Hello again fans and friends, I’m proud to announce that my special series “A Closer Look” has made its return, thanks to the much-hyped and heavily-anticipated Strikeforce “Overeem vs. Werdum” event, which takes place this Saturday. I’ll be giving a fight-by-fight breakdown of all five major fights scheduled to air on Showtime, since all of them have potential, a few of them have championship implications, and two of them are part of Strikeforce’s World Heavyweight Grand Prix. So let’s begin with Valentijn Overeem vs. Chad Griggs. ...

It may have been overshadowed by Sergei Kharitonov brutally demolishing Andrei Arlovski and Antonio Silva crushing Fedor Emelianenko, but Chad Griggs vs. Gian Villante was one of the better fights of the night during strikeforce’s recent “Fedor vs. Silva” show. It wasn’t a long brawl, but it was a very good brawl, with neither man giving an inch and Griggs winning by dramatic TKO. With a record that now stands at 10-1 with a flawless 2-0 in Strikeforce, Griggs recently made an interesting case for himself and why fans should start respecting him. ...

While last Saturday provided a lot of gems for the hardcore mixed martial arts fans, one bout in particular caught the eye of many after it was all said and done with. New Yorker Gian Villante and Chad Griggs engaged in an exciting back-and-forth battle that saw both men have their moments during the bout, however ultimately the grizzly veteran in "The Grave Digger" was able to properly close out the show when he knocked down the resilient Villante twice before finishing him off with strikes, where referee Yves Lavigne eventually stepped in to call a halt to the bout. And while the bout lasted for less than three-minutes, it's safe to say that it secured the evenings superficial and completely unofficial "Fight of the Night" award. ...

