(Cormier, seen here after placing his life savings on Staring while wearing his lucky spandex.)
Well, it’s official, Strikeforce is planning to go out with a bang, and by “a bang” we mean “a public execution.” From the very first moment they announced that newly appointed heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier would be facing complete unknown Dion Staring in a non-title affair, we knew that the odds would be astronomically in Cormier’s favor, but -2000?!! MMAFighting’s Shaun Al-Shatti first broke the news via his Twitter:
Wow. Daniel Cormier opens as a -2000, I repeat, -2000 favorite over Dion Staring. Not quite the same as Frank Mir, is it?
This begs one to ask: Is Staring coming into this fight following a recent amputation? He’s a no-namer, sure, but the man also sports a 28-7 record compared to Cormier’s 10-0. Sure, Cormier’s fought a far higher level of opponents in those 10 fights, but at these odds, Staring has a better chance of knocking himself unconscious in the sauna than he does of beating Cormier. Hell, I have a better chance of knocking out Cormier in the sauna then this poor bastard does.
For a little perspective, consider this: Anderson Silva — that would be ten time defending UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva — was favored at around -1350 over Stephan Bonnar. The highest discrepancy in Strikeforce history came when Cris Cyborg fought Jan Finney at Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Werdum, which also topped out around -2000. The highest discrepancy in MMA history (to my knowledge) came when Antonio Rogerio Nogueria fought Sokoudjou at Pride 33 (-2500) — a fight the former ended up losing, by the way.
(Cormier, seen here after placing his life savings on Staring while wearing his lucky spandex.)
Well, it’s official, Strikeforce is planning to go out with a bang, and by “a bang” we mean “a public execution.” From the very first moment they announced that newly appointed heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier would be facing complete unknown Dion Staring in a non-title affair, we knew that the odds would be astronomically in Cormier’s favor, but -2000?!! MMAFighting’s Shaun Al-Shatti first broke the news via his Twitter:
Wow. Daniel Cormier opens as a -2000, I repeat, -2000 favorite over Dion Staring. Not quite the same as Frank Mir, is it?
This begs one to ask: Is Staring coming into this fight following a recent amputation? He’s a no-namer, sure, but the man also sports a 28-7 record compared to Cormier’s 10-0. Sure, Cormier’s fought a far higher level of opponents in those 10 fights, but at these odds, Staring has a better chance of knocking himself unconscious in the sauna than he does of beating Cormier. Hell, I have a better chance of knocking out Cormier in the sauna then this poor bastard does.
For a little perspective, consider this: Anderson Silva — that would be ten time defending UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva – was favored at around -1350 over Stephan Bonnar. The highest discrepancy in Strikeforce history came when Cris Cyborg fought Jan Finney at Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Werdum, which also topped out around -2000. The highest discrepancy in MMA history (to my knowledge) came when Antonio Rogerio Nogueria fought Sokoudjou at Pride 33 (-2500) — a fight the former ended up losing, by the way.
But seriously, don’t use that last bit of information to justify placing a bet on Staring. Just don’t. It would be like eating that last wilted 7-11 hot dog at 3 a.m. because you were that drunk. Sure, it will satisfy you carnal needs for the time being, but as soon as your body digests the decision you’ve made, you’ll be feeling much, much worse for doing so.
(“Psssh, you best drop that tough guy shit right now, Bigfoot, because I can see the future and it doesn’t look good for you.”)
I feel really bad for Frank Mir’s brain. While it is quite an impressive brain when compared to many of its MMA counterparts, it is clearly beginning to wear under the stress of some pent-up, masochistic desires. It has been beaten into unconsciousness in every one of Mir’s six MMA losses, including two particularly brutal/carried-out beatings at the hands of Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin — both of whom have hands bigger than the average newborn deer — yet it still keeps coming back for more. Most recently, Mir’s brain stepped in on short notice to get kneaded like a fresh Arepa by Junior dos Santos at UFC 146, to the point that its host body was shooting invisible free throws by the end of the night. Twas a sad sight indeed.
And it appears as if Cormier is more than willing to play huckleberry to Mir’s twisted desires, as the champ recently stated that — once he gets past Whatshisname Iknowthis at the final Strikeface event in January — he would still like to settle some unfinished business with Mir’s masochistic brain.
(“Psssh, you best drop that tough guy shit right now, Bigfoot, because I can see the future and it doesn’t look good for you.”)
I feel really bad for Frank Mir’s brain. While it is quite an impressive brain when compared to many of its MMA counterparts, it is clearly beginning to wear under the stress of some pent-up, masochistic desires. It has been beaten into unconsciousness in every one of Mir’s six MMA losses, including two particularly brutal/carried-out beatings at the hands of Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin — both of whom have hands bigger than the average newborn deer — yet it still keeps coming back for more. Most recently, Mir’s brain stepped in on short notice to get kneaded like a fresh Arepa by Junior dos Santos at UFC 146, to the point that its host body was shooting invisible free throws by the end of the night. Twas a sad sight indeed.
