What did you think of Strikeforce's latest event?

It was good and bad at the same time. The overall production still seems second-rate to me. I have big problems with their entrances. Watching Matt Lindland enter on a ramp with fireworks going off just doesn't work. The generic "rock music" they play also doesn't help. It's just an awkward setup. If you want to know if an entrance works, watch the fans. At Strikeforce events, the fans don't even seem to notice when a fighter enters. I think in most instances, watching an MMA event on TV is better than attending. However, entrances can shake the equation. Strikeforce is totally missing this element. A lot of you are probably saying, "Who cares about the entrances? This isn't the WWE." I totally disagree. Any fan who attended UFC 68 and felt the eruption when Randy Couture entered would also disagree. Same goes for the fans at UFC 87 when the first notes of "Shout at the Devil" hit and Brock Lesnar stormed to the cage. Entrances matter.

My next problem with the production is the announcing team. Ranallo, Shamrock, and Quadros stink. They don't jell. Quadros isn't bad on his own, but he has a hard time finding openings. It's really just a mess listening to these guys. They need to scrap the three-man booth. Either go with Ranallo and Pat Miletich (he's the best MMA commentator in the sport and Showtime treats him like crap) or Ranallo and Quadros. Shamrock is not a TV announcer. As a former top fighter, his strength should be breaking down techniques and telling interesting stories about his glory days. Somehow, he screws up even the most basic technical breakdowns and hardly ever tells a funny story about the old days. He's useless. If anyone out there is into video editing, I implore you to make a mash-up of Shamrock and Miletich breaking down instant replays. You'll be shocked at how poorly Shamrock sounds and how outstanding Miletich hits all the best points. I don't know how Showtime could watch these broadcasts and not think, "Wow, is this really our announcing team?"

Were there any good points?

The audio remained excellent. Whatever they're doing to mic the cage is working. I also enjoyed the Text Poll ("Which fighters should have a rematch?"). I almost always think that stuff blows, but they came up with a great question. It gets fans involved without trying too hard. An example of a bad question would be, "Who has the hardest punch in Strikeforce?" Stuff like that is pointless for fans and the promotion. Another thing I liked was seeing Dan Henderson and Bobby Lashley interviewed during the show. Get your big names involved, even when they're not fighting.

Best part of the event?

Matt Lindland's circa 1990 Patrick Ewing knee pad.

Two words...Jenn Brown.

I received a ton of email about her. Viewers were split on whether she's awful or bearable. I will say that she made me laugh out loud when she said Cung Le was at the "Pinnacle of the fighting world" after he defeated Frank Shamrock. I guess she isn't horrible when compared to other backstage interviewers like Scott Ferrall and Chuck Zito.

Worst line of the night?

"MMA on wheels!" - Ranallo in reference to Nascar

How impressive was Gilbert Melendez?

If he can continue to improve his striking, he's on his way to being a Top 3 Lightweight. His offense is good enough, but he's still too stiff on his feet. I'm not sure if that's something he can ever fully change, though. Strikeforce could make some major noise with Lightweights. The UFC has the best 155er by far, but other than him, they lack talent and more importantly fighters people care about. Strikeforce needs to lock up Shinya Aoki and some of the other DREAM guys. I'd rather watch a division of Melendez, Aoki, Thomson, Ribeiro, Noons, and Hansen/Kawajiri/Calvancante than Penn, Maynard, Florian, Sanchez, Guida, and Griffin.

Will BJ Penn ever lose again at 155 pounds?

No, but I also think he's gonna leave the division within the next 12 months. He's a big money fighter and the UFC doesn't have the talent at Lightweight to keep him paid at the level he expects. I think he's on his way to making a permanent move to 170 lbs. It'll probably begin with a third fight against Matt Hughes and go from there.

Explain to me how Mir/Carwin for the Interim Heavyweight Title makes sense.

