Heavy Wait Part 3: What I Dislike About The Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix
By: Oliver Saenz Posted On: January 6, 2011 at 1:41pm
Hello once more fans and friends and welcome back to “Heavy Wait: The Hunt for Strikeforce Gold”. While the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix sounds amazing on paper, I’ll be honest and admit that no tournament is perfect. Some cynics opposed to this tournament are already emerging, and it’d be a bit biased if I didn’t take time to address that section of the fanbase. In the spirit of examining every angle and really giving the Grand Prix an in-depth look, here are the five things I dislike the most about the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix.
5. The chances of seeing Fedor/Werdum 2 anytime soon look pretty remote.
Quite a lot has to happen before we get to see the rematch to arguably the most shocking upset in MMA of all time. If Fedor Emelianenko beats Antonio Silva (likely), Fabricio Werdum would have to beat Alistair Overeem (not so likely). If Overeem beats Werdum, Silva would have to beat Fedor (again, not so likely). Both Fedor and Werdum would have to be injury-free following their bouts, and with both men’s history with injuries, it’s basically a toss-up. There is potential that we’ll finally get to see this match, but there’s also a strong potential that we’ll have to continue to wait.
4. Who is Sergei Kharitonov, again?
The last time Sergei Kharitonov competed in America was in 2007. While his record and the quality of opponents he’s beaten are certainly good enough to earn him an entry into this tournament, at the end of the day, his name value in America is basically non-existent. This is supposed to be a Heavyweight Grand Prix featuring Strikeforce’s best and brightest, and “brightest” refers to their popularity and relevancy to the fans. And Kharitonov simply isn’t relevant to a vast majority of American MMA fans.
3. It’s clear that Arlovski/Barnett wasn’t made due to the fact that nobody would be interested in Kharitonov/Rogers.
Why do I have to wait a round to see Andrei Arlovski vs. Josh Barnett? That’s a great fight and it would have made the Grand Prix feel even more special if it was an opening bout. But Brett Rogers has been dealt two deflating losses recently and, as already stated, many fans simply aren’t familiar with Kharitonov. Rogers and Kharitonov are the odd men out in this Grand Prix, and it’s clear that Strikeforce didn’t want to risk a lack of interest in the tournament by having them fight each other in the first round.
2. The Strikeforce Heavyweight Championship is basically being vacated.
A lot of people are using the term “classic Strikeforce” when it comes to the fact that the Heavyweight Championship is pretty much being vacated at the start of this tournament. Alistair Overeem just got done winning the K-1 World Grand Prix, he should be ready to commit to MMA full-time for the foreseeable future. I was really looking forward to seeing him defend his Strikeforce Heavyweight Championship, and now he’ll have to get through several fighters to claim the championship that’s already his.
And the #1 thing I dislike about the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix is…
1. Since anything can happen in MMA, it’s going to take a lot of dominoes falling into place before we get all our dream-matches.
Fedor/Werdum 2 is such a huge match that I had to single it out specifically, but in general, the “anything can happen” nature of a tournament leaves open several very negative possibilities. Let’s not forget, the UFC ran into several massive roadblocks back in their early tournaments: at one point a man won a UFC tournament despite the fact that he had never competed a single time during the event. There’s a lot of veteran talent on this card, and while that should mean great fights, it also means that a lot of these fighters are more susceptible to injuries. And of course, there’s always the potential for an upset. So while I’m looking forward to the Grand Prix with some incredibly high hopes, I have to admit: there’s a lot that could happen before all is said and through, and there’s a lot that could sideline the dream matches I’ve waited years to see.
So, fans and friends, agree or disagree? What don’t you like about Strikeforce’s Heavyweight Grand Prix?
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Comments
Well first of all…I’m really glad there finally is some action at Strikeforce.
There are allways some things that could be done better, like putting Overeem and Fedor on different side of the brackets. But like Coker said; This way the chance of Fedor fighting Werdum/Overeem is very big and both are hugh fights. Now as much as I would like to see a rematch between Fedor & Werdum, Fedor VS Overeem is a much more exiting fight!! With a line-up like this we will most likely see this fight, so I’m happy! The rest of the fights are going to be very entertaining also.
So I don’t see why I should be anything but excited about this, this is going to be good! Now let’s hope there won’t be any injuries involved and they put on a great show! Its showtime!!
As far as your comment concerning Kharitonov, a tournament like this can help putting fighters on the map. Sergei has a good record and now he has a chance to proof himself and show he can compete at toplevel, so I see nothing wrong with putting him on out there. As far as I’m concerned Rogers and Arlovski aren’t more relevant then he his, looking at their last performences.
For the same reason I hate the way UFC makes Frankie Edgar fight every match twice because the guy Dana picked to win didn’t win, I would hate if Strikeforce made Werdum fight Fedor again before he could fight other people and fight for a belt.
Werdum fought and beat Fedor once, something he said he trained years to do, and I’d rather see Werdum fight other people (and Fedor fight Overeem).
@Neetay
I agree. Sergei was the last man to beat Alistair so even though he’s not well known to Americans, he still deserves his spot. Fedor can’t fight Overeem or Werdum. It’s only fair that Overeem and Werdum fight eachother. I hope Overeem puts the title up. I see Fedor winning against Silva so regardless of who wins (Werdum or Overeem), there’s gonna be an epic battle taking place, Fedor/Werdum 2 or Fedor/Overeem, which everybody’s been waiting for. Arlovski and Rogers had to be on the opposite side of the bracket because if they were on the left, there would be a great possibility of seeing Fedor/Rogers 2 or Fedor/Arlovski 2. Noone would really care to see those fights and for Fedor to win those fights, it wouldn’t really mean anything. He’s already beaten them. I can’t wait, I hope Fedor wins. I want to atleast see him make it to the final. Even if he doesn’t win the Prix, if he makes it to the final, i’d be happy. Go Fedor!