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| Reaction to Strikeforce & Dragon Gate |
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Thumbs way up Best match: Fedor vs. Rogers
Thumbs Up! Best Match- Fedor vs Rogers Worst- Mousasi vs Soukaju Nothing was bad on the show, but I guess Soukaju just continues to look like a guy who should be a star, but just isn't that good. Fedor vs Rogers delivered, thats why I gave it the nod. It was why people watched, Fedor was treated like a big star and came off like one while Rogers did not look bad in the losing effort. He kept himself in the mix whether it's a rematch or not Rogers showed he has tools that need to be molded and he could be a force in the HW world of MMA. I liken Rogers to a Riddick Bowe type of guy, a very big, strong guy who knows how to bang who doesn't have the body but he's got the skills, if someone can get his conditioning up, and fine tune his skills to not be quite as wild, and work on his footwork, he could be a force. My only knocks on the show were they did no post fight interviews aside from the main, which I assume was a time issue, to me that's a mistake, you have to treat these guys like stars and introduce them to the fans. Sometimes in UFC those post fight interviews can turn a crowd for or against a guy regardless if he won or lost so, they have to find a way to get that in. The other time issue, was they didn't give the tv audience the main event entrances. That came off minor league to me. All of the fights were at least competitive. I'm slowly started not liking Jake Shields, ever since he seemed like he was dodging Nick Diaz I kind of felt that was a bitch move and today while he did what he had to do to win, his style wasn't exciting. When the announcers said he complained to them for criticizing his striking, I really started to think this guy is a little sensitive and needs to grow up. He showed tonight he wanted no part of Mayhem on their feet so, just admit what you are and don't pretend to be some great striker when you're clearly not. As for Mayhem this man GETS IT!!!!!! That entrance was great, and it was the first guy on the show the crowd treated like a star. He got the most out of this show other than Fedor and Rogers in my opinion and needs to be a guy they use to promote their company. Mayhem has the pro wrestling side of things down pat and knows how to stand out and look like a star!!!!! He's got what you can't teach. UFC could use someone like that as well, especially now with everyone on the injured list. Mayhem coaching TUF!!!!!! Must see TV!!!! Lastly, a non title match in MMA? Wasn't Soukaju supposed to win here via screw job to set up the title fight on PPV so you think he actually has a chance to win the title? I think they booked this all wrong. They need DMX's promoters to help them along next time. Chris Najdek Dave, Thumbs way-up on the show tonight. It is hard to top a free show with four good and varied fights. I enjoyed the whole card, but Fedor vs. Rogers gets the best match from me. Rogers looked tough and dangerous, but Fedor showed the incredible knockout power that always seems to come out of nowhere. God really broke the mold after he created Fedor, because he is one-of-a-kind. Witnessing his fights over the years is one of life's great pleasures. The Chicago crowd was great tonight, also. It may have been one of the best crowds to come across on television in a long time. They really gave the main event a major event feel. Matt Wright Thumbs way up Best fight: Fedor vs. Rogers Worst fight: none KO: Fedor Sub: none Werdum vs. Silva was decent. I thought Silva should have gotten a 10-8 for the 1st and it should have been a draw. Silva made a mistake by following Werdum to the ground. If he stuck with backing off after he dropped Werdum and forcing more standup, I think he would have won. Werdum was too heavy. Mousasi vs. Sokoudjou went exactly as expected. Great while it lasted. I wonder if Sok will ever get it together. All the physical ability in the world. Some of things he did in the fight were amazing. Mousasi is just another level though. Shields and Mayhem went as expected too. Actually the whole card did, more or less. Mayhem just isn't on the level to beat anyone on Shields' level, He can compete, but not win. Mayhem is an eel and even just maintaining control on him like Shields did is hard enough. Good fight for grappling purists. I think Shields makes a vulnerable MW champion though. Don't think he beats Jacare, for one. The main pulled the plow. Rogers proved himself and gave Fedor a real fight and it