Strikeforce: Power Ranking the Finishes at Final Event
Strikeforce: Power Ranking the Finishes at Final Event
Strikeforce has officially closed it doors following Satuday's card. At this event, there were more than a few finishes that showed skill and poise to complete.
There were five submissions and two knockouts on the 11-fight card. This is important, as many fans like to see finishes over decisions.
Here is a power ranking of the knockouts and submissions at Strikeforce: Marquardt vs. Saffiedine.
7. Josh Barnett Def. Nandor Guelmino Via Arm-Triangle Choke
This submission was almost too easy.
Josh Barnett effortlessly took down Nandor Guelmino and choked him out quickly on the main card Saturday. His weapon of choice was the arm-triangle choke.
This submission is so low because it was so easy for Barnett. Interestingly enough, all of Barnett's wins in Strikeforce came via arm-triangle choke.
6. Estevan Payan Def. Michael Bravo Via TKO (punches)
Estevan Payan showed why he is such a dangerous striker in knocking out Michael Bravo on the dark match last night.
Payan threw punches with bad intentions, dropping Bravo a couple times throughout the fight.
In the end, he would put down Bravo and follow up with punches. The referee needed to make the save so that Payan did not damage Bravo anymore.
5. Gegard Mousasi Def. Mike Kyle Via Rear-Naked Choke
Gegard Mousasi won last night with your average rear-naked choke, but it was set up by some nasty ground-and-pound.
After securing the tight choke, it appeared as if Kyle tapped out twice. Finally on the third attempt at tapping, the ref finally pulled Mousasi off him.
Bad refereeing, but a nice finish.
4. Daniel Cormier Def. Dion Staring Via TKO (punches)
If Mark Coleman is the "Godfather of Ground-and-Pound," Daniel Cormier may be his godchild.
Cormier toppled Dion Staring with his vastly superior wrestling and threw bevies of punches from the top position. Staring showed heart to stay in it, but he was taking too much damage.
Cormier would get a TKO win from strikes and call out some top UFC fighters.
3. Roger Gracie Def. Anthony Smith Via Arm-Triangle Choke
After one round in the Anthony Smith-Roger Gracie fight, it looked like Gracie didn't know he was in a fight yet.
The second round was a different story.
Putting Smith on his back, Gracie quickly moved through Smith's guard like a hot knife through butter. Within a minute, Gracie had locked in a tight arm-triangle choke and ended Smith's attempt at an upset.
2. Tim Kennedy Def. Trevor Smith Via Guillotine Choke
Tim Kennedy and Trevor Smith knew each other well coming into this fight Saturday night. I wonder if Smith knew he would get tapped from the training they had done together.
Fast forward to the third round, where Smith, who was holding his ground against Kennedy, began to gas and went in for a lazy takedown.
Kennedy made him pay for that, as he snagged a violent guillotine that looked as if he was going to pop Smith's head off his shoulders. That submission was devastating, to say the least.
1. Ronaldo Souza Def. Ed Herman Via Kimura
Ronaldo Souza announced his arrival to the UFC middleweight division with a dominant performance against UFC employee Ed Herman Saturday night.
After roughing Herman up on the feet, Souza got him to the ground and quickly dominated Herman. He slapped on a nasty kimura that looked to be a couple inches away from being a flashback of the Frank Mir-Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira kimura finish.
Luckily, Herman's arm is in one piece.