Strikeforce results: Fedor TKOs Rogers, Mousasi TKOs Sokoudjou, Shields claims middleweight strap

November 7, 11:40 PMMixed Martial Arts ExaminerEddie Graveline

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Fedor was bloodied early, but still came up with the spectacular goods (AP photo)

After what seemed like an eternity, Saturday night finally brought the consensus #1 heavyweight in the world, Fedor Emelianenko, into the Strikeforce cage in front of a live television audience on CBS. In what could be called the most anticipated MMA event of 2009, Strikeforce put together a stellar fight card that was a great representation of what MMA is all about. If you happened to tune in the last time MMA was on network television (Elite XC was on CBS almost one year ago exactly), you already knew that a fair and accurate depiction of the sport to a mainstream audience was greatly needed. 

Before we saw Fedor and Brett Rogers throw their considerable weight around in the main event, there were three other high quality fights on the main card. 

Heavyweights--Antonio Silva vs. Fabricio Werdum: Silva used his reach advantage very effectively in the first round. He tagged Werdum on a couple of occasions and actually looked like he was on his way to an early TKO. Werdum is a world class heavyweight, though, and he weathered the early storm. Silva took Werdum's bait in the second round and tried to beat on him from top position. Werdum quickly reversed, got on top and started going for submissions. They got stood back up, but Silva was much more careful from that point on. Werdum attempted a few more submissions before being called off by the bell. They stayed on their feet for much of the third round, but Werdum was more successful than he had been earlier in the fight. He finished the round on top, delivering a ground-and-pound attack. I had Werdum winning the second and third rounds and the judges concurred, awarding him the unanimous decision victory. 

Light Heavyweights--Gegard Mousasi vs. Thierry Sokoudjou: After dazzling American fans for the first time back in August, Mousasi made his second Strikeforce appearance against former UFC contender, Sokoudjou. Finally getting the respect he deserves, there wasn't anybody predicting Mousasi to lose this one. The feeling that I and everyone else writing about it had was that Mousasi's well-rounded repertoire would be way too much for Sokoudjou to handle. It was evident in the first round that Mousasi knew how to use his reach advantage. Sokoudjou used a nice judo throw to take Mousasi down, but wasn't able to do much. In all honesty, the first round was much closer than I expected. Mousasi went to work with Sokoudjou backed into the cage in the second round, but once again, the latter was able to use his judo skills to get a take down and top position. Mousasi was able to reverse quickly, though, and had more time to deliver ground strikes. They took their toll and Sokoudjou eventually became unable to defend himself, forcing the ref to stop the fight and award Mousasi the TKO. 

Strikeforce Middleweight Chapionship--Jake Shields vs. Jason Miller: Shields is one of those fighters that afficionados get very excited to watch. The same could be said for Miller as well and these two presented a very interesting match-up. In truth, they have very similar skill sets and I felt this fight was pretty even. In my prediction piece earlier in the week, I said that I felt Shields would get the win, but that I could also see it going either way. Shields shot immediately in the first round, got Miller's back, then full mount, but Miller was able to get back on his feet. Shields got another take down, but Miller got up again before getting a take down of his own. Shields earned dominant position after dominant position again in the second round, but Miller calmly escaped everything while seeming to execute his game plan of wearing Shields out. Miller's escapes were great, but Shields held an obvious wrestling advantage, as he definitely controlled position most of the time. Out of nowhere, Miller sunk in a rear naked choke, but just when it looked like Shields would be forced to tap, the bell rang and he was safe. Shields continued to work from top position for much of the fourth round and achieved full mount again. The fifth brought more of the same and in addition to being the better wrestler, Shields was just quicker. He came out on top after almost every scramble, which was huge in this particular fight. Neither fighter was able to finish, but I definitely had Shields winning, probably 49-46. That's how two judges had it, while the other scored it 48-47 in favor of Shields. Miller put up a very good fight and if he can either improve his wrestling or take down defense, he might fare much better should these two meet again. 

Heavyweights--Fedor Emelianenko vs. Brett Rogers: Finally! It was finally time to see the mysterious, intriguing and seemingly invincible Fedor take on the rags-to-riches story of Brett Rogers. After all the buildup, we got to see whether or not Rogers could back up the talking he did before the fight. In the first round, he did just that by landing a nice jab right off the bat and drawing first blood. Rogers looked like he might have Fedor in trouble a couple of times, but Fedor came right back at him, throwing him down and looking for submissions. Rogers became one of very few heavyweights to survive the first round with Fedor and they began the second round by trading heavy strikes. Rogers looked tired, though, and as he backed away to catch his breath, Fedor landed a huge right that dropped him. Fedor landed a couple more on the mat and earned a TKO stoppage from referee "Big" John McCarthy. 

So the legend of Fedor "The Last Emperor" Emelinanenko continues to grow. In reality, the result was exactly what most of us expected, but I have to say that Rogers was very impressive in this fight. I expected him to get a few shots off early, then get overwhelmed on the ground. He acquitted himself well and hung in for longer than many bigger names in the sport. But Fedor did what he's done so many times before, which is find a way to knock out a bigger and supposedly more powerful striker. The immediate question that comes up now is what's next for Fedor? Alistair Overeem holds the Strikeforce Heavyweight Championship belt and it seems to me that he needs to get himself stateside to defend it ASAP.