According to a Jan. 12 report from MMA Junkie, Daniel Cormier and Josh Barnett both won big at the final Strikeforce event.
The final Strikeforce event took place at Chesapeake Energy Center in Oklahoma City on Jan. 12. The main card aired on Showtime, and the prelims were shown on Showtime Extreme.
Cormier, Barnett and Mousasi were the big winners of the show.
Cormier smashed through Dion Staring to earn a ref stoppage at the 4:02 mark of the second round, and Josh Barnett made quick work of Nandor Guelmino.
Barnett locked in an arm-triangle choke to earn the ref stoppage at the 2:11 mark of the first round, and Cormier's win was just as convincing.
In other action, Gegard Mousasi looked impressive in a victory over Mike Kyle.
Mousasi locked in a rear-naked choke to earn a first-round stoppage, and Kyle hinted at retirement following the bout.
Mousasi, Cormier and Barnett were each favored to win, and their victories perhaps punched tickets for them to enter the UFC ranks.
Cormier may enter the UFC either as a heavyweight or light heavyweight, and he stated that he would like to fight Frank Mir for his first challenge in the UFC.
A fight against Jon Jones may also be in the works sometime in the near future for him. As for Barnett, he hasn't competed in the UFC in over a decade. No word yet on Barnett's official return to the UFC.
In the main event, Nate Marquardt fought Tarec Saffiedine. The first round was slow, but the action picked up as the fight progressed. Saffiedine was up on the judge's scorecards through the first three rounds. Marquardt got dominated, Saffiedine 49-46.
In what was undoubtedly the biggest upset of the evening, Ronaldo Souza stopped UFC vet Ed Herman with a kimura at the 3:10 mark of the first round.
On the preliminary card, Ryan Couture defeated K.J. Noons via split decision (29-28, 27-30, 29-28), and Tim Kennedy beat Trevor Smith via submission.
Kennedy's win was impressive, as he ended Smith's night with a guillotine choke at 1:36 of the third round.
Additionally, Pat Healy earned a convincing win over Kurt Holobaugh, and Roger Gracie defeated Anthony Smith via submission.
Also on the Strikeforce preliminary card, Adriano Martins defeated Jorge Gurgel via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27), and Estevan Payan defeated Michael Bravo via TKO (strikes) at 4:01 of round two.
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