The Rear Naked Column 11.12.09: The Future of Strikeforce

Posted by Samer Kadi on 11.12.2009

In the promotion’s biggest show to date, Strikeforce turned in a great night of fights that saw Fedor Emelianenko, Jake Shields, Gegard Mousasi and Fabricio Werdum all reign supreme. In this week’s edition of The Rear Naked Column, 411’s Samer Kadi looks back at “Strikeforce: Fedor Vs Rogers” and examines the future of the fighters involved.

Hello and welcome to another edition of "The Rear Naked Column". Before we get down to business, I would like to inform you that the column will now be appearing every Thursday. That's hardly news, I know. Let's move on to the Strikeforce show then.

With one of the greatest mixed martial artists on the face of the planet headlining the show on network television, Strikeforce knew they had to deliver, and deliver they did. The show in general and the main event in particular were almost everything the higher ups at Strikeforce could have hoped for: The favorites emerged victorious, the losers looked good in defeat, and most importantly, Fedor Emelianenko knocked Brett Rogers out with a trademark looping overhand right.

So without further ado, let's get down to the fights:

Antonio Silva Vs Fabricio Werdum:

In a battle of Brazilian heavyweights, Fabricio Werdum edged out Antonio Silva with a unanimous decision victory. This was an interesting match up on paper, as Antonio Silva is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt which meant he had the ability to hold his own on the ground with one the best grapplers in the world. For me, the most intriguing aspect thing was to see whether Werdum could overcome the size and reach hurdle in order to get inside and work for the takedown. Silva for his part needed to keep the fight standing and pick Werdum apart.

While Werdum's striking looked decent at times, he still tends to get really sloppy. Striking obviously does not come naturally to Werdum and he still shows some fundamental weaknesses in his stand up. The other problem is Werdum doesn't have the power to compensate for his poor technique. He has obviously worked on improving it, but he still looks stiff and mechanical at times. The commentators mentioned him working on his high kick but given that he doesn't set it up and throws it way too often, it ends up being fairly telegraphed.

I understand Werdum will never become a proficient striker, but he needs to be able to use his striking in order to set up the takedowns. And in my mind, he still doesn't do that as efficiently as he could. The best example of that occured early on in the fight when he charged forward, threw wildly, kept his hands down and looked to clinch, but got dropped for his troubles. It then appeared as though Silva will have the fight under control and win it in straightforward fashion.

To his credit, Werdum was able to make the necessary adjustments in the second round. He was more patient with his striking, picked his spots, got the clinch and took the fight down. If Werdum does not improve his striking – particularly his jab – he needs to improve his shot from the outside. While he's most effective when dropping for a single leg from the clinch, his shot is really mediocre. For such a wizard on the ground, it's a shame he doesn't possess better wrestling as It would add a whole new element to his game.

In the second round, Silva made the mistake of playing Werdum's game and following him to the ground, presumably thinking he'd be able to control him from the top. But the moment Silva dropped down, Werdum was able to grab a hold of his leg and reverse. Werdum is in my mind the slickest fighter in the division on the ground. It proved to be a dangerous game for Silva to play, one that would ultimately lead to his defeat. Big Foot did manage to defend well from the bottom by preventing Werdum from passing the guard, and was extremely intelligent by using the cage in order avoid having his back taken by the ADCC champion.

Werdum hasn't been getting much respect since his loss to Junior Dos Santos, but the fact remains the guy has fought some of the best fighters in the division across the years, and he more often than not came out on top. I do believe Fabricio Werdum is back in the top 10 where he belongs. With that said, I have no desire to see him fight Fedor, but you could read more about that in this week's edition of Fact or Fiction . Personally, I would like to see him fight Roger Gracie next in what should be a ground clinic.

As for Silva, a fight with Brett Rogers would be the logical next step. Both guys will be looking to rebound after their respective losses and they match up quite well, at least on paper.

Gegard Mousasi Vs Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou:

Strikeforce light heavyweight champion Gegard Mousasi returned to the cage to take on former PRIDE standout Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou. While I expected this to be somewhat of a blowout for Mousasi, Sokoudjou surprised almost everyone by putting up a decent fight, especially in the first round. Thinking back, I don't see it as being much of a surprise. Sokoudjou will always enjoy a good first round until he gasses or fades away in the second. He didn't look that bad in the Machida fight for the first five minutes (granted, he didn't look too good) before getting totally outclassed in the second. He also took the first round against Luiz Cane before being stopped in the second round. The same scenario panned out in the Babalu fight in Affliction back in January.

