According to MMA Junkie, Strikeforce: Miami drew 517,000 viewers which is just below the record set in August when “Conviction” Gina Carano (7-1) fought “Cyborg” Cris Santos (9-1). That event brought 576,000 viewers to Showtime.

The previous Strikeforce event, Strikeforce: Evolution, drew just 341,000 viewers which means they had a viewer increase of 51.6%. One would have to believe that the MMA debut of ex-NFL Pro Bowl running back Herschel Walker is the cause for such a spike in viewership.

As I reported before the event, Walker was making media rounds on different ESPN shows as well as on other media outlets. This obviously brought in curious viewers to see how the 47 year old man would fare in this new sport. While I was critical of his participation and the perceived view of the MMA clueless media on the event, I will say I am pleasantly surprised by the numbers. The only sad thing is, as I stated in my “Sunday Review” article, the production left much to be desired if they wanted to keep those viewers and turn them into loyal MMA fans.

My one concern with the numbers is what Strikeforce decides to do after seeing them. They could venture out into other sports, looking for another big name to bring into MMA. I would be OK with this if that person was serious and respected the sport. I just don’t want Strikeforce to end up going overboard and turning the organization into a freak show with fighters like Jose Canseco (0-1) stepping inside the ring.

Only time will tell which direction Scott Coker goes with Strikeforce after seeing the results. Let’s just hope that he is a man that knows restraint for the sake of the sport and his organization.

Scott Coker and his promotion, Strikeforce, have been regarded as a fairer organization for fighters, perhaps justifiably so.

But, now “Thoroughbred” Jay Hieron (16-4) is speaking out, claiming to MMA Junkie that he signed with Strikeforce over the UFC on the promise of a title fight versus Strikeforce welterweight champion “Diablo” Nick Diaz (21-8) that hasn’t materialized.  And, after Hieron’s untelevised unanimous decision over “Diesel” Joe Riggs (31-12) at Strikeforce: Miami Saturday, Heiron is now a free agent.

So, where is your outrage MMA fans?  Where are your conspiracy theories about Scott Coker?  Your profanity, typo laced rants?  Is Coker getting a break from the heat usually directed at White for equivalent behavior?

(P.S. I would’ve added a photo of Hieron to this post, but…Strikeforce didn’t provide any of the Hieron versus Riggs fight in their press release this morning, almost as if they don’t want too much focus on Hieron now that he’s a free agent.)

I was shocked with the patience Manhoef showed once the bell rang as he is normally and very explosive fighter. I feel he is learning more about the MMA game each and every fight. Lawler’s tactics were quite odd to say the least but in the end it worked and the crowd got what it expected. The highlight reel knock out came after getting his leg battered, bruised and practically kicked off. Manhoef made one mistake by dropping his left while trying to finish the hurt Lawler. Lawler shocked many by winning the fight in the stand up game as many experts, myself included, thought he needed the fight to hit the mat in order to win.

Herschel Walker (1-0) made his media rounds to promote this fight and it had many watching the sport for the first time. It was a good thing that he won and looked as solid as he did. I will admit his stand up was atrocious as he was flat-footed, stiff legged and robotic. However he did get off a few shots and once the fight went to the ground he showed just why the guys at AKA were ranting and raving about him. He had tight control, moved from position to postion effortlessly and defended some submission attempts. His use of the crucifix was impressive as was his cardio. While I am not one to say he will be a force to be reckoned with, there are some interesting fights for him if he decides to keep fighting.

Another one of the positives for Strikeforce last night was the fight between Strikeforce 145 pound woman’s champion “Cyborg” Cristiane Santos (9-1) and Marloes Coenen (14-3). Most people gave Coenen very little chance in this fight so to sit down and end up seeing such an entertaining fight was a real treat. Coenen used leg kicks and straight punches early on to stave off the trademarked rapid fire aggression of Cyborg. Cyborg is a true champion though, found a way to get inside and use her strength to her advantage. This fight was a true highlight for women’s MMA and Strikeforce.

