can also find Rob’s work at TheMMACorner.com. For anything related to MMA, you can follow Rob on Twitter @RobTatumMMA.
Filed under: StrikeforceIn a shocking upset in the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix, Daniel Cormier absolutely dominated Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva, battering Silva’s face with hard punches and eventually knocking him out.
In a shocking upset in the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix, Daniel Cormier absolutely dominated Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva, battering Silva’s face with hard punches and eventually knocking him out.
Most people thought that for Cormier to have any chance, he’d need to use his Olympic-caliber wrestler skills to control Silva with takedowns. Instead, Cormier did it all with striking: Cormier dropped Silva with a big overhand right in the first minute of the first round, and after he did that he let Silva get back up, feeling more confident in his ability to beat Silva on his feet than on the ground.
Cormier continued to show off power punching throughout the round, and Silva had no answer. Eventually Cormier leveled Silva with another hard punch and then landed one more punch on the ground to knock Silva out. The whole fight lasted just 3 minutes, 56 seconds.
“It was great,” Cormier said afterward. “I fought one of the Top 5 heavyweights in the world and knocked him out. Give me some respect now.”
Everyone has to respect Cormier now: He’s 9-0 in his MMA career, and he’s now earned by far the biggest win of his life. Daniel Cormier isn’t just a wrestler. He’s a complete mixed martial artist.
CINCINNATI — This is the Strikeforce live blog for Antonio Silva vs. Daniel Cormier, a heavyweight bout on tonight’s Strikeforce: Barnett vs. Kharitonov event at the U.S. Bank Arena.
The winner of this Heavyweight Grand Prix fight will meet the winner of Josh Barnett vs. Sergei Kharitonov at a later date. Silva (16-2) is coming off the biggest win of his career, a stoppage over Fedor Emelianenko in February. Cormier (8-0), who replaces Alistair Overeem in the tourney, bested Jeff Monson in June.
Round 1: The size difference is very apparent when you see these two next to each other. Cormier looks like a child next to Silva. They touch gloves to start off and Silva goes on the attack first, charging straight in with a punch combo that Cormier avoids before tying up. Big right hand from Cormier slams home and drops Silva flat on his back. The crowd seems shocked as Cormier tries to follow up, but gets stymied by a recovered Silva. After a referee stand-up Cormier again finds opening on the feet, dotting Silva up with punches and prompting him to shoot a slow double-leg that has almost no chance of success against an Olympic wrestler like Cormier. Cormier slams Silva down but again can’t do much with the big man on his back. He lets him back up, and moments later drops Silva with a short right uppercut in close. Silva seems done, but Cormier lands one hammerfist and then another before the referee decides to step in. A dominant victory by Cormier, and he’s officially arrived in the big time.
Daniel Cormier def. Antonio Silva via KO (punch) at 3:56 of round one
CINCINNATI — This is the Strikeforce live blog for Antonio Silva vs. Daniel Cormier, a heavyweight bout on tonight’s Strikeforce: Barnett vs. Kharitonov event at the U.S. Bank Arena.
The winner of this Heavyweight Grand Prix fight will meet the winner of Josh Barnett vs. Sergei Kharitonov at a later date. Silva (16-2) is coming off the biggest win of his career, a stoppage over Fedor Emelianenko in February. Cormier (8-0), who replaces Alistair Overeem in the tourney, bested Jeff Monson in June.
Round 1: The size difference is very apparent when you see these two next to each other. Cormier looks like a child next to Silva. They touch gloves to start off and Silva goes on the attack first, charging straight in with a punch combo that Cormier avoids before tying up. Big right hand from Cormier slams home and drops Silva flat on his back. The crowd seems shocked as Cormier tries to follow up, but gets stymied by a recovered Silva. After a referee stand-up Cormier again finds opening on the feet, dotting Silva up with punches and prompting him to shoot a slow double-leg that has almost no chance of success against an Olympic wrestler like Cormier. Cormier slams Silva down but again can’t do much with the big man on his back. He lets him back up, and moments later drops Silva with a short right uppercut in close. Silva seems done, but Cormier lands one hammerfist and then another before the referee decides to step in. A dominant victory by Cormier, and he’s officially arrived in the big time.
Daniel Cormier def. Antonio Silva via KO (punch) at 3:56 of round one
In a shocking upset in the 
CINCINNATI — This is the