UFC vs. Strikeforce: Whose Champion Would Reign Supreme
UFC and Strikeforce are the two biggest mixed martial arts promotions in this country. The greatest fighters in the world compete for one of those two organizations. UFC is the king in this country. They are one of the biggest sports promotions in this country. Strikeforce has a number of top fighters, but they are still trying to establish themselves in this country.
But we aren't here to look at the business side of things, we want to look at the fighters for both companies—specifically the champions in both companies. How many of us have wondered what it would be like to have the Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion Alistair Overeem lock horns with UFC Heavyweight Champion Cain Velasquez?
Well, you don't have to wonder any longer. We have taken each champion in both organizations, broken down their skills and come up with results for all five championship fights between the two companies.
Which company's champions will reign supreme? Which fighters would be left scratching their head?
Here are breakdowns and predictions for five championship matches between Strikeforce Champions and UFC Champions.
Heavyweight Championship: Strikeforce Overeem vs. UFC Velasquez
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Cain Velasquez is one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world. It took awhile for the world to take notice of just how good he really is, but after his destruction of Brock Lesnar at UFC 121, there are no questions anymore.
He is probably the most well-rounded heavyweight fighter in UFC and arguably in all of mixed martial arts. He is a world class wrestler, has great BJJ and kickboxing skills and packs a lot of power behind his strikes.
Alistair Overeem’s championship reign has been interesting to say the least. He won the title in 2007 over Paul Buentello. Since that time, he has only had one title defense, against Brett Rogers in 2010.
Overeem is an accomplished kickboxer. He won the K-1 World Grand Prix in December 2010. He is also a very good submission grappler, having won a majority of his fights via submission despite his kickboxing skills.
In this fight, Overeem would take an early advantage with his kickboxing skills. He would stick and move, but Velasquez keeps coming at him.
Eventually, Velasquez overwhelms him with punches and wrestles him to the ground and just starts beating on him.
Winner: Velasquez over Overeem
Light Heavyweight Championship Strikeforce Rafael Cavalcante vs UFC Mauricio Rua
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Rafael Cavalcante is a good fighter. He’s got good power in his punches, and he is effective with his striking. He won the Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Championship in just his fourth fight with the company. He knocked off Muhammad Lawal last August via TKO.
With that said, Cavalcante is not in Shogun’s league. Shogun is a force in the UFC Light Heavyweight division, arguably the deepest division in UFC. He is one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world. He is a great Muay Thai fighter, who packs quite a lot of power into his striking. He doesn’t often bring it out, but he does have a pretty good submission game.
You hate to discredit anyone in a fight, especially when both are champions in the top two mixed martial arts organizations in the world, but this fight would be a slaughter. Shogun would destroy him in this fight.
Winner: Rua over Cavalcante
Middleweight Championship: Strikeforce Ronaldo Souza vs. UFC Anderson Silva
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I could sit here and spout out information on both these fighters to try and make it sound like the fight would be compelling, but I can’t do that.
To paraphrase a line from Pulp Fiction, Ronaldo Souza ain’t in the same ballpark as Anderson Silva. He ain’t even in the same league. Unfortunately, he does compete in the same sport so I can’t finish the line, but you get the idea.
Silva would just toy with Souza in this fight. A complete and total squash match.
Winner: Silva over Souza
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Welterweight Championship: Strikeforce Nick Diaz vs. UFC Georges St-Pierre
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Doing this kind of project, you realize just how much better UFC is compared to Strikeforce. The champions in UFC are so much better than the guys who are wearing the gold in almost every single weight class.
That’s not a slight on the Strikeforce guys either but rather a testament to how good the UFC guys are.
Diaz is a very talented fighter, but he hasn’t really challenged himself in a fight in a long time. That’s not all his fault, but it doesn’t help his case in this kind of fight. He is a good boxer, and he is very skilled in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu so there’s always a chance that he could catch GSP with something.
GSP is one of the top two pound-for-pound fighters in the world. Inside the octagon, he is like a robot. He can take a part his opponent in any way possible. His skills get better with each and every fight he has. No one can zero in on an opponent’s weakness like he can.
Since GSP doesn’t really put opponents away, this would probably go to a decision, but the outcome would be for GSP.
Winner: GSP over Diaz
Lightweight Championship: Strikeforce Gilbert Melendez vs. UFC Frankie Edgar
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This is probably the best fight for Strikeforce to claim a victory in the Championship clash between Strikeforce and UFC.
Gilbert Melendez is one of the best pure fighters in Strikeforce. He is a dominant force in the lightweight division. His power is excellent, and he is a strong striker. He has a good wrestling game and mixes in some submissions though that’s not his strong suit.
Frankie Edgar has answered every challenge put in front of him. He’s not the most popular fighter in the world because his style isn’t very exciting, but he does what he has to do to win. He is one of the fastest fighters in UFC, and he uses his speed to take advantage of his opponents. His second fight with BJ Penn was masterful. He moved in and out and took Penn down constantly, and there was nothing Penn could do.
This would be the closest fight of the five listed in this imaginary fight card. It would likely wind up going to the judges in the end. I would put Edgar over Melendez very slightly. If you were to ask me tomorrow that might change, but right now, I say Edgar barely.
Winner: Edgar over Melendez
What Do You Think?
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There you have it. In this rundown of Strikeforce Champions versus UFC Champions, all of the UFC guys come out ahead. Perhaps, I am selling some of the Strikeforce guys short, but these are my thoughts, and I am sticking with them.
The only one that I wouldn’t feel confident about in these purely hypothetical fights is the Edgar-Melendez fight. I could see that one going either way. Other than that, I am nearly 100 percent confident in all the rest of the picks.
What do you guys think? Who would come out on top in a champion versus champion scenario between the Strikeforce guys and UFC guys?
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