The Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix began Saturday night and was a tournament featuring a who's who of MMA heavyweights, including MMA legend, former Pride Heavyweight and Grand Prix champion Fedor Emelianenko, current Strikeforce Heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem, former UFC Heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski and former Pride Open Weight and UFC Heavyweight champion Josh Barnett. The tournament also featured some less known but hungry up and comers such as the first man to ever truly beat Fedor Emelianenko, Fabricio Werdum, former Elite XC champion Antonio “Big Foot” Silva, Brett Rogers and Sergi Kharitonov.
The Grand Prix kicked off with a bang, as the early favorite to win the tournament Fedor Emelianenko lost to the up and coming giant Antonio “Big Foot” Silva via doctor stoppage at the end of the second round. Coming into the fight, Big Foot was a five to one underdog, even though he had a considerable size and weight advantage, a black belt in BJJ and was a champion in his own right. Silva's size was the main difference inside the cage, as Silva outweighed Fedor by forty plus pounds and had a 7.5 inch reach advantage over the MMA legend. Silva's massive size led to Fedor being controlled for the entire second round on the ground, as Big Foot landed devastating strikes from the top, closing the Russian's right eye completely shut forcing the doctor to call it quits.
In the other tournament bout on the card, the dark horse Sergi Kharitonov proved his believers right with a devastating knockout of Andrei Arlovski. Kharitonov was unknown to many fans in the United States, even though he holds victories over both Alistair Overeem and Fabricio Werdum. Many people thought it was an going to be an easy comeback fight for the popular Arlovski to end his three fight losing skid and advance to the next round, however, Kharitonov had other plans. Kharitonov was able to catch Arlovski on the cage and he delivered three powerful strikes that put the former UFC champion on the mat, where he was finished by three more unanswered blows from the powerful Russian. Not only did Kharitonov look impressive in his Strikeforce debut, but he also proved he is a force to be reckoned with as this tournament progresses.
For many people, the loss and removal of two big name stars is enough to call the tournament a failure. However, I believe it is now much more interesting and greatly beneficial to Strikeforce and MMA in the long run. MMA is a revolving door when it comes to fighters dominance and with the loss of a legend and a former UFC champion, Strikeforce now has a chance to create their own new star, in the likes of “Big Foot” Silva or Kharitonov. A new age of MMA is upon us, as up and comers are trying to make a name for themselves by defeating the legends of the sport. I believe, Strikeforce hit a grand slam with this tournament and the results thus far. Sure, it would have been great to see Fedor win another tournament and add to his already impeccable legend, but I would much rather see a young fighter's legend begin right before my eyes. For me, the Heavyweight Grand Prix tournament just got a whole load more interesting and I can not wait to see how it unfolds and who will reign supreme when it comes to a close.
The next round of fights happen April 9th, and features the current Strikeforce champion Alistair Overeem against the man who already holds a victory over him four years ago in Fabricio Werdum. Also, Josh Barnett returns to take on Brett Rodgers, who is looking for his first big win over a named opponent and to prove he belongs in this tournament . Will more upsets happen, only time will tell and I will greatly anticipate every fight as they come along, in America's first major fighting tournament in years.
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