Monday's programming on The Sherdog Radio Network featured fighters Ben Askren, Matt Lindland and Yves Edwards. Along with these guests came new episodes of "The Savage Dog Show" and "Beatdown."
Matt Lindland returns to the Strikeforce cage this Friday night in Portland. "The Law" joined myself in Jeff Sherwood to talk about his return to the cage, coming off of some losses, fighting in his home town, as well as his documentary "Fighting Politics" which was recently released on DVD.
Jack and Lotfi held things down on "Beatdown." Joining them was UFC and PRIDE vet Yves Edwards and Bellator welterweight Ben Askren. Both men touched on their fights coming up this week.
Monday, May 17 3:09 pm PT: Check out Heyman Hustle's coverage of Strikeforce "Heavy Artillery," including a recap of the show and an interview with main event winner Alistair Overeem.
Two tales of the weekend: Alistair Overeem flew into the States, suffered repeated questions about his physique, assaulted an American citizen, and then flew back to Holland, settling into a role as a legitimate threat to Fedor Emelianenko’s status as the best.
In North Carolina, several fighters arrived prepared to fight but left emotionally drained with nothing to show for it.
There is always a winner and a loser. It’s not always decided in the ring.
Strikeforce prevailed Saturday, with Overeem’s pre-sold reputation as a destroyer on full display against a curdling Brett Rogers. The man who gave Emelianenko a rough first round last fall had virtually nothing for Overeem -- not even the hyped right hand that promised to at least keep Overeem honest. Now, only two obstacles remain in Strikeforce assembling their best chance at a high-profile heavyweight match: Emelianenko getting past Werdum and Strikeforce getting past Emelianenko’s notoriously difficult management.
Both are problems, but nothing compared to what might have been the most spectacular meltdown of a burgeoning promotion to date. Shine Fights spent most of Friday and Saturday in court answering charges that their contract with eccentric boxer Ricardo Mayorga violated Mayorga’s promotional agreement with Don King. Shine’s game from the beginning was to stick their heads in the sand and presume that King would somehow roll over for their stunt casting of Mayorga as an MMA fighter. (Mayorga had filed suit against King last year, but dropped it without explanation. That should’ve been clue one.) It ended the only way it was going to, with Mayorga sitting on the sidelines and Shine trying to assign blame to the North Carolina boxing authority and King.
In fact, the show’s cancelation is one hundred percent a result of their building an event around the toothpick-supported premise of Mayorga breaching a valid contract. We’re a long way from the ninjitsu experts of the 1990s, but this business will always be home to amateurs.
When Jake Shields was filmed sitting next to UFC boss Dana White at an April WEC show in Sacramento, speculation began to swirl over when the Strikeforce middleweight champion would be joining the sport’s biggest promotion.
Any doubt about White’s motivation toward Shields was removed when he mouthed the infamous, “He’s mine,” into the lens.
In fact, officials for Strikeforce are already looking toward a future without Shields, should he bolt as expected. A source told Sherdog.com there is a tentative plan to book fights in the division with an eye toward crowning a new 185-pound champion later in 2010, possibly at one of the company’s bigger shows in November or December.
The potential for a grand prix style tournament is not likely given the limited card space and television time for the summer shows that have already started being booked. However, some inside the promotion see the future bookings as a de facto tournament that will eventually fill the potential vacancy by the end of the year.
Middleweight is one of the deeper divisions for the company, but the loss of Shields will make it tough for Strikeforce should one of Shields’ former victims win the 185 strap.
Shields holds wins over Lawler, Henderson and Miller. Aside from “Jacare,” those three would have to be considered some of the favorites to claim the belt. Legitimacy will be an issue for any of them should they summit the division.