I can't. This was more of a scheduling issue than anything else. Nogueira and Velasquez were already set to fight at UFC 110, which eliminated either of them being involved in the Interim Title bout. It should be Mir/Velasquez for the title. Carwin gets the nod because he's made himself interesting by calling out Brock Lesnar and positioning himself as the Hulk Hogan of the UFC. The fact they're having an Interim Title fight speaks volumes about Lesnar's health. If he was doing well enough to make a summer comeback, Mir/Carwin wouldn't be fighting for the title. I don't think we see Lesnar in the Octagon until Fall 2010, maybe even later.

Who's winning the battle between the UFC and Strikeforce so far?

Strikeforce by a lot. This has nothing to do with the UFC's injury problems. It's all about free agent signings. The UFC is going to war with guys like Tito Ortiz, Frank Trigg, and Ben Rothwell. Meanwhile, Strikeforce rolls out Fedor, Dan Henderson, and Bobby Lashley. It's shocking because the UFC is usually great at closing the door on other promotions. Instead, they made some major blunders and now Strikeforce has a very real chance to solidify their standing as a viable challenger.

The thing to watch as we get into 2010 is how Strikeforce handles the transition to PPV. They've proven they can sell lots of tickets and intrigue TV viewers. Hooking PPV viewers is more difficult. First, the UFC will no doubt come at them with a Spike show that has some real meat to it. Strikeforce will need to throw most of their chips into the pot. I think they gotta go as big as possible with as many top fighters as possible in action. Something like this would work...

Fedor vs Overeem
Henderson vs Mousasi
Lashley vs Rogers
Shields vs Souza
Diaz vs Noons

They also gotta keep their options open in case any injuries happen. Once the PPV is scheduled, limit the other events. There should be 3-4 upper level fighters who serve as alternates. In the card above, I'd have Robbie Lawler, Muhammed Lawal, and Jason Miller sitting around strictly for injury purposes.

There is about a 75% chance Strikeforce screws this up. It's not because they're inept. My biggest worry is they have too many mouths to feed. CBS doesn't want second-rate cards. Strikeforce must keep them happy and at the same time book a PPV. It's difficult and I hope they don't mess it up. No matter what the PPV must succeed. Throw everything you have at it.

• UFC 108 just wasn't meant to be. Carlos Condit is the latest victim. Apparently he cut his hand on sheet metal. Dustin Hazelett will step in to face Paul Daley. I like the new match-up better. Condit has not impressed me at all since joining the UFC. He seems overpowered .

• Hoelzer Reich, the clothing company who uses suggestive "German Pride" imagery that just about everyone other than them thinks is Nazish, has been banned from UFC, WEC, and Strikeforce events. They should send a letter of thanks to the UFC's editing team for letting one of their shirts hit the air during The Ultimate Fighter 10 Finale. That really set things in motion.

• The ratings for The Ultimate Fighter 10 Finale were good, but not great. MMAPayout thinks Kimbo's drawing power might be waning. The UFC needs to get him a KO victory on Spike TV before going the PPV route. It'll be two years in May since he finished a fight and people have short memories.

• According to WEC General Manager Reed Harris, Jens Pulver is not retired and he will fight for the promotion in 2010.

• This has nothing to do with MMA, but everyone needs to watch Jersey Shore tonight. Trust me.

Scott Lighty

Jeff Monson (in talks)

Jake Shields (also WW)

Dan Henderson (also LHW)

I never took the possibility of Dan Henderson signing with Strikeforce seriously. To me, it was a ploy to get more money out of the UFC. The side with deeper pockets almost always wins the negotiation battle. You put the Yankees against the Royals and the player is coming to New York. The UFC against Strikeforce should go the same way, but this is the second time in less than six months that a marquee free agent turned down Zuffa in favor of Scott Coker's "regional promotion". Are we seeing a power shift play out before our eyes?

Dana White wants the MMA world to believe he passed on Henderson. The price was too high for a fighter who is not a PPV draw. It's as simple as that. While true to a certain extent, there is more to the story. The UFC badly wanted to resign Henderson. There is a serious lack of top talent right now within the organization due to injury problems. Loretta Hunt points out that this past Friday, Henderson was offered a bout at UFC 109 in February to face Nate Marquardt. The UFC did not simply let Henderson go. He chose to sign with Strikeforce.