Fighters.com will be on the scene to report live play-by-play action, any post-fight findings and any special announcements as per the Strikeforce organization, so stay tuned for more. For preliminary action you can check out HdNet at 7:30pm EST, and for the main-card fighters, tune into Showtime, beginning at 10pm EST. Preliminary fights (HdNet): -Jason McLean vs. Kevin Roddy (145-pounds) Round 1: Kevin Roddy gets brownie points from me by coming out to Korn. Don't judge me. Inside low kicks traded by both men in early action. Low kicks are landing for McLean. Uppercut misses for Roddy. Kevin catches a kick and works McLean to the cage, then breaks away. Roddy continuing to paw away with the jab. Tentative first few moments of action here. And just as I say that Roddy storms through with a flurry and throws a high kick, though it's deflected. McLean lands a solid takedown in the final moments of the round. 10-9 for Roddy based on aggressiveness. Round 2: High kick again for Roddy deflected. A four punch combo lands for Kevin, however Jason takes it well. It looks like McLean is having a hard time with the reach advantage, with Roddy continuing to extend the jab and land some solid low kicks. McLean answer with a flurry, though there's little there. Roddy catches the shorter fight with a kick to the boys and the action is halted temporarily. "Oh's" resonate in the arena once the replay airs. McLean drops Roddy with a stunning right hook. Kevin regains his composure and scrambles to get back to his feet. Straight to the body lands for McLean, followed by an overhand right. McLean catches another low kick at the bell, however takes the round 10-9. Round 3: Anybody's fight at this point. High kick misses again for Roddy who's missing the shorter McLean. He should abandon them at this point. Right hook lands for Jason, who goes for a takedown. In a scramble, Roddy lands on top in half-guard. Roddy mounts and unleashes some great ground and pound. Roddy takes his back and is fishing for a rear-naked choke. Jason is defending well. McLean rolls him over and Roddy quickly throws up an arm bar, though he doesn't have enough time. Fighters.com scores the round for Roddy 10-9, and 29-28 for the fight. Official Result: Jason McLean takes a split-decision (29-28, 28-29, and 29-28) -Josh LaBerge vs. Anthony Leone (145-pounds) Round 1: Again, brownie points are awarded to Leone for his choice of the classic "Notorious B.I.G" as his walkout anthem. Anthony feeling the love from the crowd here, as the New York native. Hard low kick lands for LaBerge. Another one catches Leone's attention. Both men jockey for position against the cage, and eventually break away. Boo's from the crowd wake up these featherweights, as they exchange in a quick flurry. Leone beginning to work in low kicks. Anthony initiates a takedown and catches a nice kneefollowed up by some hard hammer fists from Laberge. Leone is bleeding bad, however secures LaBerge's back and scores the takedown. He settles in half-guard and eventually works to side-mount. Looks like he's just holding for position here so far. Fighters.com scores the first round to Laberge, 10-9, based on damage. Round 2: Doctor's are taking a good look at Leone and his nasty cut, which appears to be on the bridge of his nose. Could be broken, and they stop the fight. Official Result: Rd. 1 at 5:00 TKO/Doctors Stoppage, winner LaBerge. -Don Carlo-Clauss vs. Sam Oropeza (155-pounds) Round 1: Don Carlo extremely reminiscent of UFC fighter Clay Guida with his robust mane of hair. "The Carpenter" would be proud. Oropeza the crowd favorite here. Sam works Carlo to the cage and works in some short punches to the body and knees as well before breaking away. Spinning back fist BARELY misses for Oropeza. Sam looking much more fluid on his feet, looking to pick his spots and bouncing around on his toes. Solid hook to the body lands for Sam. Don Carlo continues to trudge in with hooks though nothing lands. A high kick from Orpeza catches Carlo with his knee as he's diving on a takedown. Sam follows him to the ground, takes his back and unleashes a heavy dose of ground-and-pound. Referee has seen enough and calls a halt to the bout. Official Result: Sam Orpeza defeats Carlo via TKO at 4:10 of the opening round. -Igor Gracie vs. John Salgado (170-pounds) Round 1: These fighters are on the money tonight. Salgado walks out to Rage Against the Machine, my man. Igor gets a load ovation from the crowd. Igor presses Salgado against the cage, eats a knee however takes John's back and hoists him for a ride, slamming him to the canvas. Igor immediately works to the back and searches for a rear-naked choke. Salgado defending well so far, and the Brazilian has a body triangle cinched up. Igor still hunting for that neck, though Salgado will not let up. The crowd boos the inactivity. Round ends with the Gracie fighter mounted and landing a few blows, though none of them "telling". 10-9 for Igor. Round 2: Low kicks traded early before Igor takes Salgado back to the ground with ease. Igor jockeys for position on the ground before transitioning to full mount very smoothly. Short punches to the body land for the New Yorker. Salgado scrambles and is in half-guard, however only momentarily before the Igor has him mounted yet again. He's looking for an arm-triangle choke from the mount, before transitioning to side-mount to tighten the hold. Looks deep. And before you know it, Salgado is left unconscious on the mat. Fight's over. Official Result: Igor Gracie submits Salgado with an arm-triangle choke in Round 2, at 3:04. -John Cholish vs. Marc Stevens (155-pounds) Round 1: Stevens gets a warm reception from a responsive New York supportive crowd. This marks his first apperance inside the cage since his stint on "The Ultimate Fighter". His opponent Cholish earns my respect with his Beastie Boys walkout tunes. John has the crowd on his side, as he is a product of the Renzo Gracie academy. A knee to the head prompts Stevens to shoot in, however is out muscled to the ground by Cholish, who settles in full guard. Cholish fishes for a guillotine choke early, the crowd roars as we all know Stevens' problems with the particular submission in the past. John pushes away and lands some good strikes on the ground before Marc stand back to his feet. Cholish has Marc in a Muay Thai plumb, landing knees to the body, though Marc deflects most of them. Back in the center, Stevens looks for a high kick, but nothing there. John takes Marc down again, and this time ends up in side mount. Stevens regains half-guard, however Cholish is out working him on top with short punches and superior position. 