What did surprise me however, was Mousasi never quite finding his range in the stand up. It's not that he looked sloppy or anything, but his striking looked far less effective than what we've to come expect from the Dutchman. You could even argue that Sokoudjou got the better of the stand up in the first round, albeit slightly. But Mousasi's maturity and experience came into play in the second as he put Sokoudjou on his back and subsequently finished the fight with some ground and pound.



Honestly, a fighter getting finished from full guard (without being dropped beforehand) is just absurd and unacceptable at the top level. Once Mousasi put the Cameroonian on his back, Sokoudjou looked like a fish out of the water. Mousasi didn't even need to pass, all he did was posture up and land hard shots. While Sokoudjou was happy to cover up, seemingly hanging on for dear life. He didn't try to grab a hold of Mousasi's arms to control his posture, he didn't try to explode out, he didn't even attempt to keep moving his hips in an effort to show the ref that he was intelligently defending. Instead, he just waited for the bout to get waved off. The guy trains at Team Quest and is known for having trouble defending from his back, you would assume they would try rectify some of those problems.

With that said, Mousasi is the real deal. It is absolutely stunning to use the words "maturity" and "experience" when describing a 24 year old fighter. And this is precisely why Mousasi is a fighter to look out for. Many fighters have been labeled as "the next big thing" (perhaps not literally) and most fell short. But Mousasi has many factors going for him, and few of them have to do with his talent level (which, in case you haven't noticed, is quite high). At such a young age, he's got so much experience. The man is 27-3 in his MMA career. Moreover, his calmness and composure have led many to draw comparisons with one Fedor Emelianenko. His decision making is exceptional and he never panics and has a cerebral, yet aggressive approach to fighting.

Mousasi needs to sign with the UFC. He's a light heavyweight now and he's already fought all of the semi-relevant 205'ers not under the Zuffa banner. So baring the signing of hot free agent Dan Henderson, who's there for Mousasi to fight? At some point, fighting the top fighters become the best way to improve. He's been fighting solid competition throughout his career, but there's a fine line separating the really good fighters from the elite, which is where Mousasi arguably belongs.

Jake Shields Vs Jason "Mayhem" Miller:

Jake Shields claimed the Strikeforce middleweight championship with a unanimous decision win over Jason Miller. The fight went as expected. Shields looked to utilize his strength and wrestling to take Mayhem down and dominate him from the top, while Mayhem scrambled well and certainly had his moments in the fight, including a rear naked choke that almost sealed the deal late in the third round.

I seemed to have enjoyed the fight better than most. It was a very solid ground battle between two excellent grapplers. Shields was able to mount Miller on numerous occasions but his ground and pound seemed to lack power. For the most part, he was able to dominate Mayhem by gaining dominant positions, but he never landed any significant shots and never had the chance to work for submissions. With that said, we can't ignore the fact that Mayhem Miller is a crafty fighter and a seasoned veteran on the mat, one who is very hard to control, let alone submit.

Now I'm a big fan of Shields and I do believe he's a legit top five welterweight, but I can't help but think he has benefited from favorable match ups for the past couple of years. Granted he's not the one to blame as he wasn't the one to select his opponents, but just I can't see Shields enjoying the similar success against the likes of Josh Koscheck, John Fitch, Thiago Alves or obviously, Georges St. Pierre. Shields is at his most dangerous from the top and despite having great BJJ, he's not as efficient off his back, which is where he'll find himself against the likes of Fitch and Koscheck. His stand up is also non-existent, you could just tell how uncomfortable he looks whenever both fighters are vertical. A fighter with good striking and takedown defense like Thiago Alves would take Shields to the woodshed in my opinion.

I also keep hearing about Shields' chances against GSP. Personally, I would love to see that fight as it is one of the few relevant fights left for St. Pierre in the welterweight division. But in my mind, this would be a massacre. Shields will never get top position on GSP and seeing as he doesn't operate as well from his back, he's unlikely to catch him with a submission from the bottom. And honestly, since that Matt Hughes armbar, has anyone come close to submitting St. Pierre? And seeing as GSP would decide where the fight takes place, he could simply keep it standing and pick Shields apart.

For now Shields remains in Strikeforce and the more interesting match ups for him are mostly at middleweight, with the winner of new signings Jacaré Souza and Matt Lindland (both of whom are bad match ups for him by the way) awaiting him next. If he chooses to move back to the Strikeforce welterweight division as he seemed to have indicated, I would like to see him matched up with head kicking sensation Marius Zaromskis.


