Roger Gracie's Strikeforce Report Card: C+ (and other complaints)

A match made in Awkward MMA Commentary Team Heaven

The submission may look like it's coming....but you are w.r.o.n.g.

For those that watched, the first two rounds were identical.
Jardine clumsily came forward and Roger got the body lock then hit an outside trip with so much ease it looked Jardine had never done much grappling (despite the fact he's never been submitted in MMA).







Round 1: Roger has Jardine mounted for quite awhile. He tepidly lands a few elbows and punches because...y'know, it's MMA and stuff. 
Round 2: Roger has Jardine's back for quite awhile. He punched a few times but does not finish.
Round 3: Roger jabs and backs away until time expires, happy to take away a decision win.

Result: Other than an uppercut landed by Jardine and perhaps a stiff right hand, Jardine literally offered almost no danger in the fight. Jardine was his usual giraffe on roller skates coordinated self which made watching Roger struggle to tap him all the more boring/mystifying to watch.

Roger (at this point) shows no signs of having the killer instinct to actually fight top flight guys in MMA. And while he looked slightly more comfortable than against King Mo (when he got KO'd), he still virtually only relied on his jab, utilized a few more kicks, but blamed being tired in the 3rd round on cutting 18 pounds in one day.

For someone who has competed in Jiu-Jitsu for most of his adult life, that's not an excuse.
That's like saying, I didn't check my diet for weeks before the fight so I had to wait 'til the last minute and sweat out the weight of a toddler, that's why I got tired.

No, you were unprofessional and mismanaged your weight cut. You f'd up, bro.

Woodley did well, even knocking Marquardt down at one point, but Marquardt in turn caught him with a flush right hand I believe, and Woodley never regained his confidence; eventually Marquardt him him with some short elbows and punches against the cage and brutally finished him in emphatic fashion. Interested to see how the formerly undefeated guy comes back from such a decisive KO/TKO.
This for me was the best part of the main event/main card broadcast. Both guys got hurt. Both guys showed flashes of dominance, but watching Marquardt compose himself as a veteran and slowly take control of the fight is what it's all about. A few more tricks in his sleeve and a bit more composure from his dearth of experience.

Shhhh.....I know Greg Jackson gave you this terrible gameplan.

Speaking of enigmatic Greg Jackon gameplans, the normally stalking, come forward punching Tim Kennedy inexplicably virtually conceeded punching with the champ, Rockhold, and virtually only looking to duck under/hit the takedown while backpedaling virtually the entire fight. Unsurprisingly, Kennedy lost a unanimous decision in much the same way he did against Jacare: inactivity.


 



Oh, and speaking of his Royal Majesty the Exalted King of all weight cutting failures, Anthony Johnson is assuring everyone now that he's at 205, he'll be making weight. Sure, bro.
I have an M-1 Championships Belt I'd like to sell you, just pay the S&Handling.

GSP to work on boxing again (I'm very excited to see him jab more fighters for 5 rounds or not finish guys like Jake Shields who have barely passable stand-up skills).

In good news, Daniel Cormier, olympic wrestler (minus the part where his kidneys failed from weight cutting) will be fighting for Strikeforce Sept. 29th. Hopefully, soon enough we'll see him in the UFC.