10-9 Cholish, handily at that. Round 2: A low kick early from Stevens is answered by another takedown by the Renzo Gracie protege. Short hooks on top from Cholish. Stevens looks for a triangle, though John shrugs it off and settles in half-guard. Cholish brings Marc's head against the cage, and begins opening up with hooks to the head. Pace slows and the Referee stands them up. Kick to the body lands for Cholish. Marc catches a leg and takes Cholish down. In a scramble, John secures a leg and quickly forces a tap from a knee bar. Good stuff from Cholish, looking super impressive in his organizational debut. Official Result: Second round Knee Bar submission 3:57 -Ray Sefo vs. Valentijn Overeem (heavyweight reserve bout) Round 1: Round 1: Over hand right from Overeem countered by quick right hand from Sefo. Ray quick with the jab early on, keeping Valentijn at bay for the time being. Valentijn shoots and scores a takedown and has him pinned against the cage in side mount. Overeem immediately begins working Sefo's neck, and with more brute strength then technique submits the Xtreme Couture product with a neck-crank in less than two-minutes in. Official Result: Valentijn submits Sefo at 1:37 of the opening round with a neck-crank. -Chad Griggs vs. Gian Villante (heavyweight reserve bout) Round 1: Yves Lavigne the third man in the cage as the next heavyweight contest is underway. Clinch early with Griggs getting the better of the exchange with some sharp hooks on the inside. Gian answers with knees to the body. Fast pace early on from the heavyweight, who would have known? Both men throwing everything but the kitchen sink at each other. Griggs drops Villante with a right hook swung from the hip. Gian works back to his feet and is dropped again with a right hand. Some more punches follow, but it's all academic. Extremely exciting performance turned in by Chad. Official Result: Chad Griggs earns the TKO win at 2:49 of the opening round. -Lavar Johsnon vs. Shane Del Rosario (heavyweight reserve bout) Round 1: Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre for Johnson, good on you, sir. Punches traded early and Del Rosario clinches quickly and presses Johnson against the cage. Johnson scores the trip takedown and Rosario is on his back. They work back up the feet and Shane fires off a high kick. Johnson lands a good knee to the head followed by a strong hook to the body. Back against the cage, Shane is landing short hooks to the body then a knee high, though it misses the mark. High kick rocks Johnson and he clinches with Shane who later works the American Kickboxing Academy product to the mat, and quickly mounts. Ground and pound from up top scores for Del Rosario. Shane works for an arm bar from mount, locks it up and forces the tap. Official Result: Del Rosario submits Johnson via arm bar at 4:31 of the first-round, keeping his undefeated record intact. -Andrei Arlovski vs. Sergei Kharitonov (heavyweight grand prix quarter-final match) Round 1: Russians flags galore as Sergei makes his way to the cage. Arlovski has the loudest applause this evening, with nearly everyone applauding him with a standing ovation. When you have your own walk out song dedicated to you, you know you've made it (Arlovski). Andrei looks extremely focused, but only time will tell if his demeanor will hold up. A high kick from Arlovski and a quick right hand land flush. Short uppercuts on the inside from "The Pitbull". Sergei stalking the Belorussian, though has only landed some punches to the body. And just like that, Sergei lands a vicious combination against the cage, rocking Arlovski with a right hook. He's relentless. He follows up with a barrage of strikes eventually dropping the former heavyweight champion. Additional blows leave Andrei out cold. Sergei makes an impressive Strikeforce debut with the vicious knockout, and hands Arlovski his fourth straight loss. Official Result: Sergei defeats Andrei 2:49 of the first-round via knockout. With the win, Kharitonov now moves onto the semi-finals of the tournament and will face the winner of Josh Barnett/Brett Rogers. -Antontio Silva vs. Fedor Emelianenko (heavyweight grand prix quarter-final bout) Round 1: Scratch that. Fedor receives a ruckus ovation from the crowd here in East Rutherford. It's obvious here who the crowd favorite is. Dan Margliotta is the third man in the cage, and he'll need to be against these two hard hitting bruisers. Silva pawing away with a jab while Fedor wades in with hooks. Antonio tests the chin early with a big right hand, but Emelianeko is un-phased. Another right hand lands for "The Last Emperor" and he clinches, though Silva muscles him against the cage. Referee separates them and they meet back in the center. Both men winging punches, and Fedor doing his best Anderson Silva impression by bobbing and weaving out of the way. Antonio presses Fedor against the cage. Fedor holds on to a guillotine choke, and "Big Foot" pulls him to the ground. Fedor in half-guard searches for a kimura, though Silva uses the momentum to work back to his feet where he meets the Russian with a big right hand. Slugging against the cage, Silva eventually works the former PRIDE champion to the ground. Round ends with the Brazilian on top with a late takedown. Silva 10-9. Round 2: Silva scores a takedown early and immediately settles into half-guard. Like a blanket the Brazilian is smothering Emelianenko. You can really see the size difference when both men are locked up on the ground togethor. Silva works to side mount, and eventually mounts the Russian. He takes his back briefly, but Fedor is surviving. Heavy ground and pound on top and it looks like Margliotta could be close to stopping this. Fedor surviving and Silva locks up an arm triangle choke. It looks deep, but the Russian survives. He's still in this, and is looking to ride out the clock as Silva settles in half-guard again. Silva drops back for a knee bar, Fedor escapes and looks for one of his own, and the Brazilian reminds everyone he's okay as he waves "no" to the crowd. Fight's over. Fedor took some serious damage in that second-round and his right eye is swollen shut. Official Result: Silva wins via TKO/Doctors Stoppage at 5:00 in the second-round. Antonio will now move on to the semi-finals and will face the winner between Alistair Overeem/Fabricio Werdum. ...