Strikeforce: Miami was not all lollipops and rainbows though as there were some lows to the event starting with the name. How can an organization name an event after a city unless they don’t plan on going back to that city? I think they need to work on a more creative way to name shows but this was a small low point overall.

My next issue was with the commentating during the event, especially during the Cyborg versus Coenen fight. At one point Conenen was using one of my favorite moves from the clinch, the foot stomp. Announcer Mauro Ranallo thought it would be cute to say that “maybe she doesn’t like the color of her nail polish.” Now I know that many announcers use some comedy in their broadcasts but Mauro is no Michael Shiavello. As I stated earlier, many potential new fans were watching thanks to the hype behind Herschel Walker. That being the case you want to put the fights in the best light possible. I thought the comment was demeaning to women’s MMA and to both Coenen and the champion, Cris Santos. The ringside commentators have a duty to be proffesional and to help to keep these new viewers in the sport of MMA.

Two more lows are on my list and the first is the time management of Strikeforce. Many of the main event fights ended early and yet they still had to push back the fight between Michael Byrnes (0-2) and David Zitanick (1-1) due to “time constraints” This has happened before with Strikeforce but at least the fight was not scrapped all together. If they did not interview Rex Ryan of the NFL as well as others, maybe they would have had time to fix the huge mistake I felt was the biggest low.

This would be the “Thoroughbred” Jay Hieron (16-4) debacle. Jay has been beaten up by Scott Coker and Strikeforce over and over again. He seems to be in line for a title shot but keeps getting passed over. The they put him on the under-card. Due to fan backlash EASportsMMA.com decided to air his fight against “Diesel” Joe Riggs (31-12) on their site. Sadly and much to the dismay of hardcore MMA fans, the site was ill prepared to handle the number of people trying to view the fight. Many fans could not get the feed to play and for those that did, including myself, the feed had a terrible lag and was grainy at best. This is a slap in the face to MMA fans who flock in mass to purchase video games such as the EA Sports MMA game. Strikeforce and EASportsMMA.com owe Jay an apology and a title shot but it does not seem like that will happen.

According to a report from MMAFight.com, Coker already has plans for title shots for his champions, including new champion Diaz. It seems Coker is looking to his Japanese friends to bring in “Mach” Hayoto Sakurai
(32-8-3). While I think this fight would be a gift to hardcore fans, I have to state that Jay deserves the title shot regardless of his performance last night.

Future Strikeforce events will need to get better if they want to keep fighters and keep ratings. We expect much more and they need to deliver.

Marius became the DREAM welterweight champ after winning the 2009 welterweight Gran Prix and was looking to become the first fighter to hold titles in Japan and in the United States. The only thing standing between him and that distinction was a 5 inch reach advantage that Diaz had in his favor.

The fight was a wild one from the start with Zarmoskis running forward with a leaping kick. Then the punches came flying. Diaz and Marius trading back and forth.

Nick pushed Marius to the cage and began teeing off on his leg with knees. Once the broke, Marius unleashed a power shot that rocked Diaz, who ended up on the mat. Marius tried to finish him but looked uncomfortable on the mat.

Once back to the feet Diaz and his reach took over. Marius could not seem to get inside without eating many punched from Nick. Finally an obviously gassed and frustrated Zaromskis got caught with an uppercut.

Then a short right clipped Marius and down he went, more looking like he dropped from fatigue than from the punch. None the less Diaz jumped on him and finished the job with 22 seconds left in the round.

The normally brash Diaz seemed at a lost for words after the fight saying “I’m just ready to go home and eat”

Diaz is now 3-0 in Strikeforce and is on a six fight win streak. Will he be able to defend his title and keeping riding that “high”? Only time will tell.

Diaz weighed 169.5 pounds while his opponent “Whitemare” Marius Zaromskis (12-2) weighed 169 pounds.

Lashley weighed 253.25 pounds while his opponent “Whole Show’ Wes Sims (22-13-1) outweighed him at 258.25 pounds.

