Did anybody watch this last night (Friday 8/13)? It was running up against Strikeforce Challengers on Showtime and Friday Night Fights on ESPN2 so it probably wasn't top priority for most fight fans...and KOTC has a way of slipping through the cracks anyway. It was supposed to be a pretty good main event, with HW champ Tony Johnson in his first title defense vs. rising star Nick Gaston. Does anybody know what happened to Afrozilla causing him to be replaced by another challenger (in Daniel Cormier)?
Fight 1: Mellen vs. Lovato - another example of a decent wrestler mauling a so-so striker with TD/GNP. Some people don't find this kind of thing boring, apparently. :conf Fight 2: East vs. Jones - a blitzkrieg featuring every strike in the book. Tyler "The Beast" East seems a decent prospect (for a 19 year old especially) and is on a good run since back-to-back losses to Tony Lopez. He's a bit sloppy with his hands but is strong and fairly quick, and can ride on his knees and spinning back-fist against most of the mediocre stand-up to be found at the KOTC level. Fight 3: Mulhern vs. Stout - Although it meant seeing a local Massachusetts boy fail in his title bid, it's good to see Quinn Mulhern rolling right along - he really brings some legitimacy to the promotion as its welterweight champion. On the downside, his biggest challenge may be behind him with Mike Guymon having moved on to the bigger stage. Quinn may need to follow him to the UFC or go somewhere else with a deeper talent pool for a challenge, unless he wants to drop anchor and defend indefinitely. He did mention wanting to mix it up and maybe try out catchweights...:think Fight 4: Cruickshank vs. Green - a well rounded battle at a good pace. This was very evenly matched until Cruickshank was put to sleep right in his guard with a tight choke applied in mid-takedown. At this point Bobby Green might win a rematch with Dan Lauzon. Fight 5: Johnson vs. Cormier - the big boys swung freely from the outset, setting a furious pace for their body types. Not just the speed, but the overall skill level was fairly decent for chubby heavyweights. It's interesting that this title has changed hands twice in a row, making Strikeforce regular Daniel Cormier the third KOTC heavyweight champion in 2010 and providing a tumultuous contrast to the bygone 2-year reign of Tony Kryptonite Lopez. It's a lot like the WEC - the entire landscape can change from one event to the next...very exciting.
It's on HDNet, a channel that is only available for those with Hi-Def TV sets and receivers. They carry a lot of mixed martial arts programming (K1, Sengoku, DREAM, XFC, MFC, King of the Cage and a bunch of analysis shows including one with Bas Rutten).
There are a few fighters in KOTC that really need to move on to a better organization. I really want to see Abel Cullum in WEC. He is a great, very overlooked young prospect. Mulhern has looked very solid, and has likely outgrown KOTC at this point. Cormier is just a far too decorated wrestler for the org, but he is making his Strikeforce debut next week. There are a few others I can't think of at the moment. KOTC is a great place for young prospects, but it shouldn't really house fighters that could do well in bigger organizations.
No he isn't. That will be his third Strikeforce appearance. Mak Kyle is another guy who's straddling both organizations to remain as active as possible. It's good that KOTC provides an opportunity for these almost-world-class types to do that. The only problem is when you have people like Lopez who just hide in KOTC and sit on a championship without challenging themselves until someone decent comes along and bowls them over (as evidenced by him losing both his heavyweight and light heavyweight straps back to back the first time he defended them against legitimate contenders).
Hmm, so it is. I somehow managed to not hear about or see either of those fights. I'm usually on top of this ****.