Strikeforce: Feijao vs Hendo

[singh_shady]

wow HENDO! cements himself as top 5 ever

I got Fedor, Anderson, Randy, Chuck, GSP, Sakuraba and Matt Hughes over him off the very top of my head (not necessarily in order).

maybe add Nog and definitely add Wanderlei.

Wanderlai of course, thought I had him. Not so sure about Big Nog over Hendo though, that's close

[SDM]

Coenen got the champ's benefit of the doubt.

I think it's absurd that close decisions can take a title from a fighter but they basically have to be unconscious for the ref to call the fight.

[Bernman]

That was my first time seeing Jorge Masvidal, and I was really impressed. His boxing is stout between his head movement, leg movement, technique, and reach. And he backs it up with a wrestling background where he can setup takedowns and avoid them with his athleticism to keep the fight on the feet, if preferred.

The boxer/wrestler dominates the top of the UFC's 155 pound division, and he's a good one, so I imagine he could be a factor there. At 20 and 22 respectively, he defeated Lauzon and Yves Edwards. He'd tool the Sotiropoulos' of the world, that's for sure.

Speaking of which, RZ, check out the sig. Was that BLKOUT who more often discussed MMA on the Bucks' board or AussieBuck? I always get those two mixed up. Can't recall if it was the same guy who typically populated those threads. If so, he was so much more reasonable up until that point.

[REDDzone]

Both BLKOUT and AB were big posters in MMA threads, BLKOUT was the biggest Sot fan though I'd say.

Either way happy WEC guys are giving a good showing, maybe some people besides the hardcore fans will realize that being signed to the UFC doesn't automatically transform you into a superior fighter than everyone else.

Also, re: Masvidal. Have been impressed with the kid since he fought Daley. TBH I only watched that fight once but at the time I remember thinking he won the fight. Granted Daley had a late knockdown, but overall I thought Jorge outpointed him. Looking forward to following him more closely, although my understanding is that he didn't do much to finish last night.

I have it recorded, will watch later. Was finishing up bellator broadcast (wasn't too impressed btw).

[Cammo101]

Be careful putting too much stock into Jorge Masvidal. He has all the talent in the world, but is as inconsistent as they come. He could look great one night (like last night) and thent turn around and lay a complete egg next time out. He has some headscratching losses.

[Bernman]

Whoops, sorry for spoiling the surprise. I guess I didn't make the connect that it was on TV because I don't have Showtime and had to catch it on the interwebs.

Good and Hieron were beasts in Bellator. They have well rounded games. Their talents are being mostly wasted fighting over-matched guys in that promotion. It'll only be of interest when they face each other. Hawn is respectable with his physicality and Judo background, but he has a clear reach issue that will prove problematic against a higher class of fighter, and his ground game is rather rudimentary.

In regards to Masvidal being inconsistent, theoretically that's fixable, especially because he's young, and even if the trend continued he'd still be relevant in the UFC if he could beat top opponents on a given night. He'd at least create a lot of drama and shake up the division.

[REDDzone]

No worried, I already knew the results before your post. I try to avoid the threads if I haven't watched yet, but the two results were kind of what I expected, so it was no big deal.

[Bernman]

Cool.

BTW, I watched the Gamebred-Semtex match out of curiosity and unfortunately Semtex deserved the win. Masvidal had it until the very end when he had a takedown nearly secured, but didn't follow through, Daley bounced up, and then turned the final round in his favor with some g&p. Although it wouldn't have made a difference on one judge's card. Somehow he gave Daley all 3 rounds in spite of comparable striking and like 4 takedowns by Masvidal in the 2nd.

I talked about the scoring system being severely flawed, but you just wonder what is going through the mind of some judges too, and if they are properly schooled, or even corrupt. I recently recalled the Varner-Shalorus robbery when thinking about the upcoming Miller-Shalorus match-up. That was a really inexplicable one in which to no surprise, Cecil Peoples was involved. Fight Metric had it 29-27 Varner. Varner really deserved to be signed to the UFC over most of the alternatives. He suffered that travesty and only lost to top contenders. Meanwhile, Shalorus lost to him in reality, and didn't beat anybody who accomplished anything significant in the promotion. He was like the 7th best former WEC member behind Pettis, Henderson, Cerrone, Roller, Varner, and Castillo. If he'd somehow beat Miller, the UFC's 3rd best lightweight, after his dismissal of everybody from WEC, it'd be hilarious. That ought to shut most blind haters up, although I'm sure rationalizing with circular logic that Miller wasn't actually good because he lost to a guy like Shalarus, to confirm their original biases, will still exist. He's got his work cut out for him, though. So does Njokuani. He's not very good. He was over-matched with the division's top prospect. I'm guessing there will be some backlash against the WEC after those losses, but it'll be quelled after Pettis ousts Guida and Bendo overcomes Bocek.

[REDDzone]

I'd have to re-watch the Daley/Masvidal fight. I just remember it being close but I'll admit I was watching with a laggy internet connection so I could be off on the Jorge winning thing.

