Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix Quarterfinals Part 2

On Saturday 18^th June 2011 the MMA organisation Strikeforce held the second part of it's Heavyweight Grand Prix (HWGP) with the second batch on Quarter-finals taking place in Texas.

The event follows on from the first pair featuring Sergei Kharitonov/Andrei Arlovski and Antonio 'Big Foot' Silva/Fedor Emelianenko. Kharitonov and Big Foot advanced with the winners set to the fight the winner of tonight’s two bouts featuring Alistair Overeem/Fabricio Werdum and Josh Barnett/ Brett Rogers.

The card featured three more bouts:

• Chad Griggs vs Valentijn Overeem
• Daniel Cormier vs Jeff Monson
• Jorge Masvidal vs KJ Noons

I was looking forward to the event especially because one of my favourite fighters Alistair Overeem was on the card and Strikeforce events rarely fail to deliver some excellent fights. Admittedly they don't have the depth or roster of the UFC but in terms of excitement Strikeforce events are second to none. Onto my reviews of the fights....

Chad Griggs vs Valentijn Overeem

I had only seen Chad fight twice, both on Strikeforce where he did better than I imagined. Valentijn Overeem I had never seen before and know him purely as being Alistair’s brother. The fight was a short one and Griggs dominated it from the start. Valentijn seemed to pussy out and tapped to strikes, watching it I didn't see any blow which could cause harm and force him to tap but I'm not in a cage being punched in the face by a 250lb man. It was a disappointing end to the fight but Griggs is looking good in Strikeforce, he's not the best fighter but he's building slowly facing a better calibre fighter with each appearance. I am interested to see how he develops.

Griggs win via Submission (Strikes) 2.55 of round 1

Daniel Cormier vs Jeff Monson

An excellent performance by Cormier saw him nullify the highly regarded grappler in Monson. Monson was at times a punch bag plodding around the cage. I am impressed in Cormier's stand up considering he's a wrestler. He looks a little flabby at heavyweight, I would be interested to see him matched against Griggs or cut to light-heavyweight. A definite future contender.

Cormier wins via unanimous decision.

Jorge Masvidal vs KJ Noons

Prior to this fight I had KJ Noons down as clear winner. I had never heard of Masvidal except his entry into MMA was similar to Kimbo Slice. WHAT A FIGHT! Unlike the earlier Overeem, what heart shown by Noons as he took an absolute, unexpected beating from Masvidal. He was cut brutally in the first round from a sustained attack by Masvidal with particularly harsh knees. KJ's highly rated boxing was non existent, his takedown defence was poor at best. I was very impressed by Masvidal, he gets the next title shot against Melendez, I do think Melendez is a class above and will dissect him.

Masvidal wins via unanimous decision




Josh Barnett vs Brett Rogers

The Baby Faced Assassin is back. I was excited to see Josh back in action and he certainly didn't disappoint, he slammed the 6'5” Rogers with ease, tossed him like a rag doll and tired him out in the mount position. Th second round he quickly submitted a tired Rogers for the win and advance in the HWGP tournament. The loss is Rogers third consecutive in Strikeforce and I don't see anything for him except feed him to Cormier or Griggs. Fair play though his last three losses have been beating by Barnett, Alistair Overeem and a beautiful knockout by Fedor Emelianenko.

Barnett wins via submission 1.17 of round 2

Alistair Overeem vs Fabricio Werdum

Bluster and prolonged periods of inactivity marred this fight, it was clear that Werdum's only strategy was to pull the fight to the ground by any means necessary. So it was a case of a few exchanges on the feet then back down and wait for the fight to be restarted on the ground. The fight was a disappointment for me as I was hoping for fireworks and a knockout by Overeem, though if I think hard about it, Werdum wasn't going to do anything different to take it to the ground 99/100 times.                                                        
Overeem wins via unanmous decision

Compared to the surprise and fireworks of the last HWGP I felt disappointed by this card, it was great to see Barnett and Overeem win but the card as a whole felt lacklustre. Hopefully the semi finals will have some sparks. I have my money on an Overeem/Barnett final, but I could easily see Sergei Kharitonov get the upset, he is the dark horse in this tournament for me.

The line up for the semi finals is:
Alistair Overeem vs Antonio 'Big Foot' Silva
Josh Barnett vs Sergei Kharitonov