By John Moody Long Island's Gian Villante has taken a winding road to reach the highest levels of MMA, but his time has come. Just signed by Strikeforce to face Chad Griggs on February 12th at the Izod Center in New Jersey, Villante is a former star linebacker for Hofstra University and nearly made the cut in the New York Jets training camp.  After the NFL did not pan out, Villante quickly turned to his wrestling pedigree from high school and picked up MMA.  He has been training with another rising star, Chris Weidman, also a Long Island product.  Villante quickly won his fist six fights, mainly in the Ring Of Combat, and now stands at 7-1 with his big break onto the national stage with Strikeforce at hand.  I recently caught up him at a training session at Ray Longo's gym on Long Island.  Click through to watch the video. ...

A heavyweight Grand Prix is underway, and East Rutherford, N.J. will be in for a treat as they will be featured for an all-heavyweight cast at the IZOD Center. The main event of the evening will pit for PRIDE heavyweight champion and all around mixed martial arts legend Fedor Emelianenko as he takes on former EliteXC titleholder Antonio Silva. Along with heavy-handed stars, Strikeforce has now released the full-main card lineup with six additional fighters set to be featured on the Showtime broadcast. ...

Perhaps the doomsayers were a bit too hasty in their rush to say doom. Perhaps you really should never say never. It was recently reported around the internet as well as on fighters.com that Bobby Lashley, the former pro wrestling champion and current Strikeforce star, is now a free agent. Many, including myself, speculated that this may be the end of Lashley’s MMA career, since Strikeforce is obviously looking to re-sign him at a lower asking price with diminished focus now that Lashley has a huge loss on his record. But according to Bobby Lashley, rumors of his abrupt MMA retirement are just that: rumors. ...

I’ve said this a lot recently: what a difference a fight can make. I’ve said it mostly in reference to a fighter I didn’t like (Nick Diaz) or didn’t have faith in (Marloes Coenen) winning me over with their spirited performances, but the absolute reverse also holds true for another strikeforce fighter. Bobby Lashley, the pro wrestler turned Mixed Martial Artist that was heralded as the next Brock Lesnar when he began his career, is now apparently on the chopping block. Lashley’s current Strikeforce contract has ran its course, and according to several reports, this may mean that Lashley is done with MMA entirely. Here are all the details. ...

In their heyday, both David "Batista" and Bobby Lashley were two of some of the most polarizing figures in the world of professional wrestling. The epidemy of strength, speed, and entertainment--these two always delivered. However, Lashley's foray into his new world, in mixed martial arts, has not gone quite as swimmingly. Since his inception into MMA, which started on the regional circuit, garnering notable victories over the likes of journeyman Jason Guida (that's right, the former "The Ultimate Fighter" season 8 hopeful and brother to lightweight fighter Clay Guida) and former K-1 star Bob Sapp. A 4-fight unbeaten streak helped set him up in the big show of Strikeforce, where on his third fight in the promotion, he lost via TKO against the unheralded Chad Griggs. Now in need of a gimmick to get Bobby back into the limelight, why wouldn't this be the best time to bring in "The Animal" to lock horns with "The Dominator"--at least, that's what Scott Coker thinks. ...