Either way, its pretty impressive for a lower promotion lightweight to defeat a high profile MW (I refuse to call Daley a WW while he misses weight literally half the time his last 10 fights)/guy who was in a number one contender fight for the WW championship.

I agree with you as well about Varner. Should have been signed IMO, talented guy. Although I admit to not knowing what to expect from him these days. Being outwrestled so easily by Cerrone was probably one of the more surprising things in MMA for me last year.

[skflives]

wow HENDO! cements himself as top 5 ever

maybe, i think top 10 for sure though

i would love to see king mo vs hendo if king mo wins his next fight. but in the meantime who does hendo fight? mousasi if he wins?

You have to figure that the Mousasi vs. Kyle fight is a #1 contender fight. Kyle KOed the recently defeated champ already and played the good soldier while putting on a good show against the much stronger Antonio Silva on short notice. All that plus a win over Mousasi should earn him a deserved title shot. But Mousasi is the guy Strikeforce has been trying to mold into their golden boy. He's the one they are hoping for big things from.

[skflives]

wow HENDO! cements himself as top 5 ever

I got Fedor, Anderson, Randy, Chuck, GSP, Sakuraba and Matt Hughes over him off the very top of my head (not necessarily in order).

Well like the whole p4p thing these kind of topics are very objective. Personally I have to rank Hendo over Hughes, Chuck Liddell and GSP. While all three guys were/are awesome fighters their dominance was limited to one division. Henderson was a dominant force in both the light heavyweight and middleweight division and held both belts at the same time in Pride. And it isn't as if there were crappy competition in those Pride divisions either. And he's also fought the Heavyweight Nog 2x when Nog was at his physical prime. And you gotta remember, b4 Fedor fought Big Nog it was Noguera who was considered the best heavyweight in the world. Not only did the much smaller Dan Henderson hold his own against Big Nog he actually earned a split decision victory in their first fight.

[Posey H8er]

Fedor vs Henderson, make it happen Coker. Hendo must walk around 215 at least so weight shouldn't be a factor.

[REDDzone]

IDK man, Hendo usually weighs in like 202ish when he fights LHW, I honestly think that is his walk around weight.

Not that that should affect whether or not he gets a chance at Fedor. A lot of speculation said one of Hendo's reasons for choosing strikeforce was a chance at Fedor, although I think it was almost all money based.

[Cammo101]

Putting Fedor in with Hendo is a risky proposition. Hendo makes good fighters look bad, and Fedor is one bad fight away from irrelevance.

[CPT]

wow HENDO! cements himself as top 5 ever

LOL.

Not so much at the top 5 ever, as Hendo is certainly one of the all time greats (though probably not top 5), but at the idea that beating Feijao cements his position there.

The rest of the card...typical Strikeforce fare. Mostly fights that aren't all that competitive (though decent enough to watch for the most part), spread out over a broadcast that is far too long for the amount of fight time. Their awful production/commentary and way too much dead time really take away from the in-cage product for me. I find myself getting very impatient or I lose interest, and sometimes it takes more than a Kennedy/Manhoef level fight to get me back into it.

Masvidal looked good against Evangelista, and I hope to see him get thrown in the mix with Melendez, Kawajiri, Thomson, JZ, Aoki, and Noons. I'm not sure he would win many of those fights, but when he's on his game, he could definitely compete.

Kennedy vs. Manhoef was predictable. I guess as a late replacement it was fine, but I'd prefer to see something more competitive. I like watching Manhoef, but against other guys who might want to stand with him. I'd love to see him fight Cung Le, but Strikeforce/Cung Le wouldn't let that happen. Not a fan of Kennedy for what it's worth. He'll probably fight Rockhold next; I hope he loses.

The Coenen/Carmouche fight was my favourite on the card, easily. It had a few dull moments, but I like any fight that goes into the championship rounds telling a story. Carmouche had the power, Coenen the technique, and that's how it played out. I wish Strikeforce/Showtime would bite the bullet and have some non-title womens fights on their broadcasts so we can get familiar with some of these fighters before they are thrust into a championship fight. Strikeforce: Challengers cards don't count.

Hendo vs. Feijao played out the way most people expected. Feijao is solid, but Hendo was going to win this by KO. Mousasi/Kyle winner gets the next title shot I imagine. I still think it's kind of weird that Mike Kyle is in the mix for a 'major' promotion's championship, but he's been performing well as of late, and hell, they need bodies. Hopefully Mousasi gets it done, because I think a Mousasi/Hendo fight could be good.

[singh_shady]

Well like the whole p4p thing these kind of topics are very objective.

You mean subjective

But yea it's hard to argue for one fighter over another. Guys like Bas Rutten and Igor V are also up there in terms of dominance in their respective era's.

Hopefully Mousasi gets it done, because I think a Mousasi/Hendo fight could be good.

That's a great fight, Fedor vs Hendo would be massive as well although highly unlikely.