The Triangle Choke - UFC 126: Silva Dominates- Strikeforce: HW Tournament This Weekend
Anderson Silva cemented his place in the annals of the all-time greats with his KO of Vitor Belfort at UFC 126. He will not be just in the UFC Hall-of-Fame; he may get his own wing. The “Spider” did his typical dancing to start the fight, which incited the crowd into a chant of “Vitor, Vitor, Vitor” but in the end, as usual, none of that mattered. Silva did the unthinkable, he topped even himself. –after a brief flurry, the fight went in a direct stance, Silva then landed a front kick out of nowhere throttling the comeback efforts of “The Phenom.”. Yes, Silva landed a front kick which knocked Belfort senseless; from there he landed a few shots which forced the referee to put a halt to the action. The crowd was in astonishment as was Belfort himself. Silva’s athleticism, head movement and incredible striking prowess are unmatched in mixed-martial arts. In other action, Forrest Griffin’s size proved to be the difference as he won a decision over Rich “Ace” Franklin. Jon “Bones” Jones proved himself worth of the hype as he completely dominated Ryan “Darth” Bader finishing the fight via tap out due to a guillotine choke in the 2nd round. Bader’s power was useless against the long and strong Jones. Jake Ellenberger won via decision over the talented jiu-jitsu specialist Carlos Eduardo Rocha while Miguel Torres improved his record to an incredible 39-3 with a decision victory over Antonio Banuelos in the UFC’s Bantamweight division.
Silva and Jones certainly stole the show on a packed night of fights. The same question resided for both, what’s next. In Silva’s case, he has completely wiped out the 185lb division. However, there is one challenge that could still await, Georges St. Pierre at a catch-weight. Staunch supporters of GSP along with throngs of Silva detractors are begging for this fight to take place. It certainly could happen, but let me be the one to break the news- Silva will simply dominate GSP like he has all others. For Jones, it seemed to be a tough call, another lesser opponent or a jump to the division’s top shelf fighters?. Sure he moved to 12-1 with the victory but the unproven Bader was by far his toughest test. Jones has yet to face an upper echelon light-heavyweight. All suspense was quickly ended in WWE style as it was announced in the cage that former UFC Light-Heavyweight Champion Rashad Evans had suffered a knee injury; an injury serious enough that it will keep him out of his scheduled title tilt with Shogun Rua. In front of millions, Jones was offered the chance at Shogun- he of course accepted. Now Jones not only gets a major step-up in competition, but it will be a main event fight for the title. WOW! Jones certainly looks indestructible, but Shogun Rua makes a habit of destroying the best.
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The Strikeforce Heavyweight Tournament begins this Saturday, February 12th on Showtime. The action features the greatest mixed-martial artist of all time, Fedor Emelianenko, where he will face a tough challenge in the form of Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva. Fedor may not be at the level he once was, but he is still a tremendous fighter versed in all aspects of the game. Former UFC Heavyweight Champion Andrei Arlovski will face a very tough and underrated Sergei Kharitonov.
The tournament itself is stacked and should generate substantial attention for Strikeforce. The quarterfinals feature Fedor vs. Big Foot, Arlovski vs. Kharitonov, Overeem vs. Werdum and Rogers vs. Barnett. One could easily make a case for four of the combatants to be in the top ten heavyweights on the planet, with three, Barnett, Fedor and Overeem, in the top five. If the favorites play out the semifinals would feature a dream match-up of Fedor vs. Overeem. Overeem is currently the best heavyweight in the world. Could he defeat the all-time great? The other semi-final, if the favorites win, would consist of Kharitonov vs. Barnett. Yes- MMA fans; it is time to pay attention to Strikeforce!
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By Scott Dryden
ProFighting-fans.com Editor-in-Chief