Strikeforce Houston – Feijao Vs. King Mo

This is the second MMA card of the week, not counting Bellator, and it’s another card that just feels there. The WEC card was poorly promoted and so is this one. The UFC card next week has been well promoted, but it shouldn’t surprise you since they are the number one company in the game.

In all reality, we got a Strikeforce Challengers card last weekend which didn’t feel all that special and then this regular Strikeforce card which should feel special and doesn’t. I wonder if there’s simply too much MMA out there right now. I’ll watch and write about most MMA, but the difference between this show and a UFC show is that I’ll go out of my way to make sure I see the UFC show live and there’s not that sense of urgency with Strikeforce these days.

Gus Johnson, Mauro Ranallo, and Frank Shamrock are the announcers.

Bobby Lashley and Chad Griggs are already in the cage.

1. Chad Griggs vs. Bobby Lashley

Griggs has these huge pork chop sideburns. Lashley is down in weight a bit, but still looks jacked.

Lashley immediately shot in and easily got into side control. Gus and Frank talked about why pro wrestlers were coming into MMA. Frank said it’s the same business, yet wrestlers work harder. They should’ve asked Mauro since he actually worked in the business for a bit. Lashley was trying to pass but Griggs was doing a good job of working from the bottom. Griggs got up, but Lashley got him back down. Griggs is slippery and he was able to get up again and nailed Lashley with a knee from the clinch. Lashley buckled. They were separated and Lashley went for another takedown and got it, but Lashley took an uppercut and is bleeding. I don’t think he ever bled in WWE, but I could be wrong. It’s a nasty cut to the left corner of his left eye.

Lashley’s breathing pretty hard to start the round. Lashley picked Griggs up and slammed him down like a spinebuster slam. Lashley is pumping right hands down on Griggs. He was able to get into full mount and Griggs is trying to cover up. Griggs used his feet and the cage to get away from the corner, but couldn’t buck Lashley. If this was the UFC, Lashley would be able to reign down with elbows. They stopped the fight to check out his eye and he says he wanted to continue. Lashley shot in and didn’t get the takedown. He was holding onto one leg while Griggs was firing down hammer shots at him. The bell rang and he landed at least one after the bell. The ref stopped it and the fight is over. Lashley now has one loss.

Winner: Chad Griggs by way of 2nd round TKO

Well, at least Batista vs. Lashley will be easier to put together now. It’s going to be interesting to hear Lashley’s story on this one. His wrestling was better than anything Griggs had, but he just got tired and sloppy. I wonder if Griggs has a future here at heavyweight.

They’re promoting an October 9th card with Nick Diaz headlining without an opponent yet. You’d wish they had one and also that Diaz would be here to talk about it. And instead, they interview Luke Rockhold who fights Matt Linland on the same card. Rather than promoting the main event and draw, you promote a fight that’s probably third from the top. Head scratcher. And it was not a good promo.

2. Jorge Gurgel vs. KJ Noons

We’ll see if Gurgel uses his wrestling. If not, Noons could eat his lunch.

Gurgel looks like he’s in crazy shape. He’s very active with his kicks and also landed a nice right hand. Noons is looking to stalk and he’s taking kicks and punches in order to get closer to Gurgel. Gurgel walked into a nice right hand. If Noons was able to load up at all, the fight would’ve been over. Gurgel is stepping right into right hands which isn’t good for him. Gurgel shot in once, but seemed to be more of a fake than anything and was able to throw a knee that looked to slightly land, but Noons was already moving backwards. Noons is going to knock him out soon. Whoa! They traded shots at the end of the round and just after the bell sounded, Noons knocked him silly with a left hook. It was a beautiful hook too.

Gurgel needs to get to his wrestling. Gurgel ate a straight right and another left hook and then when Gurgel tried to grab him, Noons kneed him illegally. Gurgel had no business coming out in the second round. What a horrendous fight plan by Gurgel. The referee was horrible as well.

Winner: KJ Noons by way of 2nd round TKO

Noons hit him late in the first round, which is arguable that he could’ve prevented it and I don’t think he could’ve as it was bang bang. And then, he knees him illegally when Gurgel is down, yet he was dominating and was going to win walking away. If the referee would’ve stopped the fight once Gurgel went down, none of this would’ve happened. I could see that Gurgel was clueless going into the second round. The second he was touched I would’ve jumped in.