And it appears as if Cormier is more than willing to play huckleberry to Mir’s twisted desires, as the champ recently stated that — once he gets past Whatshisname Iknowthis at the final Strikeface event in January — he would still like to settle some unfinished business with Mir’s masochistic brain.
Well, right now, Jon Jones and Chael Sonnen are fighting on April 27th. If I come out of this fight un-injured and victorious, I will take a little bit of time to chill and then get back into training for my next fight. When I come in, I am going to stay at heavyweight and I really want to fight Frank Mir. That is the fight I want. I would love for it to be on the FOX show here in San Jose. April 20th, fight Frank Mir, on FOX have it be a free broadcast and that will help expose me and get more fans behind me who may not know me.
That is what I want right now. That is the fight I have trained for, and would be excited to train for it again; Mir wants the fight, I think it would be a great fight. It’s like we are doing Joe Silva’s job for him.
Although it was previously rumored by none other than Dana White that Cormier could possibly be next in line for Jon Jones, it seems like the man himself has quite the opposite in mind. Then again, who are we kidding? Cormier will likely break both his hands on the face of whoever he’s fighting next, so let’s just prepare ourselves for that scenario before we get concerned with anything else.
Cormier also stated in the interview that he “wasn’t intimidated” by the kickboxing background of his opponent, who I now see is named Dion Starling. So there’s that.
“It’s awesome, he (Cormier) is going to bring a lot of excitement to the heavyweight or light heavyweight division, you know. And he could be next in line to fight (Jon) Jones.”
As a fantastic wrestler with dynamite punching power, Cormier would present Jon Jones with the same challenges that a guy like Dan Henderson would. But he also shares Hendo’s biggest disadvantage — his physical dimensions. Both Cormier and Henderson stand 5’11”, with 71″ reaches, and could be picked apart by the 6’4″ Jones and his inhuman 84.5″ wingspan.
(Damn, Cormier at 205 pounds? Does this mean we have to stop calling him “The Round Mound of Ground and Pound”?)
“It’s awesome, he (Cormier) is going to bring a lot of excitement to the heavyweight or light heavyweight division, you know. And he could be next in line to fight (Jon) Jones.”
As a fantastic wrestler with dynamite punching power, Cormier would present Jon Jones with the same challenges that a guy like Dan Henderson would. But he also shares Hendo’s biggest disadvantage — his physical dimensions. Both Cormier and Henderson stand 5’11″, with 71″ reaches, and could be picked apart by the 6’4″ Jones and his inhuman 84.5″ wingspan.
Personally, I think Cormier stands a better chance of taking Jones’s belt than any UFC light-heavyweight, so as long as he can make the weight without destroying his health, I’d be all for it. Plus, between Vitor Belfort and the upcoming Chael Sonnen fight, Jon Jones has been busy defending his title against natural middleweights; it would be interesting to see him tangle with a challenger entering his division from the other direction.
The only person who’d lose out in this scenario is Dan Henderson, whose knee injury before UFC 151 has effectively removed him from the light-heavyweight title picture, and who has been on Dana White’s pay-no-mind list ever since. Ah well. At least the old guy got jokes.
Before we get into the Pat Healy/Jorge Masvidal booking –which we’re sure will rustle your jimmies to no end — we’d like to discuss the actual name Strikeforce has decided upon for its final event and how it more or less serves as a euphemism for Strikeforce as a company over the past couple years. Champions. They named the event Champions. It made sense originally, with nearly every one of their belts being on the line, meaningless as they were. But one groundbreaking signing and a slewof injuries later, and Strikeforce’s final card — their swan song, their dying epilogue, the culmination of years of blood, sweat, and tears — will die a vapid, depleted shell of what it once was. Like Layne Staley.
And now, they’ve been drained dry. Scott Coker had a milkshake, and Dana White had a milkshake and a straw, and Dana drank Coker’s milkshake.
Before we get into the Pat Healy/Jorge Masvidal booking –which we’re sure will rustle your jimmies to no end — we’d like to discuss the actual name Strikeforce has decided upon for its final event and how it more or less serves as a euphemism for Strikeforce as a company over the past couple years. Champions. They named the event Champions. It made sense originally, with nearly every one of their belts being on the line, meaningless as they were. But one groundbreaking signing and a slewof injuries later, and Strikeforce’s final card — their swan song, their dying epilogue, the culmination of years of blood, sweat, and tears — will die a vapid, depleted shell of what it once was. Like Layne Staley.
As my esteemed colleague ReX pointed out, there are several reasons why this absorption could prove detrimental to the UFC brand, but it’s not like we can reset what’s already been done. Strikeforce is dead; it has been from the moment the UFC bought it out. And while we are excited to see the best fighters from each promotion square off down the line, we can’t help but mourn the loss of a dear friend.
