Carano Finished at 4:59 Rnd 1

I managed to see a poor quality internet feed of the Carano v Cyborg fight. It was an intense 5 minutes. Lots of momentum swing and transitions, sub-attempts, full mount and ultimately stoppage. Santos was too much brawler and Carano not enough duck and weave. I'd love to see a re-match, as I don't think that was Carano at her best. Of course, maybe I just want to see Conviction weigh-in again... 

JT Money

Well, much like Affliction before it, Strikeforce is having trouble getting guys into the ring. Nick Diaz skipped a drug test and will not be fighting this weekend. So, Jesse Taylor will be taking his place. That's right Ko-Ko the monkey from TUF. I guess he's riding a 7-fight win streak, six of those wins are in 2009. He's also won two belts. Granted, his last victory in Japan was due to his opponent hurting his foot/ankle and not being able to continue. And the titles he won were minor promotions. Still, the guy seems game and apparently loves to fight. He made some mistakes in the UFC, but has continued his career. Good luck JT$.

 

I don't get Showtime, but I'm interested in seeing this event. Carano vs Cyborg, Sobral vs Mousasi and a lightweight title fight are also on the card. There's more to life than just the UFC.

Strikeforce actually a force in MMA?

Well, the San Jose based fight promotion best known for the upcoming Carano vs Cyborg fight has signed a free agent.  Fedor. Pretty big news in the MMA world. So, the UFC will not get it's Brock vs Fedor fight any time soon and too bad. I don't see too many interesting fights on the horizon for the UFC beyond this year. The big question is how long Strikeforce will last. They have a few heavyweights, but Fedor will mow through them in 3 events. What then? It's basically Affliction all over again?

 

It would be cool to see them groom a ladies division that the UFC would probably not counter. Likewise, Strikeforce should probably leave the lighter weight classes as a niche to the WEC. But competition can be a good thing. Maybe a legit heavyweight fighter will give allow Strikeforce to succeed where Elite XC and Kimbo failed? In the end, I see this as purely a way for Dana White to have more fighters groomed in a rival league, which he will poach when they go out of business.