JOE takes a look back at the first two quarter-finals of the Strikeforce eight-man heavyweight tournament which took place in New Jersey over the weekend.
By Fergus Ryan
The Strikeforce eight-man heavyweight tournament kicked off Saturday night in the Izod Centre, New Jersey, with the first two quarter-finals.
In the main event, we saw the fall of the Last Emperor, Fedor Emelianenko (32-3), for only the third time in his career. The first was a highly controversial doctor stoppage in 2000. The second was a spectacular submission to a master Brazilian Jiu Jitsu technician in 2010, but the latest crushing defeat came against a heavyweight most MMA fans haven’t made their mind on as yet.
The completeness of Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva’s (16-2) destruction of Fedor was plain to see on the face of the Russian who couldn’t answer the bell for the third round. Silva had turned Fedor into a cyclops, with Fedor’s one good eye set in a face that had been beaten beetroot purple.
Confusion reigned at the bout’s conclusion as Silva’s corner continued to ready their fighter in the belief they were entering the final round, conceivably two rounds to the good. As Silva’s seconds started to depart the ring they noticed that none of the Athletic Commission, camera crew or other hangers on were leaving, at which point focus turned to festivities realising the fight had been called by the doctor.
End of an era?
Fedor’s reign as the most fearsome heavyweight fighter on the planet seems to be over. Always a smaller sized heavyweight, his fury, raw power and speed saw many opponents cave before climbing into the ring. Against the modern heavyweight that roams the ring at 250+ pounds with welterweight speed (think Cain Velasquez, Junior Dos Santos, Shane Carwin, Brock Lesnar) Fedor now looks like a pudgy light-heavyweight as some commentators have suspected in recent years.
Fedor’s legacy is intact despite his last two losses. He could continue competitively if he considers a cut down in weight class to the land of the 205’ers. That may be seen as a sign of weakness by the great man, leaving graceful retirement as another option. Continuing to fight at heavyweight will be tricky inside and outside the ring as the recent losses have diminished his bargaining power with the bigger promotions, especially the UFC.
Kharitonov v Arlovski
The other quarter-final saw Sergei Kharitonov beat the glass jawed Andrei Arlovski in a first round KO. In stark contrast to Fedor, Kharitonov showed no signs of aging, using his signature style perfected in his days fighting in PrideFC in Japan. Walking down Arlovski in defiance of his offence, Kharitonov threw his punches with bad intentions, ultimately stretching Arlovski out cold in just over 2 minutes.
Four losses, including three by KO probably mean that Arlovski’s days as a relevant heavyweight are over. His potent mixture of crisp kick-boxing and overwhelming athleticism can no longer compensate for his inability to take a punch square on the jaw.
In the reserve matches Valentijn Overeem set up a potential clash with his brother by beating K1 convert Ray Sefo. Overeem will now see himself in the mix, with brother Alastair, in the tournament proper if a fighter falls injured. In post event interviews both Overeems had no objections to stepping into the cage to face off against his brother. Shane Del Rosario also put himself in the mix for potential inclusion with an impressive win over drive-by shooting survivor Lavar Johnson in the night’s other reserve bout.
The next set of quarter-finals is scheduled to take place in early April. The winner of Alastair Overeem versus Fabricio Werdum will fight Big foot Silva while the winner of Josh Barnett and Brett Rogers will face Kharitonov.
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