Final Jabs From Strikeforce: Fedor Vs. Werdum

It was an interesting night of events at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California for Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Werdum.  

I'd imagine that at this point everyone is well aware of the monumental upset Werdum caused as he locked Fedor into the "Choke Heard 'Round the World." Wow... I didn't see that one coming.  Neither did anyone else in the building, except maybe for Werdum and him team. 

Here are some final thoughts on the explosive Showtime televised event as we get ready to move on to another big week in the MMA world:

Love him or hate him, Frank Shamrock lived up to his nickname and truly is a legend in MMA. I wish him nothing but the best as he announced his retirement in front of his hometown fans.

It was a pretty tough night for Josh Thomson as he nearly went the distance with Pat "Bam Bam" Healy. 

While the crowd was clearly thrilled with the San Jose fighter's stoppage win, he wasn't.  More on that later...

Is there a female fighter on the planet than can beat Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos?  Thus far, I don't think so. 

And does anyone else feel that the seemingly anonymous female referee, as Andrew Brining pointed out in the Live Blog, could have shown Jan "Cuddles" Finney some compassion and ended that one sided beat down in the first round?

There would be no dramatic comeback tonight for Scott Smith this time around as Cung Le pretty much owned him from start to finish.  What do you think made Le happier, the fact that he avenged his only loss as a professional fighter or that he'll get to eat pizza again? You make the call.

On a more sincere note, congrats to Cung on the recent birth of his son.  Certainly a big week in the Le household.

Who would have thought the emotionless and methodical Fedor Emelianenko would get overzealous and it would lead to his undoing in a mere 69 seconds by the Brazilian Fabricio Wedrum? 

I have a feeling my shock in the outcome leaves me in the majority.

Cris Cyborg's husband, Evangelista Santos, was in attendance for the post fight press conference where Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker made it clear that Evangelista has a bright future as a welterweight fighter. I personally wouldn't mind seeing him in with Nick Diaz.

As for Cristiane, Coker revealed that the most likely option for the Women's 145 pound Champion was most likely the Xtreme Couture fighter, Erin Toughill.

He also dubbed Scott Smith the "Arturo Gatti of MMA." Spot on Scott, spot on.

He also likened his bouts with Cung to the wars between boxers Arturo Gatti and Mickey Ward.  He mentioned that while the two may find themselves across one another in the future, Strikeforce will be focusing on getting into "the middleweight tournament business." 

Judging by his reaction cage side, it's a business that former PRIDE and UFC champ Dan Henderson is eager to be a part of.

Former Lightweight Champ Josh Thomson revealed that he wasn't at all pleased with his win.  At one point he recalled looking out at the crowd and wondering what he was doing in there.  Even going as far as saying he "saw his career flash before his eyes."  It was probably a tougher fight than he had expected, but I think he's being a touch hard on himself.

Speaking of Lightweight Champions, it was cool to see the current champ Gilbert Melendez working the corner of Bobby Stack, who pulled of a razor thin decision over Derrick Burnsed in the opening bout of the evening.

One combatant who was noticeably missing from the post-fight festivities was one Jan Finney. One can only assume she was taken immediately to the hospital following her bout with Cyborg to further inspect any injuries.

Speaking of injuries, Scott Smith could be found sporting a band-aid under his left eye covering a cut which required five stitches after his bout with Le.

There was a bit of irony as Fedor took the mic in the presser and once again had his thunder stolen as members of Werdum's camp celebrated in the hallway. 

The stoic Fedor had one of the best lines of the night when asked if he felt disappointed in losing. His reply: "No. He who doesn't fall doesn't have to stand [back] up."  He would take it a step further in saying that he "was relieved.  I was made out to be an idol, but he's just a normal human. Everyone loses."

Clearly, following the evenings events, the happiest man in the building was Fabricio Werdum himself, but Renato "Babalu" Sobralwas a VERY close second.  He was all smiles as he partially helped Werdum with translation.

Werdum revealed that it was indeed his plan to get the fight to the ground and was extemely happy that Fedor "took the bait."

Werdum now holds wins over Emelianenko and current champ Alistair Overeem, but Scott Coker was understandably hesitant to reveal whom the Brazilian would be fighting next.

With just one fight remaining on Fedor's contract with Strikeforce it will be interesting to see who he will return against.

Just a quick note on the numbers of the event.  The official attendance was 12,698.  The live gate did $1.67 million.

I think the best way to sum up the evening is when I asked Mike Afromowitz, the always accommodating Strikeforce PR man, if he was as shocked as the rest of press row was in the outcome, to which he replied: "I think the whole MMA world was."  

Yeah Mike, that sounds about right.

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