Questions Answered and Lessons Learned From Fedor vs. Henderson

Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson is now in the MMA history books. Dan Henderson proved too much for the aged Fedor Emelianenko and earned a first round TKO while Miesha Tate demonstrated her superior grappling abilities to earn a stunning submission victory over skilled Dutch grappler Marloes Coenen.

The event was a solid and entertaining one overall, the stoppage controversy in the main event notwithstanding.

What was the fallout from the event? What burning questions were answered and what lessons were learned about the night's fighters and about the general shape of mixed martial arts? Read and find out!

The Sport Has Passed Scott Smith By, Tarec Saffiedine Impressed But...Didn't.

Scott Smith proved against Belgian striker Tarec Saffiedine that he was a journeyman competitor at best. Smith was simply too slow and too one dimensional—not only in his striking but in his overall game—to be any threat to Saffiedine.

Smith has demonstrated this problem in many of his fights but has never improved on it, relying constantly on his ability to come back from the brink of defeat against overwhelming odds. Thus, Smith has never improved his overall MMA abilities and what happened in the fight against Saffiedine is the unfortunate result.

As for Saffiedine, he looked very fluid and crisp with his striking but, in all fairness, Smith was a tailor-made opponent for him; He didn't show anything that the MMA community didn't already know. He impressed the fans but...didn't impress them because he did what he was expected to do.

Both Paul Daley and Tyron Woodley Are Still Too One-Dimensional.

British striker Paul Daley proved yet again in his fight against Tyron Woodley that he is simply too one-dimensional to compete with accomplished wrestlers (although to Daley's credit his wrestling was much improved since his infamous fight against Josh Koscheck).

However, Tyron Woodley also proved that he needs to further develop his skillset for mixed martial arts. What fans saw fighting Daley was not a true mixed martial artist but rather a wrestler who dabbled in some striking and some Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

While this was effective enough to dispatch a competitor like Daley, it won't be enough to defeat higher level competitors at welterweight.

Nevertheless, Woodley still has some time to grow as a fighter at 29 years old with only nine fights.

Robbie Lawler Has Stepped His Game Up, Tim Kennedy Is Tough as Nails.

Despite coming up short in a decision loss to Tim Kennedy, Robbie Lawler looked very impressive compared to his last few fights. He displayed much better movement, footwork and wrestling. He also bulked up his physique. Even though he lost, look for him to come back strong.

Tim Kennedy proved what we all already knew; he was tough as nails (how could he not be as a member of the United States special forces)? His face was battered and bloodied by Lawler but Kennedy just kept attacking.

Kennedy also demonstrated excellent and tenacious wrestling abilities, he fought very hard for each take down!

Miesha Tate Is the Future of Women's MMA.

Miesha Tate, at only 24 years of age, managed to overpower and submit a highly skilled grappler in Marloes Coenen to earn the Strikeforce Women's bantamweight championship.

Due to her young age, physical gifts (this refers to more than just her fighting abilities), and overall charismatic and positive demeanor, Tate is set to become the new face of women's MMA should she solidify her role as champion by defeating former champion Sarah Kaufman.

Dan Henderson Is One of the Best, Fedor Emelianenko Is Past His Prime.

Dan Henderson solidified his legacy as one of the greatest MMA fighters of all time. Not only did he manage to be successful in a third weight class (where he was fighting at a disadvantage), he was successful in a third weight class against a man many believe (or used to believe) to be the greatest heavyweight of all time, Fedor Emelianenko.

Emelianenko on the other hand did not look as impressive as Henderson. His classic nigh-unshakable chin was broken, his striking was slower and he was just generally less impressive than he was in his youth.

Emelianenko is definitely past his prime but does this mean it is time for the Russian legend to retire? It's not up to us or even Emelianenko, according to him it is up to God.

Refereeing Still Isn't Perfect. Should There Be a Standard for Stopping Fights?

The Henderson-Emelianenko fight was not without controversy. Many, including Emelianenko himself, felt that the fight was halted too early by referee Herb Dean.

Even though it looked like the fight was over, Pat Barry and Cheick Kongo's fight looked like it was over too but Kongo managed to overcome his desperate position and defeat Barry. What's to say that Fedor couldn't have done the same?

Refereeing in MMA is still not an exact science. Perhaps there should be a certain standard or amount of undefended punches landed before a fight can be stopped?

Matt Saccaro is a Bleacher Report featured columnist and an avid MMA fan. For articles like the one above and for brilliant 140-character insights into MMA, follow him on Twitter @mattsaccaro.