(Hoffman Estates, IL) The last time Strikeforce was in Chicago, Fedor Emelianenko (31-3-1) left with the fans chanting his name after a stunning knockout of Brett Rogers. This time around, as Strikeforce returned to the Sears Centre Arena, the fans were chanting USA as MMA legend, Dan “Hendo” Henderson (27-8) handed Fedor his third loss in a row proving once again that he is a force to be reckoned with.
The nights main card kicked off with the comeback kid, Scott “Hands of Steele” Smith (17-7-1) taking on student of Dan Henderson, Tarec Saffiedine (10-2). For the next fifteen minutes, Saffiedine picked apart Smith using impressive kicks as well as consistently landing three to four hit combinations as Smith didn’t pull the trigger until the last minute of the third round. In the middle of the second round, Saffiedine landed a head kick that left Smith wobbly and then proceeded to use him as a heavy bag for the remainder of the fight. Saffiedine took home the unanimous decision win and cemented his place in the welterweight division.
In a fight where Paul Daley (27-10-2) said he would be the iceberg that would sink the titanic rise of the Strikeforce Challenger Series, undefeated fighter, Tyron Woodley (7-0). Not even a last minute perfect roll into an omaplata attempt would be enough to sway the judges Daley’s way. Instead, T-Wood used his size and constant take downs of Daley to secure a unanimous decision over the Brit. “I don’t agree with the decision, I thought that I took the first and third rounds,” said Daley. “Tyron didn’t do anything with the takedowns and I was a more effective striker and active grappler than he was. My ground and pound and submission attempt were enough to win the fight.” With this win, Woodley puts himself in line to potentially face Tarec Saffiedine for the newly vacant welterweight championship.
Former Green Beret turned MMA fighter, Tim Kennedy (13-3) kept the fight on the ground and in his control against one of mixed martial arts heavy hitters, “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler (19-7-1). For most of the fight Lawler displayed great footwork to confuse the southpaw but he never followed it up with punch combinations. The fight could have been stopped in the second round as Lawler clipped the nose of Kennedy that had him heavily leaking a good amount of blood for the remainder of the round. It was all Kennedy in the third round as he got the unanimous decision win and wants another shot against current Strikeforce middleweight champion, Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza. I was very frustrated with the tentative counter game plan he had.” said Kennedy. “I train too hard to get in the cage and chase somebody around. If you fight me next I want you to meet me in the middle of the cage and fight me.”
Team Alpha Male’s newest product, Miesha “Takedown” Tate (11-2) said before the fight that she would “destroy” current Strikeforce Women’s Bantamweight champion, Marloes Coenen (19-4). Miesha looked physically stronger in the cage and it showed in the second round as for over four minutes, Tate fought off a rear naked choke attempt from the champ. Tate was in top position for most of the third round and got an early take down in the beginning of the fourth that would ultimately set up her arm triangle forcing Coenen to tap for the first time in her career making Tate the new bantamweight champion. “I was very relaxed for this fight.” said Coenen. “I often get caught with that in camp and I don’t tap.” Tate was very humble when talking about the fight and her appreciation to all the support of her fans and Strikeforce. “I’ve felt like I have evolved with Strikeforce and this is my night to shine.” said Tate. “I’m so thankful to be here tonight.”
Wasting no time in the night’s main event, it was truly a clash of the titans as MMA superstar, Fedor “The Last Emperor” Emelianenko, went out throwing bombs in the center of the octagon as current Strikeforce light heavyweight champion, Dan “Hendo” Henderson answered right back immediately after the opening bell chimed. After just a little bit of clinch work from both fighters, Fedor landed a shot that dropped Henderson. In a surprising turn of events, as Fedor pulled of a few downward shots, Henderson grabbed his leg and snuck out the back and landed an uppercut from behind knocking out Fedor for a moment as referee Herb Dean stepped in to stop the fight giving Henderson the self -proclaimed biggest win in his career. “I was expecting a three round decision.” explained Henderson. “He came out swinging and it kind of caught me off guard but it left me no choice but to swing back. He definitely came out to fight.”
Strikeforce will return on Friday, September 12th as Jorge Gurgel and Joe Duarte headline the Strikeforce Challenger series card. Then on Saturday, September 10th, it’s the semi-finals of the World Heavyweight Grand Prix Tournament as Daniel Cormier steps in for Alistair Overeem to take on Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva and Josh Barnett takes on Sergei Kharitonov. Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza will also put his welterweight belt up for grabs against Luke Rockhold.
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