was exciting from the first bell and maybe a FotY candidate. Rogers needs to really get in shape and he's gonna beat a whole lotta heavyweights, maybe everybody else. LOT of natural ability. But Fedor is still Fedor. You can't rattle him no matter what you hit him with, and sooner or later he hits you, and as long as he's around we probably don't need a superheavyweight or cruiserweight division. I think SF, CBS and the sport came up big winners too. Crimson Mask You have all of the results already. So, I guess I'll just give some tidbits. - Arena was about 90% full. Some blocks in the upper deck and, strangely enough, an entire front row of one of the center lower level sections were empty. Guys in our section up top got moved down because they had a sign and I guess the production guys wanted them on camera. - They made no effort to hype up the crowd as it went to live TV. Big contrast from attending a live Raw show. - Crowd knew their MMA. Cheered for take downs and reversals, not just knockouts. They hated Shields' stalling tactics (as did I). - Lots of Russians. There's a big Eastern European community in Chicago. But, even I was surprised so many Russians made it out. Probably 10%-20% of the crowd. Lots of flags. Lots of Russian chants. - Fedor easily got the biggest pop. People loved this guy. Rogers was getting booed from the get-go. Second biggest pop for the referee (John McCarthy I think). Third was Mayhem. Werdum eventually won the crowd over. - What's with all the stereotypical entrance music? Jungle music for Sokodjou. Arabian Nights music for Mousasi. Felt like WWF, and not in a good way. - Solid show. The Fedor fight delivered which was most important. Everyone went nuts. I think everyone got their money's worth. Andres Rinconeno Chicago, IL Easy Thumbs Up Best Fight: Rounds 1-3 of Shields-Miller Worst Fight: Rounds 4-5 of Shields-Miller Fedor does appear to be one of the few who might beat Brock. You'd expect Brock to control 90% plus of the fight but the KTFO special is always out there... Ed Branscomb
Thumbs Up Best Fight: Fedor/Rogers Worst: Shields/Miller SMACK! was the sound of the loudest punch I've ever heard in my life by Fedor. Brett Rogers made himself a big babyface by fighting the fight of his life, and then ruined it with his postfight promo, just coming off bad. I think Fedor came off great in his CBS debut. Rogers looked incredibly tough, Fedor's nose was broken within seconds, he was completely ground'n'pounded against the cage and still escaped where most fighters would've lost right there, he constantly was working for better position or a submission, and then of course there was that comic book superhero style punch that any first timer would've been blown away by seeing. I think what really separates Fedor is his ability to absorb finishing blows and come back to win fights. I guarantee Jake Shields will never be on CBS again. And even though he lost, that was Sokoudjou's best fight. Steve Te Tai
Troy Tollison Strikeforce on CBS Feedback Thumbs Up Best fight: Fedor Emelianenko v. Brett Rogers Worst fight: Antonio Silva v. Febricio Verdum I enjoyed the second half of this show a lot more than the first, which was ok but the difference really felt apparent between coverage of an MMA event by a network and UFC producing a show. And considering that everyone on the show kept mentioning UFC you`d think they would try to be more like them. I think it`s good to be a different product but it took some getting used to and showed me that I am more a UFC fan than an MMA fan. I had actually just thought the show was boring. But then Jason `Mayhem` Miller entered the screen and became one of the most entertaining people I have seen in a long time. With the entrance and his performance, it seemed like he became a star. I would have picked that as best fight but Emelianenko-Rogers had a major fight feel and was captivating up to the last punch. I think both of these fights would be great for rematches and made much better use of television coverage than the first half of the show did. Dave Musgrave Markham, Ontario THUMBS UP! Best Match: Danielson vs Doi Worst Match: n/a The two singles matches on this PPV that people were talking about lived up to the hype and were excellent matches. Those two matches were worth the price of the PPV alone, and you got some other really good matches (Kid vs Yoshino, Main Event Tag) for the low price of $19.95. Would DEFINITELY recommend to ALL Dragon Gate fans, and would recommend other wrestling fans to give it a try. David Herrera
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