To say that Strikeforce is on its last legs would be quite the understatement. Since its purchase by Zuffa last year, the clock has been ticking on the organization being folded into the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Before that can happen, however, the organization needed to complete its Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix, and that occurred with Josh Barnett competed against Daniel Cormier this past Saturday. After what turned out to be a very solid event, Zuffa may find one of the top candidates for card of the year occurring outside of the UFC’s Octagon. Going forward, many of the fighters from that evening have some interesting bouts to look forward to in their careers. Here are some suggestions:
Daniel Cormier vs. Shane Carwin
While word on the street is that Cormier has one more bout under the Strikeforce banner before he can be moved over to the UFC, that should be tossed out the window, and they should place him in the Octagon immediately. It doesn’t make any sense to keep the champion of a disbanded division active when he doesn’t have any competition, so why not move him to where all his compatriots are located? Shane Carwin would be a great opponent to welcome him to the big stage of MMA.
Carwin was a few solid shots away from defeating Brock Lesnar, and being crowned the UFC champion, but since then his career has been on a downward spiral. This all culminated with him spending a year away from the sport due to a serious back injury. With his return expected for late this year, I would match him against Cormier, who will also be coming off of an injury, a hand injury suffered against Barnett.
This would be an intriguing matchup due to the similarities in both fighters. While Cormier is the better wrestler of the two, Carwin has shown that he can stuff takedowns when needed, and his striking is always dangerous. Cormier’s footwork has continued to improve over his last few bouts, and he proved in his last fight that he can compete at a fast pace for 25 whole minutes. This would be a strong win for Cormier’s resume, and if he can pull out the victory, it would make a great statement for a fighter making his UFC debut.
Gilbert Melendez vs. Jim Miller
The “Free Gilbert” campaign needs to start right now. Josh Thompson almost stole the bout, the title, and the opportunity to leverage himself into a huge fight once he is brought into the UFC. It’s apparent that he is having a hard time “getting up” for the fights that are available in Strikeforce’s 155-pound division, so why keep the man in purgatory at this point? I understand that there is a load of red tape keeping him out of the Octagon, but we’ve seen athletes in other sports go to extreme efforts to get what they want for their careers, and now it’s time for Melendez to do the same thing.
While many would call for Melendez to get an immediate title shot, the UFC wouldn’t do so. Melendez’s teammate Jake Shields was in a similar position when he changed organizations, and he had to “prove” himself against a mid-level contender. Jim Miller was very close top contender status at 155, and the excitement that would surround a bout between him and Melendez would be a great way to introduce him to the mainstream UFC fans.
Neither fighter is very technically sound on the feet. However, Melendez is known for putting pressure on his opponents and keeping them out of their game plans. In this bout it would be interesting to see if he would be able to bully his opponent around the cage the way he has done in the past. There wouldn’t be much ground work in this fight, as Melendez would stay out of Miller’s tough grappling game. Melendez would be expected to push Miller around the cage much the same way Benson Henderson did, en route to scoring a big “Welcome” victory in the Octagon.
While the “Warmaster” was unable to pull out a victory in the Grand Prix final, he went a long way towards proving that he deserves a place on the UFC’s roster. Matching him against the surging Mike Russow would create a pivotal bout for both competitors.
Russow is 4-0 in the Octagon and riding an 11-fight win streak, which has positioned him as a fringe contender in the division. However, he doesn’t have any wins over major names in the weight class. Barnett, on the other hand, needs a strong debut to prove that he should still be considered one of the top heavyweights in the sport.
Barnett would rightly be the favorite going into this fight based on his track record. Russow would go into the bout with the intention of controlling this bout with his wrestling, as he has done in the past, but that would put him in a dangerous position against an individual with Barnett’s grappling abilities. This is the type of fight that would either make a star out of Russow or welcome Barnett back to the UFC after more than a decade with a highlight reel submission win.
Josh Thompson vs. Justin Wilcox
Thompson was five minutes of action away from hoisting the Strikeforce lightweight championship belt on his shoulder once again. Had he been more active during the tight first round against Melendez, he would have walked away from the event as the champion. However, hindsight is always 20-20, and Thompson can’t live off of “what ifs.” Instead, he should move forward to face Justin Wilcox.
The “Silverback” was a lightweight prospect whose imposing stature and win streak made him a potential title contender as a Strikeforce lightweight. That was until 2011, when he spent his cage time getting poked in the eye, and then defeated by Caros Fedor in less than one minute. If Strikeforce is looking to build Wilcox back up as a potential contender for Melendez before the whole group is brought into the UFC, starting a run against Thomson would be move in the right direction for both combatants.
While Strikeforce is in a position where it is struggling to make important matchups, Zuffa does have the resources to create some intriguing fights for the competitors who took part in this past Saturday’s action.
