Monday, November 9 12:11 pm PT: On a Friday night outside of The Kress in the heart of Hollywood, Crave Online spoke with MMA stars on the red carpet. Catch Mark Coleman's first on camera response to being called a “sissy” by Tito Ortiz.
A burly, barrel-chested Emelianenko still looked comparatively small next to Brett Rogers, who has the physique of a lineman; Antonio Silva, Tim Sylvia, Brock Lesnar, Shane Carwin, and at least a half-dozen other heavyweights flirt with the division’s 265 lb. ceiling. While heavyweights are traditionally expected to fight in an open-class environment, big men are acquiring skills comparable to the opponents they dwarf. If Brock Lesnar steps into a cage to defeat Emelianenko one day, did he do it because of a skillset -- or because he’s the size of a Kenmore side-by-side?
Mousasi looked slow to start against Sokodjou Saturday, but recent performances -- including a heavyweight contest -- have shown him to be a viable next-generation fighter. Unfortunately for his development, Strikeforce’s 205 lb. division is their weakest: getting rounds in isn’t quite the same as getting pushed.
Is CBS in this for the long haul?
Television’s biggest asset -- consistency -- is also its biggest handicap. While programs like “Seinfeld” can take months or years for viewers to warm to them, executives rarely operate in a patient mood: if you’re not delivering, you’re not airing. Emelianenko’s performance will get buzzed about, but it’ll take both Strikeforce and their performers several shows to work up a head of steam.
Is Brett Rogers going to get more dangerous?
A knockout loss tends to change how fighters conserve their attacks: get hit and next time you might flinch. But Rogers has the benefit of knowing he lost to the best, an asset that could actually boot his confidence the next time the bell rings. His follow-up might be more interesting than Emelianenko’s.
Einstein’s Theory of Relativity Award: Jason Miller, for choking Jake Shields nearly unconscious in the third and thinking the bell rang too soon; and Shields, for getting choked unconscious and not hearing the bell ring soon enough.
The Unsuspecting Jimmy Lennon Award: Miller, for forcing Lennon to announce his fighting style as “slap boxing,” a comedy routine that remains just as unfunny as when Dennis Hallman insisted on “cowboy karate” all those years ago. (Miller is wacky. We get it.)
The We-Gotta-Figure-Out-This-TV-Timing-Thing Award: Strikeforce, for bumping the undercard bout between Mark Miller and Deray Davis entirely. Not having an Excel sheet with an event rhythm laid out cost both men wasted training camps. That’s beyond belief.
Update 11/09/09: Sports Illustrated's Josh Gross didn't pick Sokoudjou to win, as stated here initially. He believed Mousasi would take it. The management regrets the error.
The expectations created by Fedor Emelianenko’s media profile make it impossible for him to perform in a way that pleases everyone: if he had crumbled Brett Rogers Saturday in a manner akin to Tim Sylvia -- women sobbing cageside, Medivacs hovering overhead -- fans would sigh and complain that Rogers never belonged in the ring with him.
In taking nearly seven minutes to finish Rogers off, gushing blood all the while, Emelianenko is instead viewed by a portion of the audience as a less-than-prime fighter. The paint, some would argue, is coming off the pedestal.
There is some truth in the idea that we don’t yet know how impressive it really was to beat Rogers: maybe he’s a devastating heavyweight who hasn’t had much of a chance to show off. (His lone win over a top-10 opponent, Andrei Arlovski, earned him this slot.) Maybe he’s a one-dimensional athlete who won’t go much further.
