I REALLY don't want to be a cynical fuck in this thread! I really, really, superduper don't want to shit all over Coker's GP efforts, but there's just soooooo much that can go wrong here and it drives me batshit bonkers!
First and foremost, the fact that Fedor, Overeem and Werdum are all in the same bracket is far beyond my comprehension, because they're not only the three highest ranked HWs in the tourney, but they're arguably the most recognizable and biggest draws(given their recent bouts and the fact that Arlovski has fallen off the radar these past few years and Rogers has gotten dummied in his last two outings) on the Strikefarce HW roster and the chance that somebody like Sergei or Barnett gets all the way to the finals with zero Strikefarce publicity, coverage and investment just seems like a bad move.
The chances that Barnett gets to the finals in this prestigious tourney with HIS trackrecord is not only risky, but what if he pisses dirty? It's not like Strikefarce has really invested in building HIM as one of their premiere HWs for the past year or so like Overeem or Fedor and he's got the faaaaar lighter bracket. Hell, Rogers just recently went all the way to a decision with Warpath Villareal for chrissake and Arlvoski hasn't won a bout since his awesome "with referee assisted standup" against Big Country!!! And not to be a dick, but Sergei got his ass handed to him by Monson via NC choke and nearly got KO'd in his NYE fight vs. the natural LHW Mizuno, so why stack the on bracket so heaviliy with HOMEGROWN(or relatively so in comparison, let's just call them Showtime veterans) stars and give such underknown HWs a far easier route to a GP final, that could eeriliy end in their favour and all of a sudden, the 'Farce has a HW world champion that most of the country has never heard of? And, the chances that it's Barnett in the finals is pretty massive and the baggage HE brings along with his is astronomical!!!!!!
Why they didn't set the whole tourney up like the PRIDE Middleweight GP did with the intended finale being Wand/Chuck, but this time with Fedor/Overeem is retarded and while I'm fine with Fedor having to go through Bigfoot, the chance that Werdum gets turfed by Overeem in 15 seconds not only destroys any possibility of a Fedor/Werdum rematch in the tourney(maybe a lighter opening bout for Werdum may have helped....), but it desperately deflates the cache of the eventual rematch if Werdum or Fedor loses their respective bouts and can't meet. I understand that one way or another, Coker wants to have Fedor vs. either/or Overeem/Werdum, but what if Bigfoot beats him??? Wouldn't it have been smarter to start immediately off the bat with Werdum/Fedor II, so no matter what they give Fedor his much needed revenge bout???
So, let's just say that Fedor takes Bigfoot out in Rd. 1. I think it's a helluva hard fight for Fedor and if it's a war, what are the chances he comes out unscathed? If he IS injured(given his hand injuries in the past), how badly will he risk his legend and record going onward in the tourney against stiffer and stiffer company??? Does anybody really think Fedor, at his age and history will be able to go through Bigfoot, Overeem and let's say Barnett without serious injury? Or will he mysteriously be unable to continue? Which at which point, where does that put your tourney???
I think Overeem takes Werdum in fifteen seconds to two minutes via bullrush MDK, but if he doesn't fight smart and keep his distance, I think he gets armbarred within the first two rounds. In the end though, I think he's too smart to get pulled into the legendkilling guard of Werdum and tees off on him. But, here's a good question, are Overeem's tourney bouts 5 rounds? If so, that's a pretty hearty disadvantage...
That puts Overeem/Fedor, which ends in Fedor winning via armbar, but given the quick stoppages here in the states, if it's not Big John, Fedor better be careful, because Overeem's striking is retarded and he's so strong that I fear that unanswered shots will result in an early stoppage. Fedor's been invinsible for all but like 15 seconds and I'll take him over Alistair, but it's close.
I'll take Barnett over Rogers via sheer technical superiority and ability to avoid the literal bumrush that is Grim's entire offensive strategy and think he'll take either the Russian or Belarusian, who both haven't looked even close to their primes in a LONG TIME!
In the finals, I'll take Barnett in a five round? UD over Fedor for the overall GP, because he's just got more tools to couple with the size disparity to finally truly BEAT Fedor, who while the greatest of all time, has never fought a fighter as well rounded and complete, WITH massive HW size as Barnett.
Barnett will be the new Strikefarce HW champion and he will then piss dirty, thus fucking up another organization. If he doesn't piss dirty....well, I'll cross that path IF we come to it, but I think Barnett takes the whole thing because he doesn't have to go through Bigfoot, Overeem, Werdum and Fedor on his way and probably maintains a better physical condition and comes in healthier than whoever comes out of the other bracket. I wouldn't be surprised if we see more than one alternate as well, which at this point I will point out, that I wouldn't be a bit surprised if this tourney ends up looking like UFC 3......SERIOUSLY.
I'll say it again, I don't want to be a cynical fuck about this tourney! On paper, it looks so great as a true FAN of MMA, but there's very little Strikeforce does right and this just has too many weakspots to be one of those brightspots. I see this becoming a Dana White Twitter "
" at the end of the day.
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