The results and some observations.
Aoki vs Beerbohm....Aoki via neck crank 1st round. What the hell was Beerbohm thinking taking Aoki down right off the bat. The last place you want to be is on the ground with him.
Beerbohm went in claiming that he was "unsubmittable", probably not the best idea going against one of, if not the best submission artist at 155. Beautiful ground work by Aoki as usual.
Jardine vs Mousasi.....Majority draw. Two judges must have scored the 1st rd 10-8 for Jardine because of a point deduction and 4 takedowns ( although he did nothing with them). After that it was all Mousasi as Jardine who took the fight on 9 days notice gassed. Courageous effort on Jardine's part.
Mousasi would have won if it weren't for the illegal upkick. He was dominating the standup, but you have to give The Dean of Mean credit for just hanging in there with a top striker on short notice. He was able to take Mousasi down several times, but couldn't do much with those, as Mousasi was able to control his wrists and posture and get back to his feet.
Champ Gilbert Melendez vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri (for lightweight title)...Melendez by TKO via viscous elbows. He could be very well be the best lightweight in the world. Amazing performance.
El Nino looked absolutely dominant as Kawajiri was clearly outclassed on the feet. He made use of some great knees whenever Kawajiri tried to clinch. He also took full advantage of his newfound ability to use elbows on the ground to finish him off (as a result of Zuffa acquiring Strikeforce, they now use the Unified Rules like the UFC does).
Champ Nick Diaz vs. Paul Daley (for welterweight title)....Diaz via refree stoppage from punches in the 1st. Diaz was down got up and dropped Dailey. Great action and finish. Diaz will continue to move up the world ranking and at this point I don't think one welterweight on the planet can stand with him.
What a fight!! It was non-stop action from start to finish, you saw more in this less-than-one-round brawl than in some full fights. Diaz looked great on the feet, going to the body on Daley a lot. His arrogance looked to have got the better of him as he walked towards Daley taunting him, dropping his hands and sticking his chin out, as Daley dropped him twice. But to his credit, Diaz was able to recover and get back up to dole out more punishment. I found his ability on the ground to avoid Daley's haymakers to be particularly impressive. I would love to see Diaz fight an elite UFC striker like Thiago Alves before he gets a shot at GSP.
Overall another great card from Strikeforce as they continually put on the best entertainment in MMA.
Amen to that! Hopefully with Zuffa's backing, more people will give Strikeforce a chance.