It seems as though just about everybody (including myself) wouldn’t give Chad Griggs the time of day leading into his match-up with former pro wrestler Bobby Lashley at the recent Strikeforce: “Houston” event. A former IFL veteran that had been inactive for about a year, Griggs looked like easy pickings for Lashley, who up to that point had made quick work of admittedly less-than-stellar competition. But such was not the case: after dominating Griggs for two rounds, Lashley gassed out so badly that the referee in charge of the fight pulled Lashley off of Griggs (due to Lashley's inactivity) when Lashley was in full mount, the most advantageous ground position in all of Mixed Martial Arts. A last-minute Hail Mary salvo of punches at the end of the second round gave “The Grave Digger” the first-ever win against Lashley, and as he deals with his newfound fame, Chad Griggs recently revealed that he has set his sights on Brett Rogers. ...

I really enjoyed Strikeforce: “Houston”. We had some upsets, some shocking surprises, some highs, some lows, some quick finishes, some all-out wars, and even a couple of controversial moments. From Chad Griggs beating Bobby Lashley to Rafael Cavalcante KO’ing Muhammed Lawal, “Houston” was a solid event and gave MMA fans a great night of action. It’s true that the future is never certain, but here’s what I think the months ahead will hold for the winners and losers of Strikeforce: “Houston”. ...

For a man that once said something along the lines of “let me build slowly or give me Fedor Emelianenko”, Bobby Lashley certainly seemed to have had a bloated opinion of himself and his abilities. During the Strikeforce: “Houston” telecast, however, any hope of Lashley being a championship contender in the near future was sent crashing down to earth. Little-known Chad Griggs proved to be the latest example of the “never say never in MMA” idiom, an idiom that has perhaps never seen more use than in the shocking 2010 year. A former IFL fighter, Griggs was on a three-fight win-streak despite not having competed in over a year. Lashley, to his credit, was a flawless 5-0, and had displayed impressive speed and dominant wrestling in all five fights leading up to this one. And this one seemed to be going the exact same route as all the others, until Lashley fell to the one fatal opponent of all jacked-up hulking behemoth Heavyweights: the dreaded cardio monster. ...

Today marked the official weigh-ins for the upcoming Strikeforce: "Houston" event, scheduled for August 20, 2010 from the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. The event features controversial Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion Muhammed Lawal, better known as “King Mo”, in his first defense of the championship he won after beating the highly-regarded Gegard Mousasi to win the belt. The co-main event will also be a championship affair, as feared submission wizard (his nickname, “Jacare”, means Alligator) Ronaldo Souza takes on 12-2 Tim Kennedy for the vacant Middleweight Championship, which was rendered vacant when former champion Jake Shields promptly left the promotion and signed with the UFC after defeating new Strikeforce signee and MMA legend, Dan Henderson. The “Houston” weigh-ins weren’t immune to a bit of controversy, as several fighters failed to make weight. Here’s how it all broke down. ...

Once again former World Wrestling Entertainment star Bobby Lashley finds himself on the main card of a Strikeforce event. Having gone a perfect 5-0 since debuting in MMA in 2008, Lashley has been subjected to a lot of criticism due to his penchant for fighting newcomers, has-beens, and never-weres. Lashley’s slow build towards legitimate competition seems best served in low-scale regional promotions, but instead, his brick-by-brick ascent to actual credibility has been broadcast on major cards from MMA’s second-largest promotion. Heading into his Strikeforce: Houston match with former IFL fighter Chad Griggs, Lashley is once again seemingly being spoon-fed an opponent. Griggs recently commented on his fight with Lashley, and while I respect the man for taking on the challenge of bringing Bobby Lashley down to earth, I have to say that I don’t like his chances. ...