Former NFL Pro Bowler Herschel Walker (0-0) weighed 214.25 for his MMA debut while his opponent Greg Nagy weighed 210.5 pounds.

Rounding out the main card, middleweight “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler (16-5) weighed 185.75 pounds and “Marvelous” Melvin Manhoef (23-5-1) weighed the same.

Melvin is known as more than just a K-1 level striker, he is known as a force of mass destruction. All of his wins but one have come by way of knock out or TKO. He is an aggressive fighter with the power of Zeus in his hands who fights out of the world famous Mike’s Gym in Amsterdam, Netherlands. It is very clear what his game plan will be come Saturday night in Miami at the BankAtlantic Center. Manhoef will want to put his fists through the face of Robbie Lawler and everyone on the planet knows this.

Robbie Lawler is gutsy brawler that ends fights with his fists as well. Most of his fights have ended the same way that Melvin has ended his and this is what makes people believe we will see fireworks inside the cage when these two collide. Lawler was the EliteXC middleweight champion until they went bankrupt and he found a new home in Strikeforce. Once hailing from the Miletech camp, he now trains out of the gym he co-owns with former UFC champion and  Fighters.com eighth-ranked welterweight Matt Hughes (41-7), the H.I.T. Squad.

Robbie is known as a guy that take a punch with many reffering to his chin as being made of granite. However, training being such an experienced fighter and training with guys like Hughes, you have to think his camp is revolving around wrestling and the ground game, the glaring weakness of Dutch striker, Manhoef.

Robbie will need to avoid the initial onslaught of Melvin and work his way inside to get this fight t the ground where he can easily finish the fight. One thing stands in his way of getting back to his winning ways, his ego.

Men like Lawler are easily swayed from their solid game plans by the crowd noise and the mere anticipation of the fight ending in a KO. Wednesday night I interviewed “Razor” Rob McCullough (17-6) on MMA Gospel Radio and asked him just how easy it was to feel you can KO anyone after doing it a few times. He told us that it was very easy to get away from the game plan and it sometimes leads to disaster. Lawler must avoid this at cost in order to win this fight.

What separates the two fighters is that Manhoef has next to no ground game and while not known for his submissions, Lawler trains with Hughes who is an amazing wrestler. You have to think that after all his time working with his friend and business partner that he has picked up some wrestling knowledge. One thing is for sure, Matt Hughes used to put together good game plans and for this fight I would be shocked if the game plan was anything other than taking the fight to the mat and making it a quick night.

Lawler has the steel chin to stave off the Manhoef Blitzkrieg and should have the wrestling skills to get this fight where he is guaranteed a win. All the tools are there and the only thing getting in the way of his win on Saturday is himself.

Pride and ego can make or break a fighter and Saturday we will see how it works out for Robbie. No matter the outcome the fans are the true winners after this fight.

You can join me and my co-host Gary Friedman each Wednesday from 8-10 PM EST as we talk MMA news, interview the best in the business and discuss the latest combat sports rumors. MMA Gospel Radio can be found at www.blogtalkradio.com/mmagospel as well as available for download on iTunes.

Hieron won a unanimous decision over The Ultimate Fighter alum “JT Money” Jesse Taylor (8-4) at Strikeforce in San Jose last August.

Riggs submitted Nick Almen (4-11) on strikes at Ironman MMA in Welch, Minnesota December 11.

The fight will be the only fight on the Showtime-broadcast card to stream on the Internet.  The live stream will begin at 9:00 PM ET.

Though Ambriz was approved by the Florida State Boxing Comission, Strikeforce has nixed the bout for undisclosed reasons, according to MMA Junkie.  The FSBC had previously refused to santion a fight between Lashley and Yohan Banks (2-1).

“I got a call last night that said I’d definitely be fighting, and [Strikeforce officials] said, ‘We want to make sure to have the right opponent for you.  I hope everything works out. I hope they find someone and the fight is good,” Lashley told MMA Junkie.