KJ Noons called out Floyd Mayweather. Yep, that’s something Strikeforce couldn’t promote. Smart guys. And by the way, Mayweather wouldn’t allow Noons to hit him.

3. Jacare Souza vs. Tim Kennedy

This is for the middleweight title that became vacant when Jake Shields left Strikeforce for UFC.

Jacare is so quick. He landed a couple of left hooks that Kennedy didn’t really have an answer for. Kennedy countered a leg kick with a left hook of his own. None of them were as pretty as Noons’ though. Kennedy looks uncomfortable on the feed as if he doesn’t know what to look for from Jacare. Even when he does punch and kick, he’s not following through in fear that a counter is coming. Jacare went down after hitting the cage while going backwards and Kennedy jumped on him, but Jacare was fine. Big John McCarthy was really quick to make sure they weren’t going to hit after the bell after what happened in the first two fights.

It’s not like Jacare can’t be hit. He doesn’t move his head at all and stays right in pocket. Kennedy is moving out of the way of some of the bigger shots and taking them on his shoulder and countering. Kind of awkward, but it was successful. Kennedy looked good near the end of the round, landing a superman punch, but then he ate a few to end the round too. I have Jacare up 2-0.

Kennedy is landing that lead right hand, thrown off the wrong foot. Jacare landed a straight right that busted Kennedy open over his right eye. Kennedy shot in and tripped Jacare to the ground. Jacare used the cage to help himself back up. This is a pretty even round except Kennedy has the takedown so he probably wins it. I wonder how many judges give this to Jacare just because Kennedy’s face is bloody?

What’s interesting to me is that on the ground, Jacare has a true killer instinct. He goes for it. But on the feet, he’s content to play point boxing. There were a few times where he had Kennedy in odd positions and stayed patient. Jacare shot in and Kennedy just stuffed him with a great sprawl. Jacare is able to land his right hand because Kennedy drops his when he throws any kind of blow. Kennedy kicked him right in the balls with his front toes. Interesting round. I think Kennedy just tied up the fight. Souza is fighting like he’s way ahead on the scorecard.

Souza definitely looks like the winner and if you score the fight as a whole, he’s probably winning. But with the 10 point must system, I have it tied. To me, the fight was there for the taking for Kennedy, but he didn’t do enough. Kennedy may have landed more shots, but Jacare landed the biggest shots. Kennedy got a huge takedown at the end of the round that could take it, but I think that if you win 4:55 of the round, one takedown shouldn’t sway it the other way. I give the round and fight to Jacare, though neither guy really looked all that good.

Winner: Jacare Souza by unanimous decision

49-46, 48-47 and 48-47 were the scores. I wonder if Dan Henderson is licking his lips. Fundamentally, Souza’s stand-up is solid, but if Henderson could use his wrestling to get inside, he could light up Souza with his mechanical style.

4. Rafael Feijao vs. King Mo

There’s a big King Mo chant going on just as the round starts. Mo used some quick hands to get inside and grabbed a double leg against the cage, but Feijao was able to use his arm to hold his balance and stayed up. Mo grabbed him like he was going to side suplex him and just dropped him hard. Feijao has great balance. Mo took a few shots to get inside and picked him up to slam him again, but Feijao adjusted his weight up in the air and slipped out. Feijao’s landing the better shots and is making Mo pay for getting inside. Mo landed a fadeaway right hand. This is a close round, but Feijao might’ve pulled it out.

Mo looks like he’s figured out that Feijao is stronger than he is and is going to use his stamina and endurance to try to wear him out. He was able to get Feijao down, but not hold him down. He also went to a southpaw stance which I thought was to help his shot, but he landed some strong inside shots. Mo has his guard low as if to try to get Feijao to throw so he can get inside. Mo won the second round fairly easily.

Mo’s lackluster stand-up defense lost it for him. Feijao caught him with a knee and wobbled him. Rather than go to his wrestling and try to catch his breath, he came back at Feijao swinging and opening himself up to getting caught again, which he did. Feijao knocked him near across the cage with a right hand that followed a knee. Mo instinctively shot in and pushed Feijao against the cage, but Feijao just threw hammer shots on him and Mo nearly feel over and Big John stopped it.

Winner: Rafael Feijao

The card was pretty good, but with the exception of KJ Noons, the more marketable fighters lost tonight. Strikeforce has some work to do to get Feijao and Jacare over to a bigger audience than just the hardcores.

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