One of the interesting subplots to this story is the UFC's decision to ban Clinch Gear from their events. According to Henderson, the UFC banned his MMA clothing company, because he would not resign with the promotion. When you combine this with Henderson being passed over for a title shot in favor of Vitor Belfort, who he defeated, it's easy to see why he chose to sign with Strikeforce. The UFC did not treat Henderson with the type of respect he felt he deserves.

The larger issue here is whether we're beginning to see cracks in the UFC's armor. The recent string of injuries has shown just how vulnerable even they can be. The signing of a 39 year old slightly above average PPV draw may not seem like a huge deal, but it sends a message. The stigma of signing with Strikeforce is gone. They have landed the last two major free agents. While the UFC was busy signing Frank Trigg, Dennis Hallman, and Phil Baroni, Strikeforce snatched up Fedor Emelianenko and Dan Henderson. It does not matter if you offer more, at the end of the day it comes down to where a fighter ends up. Strikeforce is winning the bidding wars.

Now the question is whether Strikeforce can transition into a PPV business model to afford the contracts.

• Steve Mazzagatti continues to impress the masses with his officiating prowess. Following an illegal elbow which left Matt Hamill blinded by blood, Mazzagatti asked the deaf fighter if he could continue. In other news, on the way to the event, Mazzagatti got lost and asked a trash can for directions to the arena.

• The UFC production team decided not to show most of the fighter entrances, as is their custom for televised events. It's a way for them to save TV time and also avoid paying bands for using their songs. Curiously, they did show the entrance of preliminary card fighter Joe Brammer, who was decked out in Hoelzer Reich garb. For anyone who doesn't know, they're the clothing company best known for using Nazi related symbols on their apparel. They not only showed us the entrance for a fighter no one cares about, but they also managed to spotlight a company with ties to Neo-Nazism. Job well done, guys.

• Overall it was a poorly produced show on many levels. The fight placement made no sense. Why would you have Nelson/Schaub as the main event? Half the crowd left after Jones/Hamill, which was the obvious choice to be the headliner. They also made some strange decisions on the TV broadcast. I'm all for seeing preliminary card matches, but putting McSweeney/Schoonover in between Jones/Hamill and Nelson/Schaub had me scratching my head. It also didn't help that it was a long fight. If you're gonna show preliminary card fights, do it early. Once you get to the final two fights, you shouldn't be wasting time with things people hardly care about.

• Goldberg and Rogan made a major blunder at the end of the Jones/Hamill fight. They were singing the praises of Jon Jones and never mentioned the possibility of a disqualification. Mazzagatti deducted a point then the fight was stopped. It seemed pretty obvious to me. I don't blame Goldberg, because he never knows what's going on, but Rogan is usually better.

• Why do we have to wait fifteen minutes for the first fight to begin? No one cares about Goldberg and Rogan doing introductions. We want to see fights.

• Matt Mitrione made another dumb move when he told Rogan, "I've got retard strength."

• Frankie Edgar proved that he's a title contender. If Gray Maynard loses to Nate Diaz at Fight Night 20, Edgar should get the next shot at the Lightweight Title.

• Houston Alexander convinced himself that he could circle around the cage for three rounds, lightly kick Kimbo in the knee every forty-five seconds, somehow pull out a decision, and then not get cut (again) by the UFC. This ranks up there with some of the other Worst Strategies of All-Time.

• A lot of people are giving Kimbo a hard time for gassing. I see it differently. For a guy who has never cut weight before, I think he did a great job. In the future, they need to get him bouts at a heavier weight (225-235lbs). Or, match him up with smaller Heavyweights. With the right fights, the UFC can get some miles out of him.