Fighters.com is disappointed the matchup between two top five super heavyweight fighters has been cancelled.  It seems Strikeforce is intent on matching Lashley in a heavyweight bout.  MMA Gospel Radio host Reverend Turk Vangel wrote on Fighters.com earlier this week that Lashley won’t be competitive at heavyweight.

 There is no denying that Lashley is an athlete. He is a two-time National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) wrestling champion. He wrestled in the Army and was training to compete in the Olympics in 2003 before being injured. After the injury Bobby went to professional wrestling where he would later become a “world champion” He has natural athletic ability but his wrestling credits are not on par with the likes of another pro wrestler turned MMA fighter, Fighters.com’s second ranked heavyweight and UFC champion Brock Lesnar (4-1). Brock’s success inside the Octagon have come from his massive size advantage accompanied by his elite wrestling abilities. It is tough to compare a NAIA champion to a NCAA National champion but most would agree that the better wrestler would be the NCAA champion. Brock is not someone we can compare Lashley to despite the parallels in their careers. Bobby is not Brock and will not see the success Brock has seen thus far in MMA.

I do like the fact that Bobby is taking things slow and not trying to rush into the largest fights right away. He wants to try and develop his skills the right way however his ability to grasp the finer points of the sport at 33 years of age with minimal training is something that will hamper his future. I have seen all four of his fights and have not seen the progression in his game that I expected to see training with a team like American Top Team.

His last fight against “The Beast” Bob Sapp (10-5-1) was evident of his lack of progression. He talked about showing off his hands in the fight but I think we all knew better. He went in for the shot right away and took Sapp to the spot he did not want to be, on his back. Once there Lashley worked some ground and pound but what stood at to me was that he stayed in Sapps’ half guard. I like half guard for some good ground and pound but passing and going to side control gives you so many more options to finish a fight. Bobby has the hips of a wrestler and can control people with them so I was shocked he never attempted a pass. It leads me to believe that his ground game is not evolving as quick as it needs. Most wrestlers seem to do well from the top and have very little trouble transitioning from dominant position to dominant position.

There are a couple other issues with his development that I have noticed. First would be his inability to take down an opponent like Jason Guida (18-22). Guida is a journeyman fighter that has fought in the WEC, EliteXC, World Victory Road and on The Ultimate Fighter. His submission game is good but I have never been impressed with is take down defense. When this fight started Lashley went for the take down and had it stuffed by Guida. He tried multiple take downs which were unsuccessful. If these were take downs against an accomplished wrestler then I could give him some leeway but I feel he should have been able to get Guida to the ground much quicker. If he continues to have issues taking fighters to the ground then he will need to bring his stand up game along much faster than what we have seen thus far.

Next would be the striking game we have seen from Lashley. His stand up is quite wild and he throws very wide, looping punches. He has only had four fights but I thought we would see little bits of improvement from him from his first fight to his last against Sapp. This however was not the case and this is a major problem considering the aforementioned issue with getting take downs. I will give him credit for some head movement even though it waqs minimal and seemed to fade as his fight went into the second and third rounds. It is tough to get a true indication of his striking game since the fight with Sapp went to the mat right away so his next fight I will be watching closely to see if he is picking up this aspect of the sport. Striking has been a tough aspect for wrestlers to incorporate into their arsenal but as of late we have seen wrestlers make huge strides in that department.

Can Lashley improve fast enough to be a viable star for Strikeforce is the big question. I don’t feel his athleticism is enough to carry him forward and I feel his game must evolve faster than we have seen in order for Strikeforce to be able to market him as a star in the making. Sadly, due to the fact that we have seen very little in the way of improvement from him against sub par fighters, there is nothing that leads me to believe Bobby Lashley will be able to reach the upper echelons of the heavyweight division in Strikeforce.

I could be wrong and if you feel that I am then feel free to join me and New York Gary Freidman on MMA Gospel Radio every Wednesday from 8-10 PM EST at www.blogtalkradio.com/mmagospel. You can register with Blog Talk and join us in the Cageside Chatroom to discuss this and all the other topics we discuss on air. You can also call in to the show and talk to us directly by dialing 347-857-1337.