Fedor Emelianenko Vs Brett Rogers:

The world's number one heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko returned to action, taking on undefeated prospect Brett Rogers. This marked the first time Fedor had ever fought in a cage, and Rogers was smart enough to use that to his advantage.

After busting Emelianenko's nose open with a jab, Rogers clinched up and muscled Fedor against the fence. While he didn't land anything solid, he did a good job of controlling Emelianenko and avoiding a potential takedown. After separating, Fedor rocked Rogers with a left hook and took him down to the ground.

This marked trouble for Rogers as despite absorbing the shot rather well, the difference in speed was alarming. I didn't think Rogers would be able to handle Fedor's speed in the stand up and all indications seemed to confirm this. I also didn't' expect Rogers to be able to survive on the ground but to the surprise of everyone, The Grim had a few tricks up his sleeve.

He utilized his natural power to explode out of the situation and regain his feet. And despite getting taken down again, Rogers kept his composure and used his strength to power out of a kimura while managing to sweep the mighty Russian. Granted there was little technical proficiency involved, but Rogers really impressed with his approach: What he lacked in technique, he made up for with natural strength, power, and physical ability.

After landing some decent ground and pound, Rogers escaped an armbar attempt and winded up on top in an awkward inverted mount position.

The second round saw both fighters clinch up, with Rogers controlling the action against the fence once again. Then, as both men separated, Fedor landed a big overhand right that ended Rogers' night, as well as his undefeated record.

Rogers' attitude prior to the fight had been excellent. He also showed up well prepared and had obviously done his homework. He knew the situations Fedor would put him in and managed to escape them relatively unscathed. But that's not to say the fight didn't expose any holes in Rogers' game.

For starters, while he was controlling Fedor against the fence, he was unable to mount any significant offense. I would have liked to have seen him throw some short elbows, especially with Fedor's history of bruising and getting cut rather easily.



Also, when he found himself in that weird inverted mount position, he looked lost and just wanted a way to get out of there. Don't get me wrong, I don't expect a fighter who's been training full time since May of this year to know his way on the ground and in the clinch - two of the most difficult areas to master - but I'm just pointing out some of the issues that Rogers would be wise to work on.

But perhaps Rogers' biggest mistake was that he became extremely hesitant on his feet, and threw very few punches throughout the fight. Perhaps after feeling Fedor's power with that early left hook, Rogers' confidence in his striking was shaken, and was reluctant to engage. When you become to hesitant to use your bread and butter, your chances in a fight hinder significantly.

The problem for Rogers is, Fedor's hands are simply much quicker. In order to compensate, he needed his striking to be more technical. Power alone won't get you anywhere if you can't land your punches. Brett's striking is still sloppy, his head movement is almost non-existent, and he can't counter punch, which is key against someone who throws wide loopy hooks like Fedor. In the second round, Fedor unleashed a flurry against the fence that had Rogers covering up without really throwing anything back. Let's compare that to Quinton Rampage Jackson's textbook counter left hook against Wanderlei Silva. Rampage covered up, ducked under, and countered perfectly. Again, it's unreasonable to expect someone as green as Rogers to have that kind of skill at his disposal, but this indicates that the man needs more time in order to grow as a fighter and work on his weaknesses. The Fedor fight came a bit too soon for Brett Rogers in my estimation, as he was never ready to take on someone like "The Last Emperor", certainly not at this stage of his career.

Speaking of whom, what else is there to say about Fedor? Was it his best performance? Not by a long shot. But the bottom line is, for his entire career, Fedor Emelianenko has been stepping inside the ring and doing his job to perfection. He always seems to find a way to win. Despite never being in serious danger, the fight wasn't quite going his way. His nose was broken and had to breath down his mouth, he had some trouble maneuvering his way around the cage and yet the fight didn't get past the second round.



The only fight that makes sense for Fedor at the moment would be against Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem. However, there remains a serious question mark surrounding the fight due to Overeem's reluctance to fight in the United States (draw your own conclusions). In which case Fabricio Werdum should be the next fighter to get a crack at "The Last Emperor".

For Brett Rogers, he's showing the right attitude in wanting to bounce back, get back in the gym and prepare for his next fight, which should come against Antonio Silva.

That does it for this week, feedback is always appreciated so make sure to lave your thoughts in the comments section below. Enjoy the fights this week and hopefully Captain American gets back to his winning ways.