Finally had some cash left in the budget to order some microphones. I got a shotgun mic and a cheap clip on mic as backup. I can't wait to try them out. As for my MMA reviews, I think I'll wait till I get my audio equipment before continuing them and I'll get back to pumping them out within a week of the event. So I'm going to be looking forward and not backwards even though I have things to say about the GSP vs Shields fight and Diaz vs Daley. I might just make those written articles since they happened a while back but they aren't worth doing a whole production since they aren't as new. Ah heck I might as well review one of them now in written format
Strikeforce Diaz Vs. Daley:
It was awesome. The card was worth seeing just for the names involved, I mean I won't lie, I'm a huge Aoki fan despite his shenanigans at Dynamite and he came out there and finally showed the American audience why there is no one as dangerous as him on the ground, with his first round sub of Beerbohm.
The Mousasi vs Jardine fight was a huge letdown, you'd expect Mousasi to run Jardine over but Jardine stayed in there, I have to give Jardine credit for that, he comes into the cage to fight. The thing is Jardine was a gatekeeper in the UFC and Mousasi is the Dream LHW champ, he should have finished Jardine. I know Jardine took it on short notice and to Mousasi's credit he was going to be payed his purse whether he fought or not but that fight wasn't a draw either. Even if we give Jardine round 1 a 10/9, rounds 2 and 3 were 10/8 in favor of Mousasi and even with that point deduction for the upkick, Mousasi should have won. The problem with MMA judging is that the judges are taught the same ass backwards way of judging that the current twits are judging fights. You see, Judges for whatever reason are taught to never give a 10/8 and when you have bad judges teaching new judges, guess what? You end up with terrible decisions like this which might not seem like a big deal but there are people who bet money on these fights, I'm pretty sure it's a big deal to them (I personally don't bet on fights but I have nothing against it). This fight is the only sour note on the whole card.
Melendez vs Kawajiri went like I expected. Most people believed that Kawajiri had the style to beat Melendez due to his win over Josh at Dynamite. The thing is Melendez is a different fighter since he got the belt from Josh and the way Melendez shutdown Aoki in their fight, I knew Melendez was something after that. Considering when Aoki fought Kawajiri, Aoki subbed him in less then 2 minutes and ran him over. A powerful and explosive wrestler like Melendez had no problem doing the same thing to Kawajiri on the ground with devastating elbows.
Nick Diaz vs Paul Daley was fireworks. It's fight of the night, both guys came to fight. Say what you will about Diaz but he didn't go out there and lay on Daley for 3 rounds while whispering insults in his ears like Koshcheck. Nick gave some colorful pre-fight and post fight interviews to Ariel Helwani which are worth checking out (basically he told Ariel he wanted to slap him silly). I really want Nick to fight GSP, I believe GSP can't play it safe with someone like Nick. Nick has terrific hands and his BJJ is superb, it clashes well with GSP's standup and wrestling.
I'll wrap it up by saying that this was the first major Strikeforce card with Zuffa watching and Dana White was there. I don't know what changes to expect for Strikeforce but I do know some employees are already being let go and replaced by Zuffa guys. I hope Strikeforce can maintain it's identity and not turn into a UFC clone *cough*Belletor*cough* but we'll have to wait and see. I will say that despite all the shit I gave Gus Johnson in my Fedor fight review, he was actually ok this time around. He didn't look like a wigless drag queen this time (no one will ever beat Frank Wigg), and he did a good job. Johnson also got to do an "Anchorman" zinger at the end of the broadcast since the fights took place in San Diego. Just before the credits, Gus says "Keep it classy San Diego", he gained some points for that one cause I got a chuckle out of it.
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