Strikeforce Houston Aftermath

Strikeforce Houston was like a bad retro party. When you’re feeling nostalgic for the old MMA days, the best way to relive them is to watch past fights or find a Youtube video of Dan Severn’s latest B-league dust-up (yes, he’s still fighting). It’s not to relive past mistakes. Featuring several of the negative hallmarks plaguing early MMA events, Strikeforce Houston delivered a lot of old-school infamy. There is no proper MMA sanctioning body in Texas. That meant no drug testing, which is extremely unsettling in a sport where dudes like Bobby Lashley feature pecs the size of mastodon steaks. The lack of a proper commission also meant astonishingly bad refereeing. Lately, a referee might earn the “bad” badge by stopping a fight too early. Hard to be too indignant when early stoppages are usually errors on the side of caution, which is in the interest of a fighter’s well-being. The opposite was seen August 21st, when Jorge Gurgel took an unpunished knee to the dome at the bell (KJ Noons didn’t even get a warning), Gurgel also received several strikes too many in a late stoppage, Lashley was stood up from mount, and Lashley took numerous blows to the back of the head, all with nary a warning from the Texan refs. It’s not Texas’ fault – it’s Strikeforce’s fault.

Dozens if not more past events under the banner of various promotions have demonstrated the ease of shipping in quality referees (Strikeforce managed to get “Big” John McCarthy to ref the title fight, after all). Next, independent drug testing is nothing more than a phone call away in this age of puritan sports idealism. Hopefully Strikeforce will hopefully chalk this event up as lesson learned. Granted, there is no clear cut way to guage new referees in what is still a burgeoning sport (as in a license, or diploma). And creditably, all of the fights themselves – especially the title fights – were clear-cut finishes.

That said, there are lessons learned for the fighters in the main event, as well, so let’s take a look at what the future holds for them.

Muhammad “King Mo” Lawal wrested the belt from Gegard Mousasi in a bit of a lackluster affair this past April. Cavalcante, despite his 10-2 record, was widely considered an easy pushover after the daunting specter of Mousasi. He wasn’t, and Lawal never knew what hit him. Lawal looked like in amateur out there. He’s only been fighting for two years, but that’s long enough to know that you should never look past an opponent, and for pete’s sake, keep your hands up (you’re not Anderson Silva). Lawal deserves to face a dangerous opponent next: he needs the challenge of a veteran fighter to get that fake chip off of his shoulder and reinforce the lesson in humility, so he works exceptionally hard in training and so can display his natural talent in victory or defeat. Renato Sobral or Mike Kyle would both be ideal, once Lawal recovers from major knee surgery.

> Check out the official Strikeforce Houston results after the fights become official and historic Strikeforce results online at ProFighting-fans.com!

Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante should face Gegard Mousasi next. However, Mousasi is slated to fight in Japan, again (he defeated Jake O’Brien July 10th at DREAM 15), for the DREAM light-heavyweight title this September. Mousasi faces fellow tournament finalist Tatsuya Mizuno. Should Mousasi win (and he should), the best option for Cavalcante is to wait it out and challenge “The Dreamcatcher” in America once he is ready to fight again. A tune-up fight in the thin air of the Strikeforce light-heavyweight roster would be a bad gamble for the new champion, and the prospect of a unified champion is too interesting for Strikeforce and DREAM to pass up. Cavalcante should put up his feet and relax until Mousasi is ready to save the date.

Bobby Lashley was crushed in a variety of ego-hammering ways in his defeat to the much smaller Chad Griggs: his cardio looked suspect and so did his spirit. He gassed so spectacularly that he folded in seconds once the alert Griggs pounced for the kill. Lashley deserves the same fate as Lawal: he needs a litmus test of his true depth and ability. A proper wake-up call would be the fighter Lashley shrugged off - the 10-0 Shane Del Rosario.

Chad Griggs’ victory reminds me of Seth Petruzelli’s victory over Kimbo Slice. Despite a fantastic nickname (Gravedigger) and even better sideburns, Griggs is a small heavyweight in a promotion replete with monsters. Petruzelli is a proper light-heavyweight and so is Griggs. Should Griggs decide to continue in the heavyweight arena, he might find himself in the same shoes as Randy Couture, Frank Mir and Big Nog – all of whom are having noticeable issues in the UFC’s mammoth heavyweight division. An interesting match-up might be Daniel Cormier (who won his undercard fight that night), who isn’t too much bigger than Griggs but would test him against another wrestler who might actually be able to go three rounds.

KJ Noons punctuated his spectacular beatdown of Jorge Gurgel by accepting a rematch with Nick Diaz, who lost to Noons via doctor stoppage (cuts) in 2007 – Diaz’s most recent loss, in fact. It was a dominant victory for Noons, but it proved the impetus for Diaz to develop his striking prowess, which executed brilliantly in victories over Marius Zaromskis and Scott Smith. This will be a fight not to miss.

Jorge Gurgel needs sports therapy, a six month wrestling clinic, or seriously reconsider his motives for fighting. His desperation to entertain the fans doesn’t address the fact that he is 2-5 in his last seven fights. He has been demoted from UFC lightweight gatekeeper to Strikeforce lightweight gatekeeper – or at least he had been. He’s lost too often. Strikeforce doesn’t really have the depth to drop fighters, but there doesn’t seem to be much point in keeping Gurgel around. Sadly, Gurgel’s future should be a return to coaching.

The only decision of the evening was the tentative five-round boxing match between Jacare Souza and Tim Kennedy. It was a close fight, even if the fighters showed a distinct reluctance to commit at times, but Souza deserved the win, for which he was given the belt. The real question is, does he deserve the belt? Dan Henderson begs to differ, as he is the rightful claimant to contendership, despite coming off of a loss. That loss was to the former champion, Jake Shields, who left for the greener pastures of the UFC. Robbie Lawler is also coming off of a catch-weight loss, but he is better suited stylistically for Kennedy.

By Roy Kok
ProFighting-fans.com MMA Staff Writer