• It was great to see Roy Nelson throw a punch with something behind it. I think a lot of fighters fall into the trap of letting technique do the work. Sometimes you gotta load up and throw a punch with all of your power. Even if it misses, you put a little fear into your opponent.

• I don't think it's a good idea for most MMA fighters to learn boxing on its own, but for Marcus Jones it makes sense. He'd be better off taking six months and competing in some boxing matches. Get ring time (actual fights) and learn how to throw punches and defend. Otherwise, his MMA career will end before it even gets going.

• I'm happy with the decision to have Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz coach Season 11 of The Ultimate Fighter. It does not tie up any titles and these two need each other at this point. Neither can compete with the current crop of Light Heavyweight contenders.

• Lastly, Roy Nelson's jokes are painful to watch. He's one of those guys who thinks he's funny, but in reality he's not at all.

I still don't know what to make of Kimbo. There are conflicting reports about his dedication to training. Some times we hear he's a sponge. Other times he's disinterested in the entire process. This week he also explained that he's been on his own with cutting weight for the bout with Alexander. This seems very strange since he's supposed to be working with one of the top MMA gyms and it's his first cut. It doesn't make sense. ATT's trainers would not leave him or any fighter alone during weight cutting. My uninformed guess is that the early reports from his EliteXC days about being a dedicated worker in practice were fabricated. He ended up burning the bridge with his first trainer, Bas Rutten, and now seems on his way to doing the same with American Top Team.

In my opinion. Kimbo's using the weight cut as an excuse in case he loses. He can point to it and say, "I lost because no one helped me with my first cut." I might have bought it, but then he weighed in three pounds under the weight limit, which is odd for a fighter supposedly having extreme difficulty with a cut. Even though Alexander's line seems high at -260, I'm going with him. Alexander Wins by 1st Round TKO.

Joe Silva did a good job with this match-up. I have questions about both fighters and with one bout, I'll have answers. Hamill made the leap at some point after his loss to Rich Franklin. He no longer seems unsure of himself in the cage. That said, Reese Andy and Mark Munoz aren't exactly top caliber competition. Against Jones he'll need to be at his best.

Jones has been proclaimed a future Hall of Famer by most MMA fans. I'm not so sure yet. He's entertaining for sure, but like Hamill, his recent competition was thin. His exciting style leaves him open at times. To make the jump to the next level, he needs to focus his fight game. The top guys at 205 lbs only need one opening to end a fight. This includes Hamill.

I'm gonna call the upset here and pick Hamill. It seems like another inflated line due to the buzz around Jones. Hamill has been in there with better fighters and more than held his own. I think his heavy hands hurt Jones and he finishes the fight. Hamill Wins by 2nd Round TKO.

• The UFC dodged a bullet and will not have to compete with Pacquiao/Mayweather on PPV. Negotiations are ongoing, but it appears the long awaited fight will take place March 13th. Originally, May 1st was targeted, which is the same day as UFC 113.

• Ryan Bader vs Keith Jardine at UFC 110 in Australia.

• Robbie Lawler was supposed to fight Benji Radach? It's not a good sign when the first time people hear about a potentially awesome fight is when it's canceled. Come on, Strikeforce. You're better than this.

• You want to click on this picture of Arianny.
  

• Matt Hughes returns to the Octagon on April 10th. No word yet on his opponent.

• Mixed Martial Arts is legal in Massachusetts. The state will receive 4% of ticket sales and 2% for televised events. Expect a UFC card sometime this summer.

• Spike will not broadcast any UFC 107 preliminary fights. Instead, they'll air the 2009 Video Game Awards.

• The UFC cut Jake Rosholt. He got a $60,000 Submission of the Night bonus at UFC 102, so I don't feel too bad for the guy. He's better off fighting for a smaller promotion where he can get experience without much pressure.

BoxingDepot.com is having a sale on Boxing Gloves. All you gotta do is use Coupon Code: cybergloves during checkout to get 10% Off. They also carry a full line of Boxing Equipment like Speed Bags, Headgear, Medicine Balls, etc.

Sale ends Thursday, so hurry up!