Cage-side View: The Final Strikeforce

Hello guys. This is Jeremias here, with a new series I've dubbed Cage-side View. If you frequent readers of The Broken Infinite didn't know I am a fan of MMA. Seems I picked a good time to start focusing on MMA as the final Strikeforce event occurred this past Saturday and with that final Strikeforce plenty of talking points came with is as well. How are these going to go down? Well, if the article is focusing on a specific event as this one is it'll be broken down into "The Facts: Results" "The Blows" and "Talking Points". Alright here we go!

The Facts: Results (Who won, who lost, no more, no less for those who haven't seen the event)

The Preliminaries

Estevan Payan defeats Michael Bravo via t.k.o

Adriano Martins defeats Jorge Gurgel via unanimous decision

Roger Gracie defeats Anthony Smith via submission

Pat Healy defeats Kurt Holobaugh via unanimous decision

Tim Kennedy defeats Trevor Smith via submission

Ryan Couture defeats KJ Noons via split decision

Main Card

Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza defeats Ed Herman via submission

Josh Barnett defeats Nandor Guelmino via submission

Daniel Cormier defeats Dion Staring via t.k.o

Tarec Saffiediene defeats Nate Marquardt via unanimous decision

The Blows (talking points on the fights themselves)

First, I must mention that I unfortunately missed the preliminaries as they happened. But first, I wanted to bring up what was the controversial decision that the judges made giving the victory to Ryan Couture in his bout against KJ Noons. I did see it later though, and I have to say that I felt KJ Noons won like many others. I am not going to bash Ryan Couture however, as I felt, he did solid in this fight but I do not believe he won the match. From what I watched, I felt that KJ Noons fought smarter; he landed more significant strikes and he was stopping Ryan's takedowns and he made it so Ryan could not control him in the cage. I do not think this hurts Noons since Dana White was even saying he felt Noons won; so he'll still get his chances to prove himself.

On to the talking points of the main card, we had a lot of early stoppages. As a matter of fact, only Saffiediene vs Marquardt went the distance. It seems that a lot of these fights were just made for certain people to steam roll their opponents and look good as Strikeforce ends. Except for Souza vs Herman and Saffiedine vs Marquardt. Souza may have won pretty easily but Ed Herman isn't a low level chump though. Souza has been on a good roll lately and looks like he'll still be in good shape for future fights.

An under the weather looking Josh Barnett (for good reason as he was just coming off being sick) took out Nandor Guelmino ridiculously easy considering he still didn't look 100 percent. He also cut as usual a pro wrestling style after his win. I do like Barnett on the mic but it wasn't his best promo. It was still good just not his best.

Daniel Cormier steamrolled through Dion Staring, but unlike other people who say Dion Staring looked like a kid who won a make a wish dream to fight with Cormier in the cage. Dion, however, is a competent heavyweight. There are plenty of people he could beat if put into the UFC. If it's just compared to the skills of Cormier he was no match. Credits to Dion, however, for having a never say die attitude and taking more punishment than most people.

Tarec Saffiedine vs Nate Marquardt is a really good example of executing a game plan. Tarec ,the 3 to 1 underdog, outstruck Nate Marquardt all 5 rounds. Leg kicking Nate Marquardt until his leg looked like a piece of hamburger. Marquardt didn't look lifeless in there but, Saffiedine just knew what to do in there against him. The underdog upset Nate Marquardt for the Strikeforce Welterweight title. Which is a bittersweet win for Tarec on account of it's Strikeforce's last event and it basically meant he was just champion for one day.

Prime USDA choice

Talking Points

Alright! This being Strikeforce's last card one of the main things is people's minds who is coming over to the UFC? Dan Cormier is already set to fight Frank Mir in April so you know he's set. I believe both KJ Noons and Ryan Couture will make it the UFC. Especially since as mentioned before Dana Noons won the fight and Ryan is on a upswing after getting the decision. I also believe Jacare Souza and Roger Gracie will come over as well as Saffiedine, I'm mostly sure that Marquardt will make it as well but you never know. I'm uncertain of the preliminary guys but I think they will as well. The big question as to who will make it over however is Josh Barnett. Josh has been in trouble with drug tests three times before. He also seems to be interested in coming over to pro wrestling.

what will become of the Warmaster?

Another talking point of this card is Dan Cormier. In his post fight interview, he mentioned that he will fight Frank Mir and that in the fall he plans to drop his weight class from heavyweight to light heavyweight and go after Jon Jones. Cormier is a really gifted skilled fighter but can he take it to Jon Jones? Personally, I think he does have a shot, but I don't see Jones going down.

How about you readers? What do you think of the card? Who do you think is coming from Strikeforce's roster that's still unconfirmed? What do you think Josh Barnett will do and what would Cormier vs Jones be like?

Thanks for reading and be sure to follow me on twitter @ikariradio for my thoughts on MMA events as they happen if I can catch 'em.

An interesting link especially if you're curious on the thoughts of the Strikeforce owner with this last card.: Scott Coker reflects on the last Strikeforce from Sherdog.com