Discredit Strikeforce’s current place in the MMA landscape all you want, but remember this: at least they weren’t EliteXC. At least they weren’t EliteXC.
Oh yeah, and Pat Healy is set to face Jorge Masvidal in the promotion’s last hurrah. Healy has scored five straight victories under the SF banner, most recently outpointing Mizuto Hirota at Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Kennedy. Masvidal recently bounced back from a failed title bid against Melendez to score a UD win over Justin Wilcox at the same event.
We’ve added the official promo for Strikeforce: Champions below.
(The third annual Halloween episode from our bros at MMAInsidetheCageTV, featuring the 100 greatest knockouts from their last 12 episodes. Skip to the 2:47 mark and enjoy the violence.)
(The third annual Halloween episode from our bros at MMAInsidetheCageTV, featuring the 100 greatest knockouts from their last 12 episodes. Skip to the 2:47 mark and enjoy the violence.)
When Frank Mir got injured and had to pull out of his scheduled fight with Strikeforce champion Daniel Cormier for their scheduled November 3rd fight Dana White asked UFC heavyweight Matt Mitrione to fill in for Mir. On Saturday White told reporters that Mitrione had turned down the fight and that he was not happy about it.
“It fucking makes me sick,” White said, according MMA Junkie. “Listen, you don’t want big opportunities, I hear you. I get it, then. All I can say is, I guess he doesn’t want big opportunities. I get it. Duly noted.”
White went on to say that Mitrione’s decision to just continue to train for his already scheduled December 29th against Phil De Fries was “fucking insane.”
“It makes no sense to me, and it’s insane. I’m a little bummed out by it. We’ll figure it out. Yeah, [Mitrione has already got a fight booked]. He said, ‘I’ll just take that one.'”
When Frank Mir got injured and had to pull out of his scheduled fight with Strikeforce champion Daniel Cormier for their scheduled November 3rd fight Dana White asked UFC heavyweight Matt Mitrione to fill in for Mir. On Saturday White told reporters that Mitrione had turned down the fight and that he was not happy about it.
“It fucking makes me sick,” White said, according MMA Junkie. “Listen, you don’t want big opportunities, I hear you. I get it, then. All I can say is, I guess he doesn’t want big opportunities. I get it. Duly noted.”
White went on to say that Mitrione’s decision to just continue to train for his already scheduled December 29th against Phil De Fries was “fucking insane.”
“It makes no sense to me, and it’s insane. I’m a little bummed out by it. We’ll figure it out. Yeah, [Mitrione has already got a fight booked]. He said, ‘I’ll just take that one.’”
There’s no reason to be surprised that White took a few moments after an unrelated event to call Mitrione insane and imply that he is a coward, since throwing his fighters under the bus when they make a decision that doesn’t immediately make his own life easier is the norm for White. But choosing Matt Mitrione as a scapegoat is particularly strange in this instance.
If White offered Mitrione a substantial raise, in effect, to fight Cormier and save that November Strikeforce event, he didn’t say so. Absent that, it is hard to understand what White meant when he said this was a “big opportunity,” for Mitrione.
Matt Mitrione is a UFC fighter with, perhaps, more name recognition than Cormier. Mitrione would be giving up a spot on the UFC’s New Year’s Eve card to fight in what will more than likely be a half-full stadium in the UFC’s minor league.
More importantly, Mitrione has no business being in the cage with Cormier at this point. Cormier is smaller than Mitrione but is better at just about everything than the former NFL player.
Sure, Mitrione would stand a chance at landing a big shot on Cormier and winning if they fought, but who could begrudge him for wanting to simply work for an honest pay check instead of trying to win the lottery?
Finding replacement fighters and match ups for cards after injuries has to be one of the most challenging parts of Dana White’s job. But guess what, Prez? It isn’t exactly easy for fighters to cut short training camps or do abbreviated ones in order to fight on short notice, either.
And, by the way, they are the ones in there getting hit. They are also the ones that can get cut by the UFC after a single loss. Mitrione hasn’t fought since 2011 and is coming off a loss to Cheick Kongo.
Against Kongo, Mitrione was game but clearly over matched. How would stepping up against an even better, more dynamic and well-rounded fighter after a long lay-off, and on short notice, be a smart move for Mitrione?
Heck, this or any fight in Strikeforce barely makes any sense for Cormier himself. He won the heavyweight grand prix and is supposedly headed for the UFC on the strength of that performance.
Only thing is, he’s still bound to his Strikeforce contract and owes Showtime a fight. No one even wants to see Cormier fight in Strikeforce anymore, why should Mitrione involve himself in that low-profile, high risk, lame-duck situation of Cormier’s?
What do you think, Nation? Do you see where Mitrione is coming from or do you agree with White that he’s a lily-livered, no-good and insane sport killer?
